Info wanted about B&A "Potatoland Special" trains in 1980

I have seen several B&A postcards showing a "Potatoland Special" from 1980. Some postcards are dated 5/21/1980 and others are dated 6/01/1980 so either they ran several trips or some of the captions are wrong.

The train consists of a gray BL2 #557 pulling three red/maroon coaches (which might be lettered for the Conway Scenic Railroad?) and a red caboose. I am interested in putting together an O scale model train of this and was hoping for some more information on the consist.

There is also another post card dated 1981 showing BL2 #54 in the red/gray scheme pulling three all maroon coaches (perhaps the same ones as from 1980, but the paint scheme and lettering are completely different) and another red caboose.

Can someone give me more information about these trains? What was the history behind them. Where did the coaches and caboose come from? Is there any other information, perhaps in published books, about them?

Thanks.

The 470 Railroad Club, sometimes in conjunction with other clubs, ran a number of excursions on BAR
in that era featuring the BL2's and F3's, some of which had been shopped and repainted. In the May 1980
issue of Trains is an ad for a two day trip- May 31 and June 1- sponsored jointly by the 470 RR Club and the
Boston Chapter NRHS for a 400 mile two day trip from Bangor to Caribou via Presque Isle featuring a BL2
and open window coaches limited to 160 persons for $80 per person. The fare included rail transportation,
two box lunches and double occupancy hotel accommodations. The September 1980 issue of Trains has
a photo in the news section of the train at South Twin Lake with BL2 557 in the original gray/blue stripe
paint with 3 Conway Scenic coaches and a caboose on May 31. Caption notes that 557 had been named
"American Railfan."

The second annual "Aroostook Flyer" RRE/NRHS trip occurred a year later and a photo appears in the
Railroad News section on page 25 in the November 1981 issue of Trains. The photo shows the train
leaving Madawaska on May 31, 1981 with BL2 54 in the new tri-color paint with three CSRR coaches
and one of BAR's ex-troop sleeper cabooses along with a CN freight across the river. Caption notes
the train carried 175 people from 22 states on a two day trip, traveling from Bangor to Oakfield on BAR
buses then 387 miles by rail. At some point I think there was yet another excursion that involved the
Aroostook Valley RR as part of the trip.

Thank you! That information is very helpful. It is interesting that the CSR repainted their coaches between seasons. I will track down those issues of Trains magazine, and perhaps try to find out more information about the BAR sleeper-cabooses.

After rummaging around a little more I discovered that two books about BAR, Bangor and Aroostook: The Maine
Railroad (Angier and Cleaves 1986) and Bangor and Aroostook: From Potatoes to Paper ( Ron Johnson 1983), each
have single color photos of the 557 trip. As for the BAR's cabooses converted from troop sleepers, I don't know
how many of them there were but they were common on the mainline trains. There were still some of the older
plywood sided cupola style cabooses around in the 80's and I usually saw them sitting in yards. The only time I
saw one in use was on the Houlton local. Here are a couple of pics for your reference.

According to a 1981 BAR equipment roster that I have the railroad had 16 for troop sleeper cabooses at that time. Numbers C-10, C-81, C-82, C-84 through C-87, C-89 through C-99. Some of them did not ride well and had concrete floors added to increase weight and make for a smoother ride. There are least two sill around, one in St. Francis and the other in Fort Kent.

BAR
Williamsburg, VA

Correction on the two extant cabooses. One is in St. Francis and the other is in Frenchville, not in Fort Kent.

BAR
Williamsburg, VA

Thank you very much. Oddly, at least one of the pictures of the cabooses in the postcard seems to show a cupola on the caboose. But it is so far back it is really tough to say for sure. Perhaps if I can track down the Trains articles I can see the caboose better in those pictures.

Also C-90, used as part of a residence in Easton, ME.

BAR said "Some of them did not ride well and had concrete floors added to increase weight and make for a smoother ride." I remember showing my Dad a photo of a troop sleeper in a Trains article years ago and asking if he had traveled
in them during WWII. His immediate comment was "Those damn things..." They didn't ride very well when new as
sleepers apparently. Here is a photo of one of the older cupola style cabooses, one of which was included in one of the
excursions.

Thanks. That caboose looks more like what was in the postcards.

Benjamin, you could also model MEC freight trains deadheading the coaches to/from BAR!

That explains the MEC caboose on the back! Another neat idea. Thanks.