Maine Central Diesel Roster: All-Time

Last revised: September 22, 2026

Maine Central dieselization was a late, tidy job. A diesel railcar and a joint streamliner arrived in 1935. Two Alco high-hood switchers came in 1939. The railroad did not begin buying road freight diesels in earnest until the F3s of 1947, and steam did not leave until Pacific 470’s excursion on June 13, 1954. What followed was a small roster that fit the Pine Tree Route: maroon-and-gold Geeps and Alcos while the Boston & Maine years lasted, forest green and gold after 1953, and thirteen yellow GP38s in 1966 that finally retired the covered wagons. The last new locomotives the company bought for itself were ten GE U18Bs in 1975, named for the Revolution.

The tables are the diesel-electrics the Maine Central owned or numbered through the June 1981 sale to Guilford, one row per builder order, with serial and order in their own columns. Gasoline switchers are in the narrative. Locomotives Guilford and Pan Am later assigned, and stenciled MEC, belong to that later fleet.

Maine Central RS11 801 at Rigby Yard in South Portland Maine in the early 1970s

RS-11 #801 at Rigby Yard, South Portland, in the early 1970s. American-Rails.com collection. Alco 81616, June 1956, class DRS-1f. One of two, bought after steam was gone because the first diesel fleet was not quite enough. The 801 was painted yellow in 1977.

On this page: At a glance · Before the road diesels · Paint · Switchers · E7s and F3s · Road switchers · All-time roster

At a glance

Item	Detail
Railroad	Maine Central. Mark MEC
This page	Diesel-electrics acquired by the Maine Central through the June 1981 sale
First diesel-electric	Ingersoll-Rand railcar 901, in 1935. Demonstrator OE-600 of 1933
Joint streamliner	Flying Yankee, 1935, with the Boston & Maine. Carried as Boston & Maine 6000
First road freight	F3s 671 and 672, December 1947, with steam generators
Last steam	June 13, 1954. Pacific 470
Last new power	U18Bs 400–409, May and June 1975. Class name Independence
Paint	Black switchers; maroon and gold with the Boston & Maine; forest green and gold from 1953; yellow with green lettering from the 1966 GP38s
Steam roster	Post-1900 steam roster

Before the road diesels

The first internal-combustion experiments were not diesel-electrics. J. G. Brill built a 68-horsepower Model 55 gasoline baggage-mail car, number 700, in 1922. It was scrapped in 1930. Whitcomb 1, works number 12981, was built in 1929, acquired in 1932, and sold to National Fireworks in 1941. Plymouth 2, works number 3957, was built in 1938 and sold to New England Shipbuilding in 1942. Both were gasoline switchers, tried during the Depression and gone by the middle of the war.

The first machine the railroad owned that was a diesel-electric was an Ingersoll-Rand 600-horsepower railcar, built as demonstrator OE-600 in 1933 and numbered Maine Central 901 in 1935. The rear of the car was a railway post office and a baggage compartment. It pulled a coach or two on the Eastern Division, Bangor to Vanceboro, until 1947, then spent two years on the Rumford branch passenger train. In 1949 it was stripped of its machinery and became maintenance-of-way tool car 950.

The same year, 1935, the Maine Central and the Boston & Maine jointly bought the Budd Flying Yankee, a shovel-nose near-sister of Burlington Zephyr 9900. It ran Boston–Bangor as Boston & Maine 6000. Its later life, including the last run on May 7, 1957, is the train’s own page.

Portland Terminal, the 1911 switching company, had Alco high-hood switchers in Portland before the Maine Central bought any. After watching them, the Maine Central took HH660s 951 and 952 in September 1939. They lacked multiple-unit control and lasted until 1967 and 1968.

Paint

Yard switchers through the war were black with white lettering. Road engines built while the 1933 joint-management agreement was in force wore the Boston & Maine’s maroon and gold, the scheme first applied to Boston & Maine FTs. Only the lettering and the herald changed. After the Boston & Maine bought an Alco RS-2 demonstrator in May 1948 in a red-nosed switcher scheme, Maine Central black Alcos and the 44-tonners picked up the same horizontal nose stripes.

