B&M Geeps "Bluebirds"

Can someone give me a brief pictorial history of the B&M's "Bluebird" Geep 7 and 9 engines? I have seen striking pictures of the geeps in a blue/black/white, as well as a solid blue scheme with white and red trim stripes, and I think a solid blue scheme.

I model the D&H in 1984 and have seen pictures from the late 1970s of B&M Bluebird geeps in Mechanicville yard (NY), as well as pictures of the solid blue geeps in Mechanicville in the 1980s. However, I want to know if the Bluebirds lasted on the B&M until 1984 in their blue/black/white scheme or were they all repainted into the simpler blue scheme or retired?

Thanks.

The GP7s were delivered in a maroon paint scheme and many still sported that scheme into the Guilford era.

My recollection is that the last of the original McGinnis-era "Bluebird" GP9 paint jobs disappeared around 1980, give or take a year or two. As part of the pre-Guilford revitalization of the railroad under Alan Dustin, a lot of power was repainted in a bright new Imron blue scheme with white trim and "Boston and Maine" written out on the hood. Some GP9s were also rebuilt at the Billerica shops around then, getting 1800-series numbers and the new paint in the process. I believe the last original paint job was covered up around then. I'm sure I have more specific info in notes from 30 years ago, but not anything I can quickly retrieve.

BTW, note that there were two primary post-Bluebird paint schemes for the GP9s. The bright blue I mention above replaced the "trustee" blue dip of the late 1960s and 1970s, which was a slightly different shade. Those units had only a B&M logo, no written-out road name, and looked a lot less sharp.

Ben,
The last "Bluebird" was 1733, she lasted up until late July-early August 1982 in her original paint. I started working for the B&M in 1974 and always brought my camera to work with me, if you'd like to contact me at bmcdr @ comcast.net I'd be more than happy to supply you with photos and disposition dates for our Geep 7's and 9's.

Nothing to add to what's been said about the paint schemes, but I have detailing info here: http://www.faracresfarm.com/jbvb/rr/bmrr/dieselde.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The original bluebird scheme introduced by McGinnis was applied to the GP9 and GP18 classes, when they were new. Some E and F units were repainted in various renditions. There was an Alco switcher that was burned in a roundhouse fire. It was rebuilt by Alco, and came back in bluebird scheme.


The other posts were right on. Some of the GP7s, F units, and RS3s stayed in maroon late. Many got the plain blue, which is what the GP38-2s were delivered in. The F and RS were gone soon. Some of the GP7s may not have gotten the economy plain blue. They may have gone right to the Imron, with "Boston and Maine" spelled out. By this time B&M had some cash to rebuild power, since they had sold all the suburban lines to the T.

Some of the GP9 fleet still is on Pan Am's roster. One was painted in the Minuteman maroon, although this class never had it originally.

Thank you everyone for your help. Despite being off the roster by 1982, perhaps I will acquire one for days when I want to back-date my layout by a few years.

Just paint your GP7 or 9 into the last per Guilford scheme. This was what the 300 series GP40-2 s were delivered in. They and the repainted GP38-2 had "BOSTON and MAINE" spelled out. Since the early geeps had short her hoods, it was stacked, instead of one line.