A Metro North P32AC pulled a “MaxiBomb” consist (7 Bombardier passenger cars) through Riverdale on the Hudson Division in Sunday morning fog. The engine wears a heritage wrap commemorating the days when Conrail ran commuter service here between 1976 and 1982. The blue and yellow New York State colors which once adorned Conrail’s old FL9 locomotives on this route to signal the service was run under contract with the state/MTA were introduced pre-Conrail by PennCentral with a darker blue when the ex-New Haven Railroad FL9s were brought to these old New York Central routes in the early 1970s.

The P32’s paint scheme is part of a nationwide appeal to nostalgia for “fallen flag” railroads, but those who actually commuted on Conrail probably don’t have fond memories—service was terrible and the badly maintained FL9s broke down frequently, though the 1950s era engines at the time were no older then the P32ACs are today. The old FL9s also rarely (or never?) looked so well painted—often the old PennCentral logo could be seen showing through the Conrail paint as in my old photos from the early Metro North era below show. Conrail continues to exist as a track owning joint venture of CSX and Norfolk Southern but does not have any locomotives of its own. Probably some younger commuters see the logo and get confused.