B&M FT #4221

I looking for in for on b&m's ft units so i could model 2 of them when i came across this pic on nerail.

http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?20050 ... S=&PAGE=60

it seems that the 4221 wrecked in biddeford maine which is where i live. im looking for more info on what happened and possibly a few pics of the wreck in biddeford.

http://ntl1.specialcollection.net/scrip ... _railroads

Scroll down to ICC ... 1911-1994, click, scroll to 1950, click, then scroll to Boston and Maine and click.

PBM

The only information I have on this wreck, without digging into ICC reports, is that the 4221a was the lead unit on an eastbound through freight (symbol unknown) that rammed the rear of train #21, a local passenger train from Boston to Portland via the Eastern Route that was due at Biddeford at 920pm. The rear car on #21 was a Maine Central coach that was telescoped on impact and the 4221a suffered severe damage to its nose requiring a replacement at Billerica Shops that was supplied by EMD. But, being 1950, EMD no longer made the small, side mounted number indicators, so the 4221a got rebuilt with the more modern large number indicators that the F-7's and subsequent F models were built with. I've attatched a couple of photos from my collection, photographer unknown, of the wreck scene and one taken a few years later showing the rebuild job done by Billerica.

ferroequinarchaeologist wrote:http://ntl1.specialcollection.net/scrip ... _railroads

Scroll down to ICC ... 1911-1994, click, scroll to 1950, click, then scroll to Boston and Maine and click.

Thanks for the link. The report is very interesting reading, and if you download the PDF version, it also has a diagram of the trackage in question.

Big thanks to bmcdr for the photos and summary!

Wow, that would have been an awful day/night for both passengers on that car and the crew on 4221!
- Stephen

It's a shame there is no operable FTs.