PC:Midwest Roadtrip

[ebulman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

I went on a serious railroad photo oriented road trip during the past two
weeks (hey, the wife and mother-in-law were on a trip to Ireland, so when
else would I have a chance to do so without getting a lecture over my
obsessions...). I managed to see some PC items in my travels.

There is a yellow PC work boxcar in Altoona that is in decent shape. There
are many PC painted and lettered gondolas in the lines at the Hollidaysburg
car shops. There was a PC green 40' flat car with freight car wheel sets
behind the fence at the Altoona shops in exceptionally good condition. Some
CR painted ex-PC (I assume) cabooses were in the dead line opposite Rose
(Altoona). There are still ex-PC locos still running out there. More
particulars will be posted once the 38 rolls of film are developed.

I managed to get to the NYC museum in Elkhart, IN. I was surprised to see
the PC caboose and E unit gone. The museum is worth the visit, and a lot of
activity can be seen from the Amtrak station across the tracks. I managed
to pick up some PC Posts and a PC sign while I was there. The staff was
very helpful. I saw ex-PC CR SW1500 9515 on a very fast transfer run while
I was there (with a bay window caboose trailing).

For anyone heading out that way, I would recommend Berea, OH (at the
parking lot on Depot Street), Elkhart, IN (Amtrak station platform), and
Dolton IL (at the junction) for good train hunting.

For strictly PC territory, I did well at Altoona toward the end of the day.
I saw ex-PC 8113 which I hadn't seen since 1977. Conway was extremely
frustrating to me as I couldn't figure out how to get good photos from
public property without being run down. TONS of activity there, as well as
a couple of 9500 series switchers that I couldn't photo.

The last picture of the trip was from a parking lot next to the
Hollidaysburg car shop yard. I got a picture of CR 9523. The number seemed
vaguely familiar to me. The day after I got home, I remembered the number
and looked in my index card file (lame, but effective). I got a shot of
this engine as PC 9523 in Franklin MA in February 1975. An interesting way
to conclude my journey. 2,888 miles on the wife's car in eight days, and
I'm still alive, not bad!


Sorry to bore you all with trivia. PC items still exist out there! Shoot
em' while you still can!

Ed