Since becoming CSX Transportation president Nov. 29, 2000, Michael Ward has tried to transform the Class I into a "new" railroad by improving customer service and attracting new business while raising CSXT's stock price and lowering its operating ratio.
CSXT Feb. 8 took that new-railroad approach a step further by adopting a different locomotive color scheme.
"Our employees have successfully met and overcome many challenges over the last few years,'' Ward said in a prepared statement, adding that the railroad's workers came up with the color-change idea. "They told us that a new paint design on our locomotives would be a visible symbol that we are a different company and also would serve to unify our workforce to meet our business objectives, including delivering for our customers."
The color scheme features a solid, deep-blue locomotive body with gold nose, tail and trim.
One locomotive — a General Motors Corp. Electro-Motive Division SD-50 — already sports the new look; CSXT plans to paint all new and rebuilt locomotives with the new design, eventually changing over its entire 3,600-unit fleet.
Source: Progressive Railroading Daily News
