Baltimore & Ohio

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Bruette

Member
I thought this was good for the first photo of this thread!
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Here's a real one for comparison

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Wish I'd been born a few years earlier so I could've seen these in action!

Not a single one of these units were preserved. I read an article in the Sentinel where some Mount Clare shop workers tried to hide a mothballed unit among some stored freight cars in the yard, waiting until enough money could be raised to keep it for the B&O museum. Unfortunately, somebody at the shop office who wasn't "in-the-know" answered the phone one day and unwittingly spilled the beans. The B&O top brass found out, and immediately had her towed out to the scrappers before anyone could save it!:mad:
 
Wish I'd been born a few years earlier so I could've seen these in action!

Not a single one of these units were preserved. I read an article in the Sentinel where some Mount Clare shop workers tried to hide a mothballed unit among some stored freight cars in the yard, waiting until enough money could be raised to keep it for the B&O museum. Unfortunately, somebody at the shop office who wasn't "in-the-know" answered the phone one day and unwittingly spilled the beans. The B&O top brass found out, and immediately had her towed out to the scrappers before anyone could save it!:mad:

Yep, pretty sad, isn't it? Same for the New York Central. Many a railfan would give their, umm... favorite lunchbox, just to see a New York Central Streamlined Hudson or a Niagara. They would have been wonderful for excursion service, but even if not, some should have been preserved. The iconic bullet nose is a symbol of the streamliner error, and it's tragic none were saved.
 
There were lots of historic steam engines on many railroads which were sent to the scrapper instead of being donated to a preservation group, museum, or city park. The Union Pacific was probably the best at saving and donating steam locomotives.
 
The GP30 is my favorite 2nd generation engine as that hump above the cab gave it a look like no other diesel at the time. I can't say I really like the sunburst as it detracts from that distinctive Capitol dome log. Rebuilt BNSF GP30's are still in my area and can be seen in my MP 18 thread in the Western US section.

As I mentioned, the B&O is my favorite East Coast railroad. Back in the 70's I belonged to a model railroad club in Sacramento. The California state capital dome could be seen around town including an overpass where I often photographed Western Pacific trains passing beneath. Our model railroad needed a logo and I thought of the B&O's dome. At my suggestion, we adapted a logo similar to the B&O's. The logo is still in use by the club 40+ years later
http://www.sacmodularrailroad.org/

Here is a section of the website acknowledging the B&O's influence on the club logo.

Here are photos of my ABA set of Model Power Baldwin shark noses (a diesel found on the B&O) that my friend and I painted for our club's railroad, the Sacramento Central.

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I am fortunate to have visited the B&O museum in Baltimore once when I was in DC on a business trip.
 
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Turning the engine by hand at New Castle, VA on the Craig Valley Branch, summer 1952. The engineer had to spot the engine precisely on balance or the turntable would be very hard to move. The Craig Valley Branch extended from Eagle Rock on the Mainline down the Valley to New Castle, where mountains impeded further expansion. It served a number of mines, timber interests and the fairly large community of New Castle.

Note that the 377.was long assigned to the Craig Valley and later dressed up to look older and taken on tour around the system. She eventually ended up at the B&O museum in Baltimore. F. M. Hammond negative from the collection of Guy Span.
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