By William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-Chief, Railway Age Magazine; July 16, 2019
New Jersey Transit is marking its 40th anniversary this month, and among other activities is rolling out six MultiLevel “Heritage Coaches” decorated with the logos of several predecessor railroads that came together to form the agency’s 660-route-mile, statewide regional/commuter rail network—Pennsylvania Railroad, Central Railroad of New Jersey, Erie-Lackawanna, Conrail, Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines—and the agency that created NJT in 1979, the New Jersey Department of Transportation.
Several NJT Rail Operations employees brought to the attention of senior staff that other railroads have adopted similar programs to honor their history. For example, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific both have Heritage Fleets consisting of modern diesel-electric locomotives in liveries that are contemporary interpretations of predecessor railroads. NJT’s Heritage Coach project was developed, at no extra cost to the agency, with Intersection.