Did the Penn Central ever run any steam? I would surmise that the the time period would have been too late for it to happen but you never know.

I wonder if any PC steam engines would be avaialble anywhere in O scale?

NO official Pc steam that I am aware of. There were many excursions over the line but no Steam engines decorated for PC. they were barely keeping the infighting dowqn and the RR alive!

quote:

I wonder if any PC steam engines would be avaialble anywhere in O scale?

MArx had a 2-4-2 Steam engine with a slope back PC tender.

PC did convert steam engine equipment into M.O.W. equipment, as evidenced by this shot of a steam engine tender lettered for the PC:



Formerly a steam locomotive tender, PC 70793 is now employed in work train service. The car is stenciled on its side "FORT WAYNE WRECK TRAIN." Photo by Dick Ross.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: NickyBigBoy,

One steam trip I took on the Penn Central was a High Iron run from Harrisburg to Gallitzen (west of the Horse Shoe Curve) and back, in the fall of 1969.

Power was NKP 2-8-4 No. 759. It had headed the Golden Spike Centennial train earlier that year, on its west and east bound runs east of the Mississippi. A new UP Centennial diesel handled the Golden Spike special west of the Mississippi.

The 14 or so cars were mostly light-wieght Penn Central coaches with a few heavy-weight High Iron cars as well. The 759 hauled its train up and around Horse Shoe Curve without the diesel helper Penn Central insisted upon having ready for the run west of Altoona. It followed us, about a half-mile back.

The only difficulty was on the return loop track at Gallitzen. It was quite tight and on a slight grade. The 759 slipped its drivers several times as well as backing a few times, then running ahead. Once the 759 got the most of the cars off the loop, we fans taking photos there were re-boarded.

I should add that Walthers in the late 1960's produced HO and O scale decal sets to letter a Penn Central steam locomotive, with a large inter-twined PC in white as a herald. Strictly fiction as working steam had been gone on both the NYC and PRR by then.

Ed Bommer

Its highly doubtful. If there was, it would have been on an obscure PRR branch line somehwere as Perlman of the NYC loathed steam locos and made sure the NYC was as devoid of them as possible and scrapped.

PRRDave

Marx lettered some of their steam engines with the PC logo and Walther's made some fantasy decals for PC steam. At the time the last caused a major uproar in the letters-to-the-editor columns of the various model railroading magazines. The grumblings were such that Walthers ran and ad "PC - Schemee Cee" ad by way of apology...one can only wonder what the posts to a forum like this one would have looked like had such things been around in the early 1960's.

Maybe they didn't in the real world, but that doesn't mean they can't in your world. The Wisconsin Central never ran steam either, but that doesn't stop me from running a Lionel WC 4-4-2.

Rick

quote:

Did the Penn Central ever run any steam?

NO and I wouldn't want any model of it.

I think the Penn Central only as a bad marriage in 1968 between the former rival and proud Pennsylvania and New York Central Railroads that adopted the New Haven in 1969 and very soon after they painted everything black went into bankruptcy.

Except for some tourist excursions, these railroads did not run any more regular steam engine powered trains after the late 1950's or about a decade before the time of the PRR, NYC NY,NH&H merger.

The last PRR steam locomotive was a lonely B6 working a branchline in Southern NJ in 1959. The Central had been away from steam for a period longer I believe.

The farewell to steam on the PRR occurred officially in late 1957, I think? It ran on parts of the NY&LB as well as the Freehold Agricultural Railroad a long time PRR controlled company.

Penn Central steam was limited to excursions. It included a few quite famous locomotives in addition to the NKP 759 at the time including some from Europe. All of their names escape me at the moment.

That PC lettered tender is a former PC 90P75 off a K4. Not sure where that eventually ended up. Likely scrapped in the 70's.

I would have presumed PC never even dabbled in steam, that's why this forum is such a great fountain of information !

PS. Jonathan, I liked your other moniker of you behind the drumset.
PSS. I'm just messin' wit ya .

Stack

If they didn't have steam in real life, I'm surprised it hasn't been modelled in O gauge yet, as I sit here and look at my Canadian National J class, my NYO&W Hudson, my Great Northern Hudson etc.

quote:

Originally posted by Robert S. Butler:
Marx lettered some of their steam engines with the PC logo and Walther's made some fantasy decals for PC steam. At the time the last caused a major uproar in the letters-to-the-editor columns of the various model railroading magazines.

Model railroaders can be a funny bunch of people. They should have saved the anger for more important issues in the world.

Something Penn Central did have was Beeps. I know, I've got 2 of them as well.

Reading & Northern 4-6-2 No. 425 has an ex-Pennsy tender painted blue with yellow lettering as an auxiliary water car ("jug").

The "jug" on No. 425's Autumn Leaf Rambles in October was an ex-Reading Taylor tender from a Camelback. It had been owned and operated by the late George Hart on excursions on the MA & PA. It fit on the ex-Jersey Central turntable at Jim Thorpe with No. 425 and her tender. Her ex-Pennsy "jug" had to be turned separately.

High Iron excursions during the late 1960's and 1970's were a few bright spots in the black, bleak Penn Central era. When the PC went bankrupt it took all Northeastern roads with it.

Begun on April 1, 1976, Conrail replaced black with blue. After the Staggers Act ended stifling regulation in 1981, Conrtail management and unions got together and offered first-class service. By 1996, CSX and NS EACH bid more than $1 BILLION to acquire Conrail. I would have kept Conrail intact but Congress separated it. The NS got the Pennsy and the Reading; CSX, the NYC.

