Former Southern, NS diesel now playing major role for Pennsylvania’s Colebrookdale Railroad

BOYERTOWN, Pa. — A former Southern Railway and Norfolk Southern diesel has found a new home — and a new look — on Pennsylvania’s Colebrookdale Railroad.

High-nose GP38-2 No. 5128, built by EMD in 1974, has been acquired by the Colebrookdale Railroad Preservation Trust thanks to a gift from Scott and Susan Bentley, and now wears the railroad’s Victorian blue and gold paint. It was purchased at a 2017 auction. The locomotive will allow push-pull operations along with Colebrookdale GP10 No. 73236, eliminating run-around moves and increasing capacity for both passenger and freight moves.

“When Susan and I provided the funds for the Colebrookdale Railroad to purchase No. 5128, I had no idea how much I would enjoy accompanying [Colebrookdale founder] Nathaniel Guest to the auction,” Scott Bentley said in a press release. “It has been a matter of great pride to help the railroad acquire a second locomotive to provide reliable passenger and freight service — and I’m thrilled with how good it looks now in its new paint job.”

Another supporter, Robert Hart Sr., helped fund the repainting of the unit into the paint scheme featuring gold pinstripes reflecting the livery of the railroad’s first-class coaches.

“When Nathaniel showed me a rendering of 5128 in Colebrookdale colors, I knew I wanted to help make that vision real,” Hart says. “Funding the paint work was my way of letting this locomotive shine again, and I’m delighted with how she turned out.”

Engineer Andrew Sellers, who was part of the team that did the paint work, says the locomotive “is the backbone of our railroad services. … I think that the engine looks fabulous.”

The unit is now in regular service on the heritage railway, which also operates freight service as the Eastern Berks Gateway Railroad. For more information, visit the Colebrookdale Railroad website.