Howdy folks,
As a (small) part of a thesis I am drafting, I created a graph showing the steady (and recent) rise in the number of "heritage" units painted for veterans, the military, or similar, based on internet research. Two trends jumped out at me from the graph: 1. the big jump in the number of units, and railroads with units, starting in 2015, and 2. the longevity of these units; unlike the Desert Storm locomotives, none have been repainted into standard colors yet (though MRL is rumored to be removing their vinyl Veterans stickers soon).
Aside from NJ Transit and their "Armed Forces" ALP45DP, what shortlines have tried similar commemorations? Dates of painting (and if applicable, retirement/repainting) would be very helpful, because I would like to flesh out this dataset even more.
I've seen Trains run stories, for example, on a shortline near Norfolk, and I think the Louisville and Indiana and Western New York & Pennsylvania recently repainted a unit.
Railroad | Year | Locomotive |
Union Pacific | 2017 | Armed Forces Locomotive |
Union Pacific | 1991 | Desert Storm |
Burlington Northern | 1991 | Desert Storm |
Conrail | 1991 | Desert Storm |
Norfolk Southern | 2015 | First Responders |
CSX | 2019 | First Responders |
Union Pacific | 2005 | HW Bush Loco |
CSX | 2019 | Military |
CSX | 2019 | Police |
Norfolk Southern | 2015 | Training First Responders |
Amtrak | 2013 | Veterans (P42DC) |
Amtrak | 2015 | Veterans (NPCU) |
Amtrak | 2016 | Veterans (ACS-64) |
Amtrak | 2016 | Veterans (NPCU) |
Norfolk Southern | 2012 | Veterans |
Montana Rail Link | 2020 | Veterans |
Kansas City Southern | 2018 | Veterans |
Indiana Harbor Belt | 2021 | Veterans |
Canadian National | 2020 | Veterans (US) |
Canadian National | 2020 | Veterans (Canada) |
Canadian Pacific | 2019 | Veterans/military (Navy) |
Canadian Pacific | 2019 | Veterans/military (NATO) |
Canadian Pacific | 2019 | Veterans/military (desert) |
Canadian Pacific | 2019 | Veterans/military (Army |
Canadian Pacific | 2019 | Veterans/military (Air Force) |
