The introduction of mainline diesel power in the late 1940s brought the famous "lightning stripe" to New York Central's image. The conservative but striking motif could not be applied to the Dreyfus-designed bullet-nose J3s or C1s, but it could be applied to the older "inverted bathtub" streamlined style of the NYC's K5b Pacifics, Nos. 4915 and 4917, introduced on the Mercury and then shifted to the James Whitcomb Riley. By the time the "lightning" motif had appeared, a longer and heavier Riley was powered by Hudsons and the two shrouded K5s served on a Detroit-Cincinnati run in competition with the Baltimore & Ohio's Cincinnatian, likewise powered by streamlined Pacifics.

A New York Central "Fantasy Steam" Feature