PC: PC china?

[Peter King <fshobby@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I've seen a lot of items on eBay claiming to be Penn Central china. All of
them turned out to be commemorative plates from the Lake Shore Chapter of
Penn Central Veterans. Earlier this year I checked with a railroad china
collector at a show, and I was told that the only PC china was from
Metroliner service. I presume other dining car service either used
NYC/PRR/NH china, or paperware.

Well, yesterday I spotted this item on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=423096291

I don't believe it's Penn Central Railroad china for a number of reasons:

- I've never seen any evidence of any other PC china, except for the
Metroliner stuff.

- Even if PC used china in its dining cars, a plate cover seems extravagant,
especially a china one.

- The logo is inconsistent with PC's style. PC seemed to want to give the
image of being a modern railroad, the ornate letters don't fit in with that
style.

- Looks like a 'T' behind the 'P' and 'C'. Although it was 'Penn Central
Transportation Company' for a while, I don't believe they used that name
publically much, at least not in connection with the railroad.

So, the question remains, what is it? Pennsylvania Central Airlines? I've
searched the web, but haven't found anything remotely like this.

I don't think the seller is trying to mislead anyone. He's a general china
dealer, not a railroad specialist. I think it's just a case of a bad
assumption, or incorrect information passed on by someone else.

Peter King in NY