Re: PC: Why model PC?

[Jim Hudson <wjhudson@xxxxxxxxx>]

I am a devoted Pennsy modeler.  I specifically model the steam-diesel
transition era years before I was born.  (Perhaps being a grad student
in history has something to do with my fascination for the past).  BUT,
among my models I do have a Penn Central train I can run around the
layout when I want: an aging F7, pulling three puke-green boxcars, a PRR
flatcar, and a former Pennsy cabin car.

Why this PC relic of another age?  Well, I grew up about a mile from a
neglected corner of the Penn Central system.  (The former Pennsy route
down the Delmarva Peninsula).  The track was in horrible condition,
traffic was sagging, and the trains were limping along with old
equipment.  My dad being the railfan he was took me trackside shortly
after I was born in May of 1972 and snapped a few photos.  That pitiful
little train I model?  It was the train in those pictures from my first
railfanning trip.  

Well, when I was a mere lad of four, the PC disappeared into Conrail. 
Probably that was for the better, but in my heart the PC will always
remind me of railfanning trips in my youth, remind me of home, and most
of all, remind me of my father.
-- 
-Jim Hudson
wjhudson -AT- erols.com
http://www.erols.com/wjhudson/