OTHER Modeling NYC/PRR/PennCentral transition years?

v_z_gK_Z_289333312 Nov 27, 2018

  1. v_z_gK_Z_289333312

    v_z_gK_Z_289333312 TrainBoard Member

    128
    59
    8
    Has anyone ever looked into modeling this particular transition period: NYC and PRR merging into PennCentral?

    How quickly would the locomotives have been repainted into PennCentral lettering? Could you have seen PRR and NYC lettering on locomotives still making the rounds in 1968 or shortly thereafter?

    Could you have seen a PennCentral painted locomotive in a yard alongside either a PRR or NYC locomotive paintjob? Would the old NYC and PRR painted locomotives be actively used, or more sit in a yard waiting to get painted PennCentral?

    Another idea - could you have ever possibly seen PRR and NYC paintjob locomotives serving alongside each other after the merger? PRR and PennCentral? NYC and PennCentral?
     
  2. acptulsa

    acptulsa TrainBoard Member

    3,343
    5,868
    75
    And Reading, and Erie Lackawanna, and a host of smaller roads. Yes, power was mixed; they were trying to get the efficiencies of consolidation, even if they failed rather spectaculatly. No, they couldn't possibly park all their unpainted locomotives and move all their traffic, even though traffic was way down.

    1968 was the era of nose heralds, road names and original numbers painted over with black squares containing "PC" and new numbers.
     
  3. v_z_gK_Z_289333312

    v_z_gK_Z_289333312 TrainBoard Member

    128
    59
    8
    Sounds like a really wide-open period of time as far as locomotives to set a model railroad.
     
  4. acptulsa

    acptulsa TrainBoard Member

    3,343
    5,868
    75
  5. v_z_gK_Z_289333312

    v_z_gK_Z_289333312 TrainBoard Member

    128
    59
    8
    Neat. I assume PC instead of CR?

    To be clear, there would definitely be power on the the lines in the old NYC and PRR color and lettering too?

    Would there be any power painted in the fancy Penn Central italic wording? Or just PC?
     
  6. acptulsa

    acptulsa TrainBoard Member

    3,343
    5,868
    75
    PC, yes. If I remember right, the letters did lean a bit as though they were italic. Yes, in fact one of the CR engines on that page is still wearing Pennsy Tuscan red with the gold stripe. There were absolutely gray lightning bolts zig-zagging around, and lots if them.
     
    v_z_gK_Z_289333312 likes this.
  7. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

    10,673
    44,835
    142
    Well said. I'm a closet PC fan, as the road began to close out the remnants of a fascinating era of 40' cars, jointed rail, intermixed diesel power from EMD, GE, Alco and others, electrified lines intact, branchlines to everywhere, manned interlocking towers, depots and on it goes. Derelict as it all was, memories of the PC impressed me as a kid and still do today. I've posted this photo before taken by me of a tired old NYC geep working Chicago's Union Station.

    1975 about Union Station Chicago IL [by Rich].jpg
     
  8. v_z_gK_Z_289333312

    v_z_gK_Z_289333312 TrainBoard Member

    128
    59
    8
    Very interesting. Surely they couldn't black out all the old road names that very first year though, right? You'd see some PRR and NYC road names on locomotives still I would imagine? In addition to those early PC blackouts?
     
  9. acptulsa

    acptulsa TrainBoard Member

    3,343
    5,868
    75
    I'd be guessing. I wasn't raised in that territory. "Branch lines to everywhere" is an absolutely true statement, but only north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi. Hardcoaler? Help!
     
    Hardcoaler likes this.
  10. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

    10,673
    44,835
    142
    With thousands of PC locomotives spread across more than 20,000 route miles of railroad in 14 states, you'd have seen just about every combination imaginable throughout the early years. [Not my photo]

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Nov 27, 2018
    Kurt Moose and acptulsa like this.
  11. v_z_gK_Z_289333312

    v_z_gK_Z_289333312 TrainBoard Member

    128
    59
    8
    Fascinating. You could actually see a PRR road name locomotive hauling freight on an old NYC line?
     
