North East, PA. —CSX/MCVX #7764, a 1970 Erie-built General Electric U36B locomotive has been transferred to Lake Shore Railway Historical Society.
The 3,600 horsepower, four-axle locomotive was originally built for Seaboard Coast Line Railroad as #1776. Soon after, it was renumbered to 1813 to make the 1776 spot available for the “Bicentennial 1776” locomotive painted in a red-white-blue paint scheme.
CSX/MCVX #7764 served the Seaboard Coast Line, Seaboard System, CSX and finally through CSX, the Massachusetts Call Volunteer Firefighters Association (MCVX). With the MCVX, the locomotive was a rolling education/training unit for emergency services and police personnel across the eastern United States. #7764 is painted in the current CSX paint scheme with markings to recognize its role as a special training tool.
Locomotive #7764 joins eight(8) other General Electric locomotives and one (1) Heisler steam locomotive in Lake Shore Railway Historical Society’s “Locomotives that Our Parents & Grandparents Built Collection,” all constructed in Erie, PA.
“What a great surprise!! The U36B is a very rare GE locomotive model and we are thankful for its inclusion in our collection,” said Ray Grabowski, Jr, president of Lake Shore Railway Historical Society, “its earlier re-purposing as a training unit just enhances Lake Shore’s educational function. Look for it to continue to be used as a teaching tool here soon!”