Restoring Erie Lackawanna 3372 | Diesel Locomotive Restoration in New Jersey

Learn more and donate here: https://www.urhs.org/u34ch! URHS is proud to announce that it has begun a full restoration of Erie Lackawanna U34CH No. 3372, in partnership with ‪@fmwsolutions‬. URHS begins fundraising today with a $10,000 matching grant from the Tri-State Railway Historical Society. Donate today and your donation will be doubled. With your help, we WILL hear 3372 roar back to life.

In the early 1970s, New Jersey, along with the rest of the country, was feeling the winds of change. But in the railroad business, companies had hit a historic low point. The newly formed Erie Lackawanna, only a few years old, was headed for bankruptcy. With no cash to invest in new trains, passenger service was a last priority. As America entered the disco era, NJ commuters were still riding in trains from the prohibition era.

Enter the State of New Jersey. With commuter demand still high, the state funded the construction of a fleet of new “Dieseliner” coaches, and a locomotive designed especially to haul them: the General Electric U34CH. For passengers who boarded these trains for the first time, the difference was night and day. Until then, climate control meant open windows or steam radiators. Now passengers enjoyed air conditioning and electric heat. Old rattan seats became plush vinyl benches. Drab green riveted car bodies were traded for a sleek, seamless, brushed aluminum. They were state of the art.

At the head of these trains were the massive U34CH diesels. With a 3600-horsepower prime mover driving a built-in “head end power” generator, their design was the first of its kind. They became a part of the fabric of New Jersey, moving tens of thousands of commuters every day. In the decades that followed, even after their retirement, every NJ Transit commuter train followed the basic design principles set by the U34CH.

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