Amtrak unveils new 50th Anniversary units & Phase VII paint scheme

[sttom]

I personally don't like either of Amtrak's logos and like the present one the least. For whatever reason, I think "agriculture" when I see the Amtrak logo. That being said, they're original logo was pretty bland as well. Maybe for the 50th, they should also think of reworking their general branding a bit.

 

[MisterUptempo]

I'm so confused. What even is Phase VI? Why then Phase VII all the sudden? Are they introducing two new phases at the same time? Am I missing something here? Is there any equipment currently painted in Phase VI? I can't think of any. Man, this is a lot.

From what I've read elsewhere, Phase VI will appear on Chargers 300, 302, 303, 304, and 305. Phase I commemorative on Charger 301. Phase VII on Charger 306 and after.

Personally, I'd rather see Phase VI on everything. The logo/wordmark on the Phase VII Charger is too small and oddly placed. Makes me wonder what the Amfleet replacements are going to look like.

 

[railiner]

I vote for a genuine, historic Day 1 livery:

Santa Fe Warbonnet, maybe with a Pointless Arrow placard patched on the side.

In point of fact, there was not a thing in any Amtrak livery of any sort on Day 1 to my knowledge. And that black with the blue and white stripes was heinous even at the time.

I watched the first Metroliner depart NYP for Washington, that day...I could be wrong, but I believe it did have at least a banner or placards affixed with the Amtrak logo...something like seen in this photo


https://history.amtrak.com/archives/passenger-service-representative-waving-early-1970s

 

[frequentflyer]

From what I've read elsewhere, Phase VI will appear on Chargers 300, 302, 303, 304, and 305. Phase I commemorative on Charger 301. Phase VII on Charger 306 and after.

Personally, I'd rather see Phase VI on everything. The logo/wordmark on the Phase VII Charger is too small and oddly placed. Makes me wonder what the Amfleet replacements are going to look like.
View attachment 21247

I am thinking the Siemens coaches will be all blue , the lighter blue. Seems like Amtrak is mimicking the airlines and doing away with cheatlines liveries . What this means for the stainless Supers and Viewliners remain to be seen.

will be interesting to the ASC-64s in this phase 7 livery too.

 

[jis]

What this means for the stainless Supers and Viewliners remain to be seen.

The Viaggio and derivatives are Stainless Steel too. The big difference between them and the Classic Amtrak rolling stock is that they have no fluting on the sides. Amtrak tends to avoid putting striping on fluting and keep the striping on the non-fluted parts, though I can think of an exception or two.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

I especially like the Day 1 scheme. Take away the 50, squint a bit and you're looking at an already long in the tooth E-8 getting ready to haul a Rainbow consist.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

I personally don't like either of Amtrak's logos and like the present one the least. For whatever reason, I think "agriculture" when I see the Amtrak logo. That being said, they're original logo was pretty bland as well. Maybe for the 50th, they should also think of reworking their general branding a bit.

Interesting you say that because when I look at our USDA and USDA-NASS logo, I think of Amtrak

 

[PerRock]

I'm so confused. What even is Phase VI? Why then Phase VII all the sudden? Are they introducing two new phases at the same time? Am I missing something here? Is there any equipment currently painted in Phase VI? I can't think of any. Man, this is a lot.

Phase VI is the current paint scheme seen on most cars; it's often called "Phase IVb".

peter

 

[Ziv]

I was pretty much lost when everyone was discussing paint schemes so I googled it and the best summary with photos of the different paint schemes I could find was in Wikipedia. There is probably a better summary out there, but this was pretty helpful for me.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amtrak_paint_schemes#Phase_I

 

[jis]

This has been posted before. Here is the rundown of Amtrak liveries from the guy at Amtrak who is involved in branding and liveries...

 

[frequentflyer]

Trying to imagine two of these locomotives elephant style pulling shiny Superliners at 80 mph........................................Just not there yet.

