Are there any fans of the P&LE on this list? I guess that the CSX section is appropriate since the CSX bought that road (it is not named on the section list). As you can see by the herald, I am interested in the period when there were green lightning-striped diseasels and there was still steam. Even if you are a fan of a different period, I am still intersted in hearing from you. I know that some of you on the P&LE Ya-Hoo list were on that other, shut-down, trainboard. Have any of you migrated here?
I long to see that same era return. Though not P&LE specific, I am a New York Central fan from the Mohawk Division.
I see that it switched my herald back to a B&O. I want a B&O herald for some posts, a NYC for others. Oh well. I run a lot of NYC equipment, because a lot of NYC equipment did run on the P&LE.
brokemoto, First off....welcome to Trainboard! Nice to see another B&O Avatar under someones name! I'm big on the B&O's Pittsburgh Division, B&O's very own Sand Patch grade....
Brokemoto, when your message first appeared it had the NYCentral logo, same as mine. I was so thrilled to see another NYC fan that I failed to welcome you to Trainboard, as my buddy John did. Welcome! Historically, the P&LE was a division of the NY Central. If CSX is the proprietor now, it probably went through Penn Central, Conrail before that.
If I remember correctly the P&LE went into Penn Central, however when Conrail was created the P&LE was spun off and operated as its own railroad. Much later CSX acquired it. Since one of the roads I model is the Penn Central I do have some P&LE rolling stock and I intend to acquire more. I have about a half dozen dry transfers for hoppers waiting for the day when I get some undecorated hoppers for them.
Thank-you , John and Fitz. It appears that if you change the herald in the avatar column, it changes it on all posts; it will not leave specific heralds to specific posts. I did want the red NYC herald to appear on posts regarding the P&LE, but B&O is allright, I guess. The B&O was probably the P&LE's best known tenant. I do have a lot of NYC equipment on the pike, as more than a few NYC units operated on the P&LE. The P&LE did try to restrict the types to what McKee's Rocks knew how to work on. Many of the G-classes (consolidateds) and H-classes (mikados) as well as K(pacifics) L (Mohawks) and J (hudsons) ran there. For the diseasels, I would assume (but I have not been able to discover for certain) that the P&LE preferred to have only the ALCos and EMD/EMCs operate there (by 1953, the P&LE owned only ALCos and GMs). While the P&LE's first diseasel was an FM switcher, the Central quickly appropriated them, so it would follow (I base my judgement on the steam locomotive patterns) that the P&LE was not too crazy about having FMs, Limas or Baldwins operating there. I stretch this a bit on my pike as the steam availabilty in N is not the best (although the H-9 is available from the Kato; the H--9 only ran on the P&LE ). As no K classes are available, even in brass, I must use NYC hudsons. All sorts of the available FMs and Baldwins do run on my pike, although I doubt that too many of them ran on the P&LE. You must paint P&LE freight diseasels Pacemaker green before applying the stripes. Passenger units came in grey and stripes except for DRSP-4 #5684, which had a unique scheme. Control of the P&LE did pass to the PC in 1968, although everything that I have ever read suggests that the P&LE Management was none too happy about the PC (although nothing ever comes out and says that) . One provision of the Staggers Rail Act was to allow solvent subsidiaries of the PC to stay out of the Conrail if Management so desired. P&LE Management opted out of Conrail on this fashion (I do not know if the IHB got out of Conrail in the same way). I believe that this opt-out provision was also extended to other solvent subsidiaries of the other component roads of CR (if there were any others that fit that category). The P&LE operated as an independent road until 1992, 93 or maybe 94 when the CSX got control of it. One result of the B&O's obtaining P&LE trackage rights was the disuse and much later abandonment (it took forever for the B&O to do this)of much of its own line (through Bakerstown) in the Pittsburgh area. Thus, by the 90s, the old B&O's (and the CSX's) only way through Pittsburgh was on the P&LE. If the CSX let the P&LE shut down, it would have no way through Pittsburgh. This is how it came under the CSX's control (this is, of course, an oversimplification). The period that I model is when the NYC still controlled the P&LE (although I stretch the use of steam a bit, most steam disappeared from the P&LE by 1953, it was all gone by 1954). [ 14. July 2003, 03:51: Message edited by: brokemoto ]
brokemoto , Your more then welcome! As for your outlook an information, this is all interesting with how CSX got the P&LE.... Good reading, I never researched the P&LE enough to get the information you have an posted here... Interesting!
