The new red-nose Amtraks

We've seen excessive fade on ATSF warbonnets and BNSF orange. The new Amtrak red-nose look is pretty sharp, but will it fade to a nasty pink at some point?

Tadman wrote: ↑Tue Aug 06, 2024 4:03 pm We've seen excessive fade on ATSF warbonnets and BNSF orange. The new Amtrak red-nose look is pretty sharp, but will it fade to a nasty pink at some point?

Needs antlers.

Seen some antlers out here, but mostly moms with their rapidly growing spotties exploring.

With the heat, everyone’s sitting under trees most of the time.

Tadman wrote: ↑Tue Aug 06, 2024 4:03 pm We've seen excessive fade on ATSF warbonnets and BNSF orange. The new Amtrak red-nose look is pretty sharp, but will it fade to a nasty pink at some point?

Currently the best running locomotives in the fleet. The A/C works in the summer and the heat works in the winter. They pull well and stop on a dime. Far better than the MP15s. The only bad thing about them, no HEP. These are GP38phIII work motors. The pain scheme you see is the latest and greatest and all new locomotive will be painted similarly. There is a Charger in the Rennselaer shop for training painted in the red white and blue currently.

Sun plus red paint = fade.

BTW, why is Amtrak spending money on paint? Make the bloody thing simulated stainless steel and keep it clean.

John_Perkowski wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2024 8:20 pm BTW, why is Amtrak spending money on paint? Make the bloody thing simulated stainless steel and keep it clean.

Sounds good to me, but are the newer power cars all steel or aluminum bodies, or are they using a lot of composites to try and keep weight down?

Adding faux stainless on top of carbon fiber would defeat the purpose of the composites....

John_Perkowski wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2024 8:20 pm Sun plus red paint = fade.

BTW, why is Amtrak spending money on paint? Make the bloody thing simulated stainless steel and keep it clean.

If the red upsets you on a work motor how do you feel about this

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/512 ... a097_b.jpg

Tadman wrote: ↑Tue Aug 06, 2024 4:03 pm We've seen excessive fade on ATSF warbonnets and BNSF orange. The new Amtrak red-nose look is pretty sharp, but will it fade to a nasty pink at some point?

John_Perkowski wrote:Sun plus red paint = fade.

ATSF and BNSF have apparently had problems with red and orange paint fading, but there are far more examples of red paint holding up quite well over many years and even decades. Examples:

The paint job on this CP SD40-2 was 18 years old at the time of this photograph, and although the gloss was gone and the paint was scuffed off in some areas, the red color itself was still a deep vivid red and had not faded:

http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPictur ... id=2499632

The paint job on this CP ES44AC is currently 19 years old, and although it could use a bath, the color hasn't faded at all:

http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPictur ... id=6201238

The paint job on this BCOL Dash 9 is 28 years old, and the red is still red:

http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPictur ... id=6215151

DB has been using verkehrsrot for years, and for an operation that might as well be Europe’s answer to Amtrak, they still manage to keep it looking decent, minus the layer on insects I saw on numerous units at Stuttgart…

Everyone - We had a previous topic about Amtrak's Phase Seven Color Scheme earlier this year:
amtrak-phase-vii-paint-scheme-t176629.html
2 pages - 23 posts - February 9 to March 20, 2024

This subject can be easily combined into one single topic of discussion...
For the record Amtrak's GP38-2 work units look good in this livery - and as RJ mentions they are reliable...
The examples of unfaded red locomotives are interesting...MACTRAXX

Railjunkie wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2024 11:30 am

John_Perkowski wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2024 8:20 pm Sun plus red paint = fade.

BTW, why is Amtrak spending money on paint? Make the bloody thing simulated stainless steel and keep it clean.

If the red upsets you on a work motor how do you feel about this

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/512 ... a097_b.jpg

I think in both cases it looks really nice right now, and the question really applies to anything painted red. Will it last? This is a reasonable question given the long life that is expected.