Blue Dip F7A

Herbert Matter was the graphic designer responsible for both the NH and B&M colors and logos under their respective McGinnis regimes, and he was indeed Swiss by birth. He was fairly well known in the industrial design world and you'll find a lot of Internet references to his work. One rail-specific one is below.

http://www.gis.net/~fm/mcginnis_graphics.htm

Not to go too far off topic, but it's remarkable that (at least in my eyes) the McGinnis-era logos look so dated today, yet CN's logo, created just a few years later, is as fresh and modern as it did when it first came out.

General Electric's logo is another example of a logo that has been around for ages, but we're so used to seeing it constantly than it doesn't seem overtly dated.

cowford-
Dated not just to your eye but everyone's: The McGinnis-era logos for both NH and BM were based on the the late 19th-century Railroad Roman typeface. For the NH logo, it was Extended Railroad Roman, the extension having been originally incorporated into reporting marks to make it easier for yard clerks and crews to read letters and numbers from the ground and the side on cars. For the BM logo, the "M" was extended horizontally while the "B" was stretched vertically for all sorts of imaginable design reasons. I'm guessing that the use of an older-appearing type on equipment was supposed to indicate a nod to tradition, but not to that of the previous managements on both the NH and BM.

I happen to think the Bluebird Scheme looked good on the GP9s and GP18s (although I'm not sure that it was called Bluebird on the 18s). The contrasting colors added a bit of visual interest and blue, black and white are a decent color combination. Of course, I still prefer the maroon and gold Minute Man scheme on B&M equipment. As to Blue Dip, well I think the F units looked decent enough although not great. The remainder of B&M units looked a little too simple in blue dip.

Yeah, we called the 18's "Bluebird's" too. To us, all of the 1700's were "Bluebird's"

The maroon and gold is by far my favorite, followed by the "blue bird" look. The "blue dip" I'm not for or against (it was appropriate for its time). The 4265 blue dip was by far the sharpest looking one; if the 470 Railroad Club ever chose to repaint the 4268 like that in the up and coming restoration of the old girl, I certainly wouldn't mind it.

Well, if they do ever get 4268 operating again, matching it to 4266 would be best. Gorham could more easily paint 4265 into it's blue scheme and it would look nice to boot! Heck it already has the blue nose door.