Penn Central 50th Birthday!

Greetings All,

Happy 50th Birthday Penn Central!

Today is the day! February 1st, 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the New York Central and Pennsylvania Railroads merging into the Pennsylvania New York Central Transportation Company (2/1/68 - 5/8/68) which would become known to all as the Penn Central. 872 days later the Penn Central would declare bankruptcy. The PC would soldier on under Section 77 of the Bankruptcy Act until April 1st, 1976 when the Consolidated Railroad Company relieved Penn Central of it's railroad operations.

What happened and why has been well documented since the bankruptcy date of June 21st, 1970 and I don't want to get into that here today. Today we celebrate the birth of the Penn Central and offer some 1/87th scale tribute to the railroad I grew up with. Let's take a look at some other interesting Penn Central facts;

The Penn Central was a railroad colossus make no mistake about that with more than 100,000 employees and 20,000 route miles in 14 states and 2 provinces. With an opening day roster of 4,079 locomotives every day the Penn Central ran 300 through road freights, unit trains and more than 500 local freights. PC yards had several hundred daily switching crews. Add in the 1,000 passenger trains that were operated each weekday and you get the picture.

50 years ago today on February 1, 1968 Penn Central introduced it's all white new intertwined PC logo and PENN CENTRAL  lettering on former PRR SD40 #6072 which was painted black to lukewarm reviews. In an effort to add some color they would add the red P to 119 diesel units and some freight cars and later an orange C to 17 GP40s before their opening year was over.  

For me the PC was all of the above and little bit more. Fascinating to read about and see in action on many different videos the more I see and read the more interested I become. That said it's no wonder that the Penn Central is becoming a dominant force on my New York Central basement train empire. 

The Penn Central sign hanging in the Terminal Yard train room courtesy of 1:1 Sir Neal who is a well known Penn Central fan.

The NYC and PRR combined to contribute 114 F3As, 363 F7A's and 75 F7Bs to the newly formed Penn Central. Home painted NYC F7As lead this six unit consist.

Factory painted PRR units with home painted PC F7As. The PC continued to operate large number of F units right up until the Conrail takeover. 

The PRR supplied the Penn Central with 40 GE U Boats. U33Cs 6540-6559 were the first new units delivered in the PC scheme arriving mid February 1968. PC would add four more U33Cs in August 1968. #6540 was the first new PC unit and the first U33C built by GE. #6557 was the only U-Boat with the red 'P'. Below is a consist of PC U-Boats in the engine yard.  I painted two of the four shown including the 6557.

The big U Boats have backed into track 2 and coupled up to their train. This is an impressive consist! Looking a little Selkirkian? Many of the PC U-Boats were maintained at Selkirk. 

Called the iconic PC locomotive the Penn Central amassed an armada of GP38s and GP38-2s. Below a quartet of home painted GP38s idle in Terminal Yard. Did you know 9 GP38-2s were set up to run long hood forward? The 7675 was the first GP38 on the PC roster. The Atlas engine was a gift from 1:1 Sir Larry that I repainted.

A quartet of GP35s burble away next to their younger cousins. Two are home painted PC, one a home painted NYC and one a factory painted PRR. NYC contributed 31 and the PRR 119 units. An interesting note here is that the GP35 is the last four axle road engine purchased by the PRR. The GP35s also had the most units with the red P with 21. 

A pair of home painted PC GP30s. Reacting to negative comments after unveiling their first Penn Central engine with the white PC on  all black engine #6072 in 1968 Altoona began releasing shopped diesels with the red 'P' logo. The GP35 had the most with 21 followed by the GP30 with 19 and the GP9 with 16.

With the red 'P' program discontinued and the all white PC logo in effect the PC received 17 new GP40s in October 1968 wearing orange 'C's. Home painted 3170 and 3175 are parked below. The reason for the orange 'C' remains a mystery.

Prior to the merger the NYC purchased a fleet of 105 GP40's all with dynamic brakes. Factory painted 3007 is an ex NYC unit of the same number. Home painted PC U30B #2875 is another ex NYC engine. The NYC was the only one of the three predecessors to purchase this model from GE and the GP40. PC would add another 170 GP40s by the end of 1968. 

The PC inherited a large number of 1st generation ALCO road switchers from the NYC-PRR. They could be found switching in yards and working secondary lines. Two such home painted units await assignment below.

The PRR was the sole contributor of six axle power to the PC and the 6000 series belonged to them. Home painted SD45 #6190 and SD40 #6282 replicate a favored Penn Central 4,600 hp lash up. The SD45 was a gift from 1:1 John Bruce. 

The PRR had turned to the 2500 hp SD35 in June 1964 to test claims that the C-C units were better for the PRR's mountainous terrain. They never bought another four axle road engine. This is a home painted Atlas Yellow Box unit.

The PC operated about 20% of the nations passenger trains and were the dominant contributor to Amtrak. Home painted E7A #4210 has the honors of representing PC passenger power on the layout for the PC birthday.

Four PC 10-6 sleepers in three different paint schemes head towards Empire City Station. On May 1st, 1971 the Penn Central's initiation fee into Amtrak was $52.6 million payable over a three year period. Reimbursement fees paid to PC for running the Amtrak trains over their rails were thought to more than offset the cost. 

The Deepwater Green cars are factory painted and the Tuscan car is home painted. Amtrak took over 140 passenger trains that cost the PC $50 million a year in losses. Amtrak simply dropped 30 other trains from the PC schedule.

Adding the Penn Central to my New York Central Train Layout has been very rewarding. Lots of cool paint projects and modeling opportunities have presented themselves. Here is a view of the newly built Terminal Yard engine facility with mostly home painted NYC and PC engines.  At last count the number of home painted Penn Central engines was 31.

Some Empire Belt U boats are on track 7. The freelance E.B.R.R. was put into effect in 2017 and follows the painting practices of parent roads NYC and PC

A sea of mostly home painted engines idle away awaiting their next call to action. A patched out NYC E8A sits next to Alco C424 #2415. The 2415 was the one and only C424 on the PC roster.

Penn Central, New York Central and Empire Belt units at rest. 

As much as I liked painting PC engines I also added a bunch of home painted PC freight cars to my fleet. Most came from my purgatory box and have received a second life. Some early home painted AHM Penn Central 40' boxcars are pictured below.

All freight cars below are home painted including the PRR caboose that was painted by fellow modeler John Bruce.

A few more home painted units with the Penn Central as a main player.

With 30 large car plants online from the three major automobile manufacturers the transportation of new autos and their parts was the PC's most most valuable traffic. 

Last but not least it should be noted that several modelers including myself pay tribute to the Penn Central on a regular basis with our Penn Central Car Movement series aka the virtual ops. In the beginning founding member 1:1 PC Ralph came up with these prototypical Penn Central Movement Cards and we were off and running. As the P.C.C.M.'s got bigger in scope and participation we adjusted the paperwork to keep track of the interchanged freight cars.

As of the writing we have enjoyed 42 P.C.C.M.s and are working on #43. Some scenes from recent P.C.C.M.'s include this train with cars for John B's L.F.N.W. layout..

Freight cars for Ralph's K.P.D. layout leaving Terminal Yard while cars for 1:1 Sir Neal's AP.R.R. and Engineer Ed's H.R.C. await departure on the left. 

One of my favorite engine lash ups combining my freelanced Empire Belt U Boats with prototypical Penn Central U Boats. Below they're running thru Bedford NY with a virtual ops freight train coming from Selkirk  and heading to Terminal Yard.

Happy 50th Birthday Penn Central!