Separate Portland headquarters returned in 1953, and the road-engine scheme kept the gold stripes on a forest-green ground. Only a handful of units were delivered that way: RS-3s 556 and 557, RS-11s 801 and 802, SW9 335, and GP7s 566–569. Most of the E7s and F3s, and many of the earlier Geeps, were repainted into it. The S-4s of 1954 came in a simpler green with yellow letters and fewer stripes. RS-11s 801 and 802 went to yellow in 1977 and 1981. Many Alco switcher noses were painted yellow while the cab and hood stayed black.

The GP38s of 1966 introduced the safety-yellow scheme, yellow with green lettering, that the U18Bs and the secondhand road switchers also wore. Most GP7s were repainted yellow beginning in 1972. GP7 572 was put back into the original maroon and gold in December 1978. GP7 580 was the last Geep still in its as-delivered maroon in 1980.

Switchers

Seven GE 44-tonners, class DS-1, worked Augusta, Brunswick, Livermore Falls, Vanceboro, Eastport, and the disconnected upper and lower yards at Lewiston between 1941 and 1947. Brunswick was too much railroad for one. Everywhere else they let the company drop the fireman and the 0-6-0 hostler. They would sit in an unheated enginehouse in January without freezing, which an Alco switcher of the same era would not, so the 660-horsepower Alcos covered for them in summer and the 44-tonners kept the winter assignments. Number 11 was the only one of the seven painted green. Number 15 went to the Conway Scenic Railroad. Number 16 went to the Aroostook Valley as its 14 and lasted until 1985. Eastport’s light rail kept a 44-tonner until service there ended in 1978.

Eight S-1s and two S-3s, class DS-3, and three S-2s, class DS-4b, handled the heavier yards and replaced Ten-Wheelers on the Harmony branch. The S-2s also worked Bangor, Waterville, Rockland, and Rumford, the same job Portland Terminal’s S-2s were doing at Rigby. Seven S-4s, class DS-4d, were the branch-line version, equipped to multiple. Number 311, serial 78008, August 1950, was the first S-4 Alco built. It was sold to the chemical plant at Orrington. The EMD switchers, three SW7s and two SW9s, class DS-5, worked as helpers and local freight engines on the Mountain Division until 1958, then as Portland locals, and from 1966 as the Bucksport branch engines out of Bangor.

Five S-1s and S-3 961 were traded to GE against the U18Bs in 1975. S-1s 957, 958, and 960, and S-3 962, were still on the property into the Guilford sale.

E7s and F3s

Seven E7s, class DP, were bought in 1946 and 1948 to pool with Boston & Maine E7s on passenger trains south and north of Portland. The first four, 705–708, were a cancelled Rock Island order. They ran for a few months in Rock Island paint with Maine Central lettering, then went into maroon and gold. When the last passenger train ran on September 5, 1960, E7s 710 and 711 were scrapped. The other five kept mail and express on the old Gull schedule. Number 709 went to the Kansas City Southern in September 1962. Numbers 705–708 followed in October 1963, as KCS 6, 7, 11, and 12.

Maine Central F3A 681 laying over at St. Johnsbury Vermont in August 1964

F3A #681 at St. Johnsbury, Vermont, in August 1964. Richard Wallin photo. Order E917A, serial 5695, November 1948, class DF-4. The 681–686 set had the later grilles and were sometimes called F5s (this was railfan nomenclature only, as EMD never cataloged a standalone F5 model). All but wrecked 686 were traded for GP38s in 1966.

Eight F3As and two F3Bs were the first diesel freight locomotives, delivered in 1947 and 1948 for the main line and the Mountain Division. Class DF-3, the 671 and 672 sets, had the early “chicken wire” grilles and steam generators, in case they were needed on passenger trains. Class DF-4, 681–686, had the later F7-style grilles. Number 686 was wrecked and scrapped in November 1965. The other nine F3s, with three RS-2s, went back to EMD in 1966 against GP38s 251–262.

