A New Look With Deep Roots
The Erie Lackawanna heritage behind the Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad's new black-and-yellow GP15-1 paint scheme.
When the Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad began bringing GP15-1 locomotives into its fleet, the decision about how they would look was about more than choosing a new paint scheme.
The Board and executive team deliberately selected a design inspired by the early Erie Lackawanna Railroad — recognizing a railroad whose history is closely connected to the communities and railroad lines WNYP serves today.
At first glance, the colors themselves may not seem new. Black and yellow have been part of the visual identity of the Livonia, Avon & Lakeville Family of Railroads for decades, particularly on the family's well-known fleet of ALCO locomotives.
That continuity was intentional.
The new GP15-1 scheme keeps those familiar family colors while applying them in a different way — creating a distinctly WNYP appearance that deliberately looks back to the early years of the Erie Lackawanna.
Familiar LA&L family colors. A new WNYP design. And a deliberate nod to the railroad history beneath our wheels.
The Early Erie Lackawanna Look
The Erie Railroad and Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad merged on October 17, 1960, creating the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad.
During the early years following the merger, Erie-derived black-and-yellow styling remained visible across portions of the newly combined locomotive fleet.
Predominantly black locomotives were accented by bold yellow or gold noses, striping, lettering and handrails, while the newly created Erie Lackawanna identity appeared alongside a color combination that already had deep roots on the Erie.
One of the most interesting connections came in 1963, when Erie Lackawanna received 15 new ALCO C424 locomotives, numbered 2401 through 2415.
The C424 represented a new generation of ALCO road power. Several members of that Erie Lackawanna group would eventually develop a remarkable connection to the LA&L Family of Railroads many years later.
Black and Yellow Never Really Left
Long before the arrival of the GP15-1s, black and yellow had already become one of the most recognizable characteristics of the LA&L family's locomotive fleet.
For decades, LA&L-family ALCO locomotives have worn black bodies accented by yellow striping, lettering and distinctive yellow chevrons — a look familiar to employees, customers and generations of railfans.
Those colors remain part of the railroad family today.
The new WNYP design therefore does not replace that tradition. It builds on it.
The colors maintain continuity with the LA&L family, while their arrangement on the GP15-1s was intentionally redesigned to reference early Erie Lackawanna locomotives and the railroad history of WNYP's territory.
Erie Lackawanna Locomotives Within the LA&L Family
The connection becomes even more interesting when looking closely at the Erie Lackawanna C424 fleet delivered in 1963.
Historical locomotive rosters document several members of that Erie Lackawanna group later becoming part of the LA&L Family of Railroads.
Three provide especially clear examples.
Want to see these locomotives during their Erie Lackawanna years? Railroad Picture Archives maintains a historical photo roster of Erie Lackawanna's C424 fleet, including Nos. 2401, 2407 and 2414.
View the Erie Lackawanna C424 Photo Roster →
LA&L 423
Built in June 1963 as Erie Lackawanna No. 2407, this C424 would eventually become LA&L No. 423.
Decades after beginning its career with Erie Lackawanna, No. 423 became part of the Livonia, Avon & Lakeville fleet and wore the railroad family's familiar black-and-yellow colors.
LA&L 423 and 424 at Kraft in Avon, NY, December 1, 1999. Mike Stellpflug photo.
LA&L 424
Erie Lackawanna No. 2401 was another member of the June 1963 C424 group and would ultimately become LA&L No. 424.
Its later career on the LA&L provides another direct locomotive connection between Erie Lackawanna history and the LA&L Family of Railroads.
LA&L 424, 423 and 425 depart Lakeville, NY with 22 cars on July 11, 2000. Mike Stellpflug photo.
B&H 422
Erie Lackawanna No. 2414 was also part of the railroad's 1963 C424 fleet. After a long career under several owners and numbers, the locomotive eventually joined the Bath & Hammondsport Railroad as No. 422.
Its presence within the railroad family adds another direct Erie Lackawanna connection beyond the LA&L roster itself.
B&H No. 422 outside the shops in Lakeville, NY on September 18, 2010. Mike Stellpflug photo.Taken together, Nos. 423, 424 and 422 make the connection much more than a similarity in paint.
Erie Lackawanna locomotives themselves became part of the LA&L family's locomotive story.
A Familiar Look on the WNYP
Black and yellow was already firmly established as part of WNYP's identity long before the arrival of the new GP15-1 fleet.
