Railroad Museum of New England receives 2005 H. Albert Webb Railroad Preservation Award for B&M GP9 1732 Restoration

The Railroad Museum of New England, based in Thomaston, CT, is the 2005 winner of the H. Albert Webb Memorial Railroad Preservation Award, given by Mass Bay RRE member Leigh Webb. The $10,000 grant associated with the award will support restoring Boston & Maine "Bluebird" GP9 to operation, including installing a rebuilt EMD 567C diesel engine in the locomotive.

1732 was one of 50 GP9s that replaced B&M's first freight diesels, the 48 EMD FT units that went into service during World War II. In 1957, B&M traded in those worn-out FTs for GP9s, which came to the railroad in the new "McGinnis" color scheme of bright blue, black and white - earning them the nickname "Bluebirds" from B&M crews. Often running in three- or four-unit combinations, the "Bluebirds" were B&M's main freight power until 1972, when the 200-series GP38-2s arrived.

By the mid-1990s, when the Museum began searching for a "Bluebird" for its collection, the GP9s had long since been repainted into Guilford Rail System gray and were becoming scarce. 1732, renumbered as Springfield Terminal 68, had been traded to a locomotive leasing company in 1996. In 1997 RMNE purchased the locomotive, moved it to Waterbury, CT and put it into service as Naugatuck RR 68. The "Naugy" was familiar territory for the 68; it ran on the ex-New York, New Haven & Hartford Waterbury-Torrington branch in the mid-1980s when B&M operated that line. In early 1998 RMNE repainted the 68 into B&M blue and restored its B&M number. However, on a December 2001 run, 1732 broke its crankshaft and has been out of service since then.

The Museum had acquired a factory-rebuilt 567C diesel engine from Metro-North RR, which never put the engine into service after its rebuild. The diesel engine also needs repairs after being stored outside at Metro-North. The Museum expects both to repair the 567C engine and install it in 1732 during 2005-2006. This will put the 1732 back in tourist train service and make it available for the RMNE "Engineer for an Hour" instruction program.

Mr. Webb created the H. Albert Webb Memorial Award in 2000 to recognize his father's love for New England railroading. The award aids non-profit, tax-exempt organizations that preserve historically significant railroad equipment, structures or information from New England railroads.

The 2004 Webb Award went to the Piedmont Chapter NRHS of Charlotte, NC to restore the interior of six-double-bedroom-lounge Pullman Pine Tree State, the last sleeping car built for the New Haven. The 2003 award to the Friends of Bedford Depot Park in Bedford, MA paid for rebuilding a quarter-mile of two-foot-gauge track on the original right-of-way of the Billerica & Bedford RR, the first U.S. two-foot common carrier. The 470 Railroad Club of Portland received the 2002 award for boiler work on Maine Central Class W 2-8-0 501 (Alco-Schenectady, 1910), a project which is still continuing. Mr. Webb made the 2001 award to the Lackawanna & Wyoming Valley Chapter NRHS, Scranton, PA to assist in restoring B&M Class P-4a 4-6-2 3713 (Lima, 1934).

The Award presentation will take place during RMNE's Annual Dinner on Saturday, April 9 at Nuchies of Forestville, 164 Central St., Bristol, CT. For information and reservations, call Mary Otnisky, 860-675-3859.

(RMNE press release)