Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Metro-North Railroad has rebranded a fourth locomotive with special colors and designs as part of a Heritage Series to highlight the railroad’s 40 years of service to the public.
Workers at Metro-North’s North White Plains Shop applied a vinyl wrap to locomotive No. 217 paying tribute to the Penn Central Railroad Corp. The train made its debut run on the Hudson Line on Monday, March 11, departing Croton-Harmon station at 7:58 a.m., and arriving at Grand Central Terminal at 8:55 a.m.
“Every new wrapped locomotive reminds us of the incredible history of rail travel in the region that preceded the formation of Metro-North Railroad,” said Metro-North Railroad President Catherine Rinaldi. “These wraps give rail enthusiasts and everyone who uses Metro-North every day an opportunity to step back in time as they travel down the scenic Hudson River.”
In the spring of 1970, the MTA signed an agreement with the Penn Central Railroad to subsidize the operations of the Hudson, Harlem and New Haven commuter rail lines, which would later become the core rail lines that would make up Metro-North Railroad in 1983. One of the stipulations of the subsidy agreement with the MTA was that the Penn Central Railroad would rehabilitate some of its equipment and repaint it in the colors of New York State – bright yellow and medium blue colors.
FL9 locomotives 5014 and 5050 were the first two locomotives painted in this scheme, and these two locomotives were put into service on train 912 from Brewster to Grand Central Terminal on July 28, 1970. In addition to the freshly painted locomotives, a complete set of refurbished coaches filled out this consist of this inaugural run to Grand Central Terminal.
This particular paint scheme of yellow and medium blue could be seen on many of Penn Central’s FL9 locomotives from 1970 until the start of Conrail operations on April 1, 1976.
The third rebranded locomotive, Metro-North’s locomotive No. 211, paid tribute to New York Central, the predecessor railroad that operated on the Hudson and Harlem lines. It made its debut run on the Hudson Line on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023, departing Croton-Harmon station at 7:31 a.m. and arriving at Grand Central Terminal at 8:26 a.m.
The second rebranded locomotive paid tribute to Conrail, the railroad which is Metro-North’s immediate predecessor. The train debuted on the Hudson Line Monday, Aug. 14, 2023, departing the Croton-Harmon station at 7:31 a.m., and arriving at Grand Central Terminal at 8:26 a.m.
The wrap’s design mimics the paint scheme applied to older FL9 locomotives that Conrail operated for the MTA on the Hudson, Harlem, and New Haven Lines from 1976 to 1982. Metro-North’s locomotive No. 201 is one of 31 P32ACDM models the railroad uses to provide service on the northern Hudson and Harlem Lines and the New Haven Line’s Danbury and Waterbury Branches.
The first rebrand in the series was locomotive No. 208, which debuted in May 2023 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 its historic FL9 locomotives and worn by them until the last was retired in April 2007.
The wrapped locomotives will remain in service for the foreseeable future.
