B&M Passenger Car "Blue-Bird" Colors Question.

I'm still looking for a clear color shot of a pre-war GREEN coach!

NellsChoo wrote:I'm still looking for a clear color shot of a pre-war GREEN coach!

Try the B&MRRHS archives. I seem to recall such a photo in one of their "B&M Bulletins".

jbvb wrote:From circa 1957 to circa 1967, all the RDC-1s, 2s and 3s had white ends,
black end doors and blue/black/white McGinnis heralds under each cab
window. About 1968, RDCs started showing up with stainless ends/doors
and a simplified herald. AFAIK, all the white ends were gone as of the 1977
sale to the MBTA. The B&M never painted the ends of RDC-9s.

JBVB, you're dead on target. B+M 1566, Boston and Maine owned a total of 109 cars and none ever sported any type of striping. IIRC, and based upon the research info available to me on B&M RDC's here's a little more detailed timeline of how they were decorated:

- 1953 "Phase Ib" (fabricated trucks) deliveries arrived with only "Boston and Maine" in black on the letterboard above the windows, car # in black numerals in number board below the windows on car sides. No numbers, heralds or other enhancements on car ends, just blank stainless steel end sheets.

- 1955 "Phase Ic" (cast trucks) deliveries arrived with maroon/gold Minuteman heralds and above noted black lettering/numbering. Car numbers later added in small black on white Scotchlite panels on car ends below firemans window. 1953 deliveries subsequently received Minuteman heralds too - speculation exists on when exactly they started showing up on the earliest cars.

- Second-generation 1956/57/58 "Phase II" (high-hooded headlight, flush pilots, higher HP engines, etc) deliveries arrived with white painted ends, black train door, blue/white/black blocked B+M heralds, same lettering/numbering in letter and number boards on side, car # also in black on white illuninated panel above engineer and firemans windows on such-equipped cars (Phase II RDC-1's did not have illuminated end number boards, only Phase II RDC-2 6214 had them, but all Phase II RDC-3's had sported them). ALL other original phase I RDC's painted to match by 1958, car # also showing up in black over firemans window.

- 1968, white painted ends were eliminated as cost-saving measure, blue/white/black blocked B+M heralds were applied directly to unpainted stainless steel end sheets as cars went in for repaint. Also, about this time, window in the train door was blanked out with stainless steel plate and "ghetto-grilles" began appearing on engineers window on both ends.

- NO B+M RDC had striping of any color (until the MBTA took possession of them). Other than the painted ends they were bare stainless steel.

As others have stated, locomotive-hauled trains were fading fast at the time the B&M began introducing versions of the blue paint scheme. I've read that only one E7 was repainted blue, as were a few passenger F3 and F7 AB sets. The two through New York - Montreal trains on the River Line were probably most likely to have had a mix of blue cabs and heavyweight cars, although from railroads other than the B&M. The Montrealer/Washingtonian was usually assigned NH streamlined sleeper lounges, but Pullman heavyweights substituted at times. Dover Harbor - now a private car owned by the Washington NRHS chapter - was one such car. The daytime Ambassador carried heavyweight RPOs from either the NH or CV, and in its final year or two occasionally had an ex-GTW heavyweight coach in the consist.

Dave