The Juniata Paint Shop

The names Altoona and Juniata have always been significant in the locomotive repair industry since PRR days. Probably the most noticable display of Juniata's fine workmanship, particularly in terms of quality and durability, is the work done by the paint shop personnel. After an April 1981 fire destroyed a neighboring building to the existing paint shop, Conrail seized an apportinity and built a brand new, modern, state-of-the-art, paint shop next to the former paint shop. Completed in 1982, this new paint shop has enabled Conrail, and now Norfolk Southern, to keep durable coats of paint on their locomotive fleet. There have been many outside contracts solely for the purpose of a repaint. Since at least 1994, the Juniata paint shop has used only Dupont Imron paint, an extremely durable, and expensive paint. Just look at how well the paint is holding up on the 14-year-old (as of 2009) SD60Is that are still blue.

The first step is cleaning. This normally takes two men 10 hours to ready a locomotive for sanding. Second, it takes about 90 man-hours to sand down a locomotive to the metal. There is usually some amount of body putty applied to units being repainted. From primer to stenciling, it takes about 18 hours to paint an entire locomotive inside and out.

Pictured here are just a handful of the thousands of locomotives painted by the Juniata Paint Shop.

Work In Progress - Let me know if you can provide shots of the following:

CR 6726, 1992 Olympics
CR 6288, United Way

	Paint Date: Photo Date: When PRR 1361 was removed from display at the Horseshoe Curve in the early 1980's, this GP9 took its place. Conrail painted it up in PRR colors, but it has since been repainted. Photo by William Davis Jr
	Paint Date: Photo Date: July 1989 Conrail SD40 6300 wearing the "Buy and Hold US Savings Bonds" lettering. Photo by Gordon Lloyd Jr
	Paint Date: c.1991 Photo Date: Specially painted load test unit Q1. Photo by Gerry Carry
	Paint Date: Photo Date: December 1993 Conrail SD50 6707 helps to support our troops during Desert Storm. Photo by Gordon Lloyd Jr
	Paint Date: Photo Date: September 1993 Special Philadelphia Division decal. Photo by Bill Hough
	Paint Date: Photo Date: September 2004 One of 27 P32AC-DMs completed for Metro-North at Juniata in the 1990s These units were slowly being rebuilt by GE in the late 2000s and repainted at Juniata into a more pleasing scheme. Photo by David Sommer
	Paint Date: March 1983 (originally) Photo Date: October 1998 Juniata painted all three Executive E8s. CR 4022 is seen here on display next to the power plant. Photo by Ralph Bonnano
	Paint Date: June 1992 Date: June 1992 CR 6373 wears a special paint scheme for the USCF Olympic Road Trials. Photo by Kevin Galau
	Paint Date: September 1993 Date: October 1993 FEC 442 and 443 pose outside the Juniata Testshed. Photo by Terry Nardella, collection of Steve Ondik/CRHS
	Paint Date: November 1993 Date: November 1993 An MT-6 slug has been repainted. This one went to CSXT. Photo by Terry Nardella, collection of Steve Ondik/CRHS
	Paint Date: November 1993 Date: November 1993 This former MGA unit has just been upgraded from a B23-7R to a B30-7R and repainted. Photo by Terry Nardella, collection of Steve Ondik/CRHS
	Paint Date: November 1993 Date: December 1993 This NJ Transit GP40PH-2B was extensively rebuilt from a Conrail GP40. Photo by Terry Nardella, collection of Steve Ondik/CRHS
	Paint Date: March 1994 Date: April 1994 Freshly painted B23-7. Photo by Terry Nardella, collection of Steve Ondik/CRHS
	Paint Date: September 1994 Date: September 1994 A Conrail C40-8W sits east of the paint shop. Photo by Terry Nardella, collection of Steve Ondik/CRHS
	Paint Date: March 1995 Date: March 1995 This MT-4 slug was retired just 7 months after it was painted. Photo by Terry Nardella, collection of Steve Ondik/CRHS
	Paint Date: August 1995 Photo Date: May 2007 This is one of several SD60I's built in Altoona under contract for EMD and Conrail in 1994 and 1995.
