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Nice photo James. Neat looking bridge.
So, what is the story with the 2500′s? I took a photo of the 2501 last year and it’s cab was equally as sad as this one.
Water-based paint!
Thanks Larry, and thanks Keith for answering. I wasnt entirely sure, though I’ve seen quite a few that look just like this as well.
Pfft this isn’t from Niagara, Niagara isn’t worth shooting;)
Just takes the patience of a saint some days haha
Must be something with the paint GE used in the early-mid 90′s, like a lot of the old ATSF GE warbonnets (or “fadebonnets”) from that era that ended up looking pretty sad. The paint GM used on units from the same or earlier eras (CN SD60F, ATSF SD60M) seems to have fared a lot better.
Thanks for the input guys. The paint reminds me of my brothers Delta 88 from when I was a teenager. Paint coming off the roof, trunk lid and engine hood, just leaving the primer behind.
Pretty sure the only good looking 2500 is actually CN 2500 which got repainted a while back.
In the mid 1990′s, mostly driven by environmental restrictions, paint suppliers began to move towards water-based epoxy’s. States and, in some examples, local municipalities began to introduce so called ‘Volatile Organic Compound’ (VOC) atmospheric limits. Traditional solvent based alkyd type paints contribute to VOC levels and some of the more durable urethane type paints are even less ‘environmentally friendly’. While water-based epoxy’s no doubt performed well in the lab and in tests, transitioning to them in industry was problematic. New high-tech mixing/spraying equipment was required, different application techniques were needed and even the ambient environment of the spray booth needed to be controlled; high humidity is an enemy to the process. To further complicate matters, coating application moved to a DTM process; Direct To Metal, i.e. no primer. Water-based paint chemistry is very demanding and even the desired colour can contribute to the complexity. Black is easy, anything else, not so much. Desired colour can even impact decal adhesion. Add this all up, and you have a very difficult task to accomplish.