Nostalgia & History > B&O blue, elegantly simple

Well into the Chessie era it was still possible to see solid sets of B&O or C&O power still in blue. While it wasn't rare, it was always nice to see as I've always thought the scheme to be very simple but attractive. In photo 1 a trio of "blues" are eastbound (TT north at this location and time) at Akron, Ohio in August 1978. In #2 a pair of GP-30's are in charge of the Canton Turn in the Valley yard in Akron in March 1979. The last photo taken in March of 1983 a GP-9/GP-38 pair are power for the Cleveland side of an XN turn at Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. A few B&O and C&O blues would surive all the way to CSX never having recieved the Chessie image.

Roger Durfee
Akron, OH

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Very nice Roger.  It was a clean simple scheme, and the Capitol Dome on the nose sealed the deal for me !

As your second photo shows, B&O blue looked even better if there were blue skies. 
How strange it is to see these locations back "Then". Locations one and two would be almost unrecognizable today.
Bob

I always liked this B&O paint - great set of photos !
Gary

Next to the maroon and grey, the simple elegance of the blue was near and dear to my heart! Nice memory grabs old buddy...love the 30s!!!

Bill Rettberg
Bel Air, MD