"Boise Budd"

Boston & Maine 6300, Budd RDC-3. Prince Rupert 1958. Whilst living in Prince Rupert, I began contacting other rail fans through the advertising in Trains and Railroad Magazines. Through these connections, I “met” such legendary photographers as Harold K. Vollrath and others.

Through these contacts, negatives and photographs were traded. I recently uncovered a fistful of negatives from New Haven, New York Central, and Boston & Maine.

I had taken up black and white photo processing at the Prince Rupert Civic Center and learned how to process my own photos. I watched some of the “advanced” members fiddle around with color processing, but it was much too expensive and nerve wracking for my budget!

The featured photo today is the Boston & Maine 6300. She was one of 64 Budd’s operated by the B&M – said to be the biggest fleet operator. And they got it down to a science in that once the commuter rush hour was over; multiple units could be quickly broken down into smaller units to continue passenger traffic through out the day, and reassembled for the evening rush hour.

An advertising brochure published by Budd claims B&M replaced 67 locomotives and 245 coaches with this magnificent fleet.

During the turbulent ‘70’s when passenger service began to falter, B&M 6300 was absorbed into the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, largely replacing B&M passenger service.

Railroad Stuff: Boston & Maine 6300, Budd RDC-3, built May, 1952, serial number 5610. In 1978 she was converted to a steam generator car, and then sent west to Boise, where Morrison-Knudsen, better known as the builders of Hoover Dam, converted her to a “Boise Budd” in October 1982. The “Boise Budd” is the final fall from glory days, with the power pack and roof blister removed. There are several examples on this page.