BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has placed a newly overhauled locomotive into service wearing the original MBTA paint scheme.
GP40MC No. 1130, a rebuilt ex-Canadian National GP40-2LW, entered service on Tuesday, Oct. 21, wearing the scheme last used by the MBTA more than 20 years ago. It joins F40PH-3C No. 1030, painted to honor the Boston & Maine, one of the commuter operators preceding the MBTA. [see “News photos: MBTA introduces …,” Trains.com, Sept. 9, 2025]. Two additional heritage units will be introduced soon, honoring the New Haven and New York Central. No. 1130 was introduced in a media event Tuesday at Boston’s North Station
Reminds me of the Erie-Lackawanna paint scheme.
Good catch, Roger. MBTA’s lavender isn’t that far off from Erie-Lackawanna maroon, and the deployment of the reddish, yellow and greyish colors is quite similar.
I don’t recall ever seeing the yellow on MBTA’s nose from twenty years ago, even though I’ve never gone more than a few years without going home to my Bay State family. I only recall the lavender, back then and now.
The lavender for commuter rail continues MBTA color coding. Yellow for buses. Red, Green Blue and Orange, and more recently Silver, for the original four, now five, transit lines. The lavender was next-to-last last (suburban trains came to MBTA after buses and subways) but has been used for over fifty years. The Silver Line, sort-of express bus diesel/ electric dual mode, is the newest.
I like the simplicity of the livery. Also like the reporting marks on the long hood, though I would have made them bigger.
Let’s put this one to a vote.