"Primer Cabs"

[NathanFromEngland]

I've heard of them, but i don't really know what they are.

AFAIK, all i know they are on NS locomotives with grey paint while the rest is just normal NS paint.

I recently caught one accidentally while snooping around the Chesterton, Indiana railcam at perfect timing. I will upload the video later.

[ZachL]

Had to Google what you meant but yea i've seen/heard of them

[freebrickproductions]

Basically, they're AC44C6Ms, and normally NS would paint the new cabs the engines are getting. However, as they are very power-short due to all the rebuilding that they're doing, NS is sending them out prior to painting the cabs, waiting to do that until their first regular inspection, usually within a few months (though at least one managed avoid the paint shop for about a year prior to being painted, surprisingly). The "grey paint" you're seeing is literally the primer that's already been applied to the locomotive, waiting to have paint applied over it.

Also, fun-fact: in the early 2000s, NS did the same thing with their Dash-9s that they were receiving at the time, though the entire locomotive was in primer instead. Want to say a few survived until the late 2000s like that, somehow.

[NathanFromEngland]

Basically, they're AC44C6Ms, and normally NS would paint the new cabs the engines are getting. However, as they are very power-short due to all the rebuilding that they're doing, NS is sending them out prior to painting the cabs, waiting to do that until their first regular inspection, usually within a few months (though at least one managed avoid the paint shop for about a year prior to being painted, surprisingly). The "grey paint" you're seeing is literally the primer that's already been applied to the locomotive, waiting to have paint applied over it.

Also, fun-fact: in the early 2000s, NS did the same thing with their Dash-9s that they were receiving at the time, though the entire locomotive was in primer instead. Want to say a few survived until the late 2000s like that, somehow.

Ah, makes sense now, because i did see that yellow unit, and tried to record if Bandicam didn't crash my entire PC like what it is starting to do (tbh i do really need a new one)