Road switchers

Five maroon-and-gold RS-2s, 551–555, arrived in 1949 and were based at Bangor for the Eastern Division. Three of them, 551, 552, and 555, were in the 1966 GP38 trade. Number 553 went to the Providence & Worcester in 1975 as 1501. Number 554 was repainted with a yellow cab and green hoods and was scrapped in 1977. Two RS-3s, 556 and 557, came in November 1953 in green and gold, with steam generators. Both were gone in April 1975, 556 to scrap and 557 to the Wolfeboro Railroad as 101. Rock Island RS-3 469 was bought in November 1965, relettered and not repainted, and traded for GP38 263. The two RS-11s of 1956, 801 and 802, were the last new Alco road switchers. Number 802 had been Portland Terminal 1082 for a few months. They were bought because the first diesel fleet, once steam was gone, did not cover the shop time.

The GP7s split by assignment. Class DRS-3a, 561–569, had dynamic brakes for freight. Class DRS-3b, 571–580, had steam generators and no dynamic brake, and the first of them were passenger and milk engines as well as freight. Class DRS-3d was a single unit, 581, former Portland Terminal 1081, acquired in March 1957 after the Terminal had used it as a mileage equalizer on Boston commuter trains. Steam generators came off most of the Geeps once the timetable trains ended. Numbers 571–574 kept them and, through the 1960s, hauled extra trains of New Haven coaches full of children bound for Maine camps. Number 573 was the last steam-generator Geep on the roster. Four secondhand L&N GP7s, 590–593, arrived in December 1978 and were given chopped noses.

Maine Central GP7 564 at South Portland Maine on October 8 1975

GP7 #564 at South Portland on October 8, 1975. American-Rails.com collection. Order 6147, serial 12365, October 1950, class DRS-3a, one of the dynamic-brake freight Geeps. Guilford renumbered it 470 in December 1982.

Thirteen GP38s, class DRS-4, replaced the cab units. Numbers 251–262 came in November and December 1966. Number 263 followed in 1967 on the Rock Island RS-3 trade. They were yellow with green lettering, and they took over the main line and the Mountain Division. The GP7s moved east, onto the old Alco territory between Bangor and Vanceboro.

Maine Central GP38 252 at South Portland Maine on October 26 1979

GP38 #252 at South Portland on October 26, 1979. Phil Faudi photo. American-Rails.com collection. Order 7946, serial 32661, November 1966. The yellow-and-green scheme these units introduced in 1966 was the last Maine Central road paint before Guilford gray.

The U18Bs, 400–409, were delivered in May and June 1975 and named, as a class, Independence. Each unit carried a Revolutionary name: Henry Knox, Hannah Weston, John Stark, Peleg Wadsworth, Kenneth Roberts, Arundel, Colonel John Allen, Unity, Bagaduce, and Ethan Allen. The Maine Central was one of two American railroads that bought the model. They were traded against Alco switchers, they were light for a road unit, and they had a reputation for being hard to keep assigned. They did let the remaining GP7s replace Alco switchers in the yards.

After the Bicentennial the railroad bought used power instead of new. Fourteen Rock Island U25Bs, 225–238, same numbers, came in June 1980. Nine were put in service. Five, 227, 233, and 235–237, were kept for parts. In June 1981, the month of the Guilford sale, the company bought GMD GP9 450, former Algoma Central 171, works number A2018, August 1963, the last GP9 built. It carried a later main generator and later traction motors than a 1950s Geep, because GMD finished it so late.

Maine Central U25B 234, former Rock Island 234, passing under Starrucca Viaduct at Lanesboro Pennsylvania in November 1985

U25B #234, former Rock Island 234, on the Delaware & Hudson’s Penn Division under Starrucca Viaduct at Lanesboro, Pennsylvania, in November 1985. Karl Miller photo. Serial 35710, built September 1965, bought by the Maine Central in June 1980. By the time of this photograph the unit was Guilford power still carrying a Maine Central number.

All-time roster

Owned and lettered Maine Central diesel-electrics through June 1981, including secondhand units that took MEC numbers. One row per builder order. Later Guilford renumbers are in the notes. Where the builder list used here does not give a separate order code, that column is a dash. EMD orders are from the trainweb order list. Alco and GE works numbers are the serials.

