UP's filthiest engine!

UP SD40-2

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Apr 29, 2006
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NICE PIC Miles!:thumb:, and NO, a dirty engine is not dishonoring the flag, it just shows America hard at work:thumb: :D -Deano
 

70Runner

New Member
Great pic miles!

UP did not know what tunnels and steep grades all in one place were until they got the SP & the DRGW, Now they know why those two had theirs painted dark colors!



Hey! Lookie, This one's so dirty the flag jumped right off of it!
Cascades_July_20-23_2006_054.jpg
 

RailRon

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Nov 23, 2002
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Plus UP has to save every buck they can!

Andy, it can't be THAT bad, because UP earns so much royalties whenever a model railroader buys some stuff which has written UP (or even SP, WP, D&RGW,...) upon it.

My educated guess is that there is someone around who still wants to maintain the traditional SP filth standard ---> if you just can barely read the RR logo then it is considered as CLEAN! :D:D:D

Ron
 

LoudMusic

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You guys are going to find that I am a proponent of finding sources to back information rather than casual internet hearsey. This is because I've spent the majority of my internet communication with youngins. I'm only 27 myself :) And they tend to promote 'what sounds right' as the hard truth without any background information or research.

This is what I found on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_flag

Standards of respect
  • The flag should never be used for any advertising purpose.
  • The flag should never be used as a receptacle for receiving, holding, carrying, or delivering anything.
  • The flag should not be draped over the hood, top, sides, or back of a vehicle, railroad train, or boat.
  • The flag should be cleaned and mended when necessary.

So Union Pacific's use of the image of the flag I would say is debatable in the first place, in addition to the requirement that they keep the image of the flag clean. However, I think it's really pretty and I am all for its use in this manner, but it should be scrubbed down regularly. Besides, what's the point of paying for the paint if you can't even see it.

Also, the official US Code regarding the United States of America flag:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode04/usc_sec_04_00000001----000-.html
 

Russ Bellinis

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Feb 13, 2003
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MilesWestern said:
The one in the first post came from Mojave!

Introducing.....
Lokie-wash(R) The new locomotive wash system! On sale at shopping.com for just $22.00 to $76.00!


(see this pic on www.shopping.com, if you really want to... I just needed to cite my sources! ;)

Mojave is the southern terminus of Tahachapie. I've heard some S.P. modelers suggest that the U.P. would soon find out why the S.P. painted all of their engines black. The S.P. had tunnels all over the railroad, as well as the snow sheds in the Sierras. Witrh all of those tunnels, it is virtually impossible to keep trains clean, so paint them to look like smoke and dirt so know one notices.
 

70Runner

New Member
I think these standards apply to actual flags. As you stated this is an image of the flag.
I think UP tries to keep these things clean,But most of the CTE's end up at the back of the train in DPU service therefore do not stay clean long!

This is what I found on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_flag

Standards of respect
  • The flag should never be used for any advertising purpose.
  • The flag should never be used as a receptacle for receiving, holding, carrying, or delivering anything.
  • The flag should not be draped over the hood, top, sides, or back of a vehicle, railroad train, or boat.
  • The flag should be cleaned and mended when necessary.

So Union Pacific's use of the image of the flag I would say is debatable in the first place, in addition to the requirement that they keep the image of the flag clean. However, I think it's really pretty and I am all for its use in this manner, but it should be scrubbed down regularly. Besides, what's the point of paying for the paint if you can't even see it.

Also, the official US Code regarding the United States of America flag:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode04/usc_sec_04_00000001----000-.html[/QUOTE]
 

Russ Bellinis

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I'm not sure if the U.P. nearest wash facility is at the Downtown L.A. yard or if they are using the S.P. old wash rack at Colton. In any event, if that engine is moving South from Tehachapie, it was photograghed between Tehachapie with another 50-75 miles to go to get to the nearest washing facility.
 

Chanda

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Aug 25, 2006
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You can tell that the UP and SP merged. I lived in SoCal for a number of years and you had to look pretty hard to see a clean SP loco.

Chandler
 

Inkyrail

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Sep 23, 2006
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Oh Lord, this pic again.:rolleyes:

First of all, I was working the job that moved that train. The yardmaster wanted us to move the train, an MWCRV, from the departure yard to the bypass track so he could get another train built. I was at the bypass track switch at the time the photo was taken- once the engineer pulled the whole train over the switch I let her know so she could stop so I could get on the rear car and make the reverse move into the bypass track. Dave happened to be there at that time.

UP SD40-2 said:
NICE PIC Miles!:thumb:, and NO, a dirty engine is not dishonoring the flag, it just shows America hard at work:thumb: :D -Deano
Dean, as usual, you share the same sentiment as I do. An example I think of is the story of The Star Spangled Banner, in the morning, with the flag hanging battered over Fort McHenry. What if someone came along and said "Look at that flag! How irresponsible you to have a battle there, at a military installation? You should have thought more of the flag!" Instead someone noticed the perserverance of the flag, as it should be. Face it, a locomotive is going to get dirty, running through tunnels and such. It is a working machine- it does not need to look like it has been prepped for a car show. And like Dean said, it shows a scene of America hard at work, along with several other scenes across the country everyday.

And as far as not showing the flag on the side of craft, every American-registered airliner has one on each side behind the registration number.