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| B&0 RR steam loco cast iron front emblems https://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=31485 |
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| Author: | F.N.Kuenzel [ Sun May 29, 2011 2:00 pm ] |
| Post subject: | B&0 RR steam loco cast iron front emblems |
I've got a couple questions regarding the cast iron B&O capitol dome emblems that were used on the front of B&O steam locomotives. 1. When did the RR start using them on the loco fronts? I alway's thought these were rather nice looking items that adorned the loco fronts and alway's wanted to get one,but they also seem to be getting rather pricy lately after seeing this one #140555919428 on Ebay the other day wich still has 4 day's left. Why am i asking about these? Well i finally managed to pick one up a whole lot cheaper from a lady that had one advertised on Craigslist this morning as a B&O RR sign,wich i new immediately what it really was from the photo! Had i not been home from my RR run to look i'm sure someone else would have scarfed it up asap as she just listed it last night.She told me that it came from her uncles estate a few years ago and that she found it in the attic of his house wrapped in old newspaper hidden in the eaves while they were going thru things. Now my next question wich has me a bit puzzeled? The one i got has a much different looking ( & ) ampersand between the B&O than the one listed on Ebay.I got out all my B&O books and photo's i have and started examining the front B&O emblems on the various steam locomotives.Well there appears to be both types used on loco's.I noticed some EM1's,some Pacific's,and other loco's used both types with the different ampersands. What's the difference? is one type a earlier or later version,or are they just different castings made from different manufacturers? Thank's! |
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| Author: | J3a-614 [ Sun May 29, 2011 2:25 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: B&0 RR steam loco cast iron front emblems |
I can't answer about the difference in castings, but I can tell you the railroad started using these in the 1940s, apparently as a public relations exercise to make sure the locomotives could be positively identified as B&O in railfan magazine photos! This was when Larry Sagle ran the PR department, and the announcement and explanation were in a 1940s edition of Trains--sorry, my copies are down in the basement, and the computer is up here,so I can't tell you exactly which issue it was in, but it would most likely be somewhere between 1944 (first delivery of the EM-1 Yellowstones) and 1946 at the latest. Too bad many current railroad managers aren't as railfan and PR savvy as some of the old-timers. |
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| Author: | Alexander D. Mitchell IV [ Sun May 29, 2011 3:16 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: B&0 RR steam loco cast iron front emblems |
The details of the various 3-D B&O emblems on locomotive fronts (steam and diesel) is indeed SO complex that the B&ORR Historical Society had to devote most of an issue of their periodical, The Sentinel, to the subject. I believe the issue is V. 27 #4, available here: http://www.borhs.org/shopping/index.html The variations include cast iron and brass, solid plate versus 3-d projecting casting, brass plates creased to fit the front of an E-unit or Shark, etc. |
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