08/11/2026
Gotta love that red, white and blue combo! 🟥⬜🟦🇺🇸
Finest Indeed!
It's been over a month since this happened so figured it was finally time to start sharing some.
As a small contribution to the Independence Day festivities Keolis/MBTA parked this stunning locomotive on Main 1 in the pocket between the front and back ladders of the Tower A interlocking just outside North Station in plain view for the passengers on every passing train. GP40MC 1776 (former 1131) is the newest 'heritage unit', the sixth of the MBTA's planned 8 (or maybe 10) unit fleet of 'heritage' locomotives dressed in one of a kind colors. While the first five were painted to pay homage to the system's early years and its historic predecessors this one wears red, white and blue in honor of the 250th Anniversary of American independence. This gorgeous contribution to an ever growing list of patriotic locomotives done up by railroads from coast to coast could also be considered a true 'heritage unit' as the scheme very faithfully mirrors that worn by Boston and Maine Railroad 200, a GP38-2 specially painted for the Bicentennial a half century ago.
She complements Old Glory which flys proudly atop the Boston Sand and Gravel complex which is the last major freight customer in the terminal, and continues to be served two or three nights a week by CSXT train L065 from Dover, NH (former Pan Am Railways DOBO) which runs thru with New Hampshire Northcoast power.
Oh, and since I know you all love coming here for irreverent non-railroad facts here is something I learned researching this caption. Boston Sand's current President and CEO is Dean Boylan Jr. He is at least a third generation employee of the company that has been in business since 1914. But the cool fact I discovered is that his father, Dean M. Boylan Sr. who became president of Boston Sand in 1956 did something far greater for the community than supply concrete. In 1959 he was one of the 10 founders of the American Football League's Boston Patriots that in 1970 joined the NFL and in 1971 moved to Foxborough to became the New England Patriots....and the rest is history.
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Saturday July 4, 2026
