Heritage Series Celebrates its 40-Year History of Public Service by Honoring Predecessors with Wrapped and Painted Locomotives
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Metro-North Railroad today unveiled its seventh rebranded locomotive as part of a Heritage Series to highlight the railroad’s 40 years of service to the public. Unlike the previous six rebrands which wrapped the engines, the rebranding of locomotive No. 203 was painted by Metro-North employees in the North White Plains Paint Shop.
"This locomotive is a celebration of Metro-North's rich history," said Metro-North Railroad President Justin Vonashek. "This locomotive, like everything we do at Metro-North, is a testament to the hard work of our employees and the progress we've made over the last 40 years."
Locomotive #203 was overhauled and repainted to replicate a paint scheme applied by the MTA in 1979 on a group of seven Conrail dual-mode diesel-electric locomotives. They were the first to sport the “MTA Central” scheme, with a silver aluminum-painted car body with a blue stripe, since the locomotives were intended to operate on the former New York Central’s Hudson & Harlem lines. These original locomotives were transferred from Conrail to Metro-North upon that railroad’s inauguration on Jan. 1, 1983, and continued in service for nearly another 20 years before being succeeded in the early 2000s by the currently operating locomotives.
Employees got a first look at the locomotive today and is expected to make its inaugural passenger service run on Friday, June 20. All Heritage Series locomotives are in service on Metro-North’s Hudson, Harlem and New Haven Lines, and can be seen on any train that normally operates with the railroad’s dual-mode diesel/electric locomotives.
The sixth commemorative locomotive debuted in February 2025 and was wrapped in an olive green and a dandelion yellow vinyl, the paint scheme employed on New Haven Railroad locomotives until 1954.
The fifth commemorative locomotive expanded upon the originally envisioned Heritage Series, wrapping engine No. 214 to pay tribute to the Metro-North workforce. Instead of a scheme adapted from one of the railroad’s predecessors, the wrap pays tribute to the Metro-North workforce, featuring 2,000 pictures of past and present Metro-North workers.
The fourth locomotive hit the rails in March 2024, and paid tribute to Penn Central, the 1968 merger of the New York Central and Pennsylvania Railroads, which also absorbed the New Haven Railroad in 1969.
The third rebranded locomotive paid tribute to New York Central, the predecessor railroad that built and operated the Hudson and Harlem lines. Metro-North’s locomotive No. 211 made its debut run in NYC’s stylish lightning-stripe paint scheme on the Hudson Line on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023.
The second rebranded locomotive paid tribute to Conrail, the railroad which is Metro-North's immediate predecessor. The engine made its debut on the Hudson Line on Monday, Aug. 14, 2023. The design of the wrap mimics the paint scheme applied to older FL9 dual-mode locomotives that Conrail operated for the MTA over the Hudson, Harlem, and New Haven Lines from 1976 to 1982.
The first rebrand paid homage to Metro-North’s original design. Locomotive No. 208, which made its debut in May 2023, was wrapped in silver, blue and red vinyl. The design was created upon the railroad’s founding in 1983 for the railroad’s historic FL9 locomotives and worn by them until the last was retired in April 2007.