NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. — The new year brings two new looks for the Florida East Coast Railway. A paint scheme unveiling for employees and invited guests took place at the Class II’s locomotive facility on Jan. 18, 2024.
GE ES44C4 Nos. 816 and 820 debuted in what is to be the new official look for the railroad. As a subsidiary of Grupo México since 2017 [see “Report: Ferromex owner negotiating to acquire…,” March 27, 2017], the style replicates the scheme of FEC’s sister railroad, Ferromex of Mexico. It has been reported that Florida East Coast’s remaining six-axle units and fuel tenders for the liquefied natural gas locomotives will be repainted with the new look, replacing the historic red and yellow Champion color scheme.
EMD GP40-2 No. 430 was also revealed in a specifically designed color scheme with yellow ribbons honoring U.S. veterans.
“It was great to spend time today at FEC’s New Smyrna Beach shop for the unveiling of our new locomotive paint scheme, as well as FEC-430 to commemorate our Veterans,” Bernardo Ayala, CEO of Grupo México Transportes, U.S. division, states in a LinkedIn post.
A shame that FEC is no longer U.S. owned, and the new owner is deleting the attractive and historic red and yellow Champion color scheme. It seems of late the U.S. is for sale including our major companies as well as Chinese ownership of farmland.
The Ferromex scheme is nothing to write home about, so this is unfortunate but not surprising. What a terrible choice for corporate colors. Why not use the rainbow colors that adorn the Fentanyl tablets made in Mexico? They seem to be Mexico’s #1 export product at the moment. (Sarcasm)
Looks good to me!!
Ugly
The new scheme isn’t quite as blah as the dip blue with the hurricane logo, but it’s close. Neither of them is anywhere near as good as the red-and-yellow scheme.
Pine all you want. The railroad is owned by a Mexican company. It’s their choice.
Yeah they were going for a “Ferromex look” on Florida East Coast.
Yuck. (It’s not a bad look but it’s replacing something that doesn’t need replacement.)
No, give me the blue paint scheme with storm/hurricane logo that “says” FEC.
Black engine in the state of Florida, seems they might want a lighter color, due to heat in the engine cab. Hhmmm
Totally agree with concerns about visibility at grade crossings.
It’s okay, but with the high number of grade crossing accidents down here, and the public used to seeing a yellow nose on FEC freights and Brightline, the dark gray may be problematic.
Clean look, yet I still prefer the old “storm” logo. I’ll be on the lookout for these two this weekend.
Yes, the FEC “storm logo” was classic to Florida East Coast. The new look is nice, but…