While we're throwing around paint suggestions how about one that fits the regional bill and is neither blue or black nor Sylvan green. To keep with the anthracite road theme lets say we paint her olive green like the CNJ pacific that was assigned to the Queen of the Valley around the same time frame as the Blue Comet.

Kevin O

Interesting- the inventor was from Wilmington, NC (the headquarters of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad), and it seems quite a few ACL locomotives used this pilot. Here's a shot of the 1504 in Jacksonville showing hers:

I looked the pilot up in the '47 cyclopedia earlier and it appears that by at least this time, General Steel/Commonwealth acquired the rights to market and produce these pilots.

Just got curious, and found some photos of the 425 and the 426 back in the prewar era, including a builder's photo of the 425, and another of the 425 as Louisiana Eastern No. 4. You may have to scroll down to find the photos:

http://www.hawkinsrails.net/mainlines/gmn/gmn.htm

http://www.msrailroads.com/GM&N.htm

"The cast pilot on 425 is a Ross-Meehan Co. casting; made in Birmingham (I'm pretty sure)."

As stated previously, Ross-Meehan Foundry Co. was in Chattanooga. It was started on 15 January 1889 by James Meehan, a former engineer and master mechanic on the Louisville & Nashville, to manufature the Meehan locomotive brake shoe. He died at age 74 on 28 February, 1908, almost 105 years ago.

Attached is a photo of Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis 576, on display in Nashville's Centennial Park, sporting a Ross-Meehan Foundry Co. pilot.

The company dissolved on 31 December, 1987. That was the period when the owners of industry in this country were silencing the last echoes of the industrial heartbeat that enabled the United States of America to sustain her position as one of the few legitimate World superpowers.

Whoever restored that Northern, did a wonderful cosmetic on it.

That'd be a Dixie, there were no Northerns on the NC. ;)

Tell that to General Sherman! (Sorry!)

Dick -

I guess safer to call it a 4-8-4! Anyway, I agree the cosmetic restoration on 576 looks really good. My only criticism are those white paint "dabs" on the front of the smokebox. BTW, I believe that these were called "Stripes" by the NC&StL crews. To differentiate between those 4-8-4's that were "Yellow Jackets" and the others that were known as "Gliders". If I got these nicknames wrong, corrections welcome.

Les

That's correct, the J2s from the 30s were the Gliders. 576 was built as a Yellow Jacket, with a Commonwealth swing coupler pilot. The second group of 10 were built as stripes. When the full nose cones and skirting were removed, they all became Stripes and received the Ross-Meehan pilots. But the correct term on the NC&StL was Dixie. Regardless of nomenclature, it'd be an ideal locomotive for mainline service with being a very light 4-8-4 and cast engine bed with roller bearing wheels.