NJDOT Heritage Locomotive
Last month, the New Jersey Transit commuter rail system repainted one of its GP40PH-2 locomotives (originally built as GP40P’s by Electro-Motive) in the commemorative “Bluebird” scheme of the New Jersey Department of Transportation, a transition between private passenger service and subsidized commuter rail operation. To my knowledge, the GP40P’s were delivered in the Central Railroad of New Jersey schemes instead of the NJDOT colors. In fact, another locomotive was also repainted in the CNJ livery for NJ Transit’s heritage program three years ago. However, the Erie-Lackawanna began receiving the U34CH diesels from General Electric in 1970, two years after the EMD GP40P’s were built. These passenger-duty U-boats were actually delivered in the NJDOT paint schemes with E-L logos. It’s fascinating to see the transitional commuter rail liveries being resurrected like the ones Metra did for a couple of its units.
Photo courtesy of NJ Transit
