PENN CENTRAL FANS: An O-Gauge Product Checklist and Discussion Thread

Hey Nick, another PC Fan here chiming in. I only decided to go back into O scale about a year or so ago, and haven't had a chance yet to build a layout. I do have a Williams semi-scale GG-1 in PC and also a PC caboose. Back in my N Scale days I had PC engines and equipment, as you can see in the photo.

 

I spent many a lazy warm day by the NE Corridor watching the PC trains run by. Sadly, I seldom took my camera!!

 

I saw Robert Kennedy's Funeral Train when it went through Baltimore. My father took photos of it. I'll have to see if he still has them.

 

Following up on the posts mentioning the RFK funeral train, one of the gentlemen to whom I refer as my "railroading mentors" was the Engineer on the three car pilot train which ran ahead of the special. The overall operation actually required the service of five Gs. The 4901 and 4903 receive most of the attention as they led the funeral train itself; however, the 4932 powered the pilot train with the 4900 and 4910 following engine light as protect power. 

 

The crowds along the right of way were staggering. In fact, two spectators were killed at Elizabeth when the eastbound Admiral struck them as they stepped into its path to get a better view of the westbound special as it approached. In hindsight, given the numbers of people who had to scramble out of the Admiral's path, it's remarkable the accident did not have a worse outcome than it did. Following that tragedy, Penn Central stopped all movements in and around the special until it had passed.

 

Bob     

 

  

Another penn central fan here. I lived next to the old Pennsylvania main line so I saw many penn central engines and freight cars. Yes they did get run down but it was the trains I saw all the time.

I have a scale gg1, a E44 on the way and many PC freight cars.

Lets play nice here no matter how you feel about the Penn Central.

Here are some pictures I published...

 

 

This is on the Long Island's Bay Ridge branch at a place called G&R Packing.

This is an RS-11. 

 

 

That's the Sea Beach in the background

 

 

 

An SW1500 coming up the hill

 

 

 

 

Nice pictures ben

Penn Central had quite a few RS11s assigned to the NY Metro area. One very interesting job often assigned an RS11 worked out of Waverly Yard in Newark. He ran the main line (Northeast Corridor but it wasn't yet called by that name) from LANE to UNION. From there, he was routed via the former PRR Perth Amboy & Woodbridge Branch to Perth Amboy where it joined with the CNJ for joint New York & Long Branch operation. He ran the balance of his trip over the NY&LB to Red Bank and an interchange with the the CNJ. He typically ran during the mid-afternoon so I got to see him work in Red Bank after I got out of school.

 

RS11s were also assigned to jobs working out of Browns Yard in Old Bridge on the old Camden & Amboy to Freehold and Hightstown. If westbounds were very heavy leaving Browns, a G would be dispatched from South Amboy as a helper to Jamesburg.

 

It was all very fascinating railroading.

 

Bob         

Great discussion and photos everyone. Those NH consists are certainly, er, "unique" 

 

I never knew about the funeral train tragedy either. How awful. You can see just how heavy those crowds were in the YouTube video of the funeral train I posted back on page 1.

Here's an item which may be of interest. In observance of the 40th Anniversary of the operation of the RFK Funeral Train, Mr. F.A. Foley who was the Chief Passenger Service Crew Dispatcher in New York at that time, was asked to author an article about his involvement with the special's operation for The Trenton Times:

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N_-W...FK+FUNERAL+TRAIN.jpg

 

Quite incredibly, the orders, staffing, routing, scheduling and consist information for the RFK Funeral Train are STILL posted in Sunnyside Yard to this day.

 

Bob

 

   

This is the Despatch Shops Inc. switcher during the Penn Central era. The car shop was closed a few years after the merger.

 

 

The shop Foreman was talked into the paint job by a my railfan buddy and fellow and RIT student Jim. Jim coined the phrase “13D paint job” describing the depressing paint schemes of the era. He had 13 word all starting with the letter “D”. “Dark, depressing, dull, dingy, etc.
This photo I found on the Internet, I have slides I took back in the ‘60s, but I don’t have them on my computer and not sure exactly where the are.

MTH did a Railking model a few years ago.

Browns was one of my usual hang outs when I lived in NJ. Only got to see it under Conrail & now NS/CSX, but it would have been awesome to see it w/ PC.