 

[zephyr17]

I watched the first Metroliner depart NYP for Washington, that day...I could be wrong, but I believe it did have at least a banner or placards affixed with the Amtrak logo...something like seen in this photo


https://history.amtrak.com/archives/passenger-service-representative-waving-early-1970s

Placards, yeah. I made it a point to ride the first day, and they stuck Pointless Arrow placards everywhere (which largely disappeared within weeks, leaving the appearance of the trains as they were before Amtrak).

Full Amtrak liveries Day One? No.

 

[TheCrescent]

All phases of livery are fine by me but why in the world is a broke, taxpayer-funded railroad constantly updating its branding and paint scheme? Amtrak, just pick one and stick with it.

Plenty of brands and liveries have stayed constant for years: Belgian railways have used the same logo since the 1930s, plenty of stores and restaurants have used the same one for decades, etc. I really like the current Acela livery and color scheme, for example.

Surely there are more important things to spend money on.

 

[jiml]

All phases of livery are fine by me but why in the world is a broke, taxpayer-funded railroad constantly updating its branding and paint scheme? Amtrak, just pick one and stick with it.

Plenty of brands and liveries have stayed constant for years: Belgian railways have used the same logo since the 1930s, plenty of stores and restaurants have used the same one for decades, etc. I really like the current Acela livery and color scheme, for example.

Surely there are more important things to spend money on.

This is a really good point. Pick a timeless one. UP is still using the same one on their passenger fleet today and I really like the look of CSX's business train, which has been out and about several times recently. Might look pretty good with a couple of the new suggestions:


I'm partial to the Midnight Blue.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

All phases of livery are fine by me but why in the world is a broke, taxpayer-funded railroad constantly updating its branding and paint scheme? Amtrak, just pick one and stick with it.

Isn’t this just a few Locomotives?

This isn’t new branding.

 

[TheCrescent]

Well, we're up to Phase VII in 50 years-- one phase every 7.2 years, widely-used or not.

 

[jis]

I am actually looking forward to the 301. Who'd have thought that PC Black could be made to look classy. This one appears to achieve that.

I like the idea of using Midnight Blue too, provided of course that they are occasionally going to be run through a washer to keep them looking sharp.

 

[Cal]

All phases of livery are fine by me but why in the world is a broke, taxpayer-funded railroad constantly updating its branding and paint scheme? Amtrak, just pick one and stick with it.

Plenty of brands and liveries have stayed constant for years: Belgian railways have used the same logo since the 1930s, plenty of stores and restaurants have used the same one for decades, etc. I really like the current Acela livery and color scheme, for example.

Surely there are more important things to spend money on.

Very good point.

 

[Cal]

Isn’t this just a few Locomotives?

This isn’t new branding.

I believe the second one is going to be the new phase. (Referring to post #39)

 

[TheMalahat]

Well, we're up to Phase VII in 50 years-- one phase every 7.2 years, widely-used or not.

I couldn't agree more.

Amtrak, perhaps to rub salt in the wound, actually comes up with great branding pretty consistently. But then they add it to a pool too rich with other branding and completely devoid of standardization.

Even now, save the heritage schemes that I get, why are the first handful of Chargers in a scheme other than Phase VII? Amtrak initially said they weren't ready, but that's just silly because one: it's an artificially determined timeline; two: only one Charger is built. One. Put it in the black heritage scheme and get everything else in Phase VII.

 

[SarahZ]

That's okay lol. I do prefer the current logo anyway, and it took me a long time to realize that it had tracks in it

Today I learned those are railroad tracks.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Today I learned those are railroad tracks.

Same here.

 

[railiner]

South Africa adopted it, and Amtrak gave it up...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_South_Africa

 

[jiml]

Today I learned those are railroad tracks.

Same here.

That explains it!

 

[MisterUptempo]

The first commemorative loco is out. It's the Phase V - 50th Anniversary Edition. Obviously, the easiest one to complete. The image was released by Amtrak a few days ago. Click on image for larger view.