When I was a kid, my family business was a B&M customer. I got to know many of the local crews, and they took me along. A couple of engineers taught me to run. The first unit that I ever ran was a bluebird. The railroad turned out to be my calling for a career, now having been an engineer for 25 years. It all started with a bluebird.
You outdid yourself with this one Rick. Absolutely awesome video. Very happy to see 1741 restored to brand new status. This brought back so many memories of these great engines. I was born the year after Boston and Maine purchased the GP-9s and my grandfather had me trackside when I was a year and a half old and I always loved feeling the power of them going by on the Fitchburg Division in Waltham, and later they showed up on the Central Mass and the Bemis branch in Waltham as well. Thank you so much for this episode!
I'm not from New England nor have a real vested interest in the B&M but your video series on the motive power has be incredible. I really enjoy the whole story from the acquisitions to the dispositions. And this showcase on the 1741 at the end was just the icing on the cake. Keep up the good work on these videos!
I am happy to have been able to see the 52, 72, and 77 in their final years in active freight service. I was more than happy to see the pictures of 1741s beautiful paint scheme, a big upgrade!
Another outstanding production. From the origins of the locomotive class to the big reveal of the restored 1741…this is a fulfillment of a dream any railfan can relate to with their favorite locomotive type. Great balance of story telling and critical details here.
I dont know what to say, except THANKS TO ALL INVOLVED IN BRINGING THIS GREAT MACHINE back to life.! This is the way a B&M GP9 should look! Probably, the absolute most perfect paint scheme ever put on a loco! Thans again!!!!
Congratulations to the creator of this video, I really enjoyed watching it. Excellent information and impressive restoration of this locomotive by the guys from Railroad Club 470, they have achieved something invaluable.
This is super! I grew up with the B&M GP-9s, remembering them going by my grandmother's house in Hoosick Falls, NY as they replaced the FTs. I cherish the many rides on them in my early railroading days of the late 60s into the 70s, riding them between Mechanicville and Boston. I'm so glad to see the 1741 in it's as delivered livery and I'm sure it will soldier on for many years to come thanks to the 470 Club.
Regarding the GP18 upgrades. As told to us by Alan Dustin, the B&M purchased a single upgrade kit from EMD and reverse-engineered and copied it at Billerica to use in subsequent upgraded units. I remember seeing these in the process of scrapping at Iron Horse Park in 1988 and seeing the plywood boards used to support the electrical gear.
Great video. The color inside EMD units was and is Duck egg blue. It's a color also use in many interiors of military cargo aircraft of the same period 1950s- 1960s
I can't express how much i enjoyed this, the effort you guys put into these is amazing. It is truly awesome to see the past memories of B&M coming back over the past few years, with 4268, and now 1741. Awesome work y'all!
I'm so glad 1741 was saved! What a beautiful sight she is. During the closing credits, at 56:39 you show the bridge between Wells River VT & Woodsville NH. I live in Wells River, less than half a mile from that bridge.
I remember trios of GP9s running up the con river through Northampton in 1970’s pulling huge freights. It’s great to see an original B&M geep restored. I will definitely visit North Conway in the near future to see this restored unit.
After so many years, a Boston and Maine "Bluebird" GP-9 is back running on home rails... what an excellent restoration! One hopes that when B&M #3713 is restored and running at Steamtown, #1741 might go down to Pennsylvania for a photo op - a doubleheader even!
A couple notes on Cory's tour. The hydraulic fittings behind the panel I'm almost certain were for hooking up to a standby boiler to keep the engine warm. The dynamic brake selector switch was a surprise to see it was still in there in the cab after the electrical cabinet had been overhauled. It was ONLY used when there were trailing F- units that had the field loop dynamic brake system. The GP-9's did not require its use as they had potential wire dynamic brake control that did not require the use of the field loop jumper cables between units. I'm also guessing that during the cabinet overhaul that the dynamic brake transfer switch was removed. It would be a big project to replace it. Regarding reducing the pilot heights, I would be curious to know what size shim plates are between the journal boxes and the spring cradles. They come in differing heights just for the purpose of easily adjusting for reduced wheel sizes. SJW
37:47 He's not wrong. We still have EMD 567's in mainline revenue service here in Australia, some dating back to the late 50's early 60's in the Victorian Railways S class and Commonwealth Railways GM class. ( Particularly good if you happen to like streamliners ) :D
As a kid from say 1965 - 1980 living nears the B&M tracks in Westford I think I can count 3 - 5 derailments so I think there were probably way more total derailments than you reported. It would take a huge effort working thru Lowell Sun microfiche to research but I remember one derailment in the 1970's was close to a HazMat crisis.