 

Ben - Before we moved to Chicago, my Wife & I lived a few blocks from the bay Ridge Branch & the Sea Beach.   That line has seen better days - Always wondered what they would run down there back in PC era.  Thx for posting the pics

Grew up in Linden, NJ, a stop on the PRR mainline, I also remember watching the RFK funeral train pass by .... as a boy with my Mom and many other people. The GG-1 became my first favorite engine.

 

Very sad the accident in Elizabeth, NJ, which borders my hometown.

 

A favorite photo of mine also shows an accident in Elizabeth. A PC GG-1 pulling a train over a CNJ wreck scene. The north bound passenger station was completely wiped out. The freight train was on the wrong track, did not clear the bridge, and derailed into the station.

 

No deaths, pretty sure no injuries, because the station was empty. If it had been commuter rush hour, it would have been a disaster.

 

I became seriously interested in railroads and railroading just as Conrail was being formed, so that was where my interest was. But, I'm no "hater," lol .... the PC is a fascinating story and part of American railroading.

 

Jim

 

 

When I lived in NJ, everytime I went to work in NYC on the old NY&LB, I would look at that station & the lack of tracks & just wish I had a time machine

Sunnyside Yard, that's where my grandfather worked. I think that's where the PC 9850 picture was taken as well.

When it was completed in 1910, Sunnyside was the largest passenger yard in the world. Its capacity was approximately 1,100 cars and it encompassed almost 200 acres. With Amtrak, LIRR and NJ Transit trains coming and going at all times, it remains a very busy place to this day.

 

A view during the PRR era complete with a B1 electric:

 

 

A fairly contemporary image:

 

 

Bob

Here's the RFK Funeral Train video from you tube:

 

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OG4vJxi9Kis

I have the recent Legacy RS 11s in PC livery. I will try to post a video later this week. They sound great and the horn is incredible.

Peter

Before the funeral special even had a chance to depart New York Penn Station, railroad personnel were faced with a huge challenge.

 

Upon getting the casket to the platform astride observation car 120, employees realized it would not be possible to bring the casket in through the vestibule door and angle it into the body of the car as it would not fit. Next, they tried to bring it into the car via the observation platform and door. Too wide for the door, the casket again would not fit.  

 

At this point, in order to get the train underway, serious consideration was given to loading the casket aboard the baggage car and leaving the doors open so it could be viewed by the trackside throngs. The desire of the railroad and family to carry it in the observation car as originally planned eliminated that idea from consideration. It was then decided to consult with Maintenance to ascertain the possibility of removing one of the 120's window in order to load the casket through the opening. Identified as the only workable solution, the services of employees from the appropriate craft armed with the proper tools were secured. The window was removed, the casket was eased through the opening on to its pedestal and the window was reinstalled. An employee with tools accompanied the train to Washington where he once again removed the window so the casket could be unloaded.

 

The effort which went into pulling off this task was truly herculean. It's little wonder railroaders, professional and amateur alike, are still enthralled by stories about the RFK Funeral Train all these many years later.

 

Bob         

Nick - Here's a few pics I took of Sunnyside from the 7 train when I lived in Astoria 

 

 

 

I have been doing some research on the locomotives that PC owned.  I have compiled a list of which models have been produced and how many of each model were actually owned by PC.


Loco       Builder     #Owned*    O Scale
RS3          Alco          101          Weaver
RS11        Alco          59            Lionel
RS27        Alco          15            MTH
S2            Alco          260          MTH
C628        Alco          15            Atlas O
GP40        EMD          272          MTH
SD35        EMD          40          Atlas O
SW8         EMD          28          Atlas O/ MTH RK
FL9          EMD          60          3rd Rail
U23B          GE          77           Atlas O (On order)

I have not included the WBB F3 and GP38 models or any electric locomotives

What I would like to see made are the following locos:
F7          EMD      100  
FP7        EMD        19
GP7        EMD      251
GP9        EMD      457
GP30      EMD        62
GP35      EMD      146
GP38      EMD      268
GP38-2   EMD      223
SD40      EMD      110
SD45      EMD      135
SW1       EMD      152
SW7       EMD      310
U25B        GE      125
U33C        GE        24
*number owned may not be entirely accurate

These are just the ones on MY wish list.

What amazes me is how the locomotives with the largest ownership numbers have, for the most part, been omitted from the O scale market.  I want to run the locomotives that I saw on the tracks.

