Actually Chuck, she was THE first unit is Candy Apple Red. Thanks to a call from a painter friend of mine at Shoreham, I was the only fan there when she was rolled out of the Shoreham paint booth for the first time to be inspected by the top brass. As I clicked away on that bright and sunny morning, the shop guys were nice enough to spot her for me for the first roster shots in her new dress. During it all I had Mr. Ed Dodge, then CEO of the RR, standing next to me. He asked what I thought of the new scheme. I told him the nose was too bland and needed some stripes. I suggested BN-style striping or maybe MoPac-style chevrons. Mr Dodge, and Mr Larry Bell, then head of the Mechanical Dept listened, and although they didn't go with either of those ideas, they came up with the three horizontal stripes to give some grade-crossing visibility. They were added soon after to the 4403 and were on the second repaint, SD40-2 772, right out of the paint shop. I was actually quoted and given credit in the Soo Liner employee magazine for the stipes idea. Thanks Mr. Dodge.
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