I was unaware that the removal of the dynamic brakes on B&M's GP9s was due to a derailment. I had thought it may have been due to the bankruptcy and money for maintenance being tight. But now I know! This explains why the GP38-2s and GP40-2s were ordered without dynamic brakes. Thank you for an informative and enjoyable video.
Gee! The GP9’s were durable enough but wrecks and vandalism took their tool. Only a handful were in dead line often no longer than a year maximum. Some “bluebirds” like 1733 for example weren’t repainted until the ‘80’s. I got to see some Bluebirds at home in the late 1960’s. The craziest place I saw one was at Levis QUE. it was borrowed by QC (CP).
When I was a kid, my family business was a B&M customer. I got to know many of the local crews, and they took me along. A couple of engineers taught me to run. The first unit that I ever ran was a bluebird. The railroad turned out to be my calling for a career, now having been an engineer for 25 years. It all started with a bluebird.
You outdid yourself with this one Rick. Absolutely awesome video. Very happy to see 1741 restored to brand new status. This brought back so many memories of these great engines. I was born the year after Boston and Maine purchased the GP-9s and my grandfather had me trackside when I was a year and a half old and I always loved feeling the power of them going by on the Fitchburg Division in Waltham, and later they showed up on the Central Mass and the Bemis branch in Waltham as well. Thank you so much for this episode!
I'm not from New England nor have a real vested interest in the B&M but your video series on the motive power has be incredible. I really enjoy the whole story from the acquisitions to the dispositions. And this showcase on the 1741 at the end was just the icing on the cake. Keep up the good work on these videos!
Thumbs up! Nicely done!
Wow, 1741 looks sharp! That Bluebird scheme is nice. Excellent restoration work.
I am happy to have been able to see the 52, 72, and 77 in their final years in active freight service. I was more than happy to see the pictures of 1741s beautiful paint scheme, a big upgrade!
Another outstanding production. From the origins of the locomotive class to the big reveal of the restored 1741…this is a fulfillment of a dream any railfan can relate to with their favorite locomotive type. Great balance of story telling and critical details here.
I dont know what to say, except THANKS TO ALL INVOLVED IN BRINGING THIS GREAT MACHINE back to life.! This is the way a B&M GP9 should look! Probably, the absolute most perfect paint scheme ever put on a loco! Thans again!!!!
Awesome! I grew up beside the Grand Trunk RR listening to GP9's climbing the grade out of Groveton. Watching the B&M coming into town daily.
Truly Amazing, so glad to see this piece of history preserved
Another great video! Corey Fothergill was obviously the highlight, and his amazing accent really adds to the feel of New England railroading!
I wish NHRHTA put out videos like this on New Haven power. Well done!
OUTSTANDING love your content
Excellent episode!
This was truly great. Thank you so much for the hard work. I’m gonna watch it again!! 😊👍👍
Congratulations to the creator of this video, I really enjoyed watching it. Excellent information and impressive restoration of this locomotive by the guys from Railroad Club 470, they have achieved something invaluable.
Gorgeous!
Babe, wake up! They dropped the GP9 episode!
I was hoping for this 😂
Great video, Rick! You and Cory work really well together!
This is super! I grew up with the B&M GP-9s, remembering them going by my grandmother's house in Hoosick Falls, NY as they replaced the FTs. I cherish the many rides on them in my early railroading days of the late 60s into the 70s, riding them between Mechanicville and Boston. I'm so glad to see the 1741 in it's as delivered livery and I'm sure it will soldier on for many years to come thanks to the 470 Club.
Regarding the GP18 upgrades. As told to us by Alan Dustin, the B&M purchased a single upgrade kit from EMD and reverse-engineered and copied it at Billerica to use in subsequent upgraded units. I remember seeing these in the process of scrapping at Iron Horse Park in 1988 and seeing the plywood boards used to support the electrical gear.
Your work with those video series is just beautiful. Thanks for sharing this knowledge about the B&M.
Seb, from France
Wow! Great video.
Great video. The color inside EMD units was and is Duck egg blue. It's a color also use in many interiors of military cargo aircraft of the same period 1950s- 1960s
This is really spectacularly done. Amazing job. Proud to be a B&MRRHS member, especially if my contributions go to projects like we see here. Bravo!
