BMRN 425

alcoguy1 · **Posted:** Fri Feb 08, 2013 12:30 am

RBMN-ENGR. wrote:

It's been blue since 1992. Time to go back to black, no?

NO, dear God No. Not only is she one of the most beautiful locomotives out there just exactly the way she went in for a rebuild, but the blue is what defines her. She was just a plain Jane work-a-day pacific that got lost in the crowd before that. The question the R&N has to decide is whether they are restoring her, or rebuilding her for their purposes.

tomgears · **Posted:** Fri Feb 08, 2013 12:50 am

Someone told me she picked up the pilot in her days on the Louisiana Eastern. I've not checked old photos to see if she had it before the LE.

Richard Glueck · **Posted:** Fri Feb 08, 2013 11:03 am

Ooh! Ooh! How about green and gold?

Seriously, I'd like to see her repainted as a black locomotive, no fancy filigree paint, and raised headlight.

Howard P. · **Posted:** Fri Feb 08, 2013 11:40 am

This has to be the biggest batch of Valley Forge Scenic Railway photos that I've ever seen. The shot from the "other" loco cab is from 0-6-0 #58, now at W&W, yes?

425 looks like a real workaday engine in all black. Just sayin'.

Howard P.

Alan Maples · **Posted:** Fri Feb 08, 2013 12:18 pm

Howard P. wrote:

This has to be the biggest batch of Valley Forge Scenic Railway photos that I've ever seen.

If you want the complete story of the Valley Forge Scenic Railroad, with lots of photographs of 425, locate a copy of the Reading Company Technical & Historical Society's "Bee Line", vol. 27, No. 3&4 of 2005. The entire issue, over 50 pages, is devoted to Kurt Bell's history of the VFS (including 79 footnotes!).

Alan Maples

m3ohwell · **Posted:** Fri Feb 08, 2013 1:29 pm

So we got a lot of votes for black!
Ed K.

6-18003 · **Joined:** Thu Jun 17, 2010 9:31 am **Posts:** 728

Here is my vote, borrowed from NE railfan

Dave · **Posted:** Fri Feb 08, 2013 2:33 pm

Careful.....once you go black, you never go back.

Or so I'm advised.

I think a rotation of liveries would be way cool....green and gold would make a nice Southern Ps2 clone. 5 years out, maybe blue and gray.

dave

co614 · **Posted:** Fri Feb 08, 2013 3:40 pm

Be real careful or Andy Muller will paint it pink just to show you foamers whose boss!!

Ross Rowland

m3ohwell · **Posted:** Fri Feb 08, 2013 4:15 pm

co614 wrote:

Be real careful or Andy Muller will paint it pink just to show you foamers whose boss!!

Ross Rowland

YIKES!!!
Ed K. here at snowey Laurel Run.

I5Hudson · **Joined:** Mon Feb 16, 2009 12:49 pm **Posts:** 22

Kevin Gilliam wrote:

the last I heard, expect her out and about this summer. Beautiful engine and one heck of a loud one also!
Kevin

I second on both but particularly the loud. The booms out of that stack sound like cannon fire!

wilkinsd · **Posted:** Fri Feb 08, 2013 6:01 pm

What kind of work is going to be performed to the leading truck? Roller bearing conversion?

Andrew Durden · **Posted:** Fri Feb 08, 2013 7:04 pm

Howard P. wrote:

The cast pilot on 425 is a Ross-Meehan Co. casting; made in Birmingham (I'm pretty sure). A number of Southern roads used these-- C of G, A&WP, W of A, for example. I think the pilot on Pacific 290 is one of these. Look at some 40s-50s photos of locos in the South and these "regional" cast pilots show up.

Howard P.

290's Ross-Meehan pilot was cast at Chattanooga. Someone once jokingly asked Bill Purdie if he was going to build a boiler-tube pilot for her (this was in the early 2000's when Bill was coming out and volunteering at SRM). He responded that the Ross-Meehan pilot "looked like it meant business" going down the track.

superheater · **Joined:** Sun Aug 22, 2004 11:54 pm **Posts:** 2605

Just for fun I searched "Ross-Meehan Pilot".

Sure enough, got a hit:

http://newhanover.lostsoulsgenealogy.co ... 124906.pdf

Mike Tillger · **Posted:** Fri Feb 08, 2013 7:39 pm

David,
From my understanding they fabricated a new lead truck frame to accommodate the roller bearing conversion of the lead truck.
Mike Tillger