At the end of the 1980s the IC Industries spun off their railroad, the Illinois Central Gulf.  The railroad decided to take back it’s original name and once again became the Illinois Central Railroad.  The orange and white locomotives were quickly repainted back into a simplified version of the original black with white striping, but sans the old green diamond herald.

This image captures a four unit train struggling up the grade from the east bank of the Mississippi River in Natchez, Mississippi.  A mix of a GP38-2 and GP10/11 Paducah rebuilds, all in run 8, were putting on an impressive show.  It’s only the mid 90s, but the units are already showing the results of hastily applied paint, with signs of orange and white becoming visible.