By Otto M. Vondrak
As part of its year-long celebration honoring 40 years of service, Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Metro-North Railroad unveiled its third locomotive wrapped in a special design paying tribute to predecessor railroads. Workers at Metro-North’s North White Plains Shop applied a special vinyl wrap to P32AC-DM 211 paying tribute to New York Central Railroad, the predecessor that operated on the Hudson and Harlem lines out of Grand Central Terminal until 1968. The well-known two-tone gray “lightning stripe” design was first introduced on New York Central streamlined diesels in the 1940s. The heritage unit will make its official debut run on the Hudson Line, on Tuesday, November 14, departing Croton-Harmon station at 7:31 a.m., and arriving at Grand Central Terminal at 8:26 a.m.
“Every new wrapped locomotive seems to look better than the next, which just speaks to the talent of the Metro-North workforce,” said Metro-North Railroad President Catherine Rinaldi in a press release. “Rail enthusiasts around the region are excited about the launch of this latest Heritage locomotive, and the first run will be on one of New York Central’s original routes, making for an even more scenic morning ride down the Hudson.”
Skilled craft workers at Metro-North’s North White Plains Shop applied a vinyl wrap to Metro-North’s locomotive No. 211. The wrap pays tribute to New York Central, the predecessor railroad that operated on the Hudson and Harlem lines. —Emily Moser/MTA Metro-North Railroad
The first in Metro-North’s heritage series was locomotive 208, which made its debut in May, with a vinyl wrap of silver, blue, and red to pay homage to Metro-North’s original design. The design was created upon the railroad’s founding in 1983 for the railroad’s FL9 locomotives and worn by them until the last were retired in 2007.
The second rebranded locomotive paid tribute to Conrail, the railroad which is Metro-North’s immediate predecessor that operated commuter service on behalf of the MTA from 1976 until 1983. Locomotive 201 made its debut back in August, with a blue-and-yellow design that pays tribute to the paint scheme applied to the railroad’s fleet of FL9s in the 1970s and 1980s.
According to reports, two additional wraps are expected to pay tribute to predecessor Penn Central (operator of commuter service from 1968 through 1976), and a tribute to Metro-North employees. A subsidiary of the MTA, Metro-North was created in 1983 to take over operation of the Harlem and Hudson lines in New York, contract operation of the New Haven Line for Connecticut DOT, and a portion of the Port Jervis and Pascack Valley lines shared with NJ Transit operating out of Hoboken, N.J.