WNYP's ALCO locomotives have carried the established LA&L-family black-and-yellow appearance across western New York and northwestern Pennsylvania for years.
Those locomotives remain an important part of the railroad's story and helped make the color combination closely associated with WNYP itself.
WNYP's ALCO Fleet in Trains Magazine
WNYP's distinctive ALCO fleet has drawn national attention for years. In its June 2012 issue, Trains Magazine featured the railroad in Karl Zimmermann's "Where Alcos Tough It Out," documenting WNYP's vintage diesel fleet at work across former Erie and Pennsylvania Railroad territory.
The feature captures an earlier chapter of the same story — WNYP's ALCO-powered operations and the black-and-yellow locomotive identity that had already become closely associated with the railroad.
Explore the Trains Magazine feature in our archives →This history is what makes the GP15-1 scheme more than a simple heritage reproduction.
It connects the railroad's past and present in two directions: retaining a color combination familiar across the LA&L family while using those colors to recognize the Erie Lackawanna history of WNYP's territory.
Back on Former Erie Rails
The connection goes well beyond locomotives.
Significant portions of today's WNYP east-west route follow the historic Erie Railroad main line across New York's Southern Tier and into northwestern Pennsylvania.
The corridor through communities including Hornell and Olean, continuing west toward Meadville, was part of the Erie system and later the Erie Lackawanna.
Today, WNYP operates over portions of that same railroad geography.
More than six decades later, Erie Lackawanna-inspired black and yellow is once again traveling over portions of the former Erie main line — this time on a new generation of WNYP power.
Three Chapters of One Railroad Story
Put together, the locomotives and photographs tell a story stretching across more than 60 years of railroad history.
Erie Lackawanna
Early Erie Lackawanna locomotives carried the black-and-yellow appearance that would later help inspire WNYP's new GP15-1 design.
Roger Puta photo · Public domain
The ALCO Era
Former Erie Lackawanna C424s became part of the LA&L family, while black and yellow developed into a familiar identity across the railroad fleet.
Mike Stellpflug photo
WNYP GP15-1s
The familiar family colors are reinterpreted in a modern design deliberately inspired by WNYP's Erie Lackawanna heritage.
Alex Kolstee Photography
Carrying the Heritage Forward
Railroads are constantly changing.
Locomotives change. Customers and industries change. Technology changes. Railroad companies themselves change.
But railroad history rarely disappears completely.
Sometimes it remains in an old station, a signal bridge or a piece of track. Sometimes it survives through the history of an individual locomotive.
And sometimes it can be carried forward through something as simple and recognizable as a paint scheme.
When the GP15-1s were brought to WNYP, the Board and executive team had an opportunity to create a new look while recognizing the history of the railroad territory those locomotives would serve.
The result preserves the familiar black-and-yellow colors of the LA&L Family of Railroads while intentionally giving them a distinctly WNYP identity inspired by the early Erie Lackawanna.
Today, these locomotives carry that heritage forward while moving freight, serving customers and supporting communities throughout western New York and northwestern Pennsylvania.
A New Generation With a Nod to Those That Came Before
From the Erie Lackawanna locomotives of the early 1960s, to former EL C424s that later became part of the LA&L family, to the black-and-yellow ALCOs that became synonymous with the railroad family, the connection spans generations.
Today, WNYP's new GP15-1s carry that story forward in modern working locomotives built for the railroad's future while deliberately recognizing its past.
Different locomotives. Different eras. Railroad heritage carried forward.
Historical Sources & Further Reading
Erie Lackawanna history: Erie Lackawanna Railroad Historical Society
Erie Lackawanna locomotive lineage and C424 roster: Erie Lackawanna Railroad Historical Society Diesel Roster
Historic Erie Lackawanna C424 photographs: Railroad Picture Archives — Erie Lackawanna C424 Roster
Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad: WNYPRR.com
Bath & Hammondsport Railroad: BHRail.com
June 2012 Trains Magazine feature: "Where Alcos Tough It Out" by Karl Zimmermann
LA&L archive: Where Alcos Tough It Out
Historic Erie Lackawanna photography: Roger Puta collection, public domain.
LA&L and B&H historical photography: Mike Stellpflug.
WNYP No. 1501 at Carrollton: Alex Kolstee Photography.
WNYP No. 1504 on the Farmers Valley Turn: Alec Durfee Photography.
