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well i am glad to see that that there is finally some discussion of the
penn central on this site instead of the interminable "where can i get a
paint job for my toy locomotive" or "where can i get decals for my toy
car",any way when the book came out i was a fireman on the panhandle
division of the pennsy side(i was told i was the last man hired by the
pennsylvania rr, probably not true though) and though many years have come and
gone,along with many other railroads i will try and see help some of our fellow
members in any way i can: to the member who asked why the the railroad did not
locate selkirk in a more sensible location: well all you members past 45 try to
remember the atmosphere of those times,there was a giant war going full blast
from which the railroad derived considerable revenues, it was an extremely
unpopular war ,the govt had literaly taken to shooting its own citizens in the
street to maintain order, there were no right wing republicans there was just
Nixon who really had no ideology beyond getting re-elected and a defense
department which lined the coffers of the pc.... nothing could be allowed to
rock the boat. The pc had a militant workforce rigidly 1000% union which had to
be preserved. If a massive strike was wanted changing any conditions of
employment was just what it would have taken. So if that yard had been built
anywhere else the work the workforce would still have reported to selkirk or
been paid off and remember we had all by agreement and contract been promised a
job for life (which was a wonderful thing to have at the age of 19) and if you
doubt this we had men right here in columbus who were reporting to mckinley ave
yard after every building had been torn down and the land sold to the local bus
company,they would then be ferried by taxi cab to the new yard at buckeye but of
course their time on duty had begun at the mckinley engine house (even though
the damn thing wasn't there anymore) in those days we made them live up to the
contract! Because I was in a different seniorty district I had to drive to
buckeye yard but i got paid driving time from yard b down by the union station
becuase that was where I had hired out. so moving a giant yard which had been
planned since before the merger would have cost millions in wages to yard men
who could have simply chosen to retire even if they were 25 years old. Anyway I
hope i've shed a little light on the question and thanks for listening
BOOMER
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