PC: pc wreck -Reply

[Jim Homoki <JHOMOKI@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The labor angle on why Selkirk was built where is was is interesting,
and I really appreciate the rememberances of former employees, but
youthful impressions tend to distort the facts.  Nixon did win a
landslide re-election in 1972, despite (or because of) the war,
(I won't debate it here), and far from
avoiding rocking the boat, his Administration declined to
provide loans that would have kept PC afloat (no pun intended).

Congress has a long record of failing to initiate change, so could it be
possible that the Nixon Administration saw bankruptcy as the best way
to reform union work rules?  Was bankruptcy the only way to get
the unions into the 1970's?  Probably not, but It did take Congress
another decade to pass serious legislation addressing the problems
of the railroads.

Regarding Selkirk, the PRR-NYC merger would have been in direct
competition with the New Haven  to capture
traffic in the region between New York City and Boston,
so Selkirk was a logical location to construct a modern yard
to compete in this area.  Expanding an existing yard somewhere
else would function like.... an expanded yard somewhere else.

Jim

partial message:
>>> "Walter" <whasting -AT- columbus.rr.com> 04/05/99 10:32pm >>>
.......................... 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  ........................ BOOMER