Just my observations and opinions.

Tom

Sorry.  My columns looked a lot better in the draft!

 

Rich,  Thanks for straightening things out.  It looks so much better.

 

Tom

Tom,

 

I couldn't agree with you more.  The more Penn Central the better!

 

Buff

The oldest class of locomotive to wear Penn Central livery, the former New York Central S-motor:

 

 

Perhaps Lionel will release its O scale S-motor decorated for PC at some point.

 

Bob

Just as a reminder to my PC brethren, I've put my Atlas Trainman RSD-7/15 #6816 up for sale if anyone was looking for one. It was really taking a back seat to the bigger PC motive power so I'd rather see it go to a fellow enthusiast that will enjoy it more.

 

EDIT: Happy to report this diesel did find a new home with a fellow PC enthusiast 

 

For fellow PC and OJ  lovers, Weaver is making Tropicana 57' mechanical reefers for your juice trains. Just got the new spring 2013 catalog and there they are. I already ordered 8. My E44 will thank me. 

Indeed. Remember I said the dealer sent me the wrong one but I decided to keep it? I ended up changing my mind again and I would prefer to just own the road number with both the name and emblem. I was able to get my money back, and it came in handy too. A little while later Lionel's GS-2 Daylight from 2004 popped up on the B/S board 

Penn Central Juice Train

 

http://youtu.be/7qZTuFc_io4

That's a great horn on that MTH unit!

 

Here's tonight's train running session. More of 3rd Rail's PC FL9. Can't get enough of that one, and am waiting with great anticipation for the dummies to get delivered. If any of you guys wanted one, you'd better reserve it quick. Scott informed me only six PC FL9 dummies were made 

 

Nick,

 

Only six?  Glad I'm one of them!

 

Wow.

Thanks for sharing the video of your FL9. I'm very pleased with my New Haven unit.

 

Here's another idea for an intriguing Penn Central model. The Pennsy had converted a number of steam locomotive tenders for work train service. Here's one with PC reporting marks following the merger. The yellow was standard PRR livery for MOW equipment.

 

 

Bob

Yep. This was Scott's response to me when I specified I would need #5015 for the dummy because I already own #5011 for powered:

 

Yes, make sure you request it. We only made 6 dummy units, so we
have to be careful. Put it on your pickup notice and return it to
us with payment etc.

Scott

I had seen that same one on eBay. I believe the seller listed it the first time at $480 with no takers. The second time around it was lowered to either $450 or $460 and someone bit.

 

I had a friend once tell me these Atlas C-628s are always floating around for $350 mint. He must have been talking about train shows, because I've had no such luck on the internet thus far...

Penn Central Gang Car conversion kits on Ebay

Haha wow, thanks for that tip-off! Really nice quality kits and I just bought the one for Sunnyside Yard, where my grandfather worked no less.

I appreciated the correctness of the "sloppy" paint job, and initially liked it, but ultimately it just didn't give the same satisfaction as the properly lettered road number. I'd like to own that one and the matching dummy for my collection. The blank version just didn't fit in with my fantasy scheme of "If the PC actually took care of itself", and is really for the more hardcore PC fans 

When these C-628's first came out, the one with just the logos is the one I received from my dealer.  I actually got it home, opened it up, and then took it back.  To me it just didn't look right.  Now here I am all this time later finding myself going back and purchasing the same engine so I can (1) complete my collection and (2) "triple-head" them to pull my long consists.  I think it's safe to say that we PC fans are truly a rare breed.  "Stay collecting my friends!" 

Very similar to my situation, except it took me far too long to decide it didn't look right for a refund from the dealer lol. I'm very happy it will find a better home on your layout Paul, and it definitely will look better in a big triple-header. You'll have to upload some photos of that one 

I never seemed to mind the locos without the lettering.  What I didn't like was the red P/white C or white P/ orange C logos.  These just looked cheesy in my opinion.  The all white logo, with or without the name spelled out, looked so much more business like. (in an industrial sense)  Even with a coat of dirt they looked okay.  The colored logos looked bad when they got dirty or began to fade.

 

Tom

True about the logos Tom.

 

Here's the infamous Lionel flatcar on eBay. I bid $100 thinking that was already ludicrous, but low and behold I've been outbid. I'll probably just end up buying the whole set, which we tend to forget is still a pretty nice little set.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/370796768787?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1426.l2649