Preamble Express Locomotive #2312

The Preamble Express was initially lead by Delaware & Hudson #2312, repainted for service on this special train.

Artist Bob Lorenz designed the paint scheme.

The handsome U23B was built by General Electric as Delaware & Hudson 312, later changed to 2312. It and pulled the four cars of the Preamble Express to two dozen eastern and mid-western cities in the summer of 1974 to pave the way for the American Freedom Train the following year.

But when General Motors signed on as one of the first million-dollar sponsors of the AFT, a change was inevitable...

Number 2312 was replaced ~ August 10 at Omaha by Union Pacific E-9A number 951, a GM-built locomotive, which pulled the Preamble Express for the rest of its 48-state tour.

Image: John Muldowney. Lebanon, NJ. July 1974. Keith Muldowney collection.

According to Keith Muldowney, who lived and worked aboard the Preamble Express, other motive power was used here and there. "The 951's clearances would not allow it to run under the catenary of the NE corridor, so it was removed from the train in Wilmington, DE. A Penn Central GG-1 pulled the train from Wilmington to New Haven, CT and a Penn Central Geep took us to Providence, RI."

Image: Keith Muldowney.

After its time on the Preamble Express it was repainted, preserving parts of its Preamble paint scheme, and served as one of the D&H's Bicentennial-themed diesels, as road number 1776. Later it was transferred to the Maine Central Railroad as #291. Keith Muldowney, Mechanical Supervisor on the Preamble Express, tells us the loco was scrapped in Maine some years ago. According to Jack Armstrong (via John Lewis) it was scrapped by Midwest Steel & Alloy at Waterville, Maine in 1988.

Image: Keith Muldowney. At Fargo, ND.

A very rare shot of 2312 seen in transition paint after running on the Preamble Express.

The locomotive would soon be repainted into a similar Bicentennial paint scheme, retaining many of these graphic elements, but using a much lighter blue. The locomotive later went to the Maine Central Railroad as 291. It was scrapped in 1988.

Image: Robert A. Staples. From his internet series of the D&H on the Albany to Binghamton mainline.

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