CSX Transportation’s latest heritage logo features a reprise of the Chesapeake & Ohio on engine No. 7376, a GE CW40-8.
Allan Williams, Jr.
WAYCROSS, Ga. – CSX Transportation has unveiled its latest predecessor railroad emblem on a recent repaint at its Waycross, Ga., Locomotive Shops.
CSX GE CW40-8 No. 7376 emerged from Waycross late last week displaying a “Chesapeake & Ohio For Progress” decal. The navy blue and yellow logo was applied to both the locomotive’s engineer’s and conductor’s side nose hood.
CSX No. 7376 is the third of at least 10 predecessor decals to be applied by the railroad’s Waycross facility. CSX No. 256 was the first locomotive released and features a Seaboard Coast Line decal. CSX No. 323 was released two weeks ago with a Louisville & Nashville logo.
No. 7376 was spotted in trail on a merchandise freight train through in Folkston, Ga., over Labor Day weekend.
I like the way this one looks! Shoulda saved 7376 for the Conrail sticker though, as she's ex-CR 😛
What about the B&O America's first common carrier? It should of been first. Someone doesn't have a clue on American Railroad History.
I agree, NS did a nice job of their heritage units. UP, not so much. Frankly, UP's are vulgar caricatures of the predecessor roads' liveries. C&NW is the worst of the lot
Paul Harrison, in your first comment, you forgot to mention open access for anyone who wants to run a steam engine.
I am also a stockholder, and I tend to agree that if all they can do is this teeny little thing, they shouldn't have bothered. I *might* feel differently if they were putting the same decals on multiple engines, but for just one each, forget it.
Relax. If CSX put out a lame commercial, we would ride it just as hard as sticker heritage.
Sorry Robert, but you're in a minority here. You may feel this is a serious attempt by CSX to do something massively important, worthy of automatic kneejerk praise, but the rest of us have mixed feelings on whether heritage programs are important to begin with (to my mind, they're nice, but they're not actually "important"), and we certainly can tell the difference between half-donkeyed and serious.
We have a right to find things funny. This is funny. To you, the heritage of a railroad might be the most important thing ever, and thus you see sticking a decal on the side of a door as an important statement, but, for the rest of us, it's PR. And when PR is done half-donkeyed and without much effort, it's worthy of being laughed at.
And we're laughing at it.
Sorry you're taking it so seriously. If you feel this is a waste of time, you know where to click.
Herbert: That attitude is why CSX is held in such low regard.
These comments are priceless! As a shareholder and a employee I would not want them to waste money on painting the units special! Especially with the hedge fund raiders running one railroad into the ground now and trying to ruin another railroad.
Imagine twenty Heritage locomotives spread out on the turntable at Spencer, all from glorious railroads of the past. People are glued to the Chessie unit, and the WM unit looks brilliant in the morning sun…oh but wait it's only a dream…but look we have these locomotives with really cool stickers on them. What would really be cool is that when NS orders new locomotives again to do them in CSX heritage units, wouldn't that tick them off. I wish NS would have kept one of the SD75's in a war bonnet scheme and an SD40-2 in BN green. But if I see a sticker unit I'll probably take a photo of it, but I don't think I'll go out of my way to do it.
OK !!!! I get it !!!! BNSF, CP, and CN are great, publicly spirited, rail fan spirited, wonderful railroads, because they haven't done anything recognizing their heritage, other than that ONE city,that BNSF named as a 'heritage city'.
Paul, listen to yourself. Read what you've said over again. It's rail fans like you that are " SILLY ". If you and others with similar opinions don't get it by now, you never will !!!!
I'm not really " upset ", but frustrated and giving up on this subject, because it's a waste of time !!!!!!!!!
@ROBERT & @HERBERT – I'm not entirely sure what either of you are upset about. Do you actually think sticking a small decal on the side of a locomotive is something worthy of issuing press releases about and proclaiming an important way to honor the past?
