NE933
Conductor
During the fabled '80's, when Phase 2 and 3 designs ruled surpreme, all Amtrak equipment proudly, and gracefully, bore its name in the heavenly fashion befitting such a mighty entity that is the NRPC. AEM7s, Amfleets, Superliners, F40's, and for awhile the Genesis fleet emblazened the rail name that left no mistake to the imagination who we're dealing with. In fact, many other railroads did the same: other greats like Santa Fe, Pennsylvania, Union Pacific made no effort to be polite and reserved.
Now in the age of political correctness, dumbing down, and building for replacement instead of stay-around-til hell freezes, Amtrak's management propagates a letter size and font that reeks of gentrified tidyness. Trains wear the name in dimensions in which the logo itself overpowers the name that gave it birth, instead of the other way around. Even on its website, the appearance of the name shockingly plays second fiddle to terms like 'Guest Rewards', 'Northeast Regional', and other graphics that in which this situation should be the other way around.
The word 'Amtrak' is a name, and like anyone or anything else's, should convey balls, solid grounding, and assuredness to the people thinking of using it. The worst offender is the AEM7-AC fleet as it exists now: once they wore the name like God wears his on heaven's gates. Now the victim of conflicting aesthetics and confusing marraiges of design, the name is on a small plate near the bottom, and the locomotive's features that were as close to perfect in pairing with the Phase 3 scheme as one will ever get, now are grey ghosts that seem like shadows.
The Acela trainsets almost have it right: at least one of the name are bold, and obviously it works. Will Amtrak correct this error with the upcoming (hopefully soon) equipment purchase?
NE933
Now in the age of political correctness, dumbing down, and building for replacement instead of stay-around-til hell freezes, Amtrak's management propagates a letter size and font that reeks of gentrified tidyness. Trains wear the name in dimensions in which the logo itself overpowers the name that gave it birth, instead of the other way around. Even on its website, the appearance of the name shockingly plays second fiddle to terms like 'Guest Rewards', 'Northeast Regional', and other graphics that in which this situation should be the other way around.
The word 'Amtrak' is a name, and like anyone or anything else's, should convey balls, solid grounding, and assuredness to the people thinking of using it. The worst offender is the AEM7-AC fleet as it exists now: once they wore the name like God wears his on heaven's gates. Now the victim of conflicting aesthetics and confusing marraiges of design, the name is on a small plate near the bottom, and the locomotive's features that were as close to perfect in pairing with the Phase 3 scheme as one will ever get, now are grey ghosts that seem like shadows.
The Acela trainsets almost have it right: at least one of the name are bold, and obviously it works. Will Amtrak correct this error with the upcoming (hopefully soon) equipment purchase?
NE933