With much thanks to Harry Frye and L. Stewart Twombly for their roster published in the Fall 1977 - Fall 1978 B&M Bulletin .
Pictures are (to date) from my own original slides and a few given me by J. R. McCarren, scanned with a Nikon Coolscan II and fiddled with in software. My first efforts appear somewhat blurred, compared to the originals as projected, but this was because I hadn't figured out how to increase the resolution. They'll get fixed as time allows.
I have three major groups of information about B&M diesels:
Note: Self-propelled passenger equipment (the Flying Yankee , Budd RDCs and when I get to it, gas-electrics) is covered in my B&M passenger equipment page.
Most B&M diesel paint schemes are very hard to do without appropriate commercial lettering; the stripes on the maroon and black schemes using the Minuteman herald are going to be very difficult to arrive at either freehand or with dry transfers. For later eras, the multi-colored or outlined McGinnis interlaced BM herald shouldn't be too difficult to apply with dry transfers, but would require a lot of skill to hand letter. Decals for most equipment have been offered in HO and N scale, but I don't know how the market looks for O or S.
Black all over, with a rectangular "Boston and Maine" herald in white under the cab window or on the long hood. Switchers purchased before 1944 arrived in this scheme, including all SWs, SCs and HH-660s, as well as early SW-1s, NW-2s and 44-tonners. The earliest Alco S-1s and S-2s were delivered while this scheme was in use, but I've never seen a photo proving they received it. In the 1950s, some EMD switchers got a Minuteman herald on the cab side in addition to the block herald on the hood.
The first version of the B&M's maroon with gold stripes scheme was applied to the EMD FT locomotives delivered starting in 1943. The carbody sides and cab were maroon and the roof, underbody and blind ends were black. Initially, there was no Minuteman herald, and the "Boston and Maine" on the side was enclosed in a Chinese Red wing herald (similar to that used on the side of the Flying Yankee ). As the FTs were shopped in the late 1940s, the wing heralds on the sides were removed and replaced with the road name on a gold background. At more or less the same time, a Minuteman herald was applied to the nose, but photos show units in service with repainted sides but original noses.
Cab, hood and underbody black, trucks silver. Horizontal red stripes outlined in white on front end of hood (or the ends of both hoods on a 44-tonner or RS-2 no. 1500). Minuteman herald and engine number on cab side. This scheme was applied to switch engines delivered between the final years of WW-II and about 1952: EMD SW-1s and NW-2s, Alco S-1s, S-2s, S-3s and S-4s, and GE 44-tonners. The only non-switcher to receive this scheme was the first Alco RS-2, no. 1500, which kept it into the early 1970s.
I've been satisfied with Accu-Cals for this scheme. Floquil Platinum Mist works well for the silver trucks.
The most common version of the Maroon and Gold Minuteman scheme first appeared on the first two EMD E-7s in 1945: Maroon carbody sides and nose, with black roof, blind end and underbody. A Minuteman herald was applied to the nose door, and four wide gold stripes ran the length of the sides. Finer gold stripes trimmed above and below the radiator openings. The road name appeared in a gold panel overlaying the upper three gold stripes. Except for the 1946 order of E-7s, all post-1944 B&M cab units were delivered in this paint, and most kept it all their lives. E-7s 3802 - 3815 were delivered in "Rock Island-style" maroon and cream paint, which had been replaced with maroon and gold by 1948.
Maroon and gold was also applied to roadswitchers: the BL-2 variation had a black roof and a nose herald (both ends), but only a single wide gold stripe instead of the upper three on other versions. RS-2s had all four stripes and nose heralds, but didn't have any black on the roof as delivered. A number of RS-2s received black roofs later. GP-7s also had a maroon roof, with cab-side heralds and four stripes. Early RS-3s had nose heralds (long hood only) and all had black roofs. The last RS-3s were delivered in 1954 with cab-side heralds and silver trucks.
Four orders of switchers were delivered in maroon and gold, with cab-side heralds, black roofs and aluminum trucks: The 1953 order of EMD SW-1s and all the SW-8s, SW-9s and Alco S-5s. A few older switchers were re-painted in maroon and gold in the 1950s, when assigned to road service.
Some engines kept their maroon/gold paint into the late 1970s. When their footboards were removed, they received orange step wells and white sill stripes. The last engine re-painted in maroon and gold by the B&M was SW-9 no. 1223, which was done in co-operation with some railfan elements around 1981. It and 1220 were repainted from maroon/gold to gray at the time of the Guilford merger.
There were two visible variations in the maroon/gold scheme. First, about 1953, some engines started coming out of Billerica Shops with the trucks painted aluminum. I've seen photos of E-7s, FTs, F-2s, BL-2s, RS-2s, RS-3s, GP-7s, SW-8s, SW-9s and S-5s painted this way. The silver trucks disappeared from Es, Fs and GPs quite quickly after McGinnis took over in 1955, but I've seen RS-3s with recognizably silver trucks a decade later. The second variation was in the color used to letter the "Boston and Maine" on the gold side panel: The letters can be either maroon or black, depending on the engine and the period. All the color photos of Alco S-5s, BL-2s and repainted FTs I've seen show maroon letters. Most E-unit pictures show black letters, but I've seen counterexamples. Fs, GPs and RSs could be lettered either way - go by a picture if you're worried about it.
For HO scale, I've used Accu-Paint "Engine Maroon", and either Accu-Cals or Micro-Scale decals. Other people think "E-L Maroon" is a better match, but photos show considerable variation, either due to weathering or different batches of paint, so I'd say follow your taste. Which black to use is also a matter of taste - I like Floquil Grimy Black roofs and Weathered Black underbodies best.
Aside from experimental paint jobs applied to some F-2s (4225A/B, 4226A/B and 4256), an F-3 set (4228A/B), an E-7 (3814) and an S-4 (1274), President McGinnis's investment in professional design services was directed at the GP-9s and GP-18s. The result is widely referred to as the "Bluebird" scheme: blue hoods, black cab side, cab roof, ends and underbody, and white cab ends, end stripes and side sills. These units were re-painted as Bluebirds when shopped up until the advent of the solid blue scheme in the late 1960s; the last Bluebirds kept their paint into the late 1970s. Some remained when footboards were removed from all engines, and so received the orange step wells. I believe all the Bluebirds were gone before the Guilford merger.
I haven't painted anything in this scheme in years - back around 1973 I mixed my own Floquil B&M Blue out of Diesel Light Blue with about 20% Reefer White added, and used Walthers decals. My next attempt at this will use Accu-Paint B&M Blue and Accu-Cals; I haven't looked at Micro-Scale's offerings.
About 1969, Billerica started applying a solid blue scheme to yard and road units. The trucks and underbody were black, and a white stripe was applied along the side sill (or the bottom edge of the carbody of F-units). An all-white interlaced BM herald was applied to the cab side of switchers and road switchers, and to the nose and side of the carbody of F-units. The GP-38-2s arrived in this scheme, but the GP-40-2s had "Boston and Maine" lettered in white on the long hood, and kept the interlaced herald on the cab. Late in the 1970s, some GP-9s received a variation with a larger "Boston and Maine" on two lines on the long hood, and no interlaced herald. During the period when footboards were being removed from engines, most received orange step wells, but most were repainted black before the Guilford merger.
I've never painted any units in this scheme, but the blue appears to have remained more or less unchanged - by the time the GP-40s arrived, they were noticeably darker than the GP-38s, but that was probably the older paint bleaching a bit - the paint they used on the GP-7s certainly did over the years. I'd start out with Accu-Paint B&M Blue and maybe add a little white for some units, to taste...
