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- Subject: Re: PC: Re: Penn Central Digest V1 #85
- From: NES3524@xxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2001 19:56:27 EDT
The PCRR Police Department adopted a somewhat small patch in 1971, designed
by an Inspector Robert Steele, an ex-NYC RR man then in command at Penn
Station in New York, if memory serves; it had a small star representing each
state (and province, I believe) served by the PC. The only wording was
"POLICE" and it had green PC worms inside a white circle. The rest of the
patch was gold embroidery on a dark blue background. Incidentally, the
Conrail PD later adopted the same design, merely substituting the Conrail
logo for the PC worms.
As far as I know, prior to 1971 the PC PD did not have a patch.
The only other authentic PC PD patch I am aware of is one that is virtually
impossible to find - it is a round yellow "Helicopter Surveillance" patch,
briefly used by a joint track patrol helicopter shared by the PC PD and the
Long Island Railroad PD in the New York City metropolitan area. It bears the
old NY MTA "M" logo, but bears no mention of the name of either railroad. I
only saw it once, in the early 1970s at the LIRR PD HQ; only an extremely
small number were made.
There is, however, another PCRR PD patch floating around eBay these days. It
is a larger, gold on black patch, with PENN CENTRAL POLICE fully spelled out.
The PC worms are white on red on a black circle inside a 16-pointed star or
sunburst design. I did pick one up as a curiosity item. What it really is
is open to question. The one I received has a rather modern, iron-on
background, rather than the cheesecloth or mesh backing found on patches from
the 1970s. My guesses are that: (1) it is a reproduction of a prototype
that was never adopted, (2) is a reproduction of something used in a limited
geographical area, perhaps used unofficially, in order to look more like the
local police, or, (3) it is a complete fantasy item.
Ned Schwartz
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