PRR E44 - Amtrak and NJ Transit

Amtrak and NJ Transit

Despite their versatility, the E44's were suddenly about to be used in something they were never intended for: passenger service. Amtrak and New Jersey Transit, both short of electric locomotives, saw in the E44's an opportunity to obtain needed power at bargain-basement prices

Amtrak painted them in its standard switcher paint (gray body with black lettering), and switching work was mostly what they ended up doing. They did this adeptly for a some years, until Amtrak decided maintaining these aging locomotives was not worth it. Many were stored at Wilmington Shops in Wilmington, DE during the early to mid 1990 and they were eventually scrapped.

It is not certain what exactly NJ Transit was looking for, but it evidently was not the E44. All were sold to Amtrak. Like many of NJ Transit's second-hand locomotives, their paint scheme was the previous owner (Conrail)'s herald being painted out, and "NJDOT" (New Jersey Department of Transportation) written below the number.