A C&O/B&O memoir

Chesapeake and Ohio Historical Magazine, Sep 2003 by Howes, William F Jr

Shortly after moving to Casualty Prevention, I became involved in a project that led to the new corporate image for the affiliated C&O/B&O/Western Maryland. Seeking a more visible color scheme for our locomotives, I teamed with the Mechanical Department and Franklyn Carr of Public Relations in the development of the yellow, blue, and vermilion "Chess-C" image that was introduced on a 1972 delivery of GP40-2 locomotives from EMD. It was the end of the C&O/B&O era. Chessie was back!

These have been just a few snippets from the C&O/B&O era, but I hope they give you some feel for how these two proud railroads-actually three proud railroads when we include the Western Maryland-evolved into the Chessie System.

Editor's Note: This article originated as an audio-visual presentation given by Bill Howes at the 2003 C&OHS Annual Conference. Bill graciously consented to presentation of his text in C&O HISTORY, for which we extend sincere thanks.-KJH