I think that the "lonely B6" that GG1 4877 mentions runs at Williams Grove Steam Engine Association, Mechanicsburg, PA. She has a replacement boiler without a characteristic Belpaire firebox.

Better question would be did the Penn Central ever run.... no.

PRR dropped steam in late October, 1957. If there was a B6sb in South Jersey in 1959, it might have been a PRSL or private operation.

Excursions were a different issue.

Bill

B6sb #5244 was leased to the Union Transportation of New Egypt, New Jersey until July of 1959.

quote:

Originally posted by GG1 4877:
B6sb #5244 was leased to the Union Transportation of New Egypt, New Jersey until July of 1959.

I was 10 at the time.

I was -10 at the time, but love these kinds of stories of steam running late in the era. Magma Arizona operated steam until 1971 in Arizona in regular service hauling copper ore. That was during Penn Central. Does that count?

NdeM ran steam in regular service until 1968, so that might almost count. Their Niagras and Hudsons had been off the roster for just a few years though by that point.

Actually the PC did have some steam! They had steam generators in the passenger engine.

quote:

Originally posted by PRRronbh:
Actually the PC did have some steam! They had steam generators in the passenger engine.

LOL

Towards the end of PC and into early Conrail - not even that was guaranteed to work all the time.

quote:

Posted November 02, 2009 03:40 PM Hide Post
Actually the PC did have some steam! They had steam generators in the passenger engine.

You are right. The Pennsylvania Railroad GG-1's (and some of the Passenger Diesel Locomotives) were equipped with oil burning steam generators to supply steam heat for the older passenger cars and dining cars.

The Penn Central did in fact OWN several steam locomotives! The Pennsy started saving several steam loco's for a proposed company museum. I can't think of the roundhouse now that the whole collection was stored in, but the shop crews took great care of them. The whole collection lasted into the PC era, and I believe the story goes that PC finally donated the whole thing to the museum in Strasburg as a tax write off. I read all of this in a magazine article I'll have to dig out. If I remember the whole story correctly, the one remaining E7 diesel escaped scrapping because these same folks renumbered a switcher with the E7 number and sent it on its way, then hid the E7 somewhere.

quote:

Originally posted by prrhorseshoecurve:
MArx had a 2-4-2 Steam engine with a slope back PC tender.

This engine is smoking like a steam locomotive.

Next time someone tries to pull the "Which way does the diesel smoke flow?" trick question on you, show them that picture

quote:

Originally posted by NickyBigBoy:
PC did convert steam engine equipment into M.O.W. equipment, as evidenced by this shot of a steam engine tender lettered for the PC:



Formerly a steam locomotive tender, PC 70793 is now employed in work train service. The car is stenciled on its side "FORT WAYNE WRECK TRAIN." Photo by Dick Ross.

sure to have been scrapped....but I wonder if that tender is still lurkig somewhere.....

quote:

Originally posted by prrbill:
PRR dropped steam in late October, 1957. If there was a B6sb in South Jersey in 1959, it might have been a PRSL or private operation.

Excursions were a different issue.

Bill

That Pennsy B-6 was leased by and operated on the Union
Transportation Company, a shortline that ran on a portion
of the old Camden & Amboy RR, one of the first railroads
in the United States. UTC operated from Pemberton to a
station called Shrewsbury Road, near Hightstown. The southern
portion of the Camden & Amboy is now operated jointly by CSX
and NJ Transit's RiverLINE DLRV service.

http://jcrhs.org/camden&amboy.html

Lee

How about steam generators on passenger diesels and GG-1's!

quote:

Originally posted by DominicMazoch:
How about steam generators on passenger diesels and GG-1's!

I thought all passenger engines had steam generators for heating the cars. I think I read that electric heat was not very effective and produced to much current draw on the engine.

Steam heated passenger trains stopped running on Amtrak in early '82 and on New Jersey Transit about 1983-1985. I can't say for the other major commuter agencies.

While steam has traditionally provided heat to trains for generations, all major carriers of passengers now use Head End Power. It's a 480V system that provide power to each of the cars for house lighting and HVAC. The HEP system uses either a portion of the prime mover's HP, or more commonly now a separate diesel powered generator.

There is certainly something to be said about those black and white photos in the winter with the steam between the cars though!

quote:

Originally posted by newhudson:
The Penn Central did in fact OWN several steam locomotives! The Pennsy started saving several steam loco's for a proposed company museum. I can't think of the roundhouse now that the whole collection was stored in, ......

They were stored at Northumberland.

And thanks Lee for the info on the UTC.

Bill

Yes the Penn Central definitely operated steam. See the 5th pic on this page and the 3rd-4th pic on this page. The PC doing what they did best.

Wyhog

WARNING : THREAD HIJACK


How about some Penn Central f7's in Rio Grande paint??


But about the passenger cars?

rat

Not Penn Central,but thought some of you might like to know the Norfolk Southern logo has been on a steam locomotive.In 1987 NS leased L&N 152 for steam excursion service and covered the L&N emblems on the cab sides. http://www.rrpicturearchives.n...ture.aspx?id=1153546

The story of the PRR steam loco collection that PC owned can be found in a magazine called Vintage Rails issue 5 Fall 1996. A pretty interesting tale.

What I really wont to know is, did the island of Sodor ever run a tank engine named Thomas? Some people have said that he and his friends where just a fantasy of some wild drummer. Please, say it ant so!