Hey all, What were the years when the red & grey Pacemaker boxcars rode the rails? Was there a special train (and motive power) that they were introduced with? Also, when did the jade green boxcars appear? Thanks in advance. Paul PRR (N) in Atlanta
Paul, welcome to the NYC forum. Pacemaker freights were running when I was a kid, in the 1950's. I have seen photos of them in service dated from 1949 to 1961. The Jade green started in the 1960s so was short-lived. Some of our other contributors can probably add a lot more detail
I am looking through my stacks of junk for Ed Nowak's famous NYC PR photo of the brand new Pacemaker Train behind a Niagara, taken somewhere between Harmon and Cold Stream. The date was around September, 1947. Sadly, the Pacemaker box cars didn't stay clean for very long. Apparently the Central lost interest very quickly. I remember seeing them occassionally on the Hudson Division in the late 40's, and VERY, VERY dirty!
Thank you Hank and Fitz. I thought that I remembered the Pacemaker boxcars from when my father would drive us to Harmon in the early 50's. (I hope that it would not be a sacrilege to run a string behind my N-guage J-3.) Thank you again for the quick replies. Paul PRR (N) in Atlanta (but not a fanatic about it)
Hank, I know the photo you are talking about, and I know I have it somewhere. Brand spankin new Mohawk and brand spankin new Pacemakers all in a row. I can't find it
Paul, the NYC Hudson was designed as a dual-service loco, but rarely used for freight. So obviously it would be appropriate for it to pull a string of Pacemakers when the power pool was low at the Harmon Engine Terminal. Wasn't the Harmon Engine Terminal beautiful when seen from the parking area on the bluff above and towards town from the Terminal? My Mother was the Train Nut in our family, and she would "drag" me there at least once a month during the war and after until 1953 when I graduated high school .... SIGH OK Fitz, I'll accept that it was probably a Mohawk but I think it would have looked even neater with an S-2 on the point [ 31 December 2001: Message edited by: Hank Coolidge ]
Hank, please, no offense intended. I know I have seen one of a Mohawk, but you also know darn well that Niagaras pulled those trains. Nowak took a lot of photos. Both the later Mohawks and ALL the Niagaras were double-duty engines. It seems a mystery to most NYC historians that there aren't more photos of Niagaras hauling the Century. That's because those lousy deezuls were hauling the Century. One Niagara could pull the whole consist and probably set a speed record between NY and Chi. By the time the Niagaras were introduced, they were displaced by the deezuls. What a shame that such power should go to waste
Hi This is perhaps one of the most asked question on the NYC chat boards. In my research for an article I did for the TTOS Bullitin in 1996 I found the follwing info. Service was started in 1946. The photo that everyone has seen was powered by a Mohawk and they were the engine of choice until the F-3's took over.Did a Niagara ever power that train? Doubtfull,same for the Hudson. The last Pacemaker car I saw was in Beaumont ,Ca in 1967, it was number 175206 and yes I did take a picture of it. There were five caboose built and painted for the train, they were all built from box car frames and were unlike any others on the road. They were plywood sheathed and were over 41 feet long. NO other caboose were painted in the Pacemaker colors. NO baywindow caboose,No wood caboose, NO tank cars, NO hopper cars were painted in Pacemaker colors,just the box cars and the five caboose. Many model companies have had a field day with the Pacemaker colors. As a side note the Souther n Pacific had a similar color scheme for awhile on box cars but the service was not connected to the NYC.
PC I have 11 Hudsons in 2 and 3 rail O gauge and run everything behind them! Hey it's a model/toy that we are playing with. If you want to run Hudsons at the head end of your Pacemaker train...do it. I have a Lionel grey Hudson (785) that I am using to pull my 3 rail Pacemaker train while I use a Mohawk on the 2 rail Pacemaker. It's a hobby...have fun with it. Don't let the nitpickers spoil it for you
Fitz, no offense taken at all I was just expressing smiling embarassment at my failing memory ... you know that the memory is the second thing to go, and darned if I can remember what was first [ 31 December 2001: Message edited by: Hank Coolidge ]