Railcar

Numbers	Model	Class	Builder	Serial	Order	Built	Notes
901	OE-600 railcar	—	Ingersoll-Rand	—	—	1933	Demonstrator OE-600. Maine Central 901 in 1935. Bangor–Vanceboro, then the Rumford branch. Machinery removed in 1949; became tool car 950

Yard and branch switchers

Numbers	Model	Class	Builder	Serial	Order	Built	Notes
11	44-ton	DS-1	GE	13095	—	9/1941	Only 44-tonner painted green. Sold 3/1974
12	44-ton	DS-1	GE	15037	—	8/1942	Sold 9/1975
13–15	44-ton	DS-1	GE	27973–27975	—	5/1945	15 sold 12/1974 as Conway Scenic 15
16	44-ton	DS-1	GE	28488	—	5/1946	Sold as Aroostook Valley 14. Off the roster in 1985
17	44-ton	DS-1	GE	28348	—	6/1947	Sold 4/1974
951, 952	HH660	DS-2	Alco	69087, 69088	—	9/1939	No MU. Scrapped 3/1967 and 2/1968
953	S-1	DS-3	Alco	69411	—	1/1941	Traded for a U18B, 1975
954	S-1	DS-3	Alco	73085	—	1/1945	Traded for a U18B, 1975
955	S-1	DS-3	Alco	73589	—	10/1945	Traded for a U18B, 1975
956	S-1	DS-3	Alco	75350	—	7/1947	Traded for a U18B, 1975
957–960	S-1	DS-3	Alco	77107–77110	—	10/1949	959 traded for a U18B and became North Stratford 959. 957, 958, and 960 still on hand in 1982
961, 962	S-3	DS-3	Alco	80290, 80291	—	3/1953	961 traded for a U18B, 1975. 962 retired 4/1981
301–303	S-2	DS-4b	Alco	76593–76595	—	2/1949	Bangor, Waterville, Rockland, Rumford. 301 retired 7/1978. 302 and 303 about 1980
311, 312	S-4	DS-4d	Alco	78008, 78020	—	8/1950	311 is the first S-4 Alco built. MU on the cab end only. 311 sold to the Orrington chemical plant
313	S-4	DS-4d	Alco	79502	—	12/1951	Later repainted in the simpler green
314–317	S-4	DS-4d	Alco	81096–81099	—	9/1954	Delivered in simplified green with yellow lettering
331–333	SW7	DS-5	EMD	12370–12372	6148	9/1950	Maroon and gold. Mountain Division helpers and locals, then Bucksport from 1966
334	SW9	DS-5	EMD	14754	6300	8/1951
335	SW9	DS-5	EMD	19044	4248	12/1953	Delivered green and gold

Cab units

Numbers	Model	Class	Builder	Serial	Order	Built	Notes
705–708	E7A	DP	EMD	3366–3369	E670A	6/1946	Cancelled Rock Island order. Briefly in Rock Island paint with MEC letters. Sold 10/1963 as KCS 6, 7, 11, and 12
709–711	E7A	DP	EMD	6647–6649	E1071A	7/1948	710 and 711 scrapped when passenger service ended, 1960. 709 sold 9/1962 as KCS 20
671A, 672A	F3A	DF-3	EMD	4494, 4495	E809A	12/1947	Steam generator. Early grilles. Traded for GP38s, 12/1966
671B, 672B	F3B	DF-3	EMD	4496, 4497	E809B	12/1947	Traded 11/1966
681–686	F3A	DF-4	EMD	5695–5700	E917A	11/1948	Later grilles. Sometimes called F5s. 686 wrecked and scrapped 11/1965. The others traded for GP38s in 1966

