Which Road Had The Most Paint Schemes?

"The Louie" (M&StL) had a batch of colorful and tasteful schemes for it's diesel power.

The LV?

All good picks!

 

Would early Conrail count?  

 

Brian

Early Amtrak...

 

Rusty

I hadn't thought of Amtrak ( duh) but you might be right, it could perhaps beat out all the contenders. Everytime I look around (it seems) they have another scheme going on. I think they just added an anniversary scheme or at least my foggy memory tells me they did. Wow..check this out..I think you you hit it. I counted 34 schemes.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amtrak_paint_schemes

My guess................Santa Fe

BNSF?

There are at least 4 variations on the Heritage, yellow bonnets, red/silver warbonnets with both Santa Fe and BNSF, dress blues, vomitbonnet, B/N cascade green/black and many variations there, executive scheme, etc.....

My vote goes to Milwaukee Road.  These come to mind off the top of my head, and there were probably also a couple more:

1. Light grey lightning stripe (early passenger units)
2. Dark grey lightning stripe (early freight units)
3. Orange & grey (early road switchers)
4. Orange with half maroon stripe and stainless steel on nose (Erie Builts as delivered)
5. Same without stainless steel)
6. Same with full Maroon Stripe
7. Same with no maroon stripe (cab units and hood units both)
8. Union Pacific yellow & grey (passenger units after 1955)

Maybe I was hasty.  Here's what the home road had:

1. Green/Blue/yellow/red (Box cabs 1, 1A)
2. Black with simple aluminum or white stripe trim (switchers, 1930's, '40's)
3. Black with aluminum zebra stripe on frame only (switchers 1948-49)
4. Black with full zebra treatment on ends, frame, and cab (all hood units, '50's)
5. Green with zebra ends (motorcars before 1940's)
6. Green with red/yellow ends (motorcars, 1940's-'60's)
7. Stainless steel with red/yellow emblem & end stripe (RDC's 1952-55)
8. Stainless steel with red ends and yellow cigar band (RDC's 1955-1967)
9. Blue/light yellow cat whisker with or without red pinstripe (FT, "F5", F7 freight units 1941-1949)
10. Blue with yellow cigar band (a few FT's in 1952-53)
11. Blue/dark yellow cat whisker (FT, "F5", F7 freight units, 1949-53)
12. Blue/dark yellow cigar band (all freight units 1953-1970)
13. Blue/yellow "yellow bonnet" ( freight units repainted or delivered during 1973 and later [and a few EMD switchers])
14. Stainless steel w/red warbonnet (passenger & dual service units 1937-71)
15. Light grey w/red warbonnet and no pinstripes (U28CG as delivered)
16. Stainless steel w/yellow warbonnet and two styles of cigar band (a few passenger/dual service units in 1971)
17. Stainless steel w/blue warbonnet (1970's)
18. Blue/yellow "book-end" (hood units, 1960-1973)

And that's just the major different paint schemes.  There were at least that many; I may have forgotten some.  I didn't list minor variations, such as the Erie Built, the FP45's, the U30CG's and the final paint applied to two motorcars , which had no stainless steel and used aluminum paint instead, with simplified cigar bands.

I would definetly think Santa Fe.  They were all over the rainbow.

What about the most at one time in a non merger situation? In that case I would nominate the Seaboard Airline with separate and very different passenger, freight and switcher schemes.

As a quick addendum, it should be recalled that ALL of the colorful diesel paint schemes in the steam/transition era were created by a 7 man art department at EMD in LaGrange, IL. General Motors applied it's automobile marketing tactics for marketing diesel locomotives!

I believe there was at least one exception to the all-GM-designed paint schemes on the First Generation diesels:  the NKP "Bluebird" livery worn by that road's ALCO PA cab units.  Can't recall who is credited with the 11 'Birds.

Of course . . .the Maersk unit.  How could I have forgotten that one.  We spent 3 days shooting a commercial and some stock footage with that unit.  In one scene a helicopter came straight at us, yawed so that the camera could shoot through the door opening without glass, then pulled up at the last second.  The Engineer dove for the floor, and the head end Brakeman exhaled loudly after several seconds had passed.  On the third day, the producer wanted a shot of the train approaching at 70 MPH, with the setting sun directly behind it.  He had a calculator that showed the 2-minute window available to us on that date,  I had scouted him out a couple of locations, and he chose a spot between Helendale and Hodge.  I had to  get the train stopped, with the slack stretched tight for a fast getaway, at a precise location and figure when to call the Engineer and have him accelerate to 70 as fast as possible and approach within that 2-minute window.  When he roared past, I was the one exhaling in relief.  There's no substitute for good luck, and that was the proof.

 

Um . . . yes . . . the infamous black and red warbonnets . . .