A heritage unit or commemorative locomotive is a railroad locomotive painted in an honorary paint scheme; usually the paint scheme is that of a now-defunct railroad that merged with or was acquired by the locomotive's owner.
Among North American railroads
Heritage units are popular among North American railroads. As of 2023, most Class I railroads have official heritage units, the only exception being the BNSF Railway.
The Union Pacific Railroad painted six EMD SD70ACes in stylized paint schemes of six of its predecessors between 2005 and 2006. The Norfolk Southern Corporation did the same in 2012 with 20 of its locomotives for its 30th Railroad Anniversary. 10 of them are EMD SD70ACes, while the others are GE ES44AC units. For its 40th anniversary in 2011, Amtrak painted four GE P42DCs, a P40DC, and an NPCU into its older paint schemes. Six more locomotives, a Siemens ALC-42 Charger and five P42DCs, were painted for its 50th anniversary in 2021.
In 2019, the Canadian Pacific Railway, now Canadian Pacific Kansas City, painted ten EMD SD70ACU units CP 7010-7019 in a maroon and gray paint scheme with a different font style. In late 2020, the Canadian National Railway revealed five new heritage units in addition to two sets of yard slugs (CN 7600, CN 600, painted in CNs yellow and green scheme), and CN 7601, and 601m painted in the Illinois Central deathstar scheme, after they had been first spotted a month earlier. These included four GE ET44ACs and one EMD SD70M-2. They were painted in honor of the 25th anniversary of CN's initial public offering. Beginning in 2023, CSX revealed its first of many heritage units, ES44AH 1827 with a Baltimore & Ohio paint scheme.
List of heritage units
Below is a list of heritage units in active service by various railroads.
RailroadRoad numberPaint schemeLocomotive modelAlaska Railroad4328F-Unit SchemeEMD SD70MACAmtrak130Phase IIGE P42DC145Phase III160Dash 8 Phase III "Pepsi Can"164Phase IV90406 (formerly #406)Phase IIIEMD NPCU (former EMD F40PH)301"Day 1" liverySiemens ALC-42Ann Arbor (Watco)3879Ann ArborEMD GP38Berkshire and Eastern7879G&W "Whisker Stripes"GE C40-8WCalifornia Northern2403KLW SE24BCanadian National600Classic CN GreenEMD GY430A (slug)601Illinois Central3008GE ET44AC3023Elgin, Joliet & Eastern3069Wisconsin Central3115BC Rail7600Classic CN GreenEMD GP40-37601Illinois Central8952Grand Trunk WesternEMD SD70M-2Canadian Pacific Kansas City3084CP Tuscan red and grey (script writing)EMD GP38-2CP 7010,7012–7014EMD SD70ACUCP 7015–7019CP Tuscan red and grey (block writing)Carolina Coastal1501Norfolk Southern (1942–1982)EMD GP15-1Chicago, Fort Wayne and Eastern4032G&W "Whisker Stripes"GE C40-8W4034Cincinnati Eastern2301Illinois TerminalEMD SD40-2CSXHLS1Chessie System & Chesapeake & OhioEMD SD45-2 (Load Test Unit)1-3Baltimore & OhioEMD F40PH-21827GE ES44AH1834Georgia1836RF&P1850Louisville & Nashville1851NC&StL1852Western Maryland1853New York Central1869Chesapeake & Ohio1871Atlantic Coast Line1875Pittsburgh & Lake Erie1877C&EI1897Monon1899Pere Marquette1900Seaboard Air Line1902Clinchfield1967Seaboard Coast Line1972Family Lines System1973Chessie System1976Conrail1981Pan Am1982Seaboard SystemDelaware-Lackawanna Railroad4068Delaware and HudsonALCo RS-32452Erie LackawannaALCO C4252461East Midlands Railway43102InterCity (British Rail)Repaint for record-breaker as EMR marks end of HSTs Rail issue 926 10 March 2021 page 30British Rail Class 43Genesee & Wyoming125G&W "Whisker Stripes"EMD GP38-21899GE C44-9W4055GE C40-8WGeorgia Central543GE B32-8GB Railfreight66789BR "Large Logo" blueBritish Rail Class 6666793Trainload Freight Construction 69002BR "Large Logo" blueBritish Rail Class 6969004Railway Technical Centre blue and red livery69005BR Green with half-height yellow warning ends 69007BR Corporate blue69009BR Maroon with white cabs69012Two tone BR Green73128Network SouthEastBritish Rail Class 73Green Mountain Railroad405Rutland RailroadALCO RS-1Huron and Eastern3865G&W "Whisker Stripes"EMD GP38-23866Indiana and Ohio4078GE C40-8W4091Iowa Interstate513Rock IslandGE ES44AC516Kereta Api IndonesiaCC201 83 31DKA cream & green 1953-1991 schemeGE U18CCC201 83 34CC201 92 01CC201 92 06Perumka white one-off 1997 schemeCC201 83 46Perumka red & blue 1991-2007 schemeCC201 83 48CC201 89 12CC201 89 15CC201 93 01CC202 90 02DKA cream & green 1953-1991 schemeEMD G26CC202 08 07CC203 95 01GE U20CCC203 02 03Perumka white with blue stripe prototype 1995 schemeCC204 03 01Perumka white with blue stripe 1995-2012 schemeGE C18mmiCC206 13 25DKA cream & green 1953-1991 schemeGE CM20EMPCC206 16 02Perumka red & blue 1991-2007 schemeLake State Railway6437Pere MarquetteEMD SD70MLocomotive Services Limited37140BR BlueBritish Rail Class 3737401BR "Large Logo" Blue37409ScotRailD6817BR GreenD6851BR Green43046 Midland Pullman British Rail Class 43 430474304943050430554305843059D1944Two-tone BR GreenBritish Rail Class 4747593BR "Large Logo" BlueD1935Two-tone BR GreenD19244783047853BR Corporate Blue57003BR Railfreight DistributionBritish Rail Class 5760081Great Western Railway GreenBritish Rail Class 60Long Island Rail Road1011979 Blue & WhiteEMD SW1001521LIRR Bicentennial/America 250EMD DM30ACMarquette Rail2042G&W "Whisker Stripes"EMD GP38-2Maryland Midland2060Maryland MidlandEMD GP38-3MBTA Commuter Rail1030Boston & Maine ("Minuteman")EMD F40PH-3C1036New York Central1071New Haven ("McGinnis")1072Boston & Maine ("McGinnis")1128New HavenGMD GP40MC-311291980s-era MBTA (maroon with silver bar)1130Original MBTA LiveryMetra90Chicago & North WesternEMD F59PHI211Burlington RouteEMD F40PHM-3405Milwaukee RoadMPI MP36PH-3C425Rock Island500RTAEMD SD70MACHMissouri and Northern Arkansas3598G&W "Whisker Stripes"EMD GP38-2Metro-North/CTDOT201ConrailGE P32AC-DM2031979 "MTA Central"208 1980s-era Metro-North211New York Central217Penn Central222New Haven (Brunswick Green) 228-231New Haven ("McGinnis")NJ Transit1319LackawannaArrow III1502/1503Penn Central4109Jersey CentralEMD GP40PH-24101New Jersey DOT (Bluebird) 4202Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore LinesEMD GP40PH-2B4208Conrail4210Erie4519Erie LackawannaBombardier ALP-45DP4636PennsylvaniaBombardier ALP-46A46401980s-era NJTNew York, Susquehanna and Western3024Silver and Red Stripe EMD SD40-2NCDOT1893Original Piedmont Livery (30th Anniversary)EMD F59PHNorfolk Southern1065Savannah & AtlantaEMD SD70ACe1066New York Central1067Reading1068Erie1069Virginian1070Wabash1071Jersey Central1072Illinois Terminal1073Penn Central1074Lackawanna1080Delaware & Hudson1700Erie LackawannaEMD SD45-24851TAG RouteGE AC44C6M5260Belt LineEMD GP38-28025MonongahelaGE ES44AC8098Conrail8099Southern8100Nickel Plate Road8101Central of Georgia8102Pennsylvania8103Norfolk & Western8104Lehigh Valley8105Interstate8114Norfolk Southern (1942–1982)Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District31980s South Shore Line SchemeNippon Sharyo EMU25NSW TrainlinkXP2006, XP2009, and a set of carsState Rail Authority "Candy"New South Wales XPTOhio Central2014G&W "Whisker Stripes"EMD GP38-2Ontario Northland1730Classic ON SchemeEMD SD40-2Reading Blue Mountain and Northern1983Blue Mountain and ReadingEMD SD40-2Nordic Re-finance AB1166Amtrak X995 Phase IISJ RC4Rock Island (2017)2127Rock Island 1975 SchemeGE C40-8SEPTA Regional Rail276Pennsylvania RailroadSilverliner IV280, 293Reading Lines304Conrail401Penn CentralSEPTA Metro101Philadelphia & West Chester Traction Co.Kawasaki K-car9000, 91001980s-era SEPTAShenandoah Valley367Norkfolk and WesternALCO RS-115940Chesapeake & OhioEMD GP96512Baltimore & OhioSt. Lawrence and Atlantic4022G&W "Whisker Stripes"EMD SD70MAC4024Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis1797Wiggins Ferry CompanyEMD slug1889EMD SD60Union Pacific1982Missouri PacificEMD SD70ACe1983Western Pacific1988Katy1989Rio Grande1995Chicago & North Western1996Southern PacificWheeling and Lake Erie101P&WVEMD GP35107AC&Y
Notes
References
External links
Heritage Units