That E8 is New Jersey Department of Transportation 4272, one of the first three of the type, remanufactured by the Illinois Central Gulf Paducah Shops for the Penn Central (ex-PRR) New York and Long Branch commuter line from Penn Station, NY to Bay Head Junction, NJ. Although the original fleet consisted of ex-PRR E7s and E8s, to which a few ex-NYC E8s were added after the merger, this particular locomotive is a former Illinois Central unit, one of three used to jump-start the program without leaving the commuter line short of power. The real trick was to maintain the same fleet road numbers for accounting purposes, and the actual ex-PRR 4272 came back from its Paducah rebuild later as the 2nd 4305, as an example. The last three remaining, unrebuilt PC units, were then retained by ICG, which replaced those three ICG units on the scrap line. One quick way to tell the ex-IC units in photos, was their use of coil springs in the truck swing hangers, instead of the EMD-standard leaf springs.
|
| Posted by on September 5, 2010 | |
Sweet photo Mike, quite the power!
|
Very nice. That, is a lashup!
|
|