Coast to Coast in 48 Hours!

Here, in a 1931 painting titled "Giant Conquerors of Space and Time", famed railroad artist Grif Teller depicts the beginnings of national air travel. The Pennsylvania Railroad in conjunction with the Santa Fe Railroad and Transcontinental Air Transport could get you from Penn Station, New York to Grand Central Air Terminal in Glendale, California in about 48 hours. PRR would take you overnight from New York to Port Columbus, Ohio. TAT would then fly you during the day to Waynoka, Oklahoma, where you would transfer to the Santa Fe for a night in the Pullman to Clovis, New Mexico; and thence by TAT to California. The Pennsy's advertised schedule called for a 6:05 PM departure on Day 1 and a 5:52 PM arrival on day 3. Later in the 30's TAT was reorganized as TWA, Trans World Airlines.

The painting shows a PRR K4s Pacific roaring along the "Broad Way" beneath a TAT Ford Trimotor. A gift from J. E. Chubb, it hangs in the Grif Teller Gallery at Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, Pennsylvania. Another famous Teller K4s painting, "When The Broad Way Meets the Dawn" is featured on special Pennsylvania auto license plates on the rear of both of my cars, as well as those of thousands of other Pennsylvania railfans.

Express Ride to the Derby

Pennsylvania Railroad class B74B #5840 "Saratoga Springs" was one of an order of 50 horse cars built at the road's Altoona, Pennsylvania shops. Almost all horse cars bore the names of race tracks. The tracks in turn named some races for the PRR. Dade Park in Kentucky had an annual "Pennsylvania Railroad Handicap"; Hawthorne Park in Chicago had a "Broadway Limited Handicap"; New Orleans Fair Grounds a "PRR Speed and Security Handicap" and Hialeah in Florida, an "A.J. Cassatt Memorial Handicap" honoring the former PRR president and horse breeder. This car was removed from revenue service in 1963 and is displayed at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania since 1992.
Details:
Length 78 Ft. 2 1/2 In.
Weight 132,000 Lbs.
Capacity 24 horses, 65,000 Lbs.

Have a Happy Holiday!

From track 2 at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, your blogger wishes all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Save The Trains

A Big Hook From Conway

Erie Railroad / Erie-Lackawana / 250-Ton diesel wrecking crane and Pennsylvania Railroad idler car. Built by Industrial Brownhoist Corp. in Bay City, Michigan in 1955 the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania's "big hook" last served with Conrail at Conway Yard near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Self-propelled wreck cranes like this one were accompanied by a tool car and sleeper made from a retired Pullman sleeper. In 1995 Conrail decided to outsource wreck train work to private contractors and the Conway wreck train was retired and declared surplus. Museum director, David Dunn inspected the crane and convinced Conrail to donate it to the Railroad Museum. It arrived at the museum on 9 September, 1997 behind Strasburg Railroad's GE 44-ton switcher #33.

See a Google map of Conway Yard here.

The Caboose Gets a Bay Window

Pittsburgh & Lake Erie all steel bay window caboose #508 was built in the road's own shops in McKee's Rocks, Pennsylvania in 1950. It was built to plans of the New York Central, the P&LE's controlling owner at the time. Previous cupola style cabooses were rendered obsolete by the increasing height of freight cars. The side window provides views along each side of the train to watch for problems such as "hot boxes" or shifting loads. Today, electronic sensors along the track have made the caboose and its crew obsolete and you can only see them where freight movements are made in reverse across roads. The car was purchased by a museum volunteer, Earl Kinnard, who donated it to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in 1992. Mr. Kinnard also accompanied the car during its move to Strasburg by Conrail and the Strasburg RR.
Details:
Length 27 Ft. 5 In. body, 35 Ft. 10 In. between buffers
Width 10 Ft In. between windows, 9 Ft. 5/8 In. body
Height 12 Ft. 2 In.

Amtrak and the Northeast Snow Storm of 12/19-20

From Amtrak's Website:December 20, 2009

8:30 am EST

A severe snow storm that blanketed much of the East Coast this weekend and caused travel in the region to become hazardous or impossible has affected some Amtrak operations, but trains continue to run on a reduced schedule. Some regularly scheduled Amtrak trains in the eastern region have been canceled in order to permit Amtrak to reposition train equipment and ease congestion along the railroad.

Also, the New York-Savannah Palmetto is canceled today.

In addition to the main spine of the Northeast Corridor, the Harrisburg-Philadelphia line and the Springfield-New Haven line also continue to provide service.

Long-distance trains to the south and west continue to operate but with substantial delays as the railroads over which they operate dig out from the storm and freight train congestion eases.

Amtrak regrets any inconvenience. This information is correct as of the above time and date. Information is subject to change as conditions warrant. Passengers are encouraged to call 800-USA-RAIL or visit Amtrak.com for schedule information and train status updates.

Traditional Caboose Style

Monongahela Railroad #67 shows the traditional American caboose design with the cupola on top for monitoring the cars ahead. Many Americans are familiar with the small car, usually red, that announced the end of a freight train. Called a CABOOSE the word is thought to come from the Dutch kabuis or cabin house. The origins of the car itself date back to the early days of railroading.

Cabooses have been largely replaced by the automated "end of train device". but are still seen on freight trains that have to make reverse moves over public grade crossings..

This car, property of the Smithsonian Institution, is on loan to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, Pennsylvania. It was built by the International Car & Equipment Company of Chicago in 1949.

The Monongahela, a coal hauler in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, was always a subsidiary of other railroads until it was absorbed into Conrail in 1993. It should not be confused with the Monongahela Connecting Railroad.

