B&M 4266 paint job

I took ia picture of the 4266 at the CS's railfans weekend last year, and Ithink the 4266 could use a new paint job. Just look at this picture I took!http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?photo ... SRRRailfan

She could use more than just a paint job. It would be really nice to see her under her own power again. Sadly, I don't think we'll ever see that again.

Meyblc what are you talking about? The 4266 does run under its own power. On June 5th of this year, me and my girlfriend rode the Conway Scenic and the 4266 was the engine they were using for that day. The FB9's were on the other side of the Notch picking up the 573 and the 3 other engines the Conway Scenic acquired. Yes the 4266 needs an overhaul, which the Conway Scenic and its owner the 470 Railroad Club are aware of. From the sounds of it both the Conway Scenic and the 470 Railroad Club are working on a time for when this will happen. One of the employee said it will not happen until after the two FB9's are repainted (scheduled for this winter coming up). This is also one of the reasons the Conway Scenic acquired 2 more engines because currently the 4266 is the only back up engine.

I do have picture from that day, that I will be posting on NErail, but haven't had the time to do it yet.

The paint is fine (not new, but fine). It might require some touch up here and there... if you want that "showroom polish," just go out there with some wax and a power buffer, and the shine will come right back (we do it to our museum equipment all the time).

-otto-

Yes you are correct paint wise its not that bad, to me that's how an engine should look "a little rustic", but after seeing it last month when I was up there it's a lot worse than I thought or from what you can see in pictures. On the right side of the engine where it says Boston and Maine the panel is rusting away. After speaking with a CSRR employee he said it was like that in some other areas of the engine as well. He said that it's not too bad now but left alone for another year or two it could be a different story.

I'm sorry, I was speaking about the other B&M F-7A that is there in Conway, i think it is B&M #4268. It would be nice to see her running under her own power.

It is pretty fortunate that both of these F7s are preserved; AS I recall the B&M only had 4ea F7As and 4ea F7Bs.

I would bet on the 4268 NEVER running again; the prime mover is missing from the body; granted a new 567B or C could be procured but at what cost and value?

Also, there is considerable perforation rust on the 4266 near the pilot truck body work and near the builder's plate on the right side, not to mention the areas B%M 1566 already mentioned.

It could prove to be difficult to overhaul this as it is a carbody and they are not the easiest units to yank the engines out of (and when was the last F or E unit overhauled in Waterville?)

Still though, money and time permitting I sure hope they do it- nothing quite like 1st Gen EMD.

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Hey! Maybe they can get parts from some of the FL9's being scrapped down in Croton North!( ) I know the two units aren't exactly identical, but perhaps things like prime movers, traction motors, side panels etc...
But what would a steam fan like me know.

The B unit for #4266 is in South Jersey right now, modified to look a CNJ F-3B.

[quote="steveh"]Don't forget the 4265; I think it's very fortunate that 3 of these were saved -- and I think I read that there is a b-unit out there somewhere...

(Is it my imagination or are all those blue plastic tarps "B&M blue?")

[img]http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/3 ... NH05sm.jpg[/img][/quote]

The B unit 4266 is no longer around. It was scraped in the 1980's along with the B units 4265 and 4267. It might be the B unit of the 4268 because I believe that escaped the torch.

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Well, I'm not sure I know otherwise in this case but by "fixing up the 4268" the employee might have been refering to repairing the bodywork on the locomotive. Last time I saw her, it was missing the same panels that the 4265A was missing (I guess the F's rot there commonly)

With the problems they are having now (44T #15 blown motor, 4266 running poorly, getting the new GE's up to speed plus the 7470 and the 501) my money is on the 4268 sitting right where it is. Maybe my kids will see it running in their lifetimes.

You might want to check out NERAIL.org, they have some terrific pistures of these F's in their prime. Pictures by David Hutchinson (?)

Thanks

From the information I have received over the years, the 470 RR Club has no future plans to restore the F7 4268 back to use. The motor is gone, but I've been told the 470 RR Club has the motor in storage some place. Don't quote me on that, because I originally thought the B&M had already started scrapping the 4268 when the 470 RR Club purchased it. The most important thing though is that its still around and as long as its owners keep up on the cosmetic side of it, it may see use again someday but I don't think it will ever happen; there struggling as is with 4266 and trying to keep that going. I'm not sure what needs to be done with the 4266 but I’m sure whatever it is its going to cost a lot of $$$$$.