57 Years Ago... the PRR

What were you doing 57 years ago today? 

Let's see now... That'd be 1957...  1957...  Oh, yeah.  Now I remember.  I was in kindergarten and my dad wouldn't let me have the keys to the car to go railfanning.

Seriously, fine photo's all.  I particularly like the last one.

Rusty

I have been running my PRR F-3s as shown and wondered if it was ever done that way. Yea!

Thanks for sharing the pic of the PRR that is the railroad I have liked since I was little.

Thank you.

That lead unit looks to be a FP7. Great photos!

Good eye Chris.  Indeed it was an FP7 and 2014 will be the year I take delivery of Sunset's PRR ABA FP7's in single stripe DGLE.  The rare thing in the FP7 photo is the 5 stripe Tuscan red F7 B unit.  On the entire PRR roster there were only six PRR F units painted Tuscan red - 4 FP7 A units, and 2 F7 B units. 

For nice video footage of PRR FP7's (and H10's) check out the Penn Valley Pictures The S&L Story. The video was assembled from Clarence Weaver 16mm color film and has extensive coverage of two special event passenger trains on the branch in the mid 1950's - one pulled by Tuscan red ABA FP7's and the other DGLE ABA FP7's - clean perfectly matched sets..

Ed Rappe

Great photos, thanks

Great pics! Thanks for posting them.

57 years ago I was 3 and probably playing with a my christmas gift........a Marx Monon diesel freight.

Peter

I was just born!  Happy Birthday to me.  3rd baby born in Hazleton, Pa.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

1ST BABY ever in that town, or just for the 1957 New Year?

Ever would be quite the accomplishment.

Greg

I love the photos - thanks.  I was 10 and remember, somewhere around that age, thinking ahead to the turn of the century, and what excitement there would be.

In 1957 we would sneak out of the school playground to the RR tracks running alongside and put pennies on the track. The trains were headed into or out from new Orleans about 12 miles away. If a steamer came along it would knock the coins off with the pilot wheels but when a diesel hit them - Flat as the proverbial pancake!

The next school year there were no more steamers...

1957.....hummmm.....I was midway through Kindergarten. On New Year's Day......January 1.....I was likely sled riding with the Darrin Boys, then running my Marx KCS set under the Christmas Tree. I don't have "total recall memory"......it's just that in the winter about all I did was play with trains indoors and sled ride outdoors.....no TV for me....too boring!

I wasn't even a twinkle in my parents eyes, on second though my parents didn't even know each other 57 years ago.

In the summer of'57, I became welded to the PRR in several unique ways, and the BIG JAY in particular !

Sorry, but I can not find my little log booklet from 1957, nor 1958. Going from memory, I was still in High School in Chatham, NJ, so all my "Rail Fanning" was done on the DL&W, pretty much between Hoboken and Port Morris. 

Now, about Mr. Zemke! I wonder if it is the same Al Zemke that I used to rail fan with? He was a bit older than I, and was a music leader in a local church, plus he wrote the song "Transfusion" back in the 1950s. I also remember that Al was taking 35MM color slides, when all I, and the rest of my buddies could afford, was B&W.

Al took a lot of really nice color shots, back in the day. Thanks for posting.

Myself...57 years ago I was 3 years old and in England.  My dad was stationed there with the US Air Force for 4 years and I was born there.  Matt

Hot Water,

In one of the photos it shows some metal barrels stacked on what looks like railroad ties.  What were those for?  Matt

57 years ago, my parents weren't even thought of yet!

Thanks for sharing the photos!

Possibly drums of grease for a flange greaser due to the curves associated with that location.

Hot Water Jack: was that the "Transfusion" done by Nervous Norvous? I used to listen to that early rock n roll parody on the Chicago-based Art Hellyer Show on the radio, in that 01-01-57 era. Wildly funny show.......and a late in life (2002) interview of Mr. Hellyer revealed he was a big Lionel enthusiast.

      What was I doing Jan 1957? Playing with my HO Tyco 0-6-0T freight, with a Rock Island gon, some long forgotten boxcar and a red bobber caboose, which I learned later was roughly patterned after the CB&Q's bobbers. I was watching "Serial Theater" which ran segments of 1930's era serials; my favorite: John Wayne in the "Hurricane Express", featuring a whale of a lotta SP steam. I had just received for Christmas a Mantua Pacific kit, and I was trying to figure out the intracacies of the valve gear. Was enjoying a handful of Model Railroaders and was soon to discover "Railroad" and "Trains" magazines. And we had just wound up a wonderful Fall loaded with Burlington steam back at work.......many loud-mouthed 4-8-4's, occaisional 2-8-2's spotted at the Clyde coaling tower, etc. A really nice time in my eleven year old life!

Transfusion was written by Jimmy Drake aka Nervous Norvus:

http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=755357

I was dividing my time between The Mountaineer roaring past or hanging out at the Mundelein depot of The North Shore Line.Side trips to Roundout for the Milwaukee Rd and EJ&E were not unheard of. I was one lucky kid although it did not occur to me at the time.

57 years ago I was tearing down my 1950's Lionel layout and storing the trains in my parents attic. Did not get back into trains till the 1970's and that was HO. That layout was taken down after 10 years. I have currently been an active Hi Rail O Gauge nut for 23 years. Like most of us, trains have had their ups and downs in our lives.  

New Year's Day, I was ten years old, and we were at Uncle Roland's house.  He was a Union Pacific (LA&SL) Engineer  We all went to mass at St. Rose of Lima parish, and then watched the Rose Parade and the Rose Bowl game on the black and white Philco TV.

In 1957, I was nine years old.  I spent a lot of time down at the station (our town is on the PRR 4-track main line), watching the seemingly endless freights and the noticeably seedy passenger trains that stopped now and then.  I took a few pictures, but I wish I'd taken many more.