On an overcast day in January of 1978, CE Hunt was roaming around the Illinois Central Gulf facilities in Shreveport, Louisiana. He spotted this ICG GP18 at rest in the servicing area and recorded it on film. I think he captured the essence of the scene, complete with a muddy puddle of water reflecting a bit of the white and orange on an otherwise dismal day.
The #9423 had an interesting career, she was delivered to the Illinois Central in 1963 wearing the black “Green Diamond” paint. After the GM&O merger, she received the new orange and white paint. She was eventually rebuilt by the railroad’s shop in Paducah, Kentucky, emerging as a GP10 numbered 8720.
She lives on today as an HO scale model produced by Life-Like, and wearing the original Green Diamond paint.
Thanks Jack for sharing my image. Might I add it was a pretty cool evening in northern LA. If folks want to check out my site where I post lots of pictures like this, they can at railswest2.wordpress.com