SAGINAW, Mich. — Lake State Railway has introduced a special paint scheme one of its SD70M locomotives to celebrate the upcoming 250th anniversary of American independence.
SD70M No. 1776, unveiled earlier this month, wears a paint scheme designed by Travis Vongrey, a second-generation Lake State railroad and currently supervisor of yard operations. His design was inspired by prior 1976 bicentennial units and a Burlington Northern SD60M painted in 1991 to support U.S. troops in the Desert Storm operation.
“Our company was supportive of doing a 250th paint scheme to celebrate this great country, and as a nod to the patriotism demonstrated during the bicentennial by the railroads,” said Lake State President and CEO Mike Stickel. “Travis did a fantastic job creating a paint scheme incorporating our corporate image with inspiration from other historical paint schemes.”
The SD70M has become the backbone of the LSRC fleet. The railroad now rosters eight SD70M locomotives, all from an order originally delivered to Union Pacific in the early 2000s.
“The LSRC 1776 was a very special project for us,” said Vongrey. “We really came together as a team to create something unique while using inspiration from the past.”
Vongray was also involved in the concept and design of Lake State’s locomotive honoring the predecessor Pere Marquette Railway [see “Lake State Railway unveils locomotive …,” Trains.com, Aug. 22, 2025].
As I look at the unit, it definitely resembles the former BN unit I had seen at the time in Everett, WA.