Orseno is retiring after 44 years in railroading and first worked for the Rock Island in the 1970s.
Locomotive No. 425 was unveiled in Chicago on Tuesday and is expected to be put into service on the Rock Island District between Chicago and Joliet this week. The locomotive was already scheduled for repainting when Metra officials decided to honor Orseno with the red-and-yellow paint. Orseno’s name has been added to the front of the locomotive.
“Before he heads off into the next chapter, we wanted to be able to show Don what he’s meant to Metra and the railroad industry,” says incoming CEO and Executive Director Jim Derwinski. “There was no better way to honor a man who has devoted so much of his life to the railroad.”
The red-and-yellow color scheme was designed by Philip Weibler and placed in service on the Rock Island in 1969. Metra also consulted Electro-Motive Diesel, now Progress Rail, which manufactured the first locomotives featuring this color scheme, on the exact color specifications.
