Boston and Maine color schemes

Eddie Oliver

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Jul 16, 1992, 9:55:48 PM7/16/92

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I have been offered a rather beautiful model of a locomotive in a Boston
and Maine color scheme which is unfamiliar to me, and which seems to appear
only once in the only B&M book I have. Can anyone advise how common the
scheme was, and when it was used?

It is the ordinary B&M blue, as was standard in (say) the first half of the
1980's. However instead of having Boston and Maine fully-lettered along the
side, the long hood has only a VERY large version of the B&M logo (i.e. the
logo with an elongated vertical B over an elongated horizontal M), and the
SIDE OF THE CAB IS BLACK, with a number and small "Boston and Maine" lettering.

My guess is that this may have been an intermediate scheme between the era
of maroon and yellow and the era of modern blue?

Any information will be very gratefully received.

Eddie Oliver

M00...@mbvm.mitre.org

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Jul 17, 1992, 10:30:36 AM7/17/92

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In article <1992Jul17....@mailhost.ocs.mq.edu.au>

You're right, but I most remember this paint scheme on the F units used on the
Connecticut River Line. You seem to be describing a GP, and my mind cannot
conjure up an image of that paint scheme on a GP, but I'm sure that's just a
case of poor memory.

Len Bachelder Archives Committee, Boston and Maine RR Historical Society
MITRE Corp. Secretary, Massachusetts Bay Railroad Enthusiasts
Bedford MA 01730 Member, 470 Railroad Club
<M00...@mbvm.mitre.org>

"Amazing love, how can it be that Thou, my God, should'st die for me!"
- Charles Wesley

Daniel J. de Vries

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Jul 17, 1992, 6:10:14 PM7/17/92

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In article <1992Jul17....@mailhost.ocs.mq.edu.au>,
eol...@ocs.mq.edu.au (Eddie Oliver) writes:

>I have been offered a rather beautiful model of a locomotive in a Boston
>and Maine color scheme which is unfamiliar to me, and which seems to appear
>only once in the only B&M book I have. Can anyone advise how common the
>scheme was, and when it was used?
>
>It is the ordinary B&M blue, as was standard in (say) the first half of the
>1980's. However instead of having Boston and Maine fully-lettered along the
>side, the long hood has only a VERY large version of the B&M logo (i.e. the
>logo with an elongated vertical B over an elongated horizontal M), and the
>SIDE OF THE CAB IS BLACK, with a number and small "Boston and Maine" lettering.
>
>My guess is that this may have been an intermediate scheme between the era
>of maroon and yellow and the era of modern blue?

I do not recall when they were delivered, but this is the color scheme
in which the EMD GP-9s were delivered (the Bluebirds). I think the
GP-18s were also delivered in this scheme. So, late 1950s through
early 1960s should be the period during which this scheme was common.
I think the ends of the hoods were also black with a vertical white stripe.
_________________________________
Daniel J. de Vries
Biomedical Engineering Dept.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Worcester, MA

James B. VanBokkelen

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Jul 18, 1992, 9:55:27 AM7/18/92

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In article <1992Jul17.2...@wpi.WPI.EDU> ddev...@wpi.WPI.EDU (Daniel J. de Vries) writes:

I do not recall when they were delivered, but this is the color scheme
in which the EMD GP-9s were delivered (the Bluebirds). I think the
GP-18s were also delivered in this scheme. So, late 1950s through
early 1960s should be the period during which this scheme was common.
I think the ends of the hoods were also black with a vertical white
stripe.

The GP-9s in the 1700-1749 series were delivered in this scheme in 1957 and
1958 (with the FTs as trade-ins). It's referred to as the "McGinnis scheme",
since it was part of the theatrics he put on to hide the looting of the B&M
after his patrons won the proxy fight in 1955. It was also applied to the
1750-1754 series GP-18s in 1961 (BL2s as trade-ins). After he went to
prison, the B&M didn't buy any more new power until 1975 or so, when the
GP-38s were delivered in the blue & white scheme introduced in 1972 when the
trustees took over.

White: cab ends, vertical stripe on the flat center of the nose, side sills
Black: cab sides & roof, angled part of ends, underbody
Blue: sides & top of short & long hood

There was a switcher version, which was applied to a few Alco S units. There
were also a couple of cab-unit versions, applied to the Talgo train power
cars, one E7 (3814) and several of the F3s and F7s. The last unit I saw with
fresh "McGinnis" paint was 1745, in 1971 or 1972, but some ran with it well
into the Guilford era.

James B. VanBokkelen 26 Princess St., Wakefield, MA 01880
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