I have been modeling Boston and Maine in N scale. My era is the late 1970s. Back then CPR and B&M used to pool power. Of course, CPR eastern operations were mostly performed with Alco/MLW power. I know that the C424 and RS18 fleet held on to the 1990s. What timeframe did the 244 power get retired? Up to which era can I still run RS#, 10, and FA/FB? I've also seen a few B&M pictures with GP35s. How common were they amongst the mostly Alco eastern fleet?
I took photos of the 8400 series RS-2 and S-3 6500 as well as RS10, RS18, C424 and GP35 at St. Johnsbury
in 1979 and of the 8401 in 1980. I think the RS-2s were still there when the MEC Mtn Sub shut down in 1983
but I don't have pictures to prove it- they were replaced with the RS18u's which were starting to show up
about then. The GP35's weren't common; only occasional visiters altho I have photos of them at both St.J
and East Deerfield with C424's and B&M power on the pool trains in 1979.
There was an article on CP's Vermont lines in the June 1995 issue of Railfan and by that time operations
were dominated by RS18u, C424 and RS23 units; the article stating the RS-2, RS-3 and S-3 units had been
gone for over a decade. CP arranged to sell the lines in the fall of 95 so the MLW units were there to the end.
I never saw the FA's but that doesn't mean they didn't show up as I've seen pics of FP9's in the same time
frame I was working there.
