Re: PC: Re: FA Thread & PC Prototype

[Blue Moon Network Administrator <root@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Sat, 18 Dec 1999, Walt Gay wrote:

> If I mention that I like PC, most people give you that "Are you nuts?" look
> and roll their eyes. PC still is looked upon as a black mark on railroading,
> and except for us PC fans, I doubt you will see much PC preservation.

>From the time I was 6 almost until I turned 15 PC was all that was left of the
locally dominant NYC and bit player PRR.

When I walked up to the tracks near my house it was a black and white show. I
vaguely remember cigar bands going by school on the Buffalo beltline in first
grade, but I have many far clearer memories of mating worms on the same line
and on the ex-PRR line to Harrisburg which runs near my family's country house.

As a teenager I poked around the EL some, but at that time it wasn't as
interesting to me as the PC because there was SO MUCH PC around here. When I
remember watching trains as a child it is the PC I think about.

Shortly after Conrail took over I was distracted by the usual, girls, partying
and cars, and my railfanning and modeling went into hibernation for 10 years or
so. After I got back into it I was mostly interested in pre-1960 railroading
and I myself thought of the PC as the darkest days of trains. It wasn't until a
couple of years ago that I started to pay attention to PC again. I joined the
Model RR Club of Buffalo ( http://buffalocentral.railfan.net - shameless plug)
and we primarily model the mid-seventies in western PA, that means a good
amount of PC. I obtained a large collection of Rails Northeast magazines early
this year (June '76 to July-August '84, if anyone has others or PC Railroader
I'll buy them!) which really whetted my appetite for PC info. By far the best
PC related photo and data resource I have ever found.

I recently found a bunch of old B&W negatives I shot back when I was 15 and 16
which I had processed and printed myself. Quite a few of the negatives were
damaged and we haven't cleaned them all up yet and scaled them for the web, but
they are online at

http://www.railfan.net/cgi-bin/fanthumb.cgi?railpix/railfan/teenager

Please don't link them or put them on your own sites as they at that URL
only temporarily for my own historical and modeling reference and don't have
their descriptions/captions yet. When I have it all polished up I'll post the
final URL here. There are also some scans of a CN 6060 Bullet Nosed Betty
fantrip from '75 or '76 in that batch for any CN fans.

Posted at

http://www.railfan.net/cgi-bin/railthumb.cgi?railpix/pcride

are some lousy scans of old prints I shot May 15, 1977 when I hopped a beltline
freight from the tracks near my house east to Frontier Yard. I was 16 and
stupid and shouldn't have done it, but having the pics to look at I am now glad
I did. One of these days I'll find all the negatives and make better scans with
my film scanner. The old color prints are pretty faded and didn't scan very
well.


PC may have been the death throes of of the great NYC, PRR, NH and eastern
railroading in general, but I cut my teeth on the PC and I'll love it
forevermore!


J. Henry Priebe Jr.       Blue Moon President & Network Administrator
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