NYC Any New York Central fans left???

fitz Jan 19, 2006

  1. NYC-BKO

    NYC-BKO E-Mail Bounces

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    I'm around just don't visit to often.

    I got to run the last S3 in GCT when I worked there in the eighties, plus numerous ex NYC diesels on Conrail.
     
  2. Stourbridge Lion

    Stourbridge Lion TrainBoard Supporter

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    Would love to see topics get started by all the NYC fans. There are several people that come to the Fallen Flags topics just to read and see images. Don't worry about not getting reply's as it is the sharing that is most important in these kind of forums.

    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
  3. Hytec

    Hytec TrainBoard Member

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    I'm here most days, but merely "lurk" since I have nothing to offer.

    Rule #1 - " 'Tis better to sit quietly and be thought a Fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt!" :D
     
  4. Hytec

    Hytec TrainBoard Member

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    Brian, I didn't realize that the S3's were still working Mott Haven and GCT in the 80's. Wouldn't that make "your" S3 60-70 years old when you ran it?
     
  5. fitz

    fitz TrainBoard Member

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    Brian, please share your recollections of that event. In the interest of raising interest, here again is one of my favorite J-3 shots by Harold K. Vollrath.
    [​IMG]
     
  6. Hytec

    Hytec TrainBoard Member

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    Jim, that's a great photo. Do you have any idea when and where it was taken? What is notable is that I see a mix of Pacemaker and fluted Steel Fleet cars. Yet they are headed by a J-3, not an S-2 which causes me to think this is either a pre-1946 photo, or in the late 40's or very early 50's on a minor branch line where S-2s weren't assigned. But then 5407 is just TOO clean and shiny to be assigned to mere branch duty....... :confused:
     
  7. fitz

    fitz TrainBoard Member

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    I'm sorry, Hank, I meant to include that info with the photo. You know how this aging process goes. Mr. Vollrath always personally annotates his photos, and this one says "20th Century Limited, Englewood, IL, June 1948." [​IMG]
    Of course you are right, the engine is all cleaned up, so it was one of the premier, well THE premier NYCS train. Englewood is just outside of Chicago. I can recall in my youth seeing such mixes of cars running through the Mohawk Division. But 1948, hmm, it was the year they put all the new cars on the train and I would expect it to be all matched. :confused:
    OK, my curiosity got to me, and I consulted Zimmerman's "20th Century Ltd" book. The 1948 version officially debuted in September. Apparently some of the cars were already in service in June. Still doesn't explain the fluted cars.
     
  8. Hytec

    Hytec TrainBoard Member

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    Possibly not all the new cars had been delivered in June, but some of the old fluted cars were out for maintenance....ya dooze what ya needs to dooze. :D

    BTW, I was on the Englewood platform one rainy day in September 1946, changing from the Commodore Vanderbilt(?) to the RI/SP Golden State Limited. The Commodore was running late so we couldn't make the transfer at La Salle Street Station. However, the real excitement was that a Pennsy T-1 came through at about 5 mph on the other side of our platform. Now THAT was something for this 11 year old!!!!! :eek: :cool: :cool: :cool:
     
  9. rhensley_anderson

    rhensley_anderson TrainBoard Supporter

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    I guess that we've talked about everything NYC that there is to talk about.

    Oh, mebbee not. How about this...

    NYC 6894 (0-6-0 class B-10W) arrived in Connersville, IN as a donation to the
    Whitewater Valley Railroad. It was unloaded from the flatcar on 2/27/06. Tain't a Mohawk or Niagara, but it IS NYC.

    [​IMG]
     
  10. Hytec

    Hytec TrainBoard Member

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    Roger, that's great to see. The partially shown diesel appears to have NYC paint, or am I fantasizing again....? [​IMG]
     
  11. fitz

    fitz TrainBoard Member

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    One of the few survivors. Do you know if it will be restored to operating condition? :confused:
     
  12. rhensley_anderson

    rhensley_anderson TrainBoard Supporter

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    Oh, you mean this Alco S-1 painted as NYC 9339? No it wasn't NYC, but it is filling in for it.

    [​IMG]

    As for restoration of the 0-6-0, I believe that is the idea. They did move Dearborn Tower to the museum and restored that.

    [​IMG]

    Here is the link to the Whitewater Valley RR web site: http://www.whitewatervalleyrr.org/
     
  13. 484

    484 TrainBoard Member

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    I'm a huge fan. I'm a model railroader who is slowly but surely collecting books and models with which to design and oneday build a "Prototypically correct" although not necessarily completely accurate pike representing a slice of the NYC during the mid 30's through early 50's. My goal will be to capture the flavor of a particular region both aesthetically as well as operationally all the while working within the limitations of the hobby. I have a fairly large collection of the more readily available books relating to the NYC. I also have a medium sized brass collection of NYC steam and diesel.

    It's a wonderfully enigmatic railroad that at it's height represented how amazing our country can be!

    Martin
     
  14. fitz

    fitz TrainBoard Member

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    Martin, this is great! I have moderated the NYC forum for a long time and there has been very little traffic on it recently. I'm afraid that I am not a modeller, but was gifted to witness the passing of the "torch" (pun intended) from steam to diesel on the Mohawk Valley Division. Lived in Little Falls, NY, not far from Schenectady, where ALCO built all those great Hudsons, Mohawks and Niagaras. Then they built the RS series which rivalled steam for their smoke output. Roger Hensley, who posted above, has a great site on NYCS history. I'm sure there is a link to it in his address. We have a couple of other regulars, but actually you may be better off getting into the modeller forums in the scale that you model. I'm sorry I can't help with the track diagrams, but have rule books, thanks to LEW, and timetables from different eras. Hey, the New York Central was a great railroad. :cool:
     
  15. Bob Morris

    Bob Morris TrainBoard Supporter

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    I'm modeling the NYC from Gang Mills, N.Y. to Wellsboro, PA, and then down through the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania to Williamsport, PA where it had an interchange with the Reading. The trackage from Gang Mills to Williamsport (Newberry Jct.) was shared with the E-L. There was a spur from the Wellsboro Jct. to Wellsboro what was owned by the NYC and serviced the Corning Glass Plant there. The trackage through the canyon was taken up in the 80's. The spur to Wellsboro is still in usage and runs round trip to Gang Mills and back. It's partiially shared by the Tioga Central RR. tourist line, but no ex-NYC equipment is in use.

    Bob
     
  16. fitz

    fitz TrainBoard Member

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    Bob, welcome to the NYC forum. Do you have any maps or track plans for that segment of NYC that you are modelling? It is interesting to me after all these years that there was so much NYC track in Pennsylvania. :cool:
     
  17. Bob Morris

    Bob Morris TrainBoard Supporter

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    There is a nice little book(let) entitled "Wellsboro's Own Railroad" by
    Richard L. Stoving, (The Railroad Press,P.O.Box 444, Hanover, PA 17331) that documents the history of the railroad and the shared trackage with the Erie-Lackawanna. It's well done with some very nice NYC photos.

    Bob
     
  18. fitz

    fitz TrainBoard Member

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    Bob, If Rich Stoving wrote it, it has to be good. Here is a shot from one of his latest publications, taken by the late, great Edward L. May. I really like this one, from Rich's "New York Central Power Along the Hudson, Vol. 1, Harmon".
    [​IMG]
     
  19. Bob Morris

    Bob Morris TrainBoard Supporter

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    I got to meet Richard a number of years ago when he was overseeing the Tioga Central Railroad (the tourist railroad that uses the old NYC trackage in Wellsboro, PA). He's a nice guy with an amazing amount of knowledge.

    Nice pic!

    Bob
     

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