The LaSalle and Bureau County Railroad Company - Theft?

Besides having a purple Baldwin switcher, the LS&BC was also famous for being involved in a boxcar theft scandal from the Penn Central Railroad in the early 1970s.  Apparently, the LS&BC purchased some boxcars from the Penn Central to refurbish and put into service to earn "per diem" charges.  The PC delivered the boxcars, but more and more boxcars kept showing up until the LS&BC was literally plugged with them.  The PC accused the LS&BC of stealing them, but the LS&BC wondered how they could steal things that were given to them.  A series of articles in THE NEW YORK TIMES from March 19, March 20, and June 17, 1971, state that the boxcars were purchased by an outside company and the LS&BC was contracted to repair the boxcars.

A somewhat different explanation is told in The Wreck of the Penn Central by Joseph Daughen.  The book indicates that the PC had such bad records and control of its own equipment that they (Penn Central) had no idea where their rolling stock was at.

"Stolen" boxcar LSBC 172447 at Indianola, IA in July 1971  photo by Dick Tinder

Questions, comments or material that you would like to contribute?  Contact me at joebartoli at sbcglobal dot net.

Copyright Notice: text © J. Bartoli, 2014, unless otherwise noted. All photographs are Copyrighted by the individuals or organizations identified with those photos.

Last Modified 12/24/2014.