Would someone be kind enough to explain to me why the New York Central used a bird for their logo? I asked one member in my club that worked for the Central, but he had no idea what I was talking about. http://www.nscalesupply.com/pon/PreownedDetail.aspx?id=18407 Thank you, Brian
NY Central Early Bird The NY Central used several different Early Bird Emblems on its boxcars and reefers to denote rapid delivery of time-sensitive freight and produce.
The bird herald was not a standard NYC logo - in fact its use was very limited. It advertised their "Early Bird" fast freight service. There were two forms. Yellow "Early Bird" herald was applied only to lot 862-B 50' box cars in 1957. (This herald was also applied as a test on lot 737-B 40' box car #174853) White "Early Bird" herald was applied only to lot 936 NYRX 40' insulated box cars.
enwhycnentral and Mike, thanks for answering the question. I am sporadically on and off line lately and unable to moderate the forum as well as I should. Brian, welcome aboard the NYC forum. Please keep asking about the NYC history. We want to have a lot of discussion here. :tb-biggrin:
I was in the Air Force by the time the Central rolled out its Early Bird marketing program, so I wasn't aware of it. However, it sounds similar to the Central's marketing effort that produced the Pacemaker box car fleet of a decade earlier. Many Class 1s have added advertising slogans to their box cars, but these programs never changed their basic logos. Accurail model shown.
