HO B&O Ice Breaker Decals (1964+)

Due to the introduction of carrier for new automobiles in the 1960’s, there was a need for removing icicles from the tunnels during the winer months to prevent damage to these brand new cars. The B&O shops took N-41 2-bay offset side hoppers and converted them for use as ice Braker cars by welding the hopper bottom doors shut and adding a welded steel superstructure to fit the clearance profile of the auto racks that would also pass through mot mainline routes. As-rebuilt the cars retained their N-41 numbers, but were later renumbered in 1968 with an “IB” prefix. Later after the Chessie System merger they were again renumbered into the system wide MOW fleet having 9606XX series numbers.

These cars for their entire service life were painted bright yellow with black lettering and black painted trucks. Please see the included photos showing the various schemes carried by these cars.

This sheet includes enough decals to decal two cars. Various repack and reweigh locations are given for across the B&O system.

The Ice Breaker steel superstructure has been 3D printed for the BORHS by Bethlehem Car Works and is available for purchase by the BORHS. N-41 hoppers have been done by various manufacturers.

Detailed instructions for decaling can be found in any standard set given by major manufacturers supplied with their product, such as Microscale.

For further references in regard to B&O Ice Breaker fleet can be seen in the B&O Color Guide published by Morning Sun Books.

A big thank you for assistance in creating this set goes to Ken Braden , Bill Carl, and Mike Shylanski.

This decal set is a CSX Licensed Product.

On the enlarged decal sheet where the decal is printed in white its shown on the enlarged diagram in blue for clarity.