Sometimes PR stunts are just so silly they'll elicit a chuckle from all of us. That's what's happening here. We get reports month after month of major railroads announcing heritage paint schemes and other grand programs to remember their roots, and then CSX comes out and says "Hey, hey! Over here! Look at us! If you squint, you can just see "Atlantic Coast Line" written on the side of this locomotive's cab. Is that great or what?"
Nobody would be making any comments if they weren't doing anything.
FWIW I'm a shareholder too, I have no objection to CSX spending money on paint (especially as locomotives actually get repainted from time to time anyway, is a heritage repaint seriously going to add that much to CSX's costs?) I wish CSX wasn't so scared of doing anything interesting. It acts like it's seconds away from bankruptcy, when really that's only true in the long term because it won't take necessary risks, and looks likely to wither and die unless someone takes them over.
Not that heritage paint schemes are what will save it, simply that the decision to start a "heritage" program and then do it half-donkeyed is symptomatic of a company that's too paralyzed to make the right decisions. They should have held off until they felt comfortable doing it properly.
With employees with attitudes like that @Herbert Theodore it isn't any wonder your President quit, I can't wait to see CP buy you out. It is all about PR, if CSX doesn't ever do any, they should expect people to not care about them.
Herbert: I applaud you for your comment and support for CSX and your employer !!!
I don't know what other " attitude " anyone would expect you to have, as CSX obviously is your ' bread and butter .
I would offer an alternative label for most of these comments as : ludicrous, self-centered, unrealistic and possibly even idiotic !!!
This site is the ONLY place where I detect " such low regard " held against CSX . I'm thinking it's in certain so called rail fans ' pipe dreams '!!! I believe you and I should FIDO !!! I know, it's not that easy at times !!!
It really does fall into the "Why are they even bothering" scale of PR stunts. Still, CSX is probably just saving every penny it can so it can spend it on the exciting new services CSX wants to give us, from a high speed freight service that will carry anything anywhere overnight in the US to, yes, the reintroduction of passenger rail across its entire network.
When you consider those great things, from such a progressive, innovative, forward thinking company like CSX that totally is not terrified of risk and living like its 1973 so shut up stop saying that, you can understand why they wouldn't want to spend more than $5 per fallen flag honoring their corporate predecessors.
Right. Right?
Robert is right. NS is a class act, proud railroad that just pulls farther and farther away
WHINERS, WHINERS, WHINERS, I'm tired of reading about it !!!
Do you really think that your negative complaints will change the way CSX management looks at this ??
I'm out of here, so get a life, will ya ??
Totally lame attempt when compared to NS or UP programs. Come on. CSX you can do better!
Makes me think of the good old days on the C&O when I was a brakemen for two short years out of Grand Rapids. Never will forget them.
I have to agree with Andy Zachary. Do "heritage" the way NS and UP have done it or do not do it at all.
Considering the pressure that the CSX is under by corporate raiders it is not surprising that they took the inexpensive route for honoring their heritage roads; no need to hand them ammunition!
CSX should redo 1 locomotive entirely in the old Pere Marquette paint and lettering. 1 unit, 1 fantastic looking one! That would make my day.
Sad to see that CSX is taking the "cheap way out" for these "heritage units. True, repainting a locomotive can be expensive, but UP and NS have done it right. I'ts great PR for them also, and cool when you see a one-of-a-kind paint scheme on the mainline.
Make the "C" in CSX the Chessie symbol. That would be a great tie with history!
Ted, no they didn't have to do anything and if this is all they're going to do, they probably shouldn't have in the first place. To me, this is akin to that Cadbury Easter bunny commercial – the one where different animals wear bunny ears and audition for the part of the Easter bunny? CSX is putting a couple of little emblems on a few locomotives and going, "TA-DAH!!! HERITAGE LOCOMOTIVES!!!" Uhm, CSX?? You're doing it wrong…
Let's face it,CSX didn't have to do anything. Did they?