How does Guilford assign reporting marks to locomotives?

[Trackmobile]

How does Guilford decide what reporting marks to put on there engines?Do MEC,BM,& ST "buy" them or does Guilford just (say they bought 30 GP38-2s) divide them between the 3 railroads?

[wolfmom69]

All 3 of these "railroads"still exist "on paper". In fact,some NO Tresspass signs along Freight Mainline,in S.Maine & N.H. are signed "Boston & Maine Corp",despite being put up 2-3 years ago.Probably a lawyer or accountant can figure it out,if they could see an organizational chart of Guilford Transportation Industries! Because we have that broken up into G.Rail Systems,Pan-AM(note they have(or had?)the subsidiary commuter line using the old Boston-Maine Airways!)Aroostook & Bangor Company(ties) etc. Then under Guilford Rail Systems,the 3 that you mentioned. Some phone books,still have the "Guilford" numbers under B&M,or MEC or ST! Gotta be a tax savings,or a legal reason for doing this,but its NOT always done. When Emmons(now G&W)bought the old Grand Trunk from CN in 1989,ALL vestiges of GT/CN names vanished. Maybe it has to do with "registration" & licensing of the locomotives. When I worked part-time for Hertz Rent-a-Car,in the 60's & 70's,the Portland,Maine corporate office controlled most agencies in N.H. & Vt.,and we had to register a certain % of our car fleet in those 2 states. So,I would take the "paperwork" & a blank check to the nearest registery in N.H. or Vt. from Maine. Thats when I found out just how much cheaper N.H. was to register a car in than Maine.like 1/2 for some 1966 Galaxies! Bud

[NellsChoo]

Didn't it used to have something to do with labor rules?

[wolfmom69]

Nells,you mean using the "flexible" Springfield(Vermont)Terminal labor rules to try & reduce crew sizes & work rules in the 1980's???? Interesting,on another front,that the ONLY surviving MEC GP-38,the #252,on Guilford,carries "B&M 252" under the cab window-BUT-I saw it about a month ago,and on one side of the cab,the "B and the "&" were blacked out and a hand painted "E" and a "C" were added. Doesn't look "official" though;either a disgruntled employee or railfan(s) with too much time on their hands! Bud

[NellsChoo]

I may have seen that the other day at Ayer!!! We asked ourselves why it looked like someone took a paintbrush to an engine...