	Paint Date: January 1996 Photo Date: Spring 2002 Juniata painted the SD80MAC's in a new paint scheme to make them stand out from DC traction units.
	Paint Date: May 1996 Photo Date: March 2007 The last existing E7 was cosmetically restored by the Juniata Shop after it was saved from the scrapper's torch. Photo by Lance Myers
	Paint Date: October 1997 Photo Date: October 1997 This NJ Transit F40PH-2CAT was converted from a F40PH-2. Photo by Ralph Bonnano
	Paint Date: May 1998 Photo Date: October 2003 This blue SD70MAC is working for CSXT.
	Paint Date: September 1998 Photo Date: September 1998 Built and freshly paint in Altoona, NS 2574 is on display next to the General Office Building. Photo by Ralph Bonnano
	Paint Date: November 1998 Photo Date: November 1998 BNSF SD70MAC built at Juniata.
	Paint Date: February 1999 Photo Date: June 2002 Standard paint C40-9W departing Altoona. Photo by Lance Myers
	Paint Date: November 1999 Photo Date: April 2002 An SD60I painted in the previous NS paint scheme.
	Paint Date: March 2000 Photo Date: March 2000 ARR SD70MAC built at Juniata.
	Paint Date: August 2000 Photo Date: October 2000 The first NS GP38 rebuild is on display for Railfest. The 5500's were actually financed and owned by First Union Rail. Photo by Jeff Lubchansky
	Paint Date: Fall 2000 Photo Date: October 2000 NS overhauled and repainted many former Conrail GP38-2 for CSXT after the breakup of Conrail. Photo by Jeff Lubchansky
	Paint Date: Fall 2000 Photo Date: October 2000 FAIX leasing bought these units after other plans fell through. These are former Conrail units. Photo by Jeff Lubchansky
	Paint Date: Fall 2000 Photo Date: October 2000 JBS overhauled and repainted several former SP units for Union Pacific. Photo by Jeff Lubchansky
	Paint Date: January 2002 Photo Date: April 2007 This is a standard NS repaint in the former NS paint scheme. Photo by Lance Myers
	Paint Date: Summer 2002 Photo Date: February 2006 NS 3329 was Conrail's first SD40-2. It was painted up for a new intermodal facility in California. Photo by Lance Myers
	Paint Date: February 2004 Photo Date: February 2004 GP38-3 5801 is the first NS GP50 rebuild. Photo by Lance Myers
	Paint Date: March 2004 Photo Date: May 2008 An SD60I painted in the current standard NS paint scheme.
	Paint Date: October 2004 Photo Date: November 2004 One of a handful of GP38H-3 rebuilds for Amtrak. Photo by Stevan Roberts
	Paint Date: August 2006 Photo Date: August 2006 During the summer of 2006, Juniata completed, tested, and painted ten UP SD70ACe's under contract from EMD. Photo by Mike Breen
	Paint Date: Late 2006 Photo Date: December 2006 Load test unit Q1 was repainted as NS 1000. Decals were modified a little because of the middle hood missing. Photo by Lance Myers
	Paint Date: March 2007 Photo Date: March 2007 NS F units, painted up for the OCS train, are on their test run with two clean GP38 rebuilds. Photo by Lance Myers
	Paint Date: May 2007 Photo Date: June 2007 A handful of Juniata's GP38-2's and GP38-3's have received Operation Lifesaver decals. It's been a while since any units have received them. Photo by Lance Myers
	Paint Date: August 2007 Photo Date: August 2007 Here is NS 3072, the second NS GP40/GP40-2 conversion. Photo by JB Kerr
	Paint Date: November 2007 Photo Date: March 2008 The last GP38-2 rebuild for RJ Corman sits at Cresson. Photo by Lance Myers
	Paint Date: July 2008 Photo Date: July 2008 Two of the OCS F units and one of the completed RP14BDB's was placed on display for 2008 Railfest. Here is the first look at the cabless remote genset switcher. Photo by JB Kerr
	Paint Date: June 2008 Photo Date: August 2008 BDRV 9581 is the former NS 58, an SD9M. Photo by Andrew Blaszczyk
	Paint Date: 2008/2009 Photo Date: May 2009 The Metro-North P32AC-DMs were overhauled by GE in Erie, then shipped to Altoona for paint. Photo by Brent van Dorp
	Paint Date: April 2009 Photo Date: September 2009 NITX 1706. Photo by Lance Myers
	Paint Date: August 2009 Photo Date: October 2009 NS 999. Photo by Andy Charlesworth

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