Pennsylvania Railroad Retirement

Very nice. Something of which to be proud.

MELGAR

@J 611 posted:

My great grandfather retired from the PRR in May of 1941. When my grandmother passed away a few years ago these documents found their way to the train lover in the family. I had them framed. The frame got a little beat up in a recent move but I think it still looks pretty good. Joe was a signalman on the New York Division for almost thirty and a half years. I don’t know much about his time there but I do have these and a piece of rail that came with the retirement papers.

Good stuff. I know that my wife's grandfather received similar documents when he retired from the PRR as a cabooseman many years ago. Alas, nobody in her large extended family from Pittsburgh has been able to locate them, so it appears that they have been lost forever.

Pat

It's in your blood. Very cool indeed.

That's a nice pair of certificates.  His railroad service spanned an interesting era of railroading.

Great mementos of his service, not to mention he worked for a great RR!

The stuff of great memories. Thanks for sharing.

Bob

The US Railroad Retirement Board - an FDR "New Deal" program - was one of the best things to happen to railroaders. Before they started, it was not unusual for railroaders to work into their seventies or eighties - sometimes even older!

Although railroading is a hard way of life, the certificates provided by the Pennsylvania RR indicate a company that tried to honor it's employees.

That’s some cool family history, Brendan.

I think Railroad Retirement was given to Railroad employees instead of Social Security, and Railroad Retirement had better benefits.

A client of mine, retired B&O/Chessie/CSX, had Railroad Retirement.

@wjstix posted:

The US Railroad Retirement Board - an FDR "New Deal" program - was one of the best things to happen to railroaders. Before they started, it was not unusual for railroaders to work into their seventies or eighties - sometimes even older!

Yes, that's what I hear. But many railroaders don't make it to retirement for one reason or another (especially with the Class 1 RRs).

Railroad retirement was instituted when the railroads were the largest employers in the US, in 1935.

Railroad retirement is tiered to provide the equivalent on Social Security as well as an added “pension” on top of that. Employees contribute on two levels (Tier 1 and Tier 2) and the employers also pay into the system based on the employee’s earnings.

Tom

Pretty cool!  Thanks for sharing.

Those are great, thanks for sharing.  My father also retired from the PRR, but I had never seen similar documents in our family archives.

My grandfather retired from the PRR in 1965, and by then, it was already on its downhill slide.  Only mementos I have are two uncancelled PRR stock certificates in his name issued during the Great Depression, probably in lieu of salary.  They are framed and hanging on my dining room wall!

Chuck

Railroad related stuff like this that involves family members is absolutely priceless to a train buff!

I’ve got a lantern with three globes, two of which have CCC&StL etched into them. They were used by my wife’s great grandfather who was an operator on the Big Four in the teens and ‘20’s.

Curt

Very nice and thanks for sharing. My dad worked briefly after WWII on the New Haven as a fireman, trained to work on both steam and diesel.

Unfortunately (for me!), the railroading life was not for him.

Tom