Very nice video I always love seeing new content from the channel
Great Video What a beautiful train absolutely gorgeous 😍 ❤️ ♥️ ❤❤
You are music makers and dreamers of dreams. Well done, you continue to do history well
Wow! A bluebird flies again on ex B&M rails! Thanks to all involved!
Amazing video!
I can't express how much i enjoyed this, the effort you guys put into these is amazing. It is truly awesome to see the past memories of B&M coming back over the past few years, with 4268, and now 1741. Awesome work y'all!
Glad I discovered this channel, great production values and excellent work! :)
Incredible work CSRy!! Thank you!!!
I'm so glad 1741 was saved! What a beautiful sight she is. During the closing credits, at 56:39 you show the bridge between Wells River VT & Woodsville NH. I live in Wells River, less than half a mile from that bridge.
(Great music too.)
I remember trios of GP9s running up the con river through Northampton in 1970’s pulling huge freights. It’s great to see an original B&M geep restored. I will definitely visit North Conway in the near future to see this restored unit.
This is an amazing bit of work. Well done.
After so many years, a Boston and Maine "Bluebird" GP-9 is back running on home rails... what an excellent restoration! One hopes that when B&M #3713 is restored and running at Steamtown, #1741 might go down to Pennsylvania for a photo op - a doubleheader even!
Great video! Thanks to the 470 club on repainting 1741 back into the original paint colours.
Another great video. I have watched a video on Steam certification. I would recommend a video on diesel certification. Keep up the great videos!
Nice railway video, Like!
A couple notes on Cory's tour. The hydraulic fittings behind the panel I'm almost certain were for hooking up to a standby boiler to keep the engine warm. The dynamic brake selector switch was a surprise to see it was still in there in the cab after the electrical cabinet had been overhauled. It was ONLY used when there were trailing F- units that had the field loop dynamic brake system. The GP-9's did not require its use as they had potential wire dynamic brake control that did not require the use of the field loop jumper cables between units. I'm also guessing that during the cabinet overhaul that the dynamic brake transfer switch was removed. It would be a big project to replace it. Regarding reducing the pilot heights, I would be curious to know what size shim plates are between the journal boxes and the spring cradles. They come in differing heights just for the purpose of easily adjusting for reduced wheel sizes. SJW
Nice video! Good work.
I remember being really young and seeing the Ex-Guilford-Ex-B&M GP9's on the Rumford Branch in Maine.
I remember seeing 72 on SLR leaving the yard.
37:47 He's not wrong. We still have EMD 567's in mainline revenue service here in Australia, some dating back to the late 50's early 60's in the Victorian Railways S class and Commonwealth Railways GM class. ( Particularly good if you happen to like streamliners ) :D
There's a couple of operating gp9 in Blissfield Michigan
As a kid from say 1965 - 1980 living nears the B&M tracks in Westford I think I can count 3 - 5 derailments so I think there were probably way more total derailments than you reported. It would take a huge effort working thru Lowell Sun microfiche to research but I remember one derailment in the 1970's was close to a HazMat crisis.
@@b79holmes These were only a handful of notable examples - there were indeed quite a few more!
I remember seeing a B & M GP - 9 and a X New Haven GP - 9 mu together at South Station
Great video on gp9
holy peak it's here
I was unaware that the removal of the dynamic brakes on B&M's GP9s was due to a derailment. I had thought it may have been due to the bankruptcy and money for maintenance being tight. But now I know! This explains why the GP38-2s and GP40-2s were ordered without dynamic brakes. Thank you for an informative and enjoyable video.
Very well done. I wonder what the deal was with the maintaining feature on the brake? Coal train perhaps?
Glad to season 1741 back in its territory thanks to 470 railroad club
Hey I found FT Rebuild into GP-5 Railroads Great Northern.
I grew up watching the Blue Birds ..
Coll that 1741 is back home on the main central mountain division
I got to se and donate to this restoration while it was in the roundhouse 1741 is great
Gee! The GP9’s were durable enough but wrecks and vandalism took their tool. Only a handful were in dead line often no longer than a year maximum. Some “bluebirds” like 1733 for example weren’t repainted until the ‘80’s. I got to see some Bluebirds at home in the late 1960’s. The craziest place I saw one was at Levis QUE. it was borrowed by QC (CP).
Sorry when was the B&M doing commuter service out of south station? Didn’t the MBTA cars need head end power? Could the GP9s do that?
One day they will do a trio of 1741 1751 and 573 on a run up the notch