I don't care *as much* about the proto-fidelity in Z-scale. Most of the stuff that I would consider bothersome can be fixed relatively easily if I choose to do so. I am a BNSF modeler and will do what is reasonable to improve the models to the best of my ability and allotted time on this Earth, but I'm gonna err on the side of "let it be..." ;-) I decided when dropping from N to Z that I wasn't gonna make decisions based on "someday when MR comes for the photo shoot for Great Model Railroads". :-) And, it's hard enough to fill out a reasonable roster in Z anyway, so dismissing anything really isn't an option in my mind. And this applies even moreso to freight cars...even the foobie BNSF Trincool reefers and bogus coil cars will eventually make my roster. (when they're cheap enough)
One of the biggest problems for me is I model "mid-2000's" and need BNSF Heritage-II scheme GE diesels. Specifically C44-9W's would be ideal, but those aren't available in my budget stratosphere. Next in line of relevance would be an ES44DC in BNSF Heritage-II paint, and while those are not available the external differences between the ES44DC and the ES44AC are minor considering that (a) it's Z-scale, (b) Model Railroader hasn't called, and (c) "the three foot rule". So having an ES44AC in BNSF Heritage-II would have been a very wonderful stand-in for the ubiquitous BNSF Dash 9's that are still predominant even today. Even a few years into the Swoosh-era, the BNSF Heritage-II scheme was far and away more common. (right up until 2009-ish when the Great Recession started and locomotives began to be mothballed en masse.) But alas, we can't even get H-II ES44's either. I believe the estimate was something like 4 years from now.
So, since we clearly cannot ASSUME that BNSF is under consideration for any model, here is my wishlist of current/pending/hopefully future tooling that I would like to see in BNSF:
Current Tooling
1. ACF 3-Bay Hopper - Mineral Red BNSF Circle-Cross logo
2. ACF 3-Bay Hopper - Mineral Red BNSF Swoosh logo (Additional Run)
3. PS2-CD - Mineral Red BNSF Circle-Cross Logo
4. PS2-CD - Mineral Red BNSF Swoosh logo (Additional Run, maybe the smaller swoosh version for variety)
5. Bethgon Coalporter - BNSF "Cooper Block"
6. Bethgon Coalporter - BNSF Mineral Red Rotary End
7. Bethgon Coalporter - BNSF Mineral Red Rotary "Flag"
8. Bethgon Coalporter - BN Green/Silver (yes, not BNSF but needed badly for BNSF trains)
9. GP38-2 - BNSF Heritage-I (same scheme as done on the AZL GP30
10. ES44AC - Take a wild guess. (BNSF Heritage-II scheme)
11. 53ft Container - BNSF Circle Logo (full color)
12. 48ft Container - BNSF Circle Logo (full color)
Pending
1. Maxi-I - BNSF Circle Logo
2. Maxi-I BNSF Swoosh Logo
3. ES44DC? - BNSF Heritage-II; Given how close the ES44AC and ES44DC are, I would assume that would be a natural progression and there has been at least some hints to that effect.
4. ES44DC? - BNSF Swoosh
Hopefully Future
1.Trinity 5161cf Covered Hopper - BNSF Mineral Red Circle Logo
2. Trinity 5161cf Covered Hopper - BNSF Mineral Red Swoosh
3. Trinity 5161cf Covered Hopper - BNSF Heritage Schemes (BN, CB&Q, FW&D, C&S, Frisco, SP&S, etc.)
4. Maxi-IV 53ft 3-unit Doublestack Car - BNSF Circle Logo
5. Maxi-IV 53ft 3-unit Doublestack Car - BNSF Swoosh Logo
6. C44-9W - BNSF Heritage-II
7. C44-9W - BNSF Heritage-I
8. C44-9W - BNSF Silver Warbonnet (ATSF) Scheme
9. C44-9W - BNSF Swoosh
10. AC4400 - BNSF Heritage-II Scheme; AZL apparently got at least somewhere down the road with tooling for these, so I figure someday we'll see them.
11. SD40/SD40-2/GP50/GP60/GP60M/Dash8-40B&C(W)/B23-7/SDP40F/GP7/SD9/GP 7/Automax/Thrall Gon/etc/etc/etc....