Great Northern/BN SD45’s?

[BCOL 747]

Hi All
Not sure this is the proper topic to bring up in this forum but I thought I would try. I am doing a little early BN research and can’t seem to find the answer to the following question anywhere. Can anyone tell me how long the Orange and Green scheme lasted on Great Northern/BN SD45’s? Did one make it past the BN paint shop into 1974/75? I cannot find any photos past 1973 with SD45’s in the O/G. Everything appears to be in BN green by that time. If anyone knows of one a photo or road number of an SD45 in the O/G scheme would be much appreciated.
Thank you,
Chris

[Ike the BN Freak]

Being only 27 SD45s came from GN, and of those, not sure how many were in the green and orange scheme.

Also, the last predecessor unit repainted was in 1977.  So there probably was one or 2 still.

[mplsjct]

Here's one from 1974 http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/bn/bn6431adb.jpg

The 1977 - 1980 BN Annual has a photo gallery of the last diesels re-painted in BN green, and they are mostly switchers, F units and a couple of early Geeps.

I'm guessing the high profile 6 axel power made it through the paint shop earlier than the less glamorous grunt type units.

These old BN annuals are an excellent source of information.

[nkalanaga]

From the "Great Northern Color Pictorial, vol 2" by Four Ways West, page 59:
400-417 were delivered in green and orange, with 403, 407, 412, and 413 repainted BSB.
418-426 were delivered in BSB.

This matches a repaint list I copied years ago from an unknown source, so is probably accurate.  So, there were only 14 in G/O at merger time.

As for when the last was repainted for BN, I have no idea, but would be interested in knowing.  I model 1974, and on my railroad, there are still quite a few unrepainted units of all kinds.

Incidentally, the LAST predecessor unit in premerger paint was a cheater.  BN 4082, an RS3, was painted in NP colors, with BN initials and numbers, just as it looked right after the merger, in 1978, for a court case.  Whether it ever operated as such is doubtful, but it sat next to the Pasco yard office for months, and was still there when we moved to Kentucky.

[BCOL 747]

Gentlemen

Thank you, that was exactly what I was looking for. Much appreciated! NKalanaga, I too am modeling BN 1974 (on the side of course). I am a BC Rail guy through and through.

Kind regards,
Chris

[Packer]

There seems to be a decent BN following on the RW. BN 1977-1987 here.

Incidentally, the LAST predecessor unit in premerger paint was a cheater.  BN 4082, an RS3, was painted in NP colors, with BN initials and numbers, just as it looked right after the merger, in 1978, for a court case.  Whether it ever operated as such is doubtful, but it sat next to the Pasco yard office for months, and was still there when we moved to Kentucky.

My 1977-1980 Motive power annual has an article on that loco.

In the article, it says that the 4082 was BN green at one point, then got re-painted into NP to recreate a grade crossing accident. It was scrapped a few months later, while the NP paint was only a few months old.

[nkalanaga]

I wondered what had happened to it.  It probably didn't have much scrap value, as that was before scrap metal became so valuable, so it's too bad they couldn't strip it of usable parts and put it in a park somewhere.  Pasco already had an NP 4-6-0, which now has a BN caboose in tow, so an RS3 would have looked nice in the same park.