Eastern Railroad Discussion > NS C40-9 Question

How long did these units have the "Horsehead" graphics/paint scheme but without the white cab face?  Just curious if this look existed for a long time, and about how many units received this treatment, and when the white cab face was instituted.

Thanks,
Sean McCaffery

Sean:

When the NS "horsehead" logo was introduced in 2002, initially the standard was that locomotives with standard cabs and low short hoods received a "unibrow" treatment, with only the area around the numberboards painted white. This can be seen in this photo of NS GP38-2 rebuild 5553 (the first unit to receive the "horsehead" scheme) by Steven Geisler:

NS 5553 with unibrow

The first widenose locomotives with the "horsehead" logo received full "whiteface" treatment that included the area around and above the front cab windows, as can be seen in this photo of NS 9786 taken by Ed Durnwald:

NS 9786 in full whiteface scheme

In August 2003, NS stopped applying the full whiteface treatment to widenose units, adopting the "unibrow" style for those as well, a standard which continues today.

So, to answer your question regarding the NS Dash 9-40C's, although the "unibrow" style was the standard, the first Dash 9-40C to be repainted with the horsehead logo, NS 8885 in April 2003, received no additional white on the front at all, as can be seen in this photo from Mike Ray:

NS 8885 in horsehead without unibrow

Subsequent Dash 9-40C repaints received the "unibrow" style, the only exceptions being units that had only the engine compartment repainted following engine fires. Here is a link to a photo of NS 8884 in the "unibrow" style from Dave Williams:

NS 8884 in horsehead with unibrow

All of the NS Dash 9-40C's received the "horsehead" scheme, except 8824, which still retains its original paint with older ===NS logo.

The full list of NS "horsehead" painted units can be found on my website here:

NS Horsehead List


Chris Toth
NSDash9.com

8885 was repainted again a few years ago ,   this time it got the brow.      photo from my website

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Thanks for your help, Chris and M!  I should have described it as the "unibrow" versus the white cab face as I recognize there is a difference.  I appreciate your feedback, and pictures in answering my question.

-Sean