At some point after leaving PC he headed the TP&W and was responsible for painting its diesels in black-gray-and-white lightning stripes. He was VP Operations of the CNJ when it went into bankruptcy and the B&O, instead of rescuing it, told both the Reading and CNJ to sink or swim and send them a postcard. When the Pentagon transferred Governors Island from Sixth Army Hq to the Coast Guard the CG painted the ferries white with a striking diagonal red band and a Statue of Liberty silhouette; since the statue had long been a symbol of the CNJ, Gordon had CNJ engines painted in a similar scheme. He later enjoyed recounting that once when a B&O operating guy came up from Baltimore on some matter and said "you can't repaint those locomotives without approval from Baltimore!" he pointed out that the B&O was no longer in control and the CNJ could paint its engines any color they liked.
