A True Hodgepodge of a Railroad

The locomotive on the front of this post card is a General Electric B23-7.

The "B" refers to that fact that it is a four-axle (B-B) locomotive. The "23" indicates that the horsepower rating is 2,250 h.p. in the traction motors. And the "7" indicates that it was introduced in 1976. The Dash 7 model is similar to the familiar U-Boat locomotives made by General Electric with a few important changes. The length of the locomotive was increased by 2 feet. The radiators used were bigger than those used on the U-Boats. There are two fewer side windows on the main cab. And the hood is wider than the U-Boat between the radiator cabin up to the exhaust stack. The fuel efficiency (because of a smaller 12 cylinder engine) and tractive effort were both improved with this model. A total of 536 B23-7's were built. This locomotive is operating on the Metro-North Commuter Railroad. Metro-North is the descendant of commuter rail services dating back as early as 1832. By 1969, they had all been acquired by Penn Central. The MTA acquired the Harlem, Hudson, and New Haven Lines by 1972, but Penn Central continued to operate them under contract. Service was transferred to Conrail in 1976, when it absorbed most of Penn Central's railroad functions after Penn Central's bankruptcy. The system took its current form in 1983, when the MTA took over direct operation of Conrail's commuter services in the northern portion of the Tri-State Area and formed Metro-North to run them. To understand the title of this particular blog post I recommend that you read the article in Wikipedia here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro-North_Railroad

The photo credit goes to Joseph J. Trifono. The post card was published by Audio Visual Designs out of Earlton, New York.