BN 4740 covered hoppers from NP.

[samike]

I would like to decal and renumber some Athearn 4740 covered hoppers from Northern Pacific to after the formation of Burlington Northern as the basic color is the same and I have a set of BN decal and numbers.  Can anyone advise what the correct number series would be for the NP covered hoppers taken over by BN?

Regards, Mike.

[Shilshole]

Todd Sullivan's NP Guide to Freight and Passenger Equipment, p. 64, shows two PS2CD-4740s in the series 76400-76499 lettered for NP but painted in BN green with BN style white block letters and data stencils.  Dates on the photos are 1969 and 1986.  Interestingly, the 26 July 1986 photo shows car no. 76456 still lettered for NP.

That's the only series of 4740 LOs shown in the NPRHA database.  The FOBNR database shows these cars were assigned numbers in the BN 456900-456999 series.

[samike]

Shilshole, thanks for the information, do you perhaps know if the 26 July 1986 photo of NP 76456 is available on the internet, or any other photo of the NP covered hoppers re-lettered for BN as I would like to see which style and positioning of the BN logo was used?

Regards, Mike. 

[Shilshole]

Sorry, negative to both.  Both photos in Sullivan predate BN relettering.  Oddball's (decal) site shows a lettering guide for a BN 4740 at http://mopac1.tripod.com/491.gif , but it's in the wrong number series for a former NP car, although that probably won't matter for logo placement.

Edit:On the other hand, photos at a GN site show two other BN lettering schemes for PS 4740s:
http://www.greatnorthernempire.net/images/freightcars/BN456706CoveredHopper.JPG and
http://www.greatnorthernempire.net/images/freightcars/BN457689CoveredHopper.JPG

You might inquire at the BN Yahoo group about which is more likely for the former NP cars.