During the early morning hours of October 11th, 2023, Staten Island Railway's "Laser/Gel Train" test train sits on the "wye" at St. George Terminal in Staten Island, NY after completing a round trip on the main line. SIR's Laser Train consists of former New York City Transit, Budd built R32, NYCT 3389 (renumbered SIR LT001), equipped with technology installed by Laser Precision Solutions (LPS) sandwiched by two of SIR's Brookville BL20G locomotives (BMEX 778 & BMEX 776).

The LaserTrain is tasked with vaporizing leaf residue off of the rails throughout the system. During the fall season, leaves fall onto the tracks which cause slip slide conditions when run over by trains. Many railroads utilize rail washers for this issue but the Staten Island Railway, Metro-North and LIRR have recently turned to laser technology for the task. This LaserTrain is able to rid the rail of leaf residue without using water, while running at around 30MPH.