NH and B&M?

I recently read that there were plans to merge the Boston and Maine and the Hew Haven railroad companies in 1955, when Patrick McGinnis controlled both of them. How far did these plans get? What would a merged B&M and NH look like- do any proposed plans survive?

If memory serves, McGinnis tried to become president of both the NH and B&M, but the government made a big stink and prevented it. Marc Frattasio has a section about all this in his recent NH book.

If the merger had gone through (thank goodness for anti-trust laws keeping the B&M sovereign ) perhaps the Poughkeepsie Bridge Route would have had more success. I have no idea, in terms of effeciency the merger wouldn't have a big difference on the route's tonnage hauling based effectiveness. There wouldn't have been a strong incentive to route via the CM instead of just routing via Deerfield over the Fitchburg then coming down on the Conn Riv towards the NH Canal Line.

McGinnis could not run the New Haven properly nor could he run the
Boston and Maine properly. I do not see any way that he could run a
combination of the two any better, a merger of the two railroads during his
time would have been a disaster, I am sure of that one.
Noel Weaver

The evidence of the proposal is in the harlequin paint schemes applied to both NH and B&M diesel locomotives. A distinctive, but expensive paint scheme to apply, yet pleasing to the eye, if your eye was incline to look away from heritage. Maroon and gold with a minuteman, always said B&M to me.

It was my understanding that the two paint schemes were developed independently of one another. McGinnis had already left the NH and was applying his "creative" touches to the B&M, trading in maroon for blue.

-otto-

Otto is correct;they were done "separately"-BUT- with the influence of McGinnis---Lucille McGinnis!!!


Yes,Pat's wife was an art major,interior designer or "something"
??-AND- of course-got paid VERY WELL for her new "logos"/color schemes from both the NH and the B&M!

Photos of her show that SHE needed some "help" in the looks and fashion areas!!!

"Frats" book has some interesting reading on her "role" on BOTH railroads!

Bud

I thought Lucille had hired a European designer for the logos?..

She did,Ian,but she still played a "vital role",and was "educated/experienced in art and design"-and this blatant "nepotism" brought even more money into the McGinnis family !!

I can recall being at a watering hole with a couple of B&M employees in the late 60's,and they were "theorizing" what Lucille would have done to the C&O "Chessie the Kitten",and the MEC "Pine Tree"!!!

It was a "hoot"(and not fit for print here!),but the anti McGinnis feelings on the B&M ran very deep,and I believe still do among many survivors from that era.

Bud

In spite of the fancy and decrotive paint schemes, it was a very dark
period for both railroads (McGinnis that is). I was there and remember it
very well, please believe me.
Noel Weaver

Noel Weaver wrote:In spite of the fancy and decrotive paint schemes, it was a very dark
period for both railroads (McGinnis that is). I was there and remember it
very well, please believe me.
Noel Weaver

Yeah, if you think about it, the B&M never recovered from those days. The bankruptcy lead to Guilford, and now the railroad is just a paper entity that owns track and some locomotives. Plus the guy was a convicted felon!

Well, it did recover marginally during the Dustin era. Mr. Dustin did the right thing: instead of spending money on gaudy paint schemes, he used it to buy new locomotives, rebuild old ones, [tried to] improve relations with everybody who dealt with the B&M, repaired the physical plant, etc. The B&M was in pretty good shape by the time Guilford bought it.

MEC407 wrote:Well, it did recover marginally during the Dustin era. Mr. Dustin did the right thing: instead of spending money on gaudy paint schemes, he used it to buy new locomotives, rebuild old ones, [tried to] improve relations with everybody who dealt with the B&M, repaired the physical plant, etc. The B&M was in pretty good shape by the time Guilford bought it.

True, but they were under bankruptcy protection at the time, and also benefited from the sale of the Boston area commuter routes, the income from the resulting contract to operate the commuter trains out of North Station and then South Station, and receiving a loan from the federal government to fix up the main line west of Ayer and improve East Deerfield yard. It was during these years, despite the recovery, that a lot of branch lines were either abandoned or scaled back. The beginning of the end of the Boston terminal operations occurred during this time too. Dustin's team believed in making the railroad primarily a bridge hauler from the MEC to the D&H, which is one reason they were more than happy to sell off the commuter routes. Of course they continued freight service along them, and part of the Freight Main runs over them today, but operations close to Boston began to decline after that. Eventually, during Guilford, the trends of the past resumed and even accelerated to the point they're at today.

Didn't McGuiness spend some time in the slammer for reasons I seem to forget?

Anyone else besides me got an autographed picture of him? I found it in some $1 bin at one of the shows a few years back. Truly one of the ODDEST pieces in my collection!