Vol. 19, No. 1 January / February 2003  Issue Select 
Issue Details
Cover Title: 1776: The one you saw...the ones you didn't
Cover Subtitle: N&W's Class BMf Baggage/Mail Cars
On the Cover: Fresh out of the paint shop, 1776 poses in front of the General Office Building in April, 1974. There were several paint schemes considered, and we've unearthed the original colored pencil drawings of them all. Our story on the 1776 begins on page 4
Articles In This Issue
Mailbag - Staff Arrow
Classic Ad: 1947 / Designed for Travel Agent Magazines - Staff Arrow
1776: The Locomotive You Saw and the Ones You Didn't - George Hughes
  Photo At Left: 1776 takes charge of an Orland Park (Chicago) commuter train in August of 1974. This service was formerly operated by the Wabash; the N&W took over its operations after the 1964 merger. (Bob Bowers collection)
  Drawing This is the 1776 approved version. The one obvious difference in stenciling is that the road name as painted is Imitation Gold, while Black lettering is shown on the drawing
  Sidebar How it all started: Painting of N&1776 Was Employee's Idea (N&W Magazine, November 1975, contributed by Tom Heinrich)
  Drawing Style 2&3 - Subtle differences distinguish these drawings. In Style 2, the red, white & blue striping extends across the cab and features large "NW" and "Norfolk and Western" lettering on the carbody side. In Style 3, the car is all red, and lettering is minimal. Note that both these styles have blue underbody and trucks
  Drawing Style 4 - This one is interesting for its asymmetrical striping on the ends of the hoods - red on the front (long hood) and blue on the rear (short hood)
  Drawing Style 5 - Features a very large road number but will all that white, looks as if it would be difficult to keep clean.
  Drawing Style 6 - No mistaking the engine number on this one, either!
  Drawing Style 7 - This one could be an unintentional harbinger of the Amtrak "Pepsi can" scheme as used on their B32-8s.
  Photo Another special day in the line fo 1776, as she leads an excursion of happy railfans, date and place unknown. And yes, that's Southern 4501 second in command. (George Hughes collection)
  Letter NW Participation in 200th Anniversary of Our Nation - Painting of Locomotive No. 1776 in Patriotic Scheme, March 20, 1974 (N&WHS Archives Collection)
  Photo 1797 shows off a factory-new paint job identical to the one in which the 1776 was originally delivered. Note the contrast between the blue carbody and black underframe and trucks. Road dirt soon made this distinction far less obvious. (George Hughes collection)
  Photo 1776 eases another excursion train through the yard in Bluefield, WV (Gary Rolih collection)
  Photo Looking only a little worse for wear, 1776 leads a UP U-boat in May 1978 in the last days of her Bicentennial feature role. (Ed Durnwald photo, George Hughes collection)
  Data Sheet The Life of 1776 (Bob Bowers)
  Photo Her glory days over, 1776 is just another SD45 in "NW" black by February 1979 as she rests in the snow between assignments in Conneauat, OH. (Ed Durnwald photo, George Hughes collection)
N&W's Class BMf Baggage and Mail Cars - James F. Brewer
  Photo N&W 1202 is being loaded with baggage, express and mail at Petersburg, VA in this undated photo. The safety bars behind the lower windows are evident, as is the catching bar for snagging mail on the fly (Slate Photo, N&WHS Archives collection)
  Photo Upon retirement from service, N&W 1202 was donated to the Old Dominion Chapter, National Railway Historical Society in the Spring of 1966. Here it sits on July 11, 1974 in Richmond, VA with other assorted equipment. (Howard W. Ameling photo)
  Photo An unidentified Class BMf sits in Roanoke, VA alongside the passenger shed platform in March 1962. (Collection of Jay Williams and Big Four Graphics)
  Drawing Baggage and Mail Car Class BMf (James F. Brewer collection)
  Data Sheet Roster
  Photo Top: N&W Class BMf 1202 is at Roanoke, VA, apparently after concluding a run. Visible in the distance through the open baggage doors is what appears to be an N&W Express Box Car. (Harry Stegmaier collection)
  Photo Bottom: An acceptable HO scale model of the Class BMf can be made by painting and detailing the Rivarossi 1920s Heavyweight Baggage/RPO car. More details could be added for a more authentic model of this car. Photo is of the author's model. (James F. Brewer photo)
In Scale / Modeling the 1776 - George Hughes
  Photo Three photos of 1776 model under construction (George Hughes photos)
In Scale / New Products - George Hughes
  Photo Pilot model of Broadway Limited Imports Class A (George Hughes photo)
The Tennessean / The Engine Picture Kid - James Nichols
  Photo This must be about 1947 or '48. As you can see, the electrification is still in service. What you probably can't see is that the cars of the 1949 Powhatan Arrow have not beeen delivered yet. (Jim Nichols photo)
Nuggets from The Archives / The Carper Stack Engine - Gordon Hamilton
  Drawing The Carper stack engine (N&WHS Archives collection)
  Drawing The report cover page was laboriously hand-written - Comparative Test of Locomotives (N&WHS Archives collection)
  Drawing The chart of early N&W steam testing was laboriously hand-written - Standard Straight Stack Engines (N&WHS Archives Collection)
  Data Sheet Test Data (Gordon Hamilton)
From the pages of the N&W Magazine, 1955 - Staff Arrow
  Photo Two matchbooks illustrating N&W advertising (N&W Magazine)
Vol. 19, No. 1 January / February 2003  Issue Select