Lease Unit on NS Gets Unauthorized C&O Look

If you see a locomotive that looks like a CSX unit but causes you to do a double take, your eyes are not deceiving you.

SD70ACe No. 4834 has the Chesapeake & Ohio “for progress” herald on its nose.

The unit is owned by Progress Rail and being leased to Norfolk Southern.

Trains magazine reported on Friday that it was recently spotted near Buffalo, New York, leading NS train 36T.

The magazine reported that C&O lettering has been placed on what had been PRLX reporting marks on the unit’s flanks and it is not clear who did that.

But whoever did might get into legal hot water with CSX, which owns the trademarks, logos and service marks of its predecessor railroads.

“CSX takes the use of trademarks, logos and service marks very seriously and has outlined our position on our website,” CSX spokeswoman Katie Chimelewski told Trains. “Proper use of the marks reinforces their distinctive identity and value, while unauthorized use and variation of the marks dilutes and undermines their marketing strength, the owner’s trademark rights, and the economic value of the intellectual property asset.”

She said that CSX marks are not to be used by third parties without express permission of the owners of those marks.

NS is leasing five former CSX SD70ACes. The current CSX livery, known to some as “dark future,” is modeled after a former C&O livery.

Tags: Chesapeake & Ohio, Chesapeake & Ohio Railway, CSX, Norfolk Southern, Progress Rail