As I get through the stuff I got with the new layout I found that there was a PRR engine and 2 boxcars. I was wondering if anyone here ran that railroad and if so what can you tell me about it. What happened to them? They were at one time the largest RR in operation. When I google them I get different accounts depending on which page I look at. I am just curious, never really looked at PRR before. Any info would be great. Thank You, Shaun
Wikipedia has a fairly accurate and concise history of the Pennsy here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Railroad It was known as "The Standard Railroad of the World", and with good reason, as it was at one time the largest publicly traded corporation in the world and it's budget was larger than the U.S. government. They had fleets of single locomotive types into the hundreds, like 425 copies of the K4s Pacific, and well over one hundred thousand freight cars - it was BIG.
I tell ya, the more I read and learn about them the more I do not understand. They were large enough to afford to make some mistakes. Why didn't they see what was happening? Well what I would like is to try to restore this (poorly taken care of) Loco, an EMD 45 I believe and do some weathering to it. I would also like to start picking up more PRR cars and engines. I will post some pictures of the engine and cars later. maybe someone can help me out here. Shaun
I run Santa Fe on the Texas coast in the middle 1950s, but PRR freight cars showed up there as they did everywhere in the US, so I need to represent them. They would be carrying anything manufactured in the northeast. I have 5 PRR boxcars, one in that distinctive PRR X-29 design. (U S Office of War Information photo) As modeled by Red Caboose: Two of the boxcars are double-door autoboxes, suitable for transporting autos from Detroit to Texas. One model decorated for PRR is a wood single-sheath Howe-truss alternate ARA design, NOT a PRR prototype, which I intend to repaint and reletter someday. I have a 46 foot PRR flatcar and a 46-foot PRR class G-29 mill gondola, both suitable for transporting steel plate and structural shapes from northeast US mills I also have four PRR open-top hoppers. I don’t think much coal and aggregate was transported from PRR country to Texas, so they are open for repainting or trade-off. One is MTL model 57100 PRR class H-31s #220877 with “War Bonds” stenciling.
I'm a Penn Central fan, but I know someone who runs PRR. I'm trying to drag him on here. One thing that always got me about PRR was their antennae !!! If you do get into the PRR, you'll find you can run just about anything with steel wheels. Plus you would have the perfect reason to get a GG1 !!!
The Pennsy was committed to electrification. Every study it commissioned said that electrification of the mainline from NY to Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia to Pittsburgh would result in significant economic savings. In Pittsburgh the mainline split woith one leg going to Chicago while the other went to St. Louis. The Pennsy did a lot of experimentation with electric locomotives and finally found what they believed was a winner in the GG1. As a result they curtailed steam development in the late 1920's. Then came the Great Depression and the downturn in business that resulted. Pennsy was parking whole fleets of steam locomotives and work on the electrification network stopped at Harrisburg. Following the Great Depression came WWII and the Pennsy needed everyone of those parked steamers and then some. Those steam locomotives worked their guts out hauling war materiel. After the war came dieselization and Pennsy was buying up just about every diesel there was. As a result electrification never went beyond Harrisburg. Following the war traffic was reduced and competition was acute for the business that was there. Pennsy competed with at least three other big RR's [NYC, Erie, B&O] for the industrial heartland. All were prevented from discontinuing passenger service even after the mail contracts went to the airlines. In addition they were forced to maintain trackage that was not economically viable. The Pennsy, the NYC, Erie, B&O as well as other RR's were being eaten up by costs that they wanted to cut but were prevented from doing so.
One example of this was the Joliet Branch of MC/NYC/PC. They basically did no maintenance on this line. Roadbed was cinders, many ties rotted away, and you could literally pull spikes with your fingers !!! In my time, I wasn't aware of any customers East of Frankfort, but they did some interchange work in Joliet. Some sales personnel tried to get customers, but the "suits" said 'No". They were just waiting for the day when they could abandon it, which Conrail finally did. It's now a bike trail.
greetings Shaun, and welcome to the forum...the PRR poses challenges as a railroad to model...I have modeled the PRR most of my life. The challenges include: the 4 track mainline in most locations, the lack of prototypical steam locomotives produced in N Scale especially, the already mentioned antennas on diesel locomotives/passenger cars/cabooses, the cantenary system for the electrified portions Philly north/south/west, and such things...it is, however, the "standard" as has also been noted already, which is a plus. it is surely a modeling challenge that can provide much satisfaction and once the PRR is in your blood you are bound to be committed without deviation all the best...and do not overlook the several very fine publications re: the PRR which you can find with an amazon search or the like. peace...Gary L Lake Dillensnyder
I'd like to collect a few PRR locos, just ot have them. I have currently been keeping my eye out on the bay for F units... waiting for the right ones to come along.
Here is what I have for PRR. I am almost certain that I misidentified the loco (just cant keep them strait) But the pic shows just how poorly they were taken care of. I have another shell that I will be taking parts from to repair this shell. As for the boxcars, they seem to be track ready, just need a good cleaning and some TLC. I will say I did not have any idea that there were this many that knew much about PRR much less ran it. Thank You all for your responses. Shaun
Well, no PRR layout here. When I was layout building I was going for a generic Chicago terminus at which East met West. Thus justifying my ownership of The Broadway Limited, California Zephyr, Super Chief, & City of Los Angeles passenger trains. Also in my roster are two 5 Stripe GG1s, one in Brunswick & one in Tuscan. An ABA set of PRR C-Liners. And an ABA set of PRR Alco PA-PBs. Then a handful of various PRR boxcars.
Shaun the PRR, along with the New York Central, disappeared In 1968 when they merged into the Penn Central. But the Penn Central was prevented from shedding unprofitable operations and it soon followed its predecessor railroads into bankruptcy. Out of the ashes emerged Conrail which was permitted to cease unprofitable operations and became a profitable railroad until it was sold and split between the NS and CSX. However, today some 45 years after the PRR ceased to be, the Pennsylvania Railroad Historical and Technical Society remains the largest historical society of any railroad that ever existed. That is a lot of people are interested in a railroad that hasn't existed for almost half a century. By the way, although the railroad is no more, the Pennsylvania Company, owner of the railroad, still exists with its primary business being real estate.
Quote:" But the Penn Central was prevented from shedding unprofitable operations and it soon followed its predecessor railroads into bankruptcy." Neither the PRR nor the NYC were ever bankrupt. The New Haven, however........
Watched this on Youtube several times, unsure if this person is a member on TB though... [video=youtube;veEvKHFGd5s]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veEvKHFGd5s[/video] Once I finish my fantasy layout of NEPA, and I have the space, I plan to model a local area of interest in PA... possibly the Horseshoe Curve, Harrisburg Yard, etc
Dr. Dave Vollmer is a member on the Railwire along with several other Pennsylvania modelers. Dave's layout is top notch and he has kit-bashed several steam locos to match PRR prototypes. I also model the PRR (mostly collect PRR stuff) and hope to build a layout representing the PRR someday. Scott
Yep, that's me... That video is sadly out of date. My website has the updates: http://thevollmerfamily.com/Pennsy/
Sweet layout!! I am now looking at building the Buffalo roundhouse. The more I learn about PRR the more I want to model it. I am also working on getting another Loco, but will probably start going to steam power.
STEAM ??? NOOOOOOOOO !!!! Diesel !!! Diesel !!! Diesel !!! Ha,ha,ha !!! Just messin' with ya' !!! Do it YOUR way and have fun with it, ya' know ???
