The Pennsy Modeler
In order to portray Pennsylvania Railroad and interchange partners as accurately as possible, this blog contains articles which are essentially notes to myself, but are shared should the community desire the same information.
Articles are sorted by modification date, so if an existing article receives an update it will be presented at the top of the list again.
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While a student at the Pennsylvania State University in the 1980s, I became aware of the Bellefonte Central Railroad, an 18 mile shortline that ran between State College and Bellefonte, Pa. At Bellefonte, the BCR interchanged with the Pennsylvania Railroad and the outside world.
In 2007, Mike Bezilla and Jack Rudnicki published a book entitled "Rails to Penn State: The Story of the Bellefonte Central". The book was an amazing read, and I was particularly drawn to a chapter highlighting excursion trains over the line. One, in particular, occured when United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower visited his brother, Milton, who was president of the university at the same time.
"Ike" made several visits to Penn State, but only once by train. The accounting of the trip furthered my interest in not only this particular outing, but in POTUS (President Of The United States) trains in general.
The president arrived in State College by train on May 9, 1953. In addition to the presidential car Ferdinand Magellan, there were six additional cars on the POTUS special: four Pullmans (McKeefry, Holbein, Glenn Cliff, and Flotow), a lounge car (Afton Canyon), and PRR diner #7966. The train carried about 65 passengers.
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When planning to model the Pennsy during the post World War II era, there are certain parameters which you may or may not wish to consider when selecting a year (or years) to depict. Among them may be paint schemes, specific models of diesel locomotives, specific models of freight cars, etc.
The graph below illustrates when certain features of the Pennsy came into play, or faded into history.
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Freight Equipment
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Correct for 1950: ACF Type 27 Riveted 10,000 Gallon Tank Car Intermountain |
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Early Trailer Numbering -- 1954-1959
The trailer number was broken into three parts. The first two digits indicated the trailer length. These two digits were followed by an alphabet letter (C, E, or W). The sig-nificance of the letter is unknown. The letter was followed by numbers indicating the trailer number. Thus trailer 32E250 is a 32’ trailer numbered 250.
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Canadian General Transit was first listed as the Canadian Tank Car Co. in March 1932, with name changed to the Canadian General Transit Co., Ltd. in May 1932. Original reporting marks were CATX, with CGTX reporting marks introduced in July 1932 (CATX reporting mark gone by July 1933). Name changed to CGTX in January 1981, changed to GATX Rail Canada Corp. in April 2002. CGRX reporting marks introduced for refrigerator cars in April 1961, eliminated Ocrtober 1962. CGLX reporting marks introduced in April 1957. CGMX reporting marks introduced in July 1982 for former CGBX cars not being transferred to Procor, Ltd.
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Publicker-Ward Distilling Co. TIchy - Special run from the Susquehanna Division of the Mid Eastern Region of the National Model Railroad Association in 2017. |
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Gulf Oil was a major global oil company from the 1900s to the 1980s. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies. Prior to its merger with Standard Oil of California, Gulf was one of the chief instruments of the Mellon family fortune; both Gulf and Mellon Financial had their headquarters in Pittsburgh.Gulf Oil was a major global oil company from the 1900s to the 1980s. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies. Prior to its merger with Standard Oil of California, Gulf was one of the chief instruments of the Mellon family fortune; both Gulf and Mellon Financial had their headquarters in Pittsburgh.
Gulf's former headquarters, originally referred to as "the Gulf Building" (now the Gulf Tower office condos), is an Art Deco skyscraper. The tallest building in Pittsburgh until 1970, when it was eclipsed by the U.S. Steel Tower, it is capped by a step pyramid structure several stories high. Until the late 1970s, the entire top was illuminated, changing color with changes in barometric pressure to provide a weather indicator that could be seen for many miles.
Gulf Oil Corporation (GOC) ceased to exist as an independent company in 1985, when it merged with Standard Oil of California (SOCAL), with both re-branding as Chevron in the United States.
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Sinclair Oil Corporation is an American petroleum corporation, founded by Harry F. Sinclair on May 1, 1916, as the Sinclair Oil and Refining Corporation by combining the assets of 11 small petroleum companies. Originally a New York corporation, Sinclair Oil reincorporated in Wyoming in 1976. The corporation's logo features the silhouette of a large green dinosaur. It is ranked on the list of US largest privately owned corporations. It owns and operates refineries, gas stations, hotels, a ski resort and a cattle ranch.
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Tidewater Oil Company (rendered as Tide Water Oil Company from 1887 to 1936) was a major petroleum refining and marketing concern in the United States for more than 80 years. Tidewater was best known for its Flying A–branded products and gas stations, and for Veedol motor oil, which was known throughout the world.
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Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company") is an American oil subsidiary of Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owns the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an independent company until its refining operations merged into Chevron Corporation in 2001, at which time most of its station franchises were divested to the Shell Oil Company. It began as the Texas Fuel Company, founded in 1901 in Beaumont, Texas, by Joseph S. Cullinan, Thomas J. Donoghue, Walter Benona Sharp, and Arnold Schlaet upon the discovery of oil at Spindletop.
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The Union Pacific Railroad (reporting mark UP) (or Union Pacific Railroad Company and simply Union Pacific) is a freight hauling railroad that operates 8,500 locomotives over 32,100 route-miles in 23 states west of Chicago and New Orleans. The Union Pacific Railroad system is the second largest in the United States after BNSF Railway and it is one of the world's largest transportation companies. The Union Pacific Railroad is the principal operating company of the Union Pacific Corporation; both are headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska.
The Union Pacific legacy began in 1862 with the original company, called the Union Pacific Rail Road, which was part of the First Transcontinental Railroad project, later known as the Overland Route. Two more Union Pacific railroads were formed after that, the Union Pacific Railway (the second company) which absorbed the original company in 1880 and the Union Pacific "Railroad" (the third company) which absorbed the Union Pacific Railway in 1897-1898.
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