I just saw the same question about the PRR. I am curious to see if we have any committed NY Central modelers. The NYC was very visible where I grew up, and when I came back to Nscale, it seemed like the logical choice. I am always looking for inspiration and ideas. I hope to get my mainline completed before the summer is over. I will post pictures when I have something worth posting.
I don't model the NYC even though I grew up next to the Harlem Division, and rail fanned from the bluff above the Harmon engine terminal several times a year with my Mother. My preference is the Boston & Maine. However, You might ask the same question on the Fallen Flags, NYC forum, because there are several Central fans who participate on that forum regularly, myself included.
I grew up VERY near the NYC Joliet branch, in New Lenox,Il. I was there when Penn Central took over and somehow gravitated towards them, as far as modeling. Not sure why !!! Now... if I could just merge you with that "PRR Guy" !!! Ha,ha,ha !!!
I don't know about merging with the PRR. From what I have read, the NYC got the worst end of the deal. They had invested a lot in modernization and PRR didn't. Supposedly, the President of PRR was more interested in diversifying into real estate and pipelines, with the railroad operations being neglected. I also saw that the PC passenger service was horrible. My layout will still have decent passenger service. Yes, I am modeling a 'happier' time period.
Yes, you are right. The merger was pretty much doomed from day one. Taking those two roads and putting them together just wasn't going to work. Like cats and dogs, ya' know ??? But in my strange world, everybody is smiling and the PC flourished !!! In fact, they work with BN to provide trans-con passenger service !!!
A good book with a capsule history (and many photos) of the NYC is "The New York Central Railroad" by Solomon and Schafer. Also the revitalized NYC Historical Society has become more friendly to modelers (and manufacturers). The NYC is a good choice for modeling. It covered routes similar to that of the PRR. It had the 4-track main in most places, but there were many other parts of the system that were much simpler and easier to model. I'm thinking of scenic upstate New York and the coal fields of West Virginia. It served the most populous and industrialized part of the country. Passenger service ran the gamut from simple commuter trains to grand hotels on wheels like the 20th Century Limited. Steam locomotives had nice proportions, unfortunately, except for several brass models and Con-Cor's Hudson, there are no other accurate models available in N scale. Diesels are another story. Like the PRR, NYC seems to have bought at least two of every diesel ever produced. Many of these are available in N scale. To keep my collection reasonable, I chose a region and time period to model. That limits what I can buy. The NYC lives on today as parts of NS and CSX. The NYC might have survived if it had not been for so many government requirements that prevented the railroad from divesting itself of routes and services that were no longer needed. Too much was also spent on new passenger car fleets after WWII for the passenger service that never materialized. I model the period before the big downturn came and have the best of everything. Take a look. If the NYC doesn't float your boat.... ...There is the Nickel Plate Road - a competitor that almost paralleled the NYC where it ran from Buffalo to Chicago and St. Louis. A much smaller fleet of locomotives (many available in N scale), 2-track main, and many sub-systems and branches that lend themselves to easy modeling. Sometimes I wish I had chosen it instead of the NYC.
I model Conrail running freight, but the NYC is still in the passenger business and runs fan trips behind Alcos and 2-8-0 consolidations. I have to keep the NYC alive in my family. My Grandfather and Father worked for the NYC, my brother worked for PC and now Metro north and one of my Nephews became a trackman this past summer.
Does P&LE count? I do not run P&LE exclusively, though. I can run NYC hudsons on P&LE passenger trains. Sadly, you can not even get a K-5A or K-6 in brass. Kato sells an H-9, although the USRA standard tender is inaccurate for the Central Gothic lettering that appears on it, as the P&LE did swap the tenders from the underachieving H-8s with the USRA standards on the H-9s after USRA control ended. MP sells an H-6, even one lettered for the NYC, although I seem to recall that the number is incorrect. MS does sell a NYCS steam set that one can use to make the correction.
I forgot to mention the most available resource for NYC modeling. The NYC Historical Society has new features on their web site. Go to http://nycshs.org/ Then click on the button on the left side "FOR THE MODELER" Their quarterly magazines can be downloaded - the 3rd quarter edition has just been posted (100 pages). Lots of good photos and modeling ideas.
I am a Pennsy modeler from when I started, but being from PA, one saw a lot of NYC running through Pennsylvania, and it is hard to ignore its temptation. Over the years, I bought Pennsy N scale, but being in Florida, there were a lot of NYC's inventoried, so I bought them and never looked back. I have a double mainline on my layout, and even now, I am running both PRR and NYC consists. MY inventory is pretty much comparable between the two, so when NYC in N is mentioned, my ears perk up like a puppy. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman
NYC is one of the roads I run with my N Track club. I figure that since they all seem to run UP, SP and WP, that I would infuse some eastern flavor. At the last show I ran Kato E Units pulling the Kato NYC passenger train, and I had a set of PA/PB units pulling a long sting made up of almost all the latest IM PaceMaker release, along with some cars I had already. I have also ran an NYC Hudson and a set of C-Liners with different trains. They also appear every now and then on my Arizona/California layout when no one is watching.
Well, my dad raised me to be a B&O fan, but I saw a lot more NYC, and I guess it just kind of stuck. The Cigar Band Sharks and green cabooses were too much a part of my childhood for me to pass up.
I really have no use for anything that comes out of New York! To self appointed and to self important. Yankees, Giants, Mets, Knicks, NYC, PC you all can have it! I much prefer the midwest! I have the Kato BL and some GG1's because my dad lived in Pennsy and gave me the set for Christmas. Now that he retired south I have no reason to keep it on the layout. Soon it will get boxed back up and stored away. I do have a special place for the GG-1's though, and I do like Strauburg. As far as the NYC goes it just does nothing for me. Sorry but you did ask. And beside if you do the math here is what you get: NYC + PR = PC = Conrail Could it get any worse!!
I had no interest in the New York Central until I walked into my local hobby shop about four weeks ago. The owner was selling some used DVDS for one of his customers . I bought Penn Central Vol. 1 by green frog productions . It was filmed by Emery Gulash in the first weeks of the Penn Central merger ,after watching this DVD I became a fan ,and started collecting NYC. PC. and PRR. rolling stock. Alex
Wow CBQ, quit sugar coating it and tell us how you really feel. I can't speak for New York, because I never really spent much time there. The NYC I grew up with was the old 'Big Four' (CCCStL). From what I have read it was very different from the east. I live in Texas, but I model what I consider the midwest. I was looking to network with fellow NYC fans for ideas, I wasn't really looking for a blanket indictment of an entire state.
I run a few NYC locos,but only because they're PC patch jobs,PRR/PC was big in Wilkes Barre..The actual NYC ran nowhere near me.Just painted an E7 last week..
I'm a Midwest to Pacific-coaster... but... I did get a Broadway Limited and GG1 (two of them!)... SOOOOO>... I certainly can't say that I won't run New York Central. BUT... Kato will have to do a Dreyfuss Hudson with a Twentieth Century Limited for that to happen.
Umm...yeah it could get a LOT worse. Conrail was a success story, albeit it had to do a lot of fat trimming. NYC should have never merged with PRR, but I'll leave that alone as well, there are books on the subject. My dad worked for the NYC as a dispatcher in Charleston WV, so I suppose I'm a little biased. I have a handful of NYC/PC/CR stuff but really only to remember him - I prefer Southeast rails (go figure). But the NYC was an interesting railroad to say the least, from the big northeast cities to gritty WV coal hauling.
One cool thing I have to give the NYC was the jet powered RDC, but that was more cool because it was a B-36 jet pod!! Can you tell we had 9" of snow to start out spring break!!!
