Eastern Railroad Discussion > Help With B&O Photos

Before you all yell at me, I posted three pics from my slide collection of recently acquired images of a B&O freight and passenger train at the Gary Indiana station hoping to get info on the passenger train the starburst paint scheme on the leading GP30. However, no useful info was forthcoming. So if any of you want to take a look, follow the link below to my Nostalgia post. Thanks.

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,5838672

From what I can tell, the photos were taken in the morning, and the passenger train is eastbound.  So it is not the Capitol Ltd which always had an evening departure from Chicago.  So it might be the Shenandoah together with another train?

The sunburst paint scheme may have been one of the least common and shortest lived B&O schemes from what I have been able to determine. It always reminded me of the Rising Sun Japanese Flag.

Victor Baird



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/27/24 10:32 by wabash2800.

I commented that I liked all three of the photos.  The "Sunburst" Paint Scheme was applied to many engines during that time period including F units, E units, various GP units and even a couple of switchers.  It was okay, but to me the best scheme was the original Blue & Gray Passenger Scheme, which today has been applied to the CSX Office Cars and their three passenger engines.  This is why to me, the heritage engines of CSX do not look right since those three passenger engines painted in the original B&O Scheme are the REAL Heritage engines.
John in White Marsh, Maryland

The Sunburst paint scheme arrived with the GP30s in 1962. It was superceded by the more familiar block Gothic lettering in 1964. The Sunburst scheme was applied to a variety of locos, everything from switchers to passenger units. In the photos of the multi unit set leading a freight, you can see a GP35 in the middle of the consist with the Gothic lettering. I would say that this photo was probably taken in late 1964 early 1965 with the delivery of the second order of GP35s. Switchers usually didn't receive the Sunburst and there was an effort to paint out the Sunburst on many units after a change in B&O leadership as your e unit photo shows.  There is much more to this than I have time to explain.
CR
 

A review of the 1965 B&O passenger timetable posted here (https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,5596239) suggests that the train led by B&O 1448 was the Washington-Chicago Express, departing Chicago at 10:45 AM and arriving Gary at 11:45 AM.

mike woodruff
anacortes wa