    Hardcoaler likes this.
  12. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

    10,673
    44,835
    142
    Yep, absolutely. And, the PC was forced to adopt the New Haven on 12/31/1968, adding even more locomotives to the mix. I don't recall seeing New Haven units ranging far from home, but some probably did.
     
    acptulsa likes this.
  13. acptulsa

    acptulsa TrainBoard Member

    3,343
    5,868
    75
    And some that were unimaginable! Who could imagine Pennsy and Central locomotives pulling together just a year before? The rivalry was intense.

    That's much of the reason the merger failed. Central employees had some pride, and felt very disenfranchised. And they were.

    Well, the electrics never did. McGinnis sold off too many of them. But some GG-1 types got their voltage converted, and ranged up to Connecticut.

    New Haven FDL-9s, with their diesels and third rail shoes, ultimately retired the NYC electrics, as I recall. That got them at least as far as Albany.
     
    Last edited: Nov 27, 2018
    Hardcoaler likes this.
  14. Hytec

    Hytec TrainBoard Member

    13,965
    6,903
    183
    Absolutely. Grab whatever power that's available, that fits the load, that's still running (sort of), and hope the train makes it past the Yard Limits and becomes Operations problem when it dies. 'Twas not a pretty time for eastern companies.
     
  15. v_z_gK_Z_289333312

    v_z_gK_Z_289333312 TrainBoard Member

    128
    59
    8
    Well, if time on a layout is frozen in 1968-1969, there's room to imagine things going better than they actually did. :) Historical fiction, if you will.

    Also, that era is an interesting time in history to contemplate in general. Nixon running and elected, moon landing, riots at Democrat national convention, Vietnam, the death of MLK, and lots more I'm sure.
     
    acptulsa and Hardcoaler like this.
  16. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

    10,673
    44,835
    142
    Pretty much true, with the NYC penetrating south into Charleston, WV with coalfield branches following even deeper to interchange with the VGN and C&O at Deepwater and Gauley Bridge.

    Funny story. Probably 35 years ago I was railfanning CR's ex-NYC yard in Charleston, WV and two CR men in suits walked up. I thought I was in deep trouble, until one of them asked if I'd seen {insert name here}. "Sorry, no I haven't", I said. They said thanks and walked off. I think my saving grace was that my camera was stowed and I looked like a railroader, wearing heavy boots and all. I beat a hasty retreat behind some buildings minutes later. :oops:
     
    Last edited: Nov 27, 2018
    v_z_gK_Z_289333312 and acptulsa like this.
  17. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

    10,673
    44,835
    142
    And you can play some period music while you build, such as Led Zeppelin, Moody Blues, The Who, Youngbloods, Beatles, Zombies, the Doors and others. (y)
     
  18. v_z_gK_Z_289333312

    v_z_gK_Z_289333312 TrainBoard Member

    128
    59
    8
    I used to geocache, and I remember hearing that some guys would wear safety vests and hard hats so they wouldn't seem suspicious when "poking around" outside looking for geocache.
     
    Hardcoaler likes this.
  19. RBMNfan

    RBMNfan New Member

    6
    1
    1
    My uncle said the PC era had a train on every siding. It was allegedly an awesome time to be a rail fan. Apparently getting a photo of a moving train was difficult. My uncle told me that many crews ended their shift at same siding they started it.

    I was born a decade later and I cannot understand the logic of the PC merger.

    I understand that the PRR had always paid a dividend every quarter. And they are one of a few railroads that never declared bankruptcy.
    The downside of that former financial strength was being unable to imagine failure and denial of existing in a changing environment.

    And while your in denial here is a already bankrupt railroad that needs fixing that you must take into the merger, the New Haven.
    What could go wrong?

    I can see why you wouldn’t want to model that.
    Usually we try to model profitable railroads where the trains run on time.
    On the other hand you don’t need staging tracks when trains don’t go anywhere. Don’t need dcc when you’re train stays in one spot either.
    Kind of like the No track concept (module with a rail trail if you haven’t seen it).







    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
     
    Hardcoaler likes this.
  20. rhensley_anderson

    rhensley_anderson TrainBoard Supporter

    1,494
    1,244
    45
    1968 - 1969 and into 1970 you could see NYC and PRR locos in all of the lines. By 1970 pc was taking over. I say if you want to model it, go for it!
     

Share This Page