1977 Chessie Steam Special, The

Chesapeake and Ohio Historical Magazine, Sep 2002 by Howes, William F Jr

Following discussions during the fall of 1976 with Howard Skidmore and other Chessie officers, Ross Rowland prepared a detailed proposal for the railroad's consideration. It was far more ambitious than anything Chessie management had envisioned, and even the road's most enthusiastic proponents of Sesquicentennial steam excursions feared it could undermine the Operating Department's reluctant acceptance of the earlier plan with C&O 377. Rowland proposed a system-wide program of some 40 trips during the summer of 1977 with an 18-car train powered by the ex-Reading 2101. Furthermore, he suggested outfitting two baggage cars to exhibit artifacts from the B&O Railroad Museum collection and material spotlighting the modern Chessie System. The exhibit cars would be opened to the public at the various cities visited by the excursion train. Under this plan, the 2101 would be made fully serviceable by Ross Rowland's Steam Locomotive Corporation of America and leased to Chessie. Accompanying the engine would be a SLCofA crew for certain operations and maintenance consistent with Chessie's labor agreements. It was hoped that most of cars could be leased from Amtrak.

A number of Chessie officers, including Howard Skidmore, were immediately enthused with the Rowland plan. Others raised a variety of concerns, and it was February 1977 before John T Collinson, executive vice president-operations, and Mr. Watkins gave their final approval. Chessie entered into an agreement with SLCofA on March 11, 1977.

With the first trips scheduled for early May of 1977, it was concluded there was not enough time to prepare the exhibit cars. Furthermore, the Museum was reluctant to provide significant artifacts from its collection during the Sesquicentennial when it was expecting record crowds itself

The project called for the train to have both open-window and air-conditioned coaches, plus some premium-service accommodations. Amtrak was unable to help supply cars, but an assortment of equipment of many vintages was assembled from a variety of sources. Necessary repairs, modification and painting would be performed by either the equipment's owner or at C&O's Huntington, West Virginia, shop.

Meanwhile, the 2101 was being overhauled and painted at a former Reading Railroad roundhouse in Saucon Creek, Pennsylvania outside of Bethlehem.

There was considerable debate over a name for the train and its color scheme. "B&O Birthday Train" and "B&O Sesquicentennial Special" were among the ideas that fell by the wayside en route to the final selection by Howard Skidmore of Chessie Steam SpeciaL As the project evolved it became increasingly focused on promoting the new Chessie System "brand," in addition to celebrating B&O's birthday. The Chess-C color scheme and graphics would be applied to the locomotive and cars, much to the chagrin of some railroad historians and railfan purists. Bob Lorenz, a well-known artist from Fremont, Ohio, was retained to incorporate the Chess-C brand with the B&O birthday theme. He worked in cooperation with (and sometimes in competition with) Chessie's director of visual media and design, Franklyn Carr. Mr. Carr designed the official Chessie Steam Special logo.