With America’s 250th anniversary just a year away, railroads from coast to coast are kicking off the celebration with locomotives painted in patriotic shades of red, white, and blue. So far, at least four locomotives have been painted by short lines and tourist railroads. The newest addition arrived on July 4, when the Nevada Northern Railway Museum unveiled SD9 250.
The former Southern Pacific unit arrived on the Nevada Northern in the 1990s and has been used for excursion service since the early 2000s. The engine previously wore blue and yellow paint and the number 204. Last year, the railroad held a contest to design the Semiquincentennial scheme. The winning design by Ryan C. Boettcher was inspired by the livery worn by the original railroad’s only SD7, dubbed “The Desert Warbonnet.”
But Nevada Northern isn’t the only railroad to start celebrating, and we’re confident it won’t be the last.
The first Semiquincentennial unit came in 2023, when Pennsylvania & Southern Railway, which works in the old Letterkenny Army Depot, painted up SW1200RS 16. The locomotive was named the Ben Franklin because the railroad runs through Franklin County. Photo by M.T. Burkhart.
This summer, Wheeling & Lake Erie painted up an SD40-2 (ex-Union Pacific) and renumbered it 1776. The locomotive is still receiving some mechanical work and was expected to enter service later this year. Photo Courtesy of W&LE.
East Penn Railroad unveiled its own 1776 in June at Kennett Square, Pa. The short line operates on more than 100 miles of track in Pennsylvania and Delaware. Photo by Steve Barry.
