Pennsy - New York Central - Penn Central
I was fortunate to
have lived not far from the Pennsylvania Railroad back in the 1950s and
60s, and able to obtain some photos of it, and, later the Penn Central
in its days before Amtrak and Conrail. Though I was fortunate enough to
have ridden
on the New York Central, including two glorious trips on the 20th
Century Limited, I was seldom in a good location to photograph
it. What I remember were two world-class railroads in their last
days, trying to fight the likes of Eastern Airlines, United Airlines
and interstate highways, letting plant and equipment deterioriate, and
slowly but surely getting into the game of permitting most, though not
all, of their passenger trains, do the same. My enduring memories are
of wonderful trips on the Broadway Limited and 20th Century Limited,
and a ride on the last Penn Central train between New York and Buffalo
that had no radio in the cab, very little food on board and no
intention of arriving on time -- by this time radios, decent rolling
stock, and probably place mats had been sold to Mexico. Here, with
little commentary are photos and some other materials gathered along
the way.
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Above are two shots of Pennsy's Afternoon Keystone, one
taken in Metuchen, NJ, in 1962, when it still had lightweight
articulated equipment, and the other in Washington, DC., in 1966, after
the experimental lightweights had been abandoned.
Above is a venerable PC Trenton Local, still in Pennsy
colors, on its way
though Adams Station, New Jersey, on its way to Penn Station New York,
in 1968. I rode these trains often. They featured very loud motors and
hard wicker seats.
Here's the all-Pullman Broadway Limited cruising through
Metuchen, NJ, where I lived, in the summer of 1961. At that point the
train was still in full glory. I rode it four years later. Below is the
boarding gate in Chicago and my ticket. I remember a wonderful double
dining car, impeccable service and pulling out of Englewood station in
Chicago right alongside the 20th Century Limited. I also remember
sitting in the observation car with a railroad employee who had a
device to measure track smoothness. Imagine a railroad caring much
about running passenger trains on smooth track today. Probably doesn't
happen much -- and certainly not on ex-Pennsy lines that host Amtrak.
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Below are three more shots of PC trains taken at Adams Station. On top
is the
Admiral, on its way to New York from Chicago, in the middle the
Senator, heading from Washington to Boston (via the New Haven RR, which
is well represented in the consist), and on the botton a Metroliner
test run.
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