On April 1, 1976, the Delaware & Hudson had to rebrand 44 Lehigh Valley and Reading locomotives that it acquired as part of its territorial expansion when Conrail was formed. The need was immediate, because other LV and RDG power would quickly be scattered across the Conrail system, and these units could easily be caught up in the confusion. Some of the elimination of the former roads' identification was overly simple, as seen here, with a red stripe slashing through the Lehigh Valley billboard lettering. In any event, the D&H was sold some really crappy paint which wore away quickly on the "patch job" units, as well as on later blue "dip job" repaints. Here, seven years later, there is little to indicate that this is a D&H locomotive as it rolls eastbound under the former CNJ mainline bridge at Lehighton.
