Adirondack RR Acquires Metro-North P32 ‘Genesis’ Locomotive

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Tue Sep 22, 2026 2:33 pm

https://railfan.com/adirondack-railroad ... ocomotive/

Quote:

The Adirondack Railroad has purchased a former Metro-North General Electric P32AC-DM for excursion service out of Utica, N.Y., making it the first Genesis locomotive to enter tourist railroad service.

Locomotive 221, built in July 2001, joins the fleet after 25 years of service with Metro-North. Adirondack Railroad says it remains committed to its existing fleet of Alco and MLW locomotives, while the acquisition of 221 preserves a piece of passenger railroad history and adds an HEP-equipped locomotive to the roster.

Much more at the link.

RCD · **Posted:** Wed Oct 07, 2026 7:12 pm

I was given a lot of reasons why an F40PH wouldn't work for a tourist Railroad. Those reasons are tenfold for any Genesis locomotive, high horsepower high speed diesel which burns through a lot of fuel but unlike the F40PH it does not use common and easily available GP40 parts and is not known for being reliable.

PMC · **Joined:** Sat Oct 17, 2015 5:55 pm **Posts:** 2890

Keewatin Railway, a native-owned line in northern Canada, bought two GE P40s and two high-level commuter cars for passenger service two years ago, and had it all rebuilt and painted red, but as far as I can tell they haven't hauled a single passenger with P40's since they received them. The last I heard they were in the CPKC shop in Winnipeg a few months back having "mechanical troubles" worked on.
Edit: fixed unit model.

PaulWWoodring · **Posted:** Thu Oct 08, 2026 8:33 am

Agreed that second generation EMDs are probably your best and most reliable motive power for most smaller operations, be it short line freight or tourist operations.

NJDixon · **Joined:** Mon Dec 06, 2021 4:36 pm **Posts:** 376

One of the Adirondack's engineers is a Metro North engineer, which might me a factor in how the acquisition came about.

The big desire for purchasing it is that it has onboard HEP and it'll play nice with the cab car in the long term leased Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm coaches, allowing push-pull operations on the local trips out of Thendara (Thendara-Big Moose and Thendara-Otter Lake).

The other joke by friends and volunteers of the railroad is that when NY inevitably bans internal combustion vehicles inside "the Blue Line", they can just install third-rail from Snow Junction to Tupper Lake and be just fine.

NJDixon · **Joined:** Mon Dec 06, 2021 4:36 pm **Posts:** 376

PMC wrote:

Keewatin Railway, a native-owned line in northern Canada, bought two P32's and two high-level commuter cars for passenger service two years ago, and had it all rebuilt and painted red, but as far as I can tell they haven't hauled a single passenger with P32's since they received them. The last I heard they were in the CPKC shop in Winnipeg a few months back having "mechanical troubles" worked on.

Keewatin bought P40DCs, not P32ACs. Their other problem was that the LIRR bilevels that they bought were designed for high-level platforms, of which the Keewatin has none, meaning there was no way to easily get on and off the cars either.

PMC · **Joined:** Sat Oct 17, 2015 5:55 pm **Posts:** 2890

NJDixon wrote:

Keewatin bought P40DCs, not P32ACs. Their other problem was that the LIRR bilevels that they bought were designed for high-level platforms, of which the Keewatin has none, meaning there was no way to easily get on and off the cars either.

You're right, it was me who posted about all that here but I was going by memory: viewtopic.php?p=353296#p353296

NJDixon · **Joined:** Mon Dec 06, 2021 4:36 pm **Posts:** 376

The 221 arrived on the property at Utica on Monday and went north to Thendara today in a lashup I guarantee has never been seen before; MLW M420W, Alco C430, GE P32AC-DM. they've had a contractor painting locomotives at Thendara all summer, so I'm not sure if the 221 is going to be left there for a repaint or not.

Chris Webster · **Joined:** Sat Aug 25, 2007 12:45 am **Posts:** 1097

New video by Railroading Rambler:
"What The Devil??!! A P32 Genesis On The Adirondack Railroad!"