Railway Post Office from the Golden Age of Rail

Baltimore & Ohio class H-9 #81 railway post office was built by Pullman in 1913. On exhibit here on a turntable stub track at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, it shows the effects of decades of outdoor storage. The car was purchased by the museum at Auction in Hagerstown, Maryland in 1970. The interior mail handling equipment was found to be in very good condition and has been used in the museum's education programs to show groups like Boy Scouts how mail was sorted while the train was in motion.
B&0 No. 81 is equipped with steam heat lines and a belt driven generator to charge the battery bank which supplied the car with electricity. B & 0 No. 81 has four mail cranes. This allowed the crew to pick up mail on the fly from any side door on the car.
The inside of the car is totally devoted to the sorting and movement of the U.S. mail. At one end is a toilet, water cooler and three lockers for storage of the crew's gear. Rows of electric lights run down the center and sides of the car to allow work at night. In the summer relief from the heat was provided by a row of electric fans suspended from the car roof. Heat came from one large upright radiator at each end of the car and radiators down the car sides. All the windows have bars for security. The end doors have a pivoting bar locking system.

Details:
Railway Post Office Class: H-9
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad No. 81
Steel Construction Builder: Pullman 1913
Length: 60' 9"
Weight: 67 Tons (134, 000 lbs. )

Locomotive Cab Simulator

Norfolk Southern EMD GP38 #2898 cab was built in 1969 for the Penn Central and was donated by NS for this project funded by a North American Railway Foundation Grant supplemented by private donations. The work was performed by the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania restoration shop staff and incorporates video from an Amtrak cab ride from Lancaster, Pennsylvania to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Click on the link above for more details of this popular exhibit.

Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania Photo

Baggage and Mail

PRR class Bc No. 5403 saw service on the Pennsy's fast passenger trains that ran between New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Chicago. It is typical of the wooden cars of the period with truss rod supports, coal stove heating, kerosene and/or gas lights and clerestory windows for ventilation. Of particular interest in the RPO section of this car is the gasoline light manufactured by the Frost Company. It is also equipped with open end platforms which were beginning to go out of style during this time period. The car was part of the wooden train displayed by the Pennsylvania Railroad at the 1939-1940 New York World's Fair to show people how far railroads had come in the few decades since wooden cars were the standard.
Details:
Baggage/Mai1 car Pennsylvania Railroad, No. 5403
Wooden Construction Penna. Railroad, Altoona Car Shops 11-1893
Class BC
Design adopted 1892
Length: 60' 5"
Width: 10' 1 1/4"
Height: 14' 1 3/8"
Weight: 35.5 Tons (71,000 lbs.)
Capacity: Mail - 16,000 lbs. Baggage - 20,000 lbs.

The Classic Snowplow

Located in Potter and McKean Counties in northern Pennsylvania, The Coudersport & Port Allegany was founded to handle the traffic generated by the Commonwealth's booming lumber industry. The 1882 articles of association called for the construction of a narrow gauge railroad but it was eventually converted to standard gauge in 1889.
The snowplow was built by the Russell Car and Snowplow Company, Inc. Russell had been located in Boston but moved to Ridgway, PA and opened a new plant there in 1889. A 1904 catalogue contains such interesting copy as "I see the drift of your argument" and described the company's products as "The World's Standard." The back cover makes the claim that Russell is the only snowplow company in the world. Despite all this the company ended operations in 1950.
This snowplow is constructed of wood with steel snowplow, flanger and trucks. A size No. 2 plow, the top of the mold board is 11'6" high. It is made for single track operations and is designed to throw the snow off the track on both sides.
Details:
Class: Unknown
Size #1
Single Track Snowplow
Coudersport & Port Allegany Railroad
Wood Construction The Russell Snowplow Co., Ridgway, Pa. Ca. 1889-1894
Length: 38'
Width: 9'7"
Height: 12' 10"

The Pennsy Called Them Cabin Cars

A Class N5c cabin (the Pennsy did not use the word caboose) is on display here at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. This class is the most distinctive of the cabin cars used by the Pennsylvania Railroad. The shape of the cupola, the car body and window arrangement mark this as pure Pennsy regardless of the railroad name painted on the sides. PRR 477947 is very close to its original appearance. A 1950 arrangement drawing shows a sink and water tank, refrigerator, lockers, toilet, bunks and a table and seats. The table would also serve as the conductor's desk, while across the aisle was the stove which was used for both cooking and heating. Two interesting features in the interior are a conductor's box and space for train communication equipment. When the PRR Trainphone radio system was developed PRR cabins had the familiar water pipe antennas installed on the roof. This car arrived in the museum in 1985 wearing Conrail Blue and carrying Conrail No. 23175.
Details:
Cabin, Pennsylvania Railroad, No. 477947
Class: N5c
Steel Construction Pennsylvania Railroad, Altoona, PA July 1942
Length: 33’ 1 1/2"
Width: 9' 9 3/8"
Height: 14' 5 9/16"
Weight: 21.6 Tons (43,200 lbs.)
Assigned to the Pittsburgh Division

Replacing the Hand Car

Reading Company No. M20 is a Fairmont Motorized Track Car built in 1956. It is Ex Chesapeake & Ohio. Shown here at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.

The Hand Car

The hand car was the standard local transportation for track crews far into the powered car era. This example at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania was used on the Philadelphia & Reading line later named Reading Lines. It dates from around 1890. It was purchased by the museum from a private collector in 1993.