Road switchers

Numbers	Model	Class	Builder	Serial	Order	Built	Notes
551–555	RS-2	DRS-1b	Alco	76634–76638	—	1/1949–2/1949	Maroon and gold. Bangor, Eastern Division. 551, 552, and 555 traded for GP38s in 1966. 553 to P&W 1501 in 1975. 554 scrapped 1977
556, 557	RS-3	DRS-1d	Alco	80566, 80567	—	11/1953	Green and gold. Steam generators. 556 scrapped 4/1975. 557 sold as Wolfeboro 101
469	RS-3	—	Alco	78291	—	9/1950	Ex-Rock Island 469, bought 11/1965, relettered, not repainted. Traded 6/1967 for GP38 263
801	RS-11	DRS-1f	Alco	81616	—	6/1956	Green and gold as delivered. Yellow in 1977. Scrapped 1984
802	RS-11	DRS-1f	Alco	81617	—	6/1956	Ex-Portland Terminal 1082, to MEC 11/1956. Yellow in 1981
561–565	GP7	DRS-3a	EMD	12362–12366	6147	10/1950	Dynamic brakes. Maroon and gold. 564 renumbered 470 in 12/1982
566, 567	GP7	DRS-3a	EMD	19041, 19042	5319	11/1953	Dynamic brakes. Delivered green and gold
568, 569	GP7	DRS-3a	EMD	19302, 19303	5319	12/1953	Dynamic brakes. Delivered green and gold
571–573	GP7	DRS-3b	EMD	12367–12369	6152	9/1950	Steam generator, no dynamic brake. 571 rebuilt with a crew cab in 12/1985 as 471. 572 repainted maroon and gold in 12/1978. 573 was the last steam-generator Geep
574	GP7	DRS-3b	EMD	14755	6301	10/1951	Steam generator. Chopped nose and yellow paint, 8/1972
575–580	GP7	DRS-3b	EMD	17416–17421	5193	10/1952	Steam generator as built. 578 chopped nose 1/1972. 579 chopped nose 10/1980. 580 was the last as-delivered maroon GP7 in 1980
581	GP7	DRS-3d	EMD	13533	—	12/1950	Ex-Portland Terminal 1081, acquired 3/1957. Steam generator, no MU as received
590	GP7	—	EMD	17770	5132	2/1953	Ex-L&N 439. Bought 12/1978. Chopped nose 9/1979
591	GP7	—	EMD	17764	5132	2/1953	Ex-L&N 433. Bought 12/1978. Chopped nose 1/1980
592	GP7	—	EMD	8872	5010	3/1950	Ex-L&N 388. Bought 12/1978. Chopped nose 12/1980
593	GP7	—	EMD	8878	5010	12/1950	Ex-L&N 393. Bought 12/1978. Chopped nose 7/1980
251–262	GP38	DRS-4	EMD	32660–32671	7946	11/1966–12/1966	Yellow with green lettering. Traded against nine F3s and RS-2s 551, 552, and 555
263	GP38	DRS-4	EMD	33280	7065	10/1967	Traded against Rock Island RS-3 469
400–409	U18B	Independence	GE	40720–40729	—	5/1975–6/1975	Named Knox, Hannah Weston, Stark, Wadsworth, Kenneth Roberts, Arundel, John Allen, Unity, Bagaduce, and Ethan Allen, in order. Traded against Alco switchers
225–238	U25B	—	GE	35701–35714	—	9/1965	Ex-Rock Island, same numbers, bought 6/1980. Nine operated: 225, 226, 228–232, 234, 238. Parts units: 227, 233, 235–237. 231 wrecked 1/1987
450	GP9	—	GMD	A2018	—	8/1963	Last GP9 built. Ex-Algoma Central 171, bought 6/1981

Sources

Extra 2200 South, issue 86, “All-Time Maine Central Diesel Roster,” as compiled on the Maine Central diesel locomotive record: classes, works numbers, builders’ dates, and dispositions.
EMD order list, trainweb.us/emdloco/mec.htm, for GP7, GP38, SW, F3, and E7 order numbers and serials.
Edwin B. Robertson, Maine Central Diesel Locomotives (1978), and the 470 Railroad Club, Meet the Maine Central (1981), for assignments and paint.
GE 44-ton production record as used on the 44-tonner page, for serials of 11–15 and 17. Number 16’s month follows the Extra 2200 South list.
Jeremy F. Plant and George F. Melvin, Maine Central in Color, for the yellow repaints, the U18B names, and the secondhand Geeps.

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Maine Central Diesel Roster: All-Time

At a glance

Before the road diesels

Paint

Switchers

E7s and F3s

Road switchers

All-time roster

Railcar

Yard and branch switchers

Cab units

Road switchers

Related reading

Sources