Well, the "Can Opener" proved to be a big hit in last weeks Railfan Photos of the Week thread so figured it might be fun to open this weeks Weekend Proto fun with this shot from Columbia SC back in the summer of 2005. Big Blue seems to be a bigger hit now than it was back then. Enjoy!
And on the topic of the Can Opener: Cheyenne, WY, 2004-5: Back in 2012, my wife and I spent a week in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Here's their expansive Centraal Station, with the ICE train and a local commuter train at the platforms.
Opening a can of "Quality" (CO...............UALITY)back in January 2007 at Rosenberg. And then about a year earlier, some long hood forward action on a BNSF local in Rosenberg.
"Can Opener". "Pointless Arrow", and I am sure many more. Are these nicknames given by the employees of the railroads or the general public? You think the people that come up with the paint schemes know this ahead of time? We should have a thread, nick names for liveries, scheme's, etc... unless these are the only two? And real names also, like I think someone said CSX has or had Stealth, etc... Could be fun, or not
NS 253 heads West from Wyomissing JCT with a variety of containers. It had domestic containers on the pin, a large block of sea cans, bare tables, and another block of 53 foot stacks on the hind end.
One CR "can opener" and one not. CR 5459 is a former Erie GP-7, seen on the former LV main at the Easton, PA station in 08/1983. C&NW 4418 is a GP-15-1 seen at Madison, WI on a rainy 04/14/1987.
Simplicity. A BNSF crew picks up bad orders set out on a spur in downtown Minot, ND two hours before dawn.
Bad Order cars are problematic and sometimes require removing them from the consist in order for the train to safely continue.
I looked closer, just under the road number, and I was surprised to see it sublettered PRR! Wha?? Lazy 3 or Noodle (CN post-1961 logo), mating worms, Swoosh, Cub Scout, Warbonnet, etc. That's an awesome photo!
You are seeing correctly Mike. When CR was purchased by NS and CSX, they needed a quick way to identify who owned what so NS used PRR reporting marks and CSX used NYC. I'm not sure if any locos retained that sub lettering when NS repainted them but there are still freight cars out there rolling around with them.
Bad orders are how the RR identifies railcars or engines that have defects preventing further service. They are set out, tagged (the tackboard on the side may have a brightly-colored tag stapled on), and carmen will come out to address the issue, or it will be brought back to the yard for repairs.
Hey, don't forget that noodling wasn't confined to just CN. Between CN, CV and GT, there was a whole noodle soup there. (I didn't see that many DW&P units so don't remember exactly what they looked like.) Seems like they might not have lent themselves so well to the noodle.
DW&P units used simple block lettering instead of the noodles. The design guys got all their noodles in a knot trying.
