I don't know where to post this, if this shhould go in the model railroad forum or not but I am modeling the transistion between BN/BNSF late 1996 to 1997, 1998. When did BNSF start patching it's engines. I am not talking about the "fakebonnets" BNSF did with the warbonnet paint and the BNSF lettering applied but am reffering to the ATSF yeloow/bluebonnet units and the BN locomotives. Any pictures from taht era would be appreciated.
I would think that the paint shop started patching units as soon as the merger was approved by the ICC and BNSF had come up with a consolidated roster numbering plan.
But I can't say for certian, I was a Freshman and/or Sophomore at Winona State University (Winona, MN) at that time and was more concerned with college coursework. (Mind you, I was still active in the railfan/model railroading community and tried to keep up on current events, but that was one detail that escaped me. Now, if you ask me about U.S. History from 1812 onward... )
Anyone else who kept tabs on this know when the patched units started cropping up?