City of Charlotte

NCDOT 1768 City of Charlotte (April 19, 1995 - 1999) was an EMD GP40PH-2 Piedmont train, formerly owned by NCDOT. 1768 was used only a handful of times during its passenger career.

This engine was notable for being the other half of the Piedmont's GP Fleet, along with City of Raleigh.

Appearance
1768 Originally had a different paint tone than 1792. It had N*C in the front with the same white paint on top and the black painted NORTH CAROLINA on her side, but the blue in front was brown/dark blue and this however, was changed in 1996.

Early History
1768 was estimated to have been rebuilt from materials from an engine belonging to B&O, numbered 4008, that was built in 1972, and was assumingly a rebuild of it, debuting a week after it's sister engine, 1792 City of Raleigh, which was a similar rebuild, of an engine belonging to L&N, numbered 3006. The construction had ended in October 1992

These engines were primarily used for freight and were possibly owned by Norfolk Southern or Union Pacific. The unique North Carolina design was notable and easily recognizable

1768 and it's sister had often paired up, to haul extra freight and sometimes assisted other NC freight services throughout their career.

Piedmont Service
Later on, in 1995, the operators of the two locomotives changed the service, from freight to passenger.

The first engine to test this new service out was 1768's sister engine, 1792 City of Raleigh. The tests ran up until May 16, 1995, and was successful, and soon led to the Piedmont forming.

Since day one of Passenger service, 1768 was much less successful than 1792, while facing numerous mechanical issues and hardware malfunctions.

In an old, former tradition, 1792 started bound in Raleigh, while 1768 was Charlotte bound. 1792 got its name, Raleigh, from its debut station, while 1768 was named were it was rebuilt and designed at.

Deactivation
In 1999, the Piedmont suffered heavy budget problems. A new engine that was being built by NCDOT, in 1998, was supposed to debut, but was unable to be purchased due to a lack of funds. It was an EMD F59PHI, which would later become 1797 City of Asheville.

The Piedmont lacked the money to afford the new, much better engine, which seemed likely to save the Piedmont. As a result, they had to save as much money to stop the decreasing budget, and decided to deactivate the engine with the most issues, 1768.

1768 was removed from the Piedmont's roster, and, not long after, the F59PHI engine was purchased. That engine had saved the Piedmont, just like they planned. 1768 was towed to a maintenance shed by a Norfolk Southern.

It was stated that this engine would not be returning to service.

Selling
The engine was later sold to Virginia Railway Express, in 2001, having been deactivated since 1999. The engine had been auctioned, and VRE won, and had the engine brought to another maintenance shed by a Norfolk Southern, located in Virginia.

The engine was ignored until late 2002, when they finally started repainting the engine, and later changing it's name and logo.

VRE v24 City of Manassas
VRE v24 City of Manassas (November 18, 2003 - December 2011) was an EMD GP40PH-2 train. It originally belonged to the Piedmont of NC.

Career
The locomotive was purchased from NCDOT during a 2001 auction, and received this locomotive that had been deactivated since 1999.

After receiving the locomotive, it had not been immediately remodeled. Numerous factors delayed this locomotive's debut, until late 2002.

The new paint job was finished in October 2003, and then the unit finally received a destination on November 23.

v24, like many other VRE trains, was a double-decker carrier, carrying the luxurious double-decker coaches.

v24 lived a longer, better career than it did with NCDOT. Due to VRE's more expensive and advanced workers, they were able to maintain it better than NCDOT.

USAX 4672
v24 (Along with a few other VRE's) was retired and was donated to the military, and did freight/passenger service from 2011 - 2016.

VRE v20-24 were given to the U.S Army. This locomotive had been transferred to Fort Lee, via freight train towing, just like the others.

The engine actively pulled passenger cars carrying soldiers, and military freight, including army tanks, planes and etc.

It helped carry military cargo to Fort Lee from several military warehouses. The locomotive was repainted, and changed into USAX 4672.

It also helped bring soldiers to the warehouses.

Second Deactivation
The military no longer needed this unit, and so it had been abandoned, as they could not immediately dispose of the locomotive.

The locomotive remained on the tracks, abandoned. Nearby were empty carriages, some were attached to the train.

The train was vandalized, rusting, and full of graffiti. Numerous metal sheets were ripped off of it. It also had litter inside of it, hinting some trespassing.

Fate
On August 3, 2017, the locomotive, along with v21 were finally removed by a Norfolk Southern, leading it out of the rail yard. The engine was in such poor quality and disrepair that it could not be driven, and the wheels had to be oiled.

v21 was in a much worse condition, the entire front portion of the train had missing plates. While 4672 was leaving the rail yard, the cabin windows apparently shattered from pressure, as the cab was full of shattered glass during an inspection.

Any possible repairs to 4672 would be very expensive, so the possibility of returning to the rails is unlikely. It is unknown if the locomotive will be scrapped or recycled. There is no further word as to what happened to the locomotive after this.