Best clear,color images of the PRR I’ve ever seen. Will be helpful for the modeler of this era. The knowledgeable comments were enjoyable too. Thanks for posting and look forward to more!
Mr. Peterson's photos are nothing short of incredible. Aside from the obvious fact that he did a remarkable job of capturing both the PRR's wonderful variety of motive power and also views of it's impressive physical plant in it's last years of existence, Mr. Peterson's photos are also incredibly well composed. The color is outstanding and most of the photos look as if they were taken yesterday. Hands down- The best "zoom meeting" I have ever seen, and in my opinion one of the best video uploads of all time. Thank you VERY MUCH for sharing. It was very generous of you to share these views of our transportation and industrial heritage, which as many enthusiast realize, traditionally is not made readily available for the general public to view and appreciate. THANK YOU!
EXCELLENT EXCELLENT Pennsylvania Railroad photos, especially the ones of the Aerotrain and the RS-3’s at the station stop in the snow, a great photo to frame and hang on a wall. Thank you.
Thank you all I really enjoyed it. I spent many years at my aunts house ( first house down the hill from the old iron bridge at the north or west end of Enola Yard ) . That would be 1943 to 1953. Both my Grandfathers worked for the PRR. I still visit there often.
Excellent Photographs and found the running commentary informative...wish there was more. Thanks for posting this. An aside. @3:50 I believe the MN&S #21 BLW RT-624 is at the Illinois Railway Museum.
Rodney was such a great guy and great photographer as well. I traded slides with him for many years and even met him in person trackside once at Winslow, AZ in 1994 entirely by accident. Great show.
My comment comes several years later, this compilation is very much appreciated. At Arlington a pennsy signal mast still remains in the brush but you have to know where to look, and the area is very streamlined and the speed is upgraded to 25 mph to allow for a better climb going west and the erie roadbed still exist but my question was why 9 miles of an extra main ( pennsy/conrail was never reinstalled to alleviate a bottleneck between barberton and warrick …ohhh, 1 other comment was the loyal fans that gathered on the sterling wye to wave, I always looked for them to wave as I announced Kaufman avenue…good day…
The two RF16s with the 1500hp B unit in Cresson are Eastbound. You can see some of the buildings on Front Street in Cresson behind the train. No question we are looking South. Eastbound mainline trains got "Snappers"(PRR lingo for "helpers") at Conemaugh (Eastern end of Johnstown) for the push up to Cresson. While it is true that the West Slope of the Mountain (referring to the crossing of the Alleghenies between Altoona and Johnstown) had a shallower gradient, this simply meant that the PRR would dispatch longer, heavier trains, if they could, heading East...So helpers were used on every train on both slopes. In fact, the Conemaugh engine facility/snapper station was the busiest in the world at the height of the PRR. Snappers from Conemaugh would stay with their trains through Cresson and uncouple while the train paused at the top of "The Slide" at AR tower in Gallitzin. The PRR did not uncouple Snappers on the fly. Then the Snappers would back around the Loop track between AR and UN and head back to the helper station they started from. There were parallel tracks on the loop which were referred to as "Conemaugh" and "Altoona" because the returning snappers would use the same track every time depending on their operations base. Of course, turning locomotives at the loop was a practice dating back to steam locomotive days. Obviously this was not needed as much when the transition was complete from steam to diesel however the usefulness of the loop track has never completely disappeared. Even with UN and AR towers long gone, the loop is still in use.
The landmark asked about at time point 42:55 is East Liberty Presbyterian Church. Sadly the station in East Liberty was torn down 60 years ago. The lot is now a parking lot for Trader Joe's, and occasionally I will watch trains on that spot. Half of the right of way is now the east busway. The photos are remarkable. I also like Pittsburgh is being covered. So many people who talk about the PRR tend to skip Pittsburgh.
They keep calling SD35's SD40's. The third engine back on the slab train is a U25C, not a U30C. I believe the PRR did not own any GP40's. Other than that, fantastic video, clear, crisp photos, job well done.
The PRR did not have cabooses. They were called "cabins" or cabin cars. Most railroads pushed with caboose behind the helper but Pennsy cabins had steel frames and concrete to allow the helper push behind.
`0/10/2021 I'm sorry , but what you called bridge one, at 1:13:53, in Cleveland, is not correct. Bridge one was the NKP main line and became the N&W main line between Buffalo and Toledo, now used by Norfolk Southern and Amtrak, and is a bit longer. Just to the south is the bridge you see. You are correct that the bridge goes to Whiskey Island. Freight traffic came down the river valley from the south, Akron. That track was B&O and C&O. The PRR main line into Cleveland ended at About East 55th street where the PRR rail road station was located. There any cars into down town were picked up by the CUT electrics. Freight traffic was transferred to the NYC or some local railroad, such as the Cuyahoga River Valley. East 55th street was very close too the NYC Collinwood yard where the PRR probably had a servicing facility. The bridge In that photo over the Cuyahoga still existed in 2018, I think but, was no longer used and permanently in a raised condition. I grew up just south of there where the NYC freight by pass route, known as the Belt Line, and formerly the Big Four main freight connection to the Collinwood yard, skirted the city's southern border, So, the bridge is actually bridge 2 or 3. I'm sure that PRR equipment occasionally ran over the B&O track, from Akron, if just to save switching time etc. As your map shows, the PRR went into Ashtabula, Cleveland, at East 55th street, and Sandusky, and never transversed the city of Cleveland, dominated by the NYC and the N&W, All other rail traffic entered Cleveland from the south, only. Also it is not the Lake Erie and Pittsburg , but the other way around (P&LE) controlled by the NYC. '-)
Best clear,color images of the PRR I’ve ever seen. Will be helpful for the modeler of this era. The knowledgeable comments were enjoyable too. Thanks for posting and look forward to more!
Mr. Peterson's photos are nothing short of incredible. Aside from the obvious fact that he did a remarkable job of capturing both the PRR's wonderful variety of motive power and also views of it's impressive physical plant in it's last years of existence, Mr. Peterson's photos are also incredibly well composed. The color is outstanding and most of the photos look as if they were taken yesterday. Hands down- The best "zoom meeting" I have ever seen, and in my opinion one of the best video uploads of all time. Thank you VERY MUCH for sharing. It was very generous of you to share these views of our transportation and industrial heritage, which as many enthusiast realize, traditionally is not made readily available for the general public to view and appreciate. THANK YOU!
EXCELLENT EXCELLENT Pennsylvania Railroad photos, especially the ones of the Aerotrain and the RS-3’s at the station stop in the snow, a great photo to frame and hang on a wall. Thank you.
Excellent slides, crisp and well composed. Great show!
Thank you all I really enjoyed it. I spent many years at my aunts house ( first house down the hill from the old iron bridge at the north or west end of Enola Yard ) . That would be 1943 to 1953. Both my Grandfathers worked for the PRR. I still visit there often.
Amazing photos, thanks for putting this up!
Excellent Photographs and found the running commentary informative...wish there was more. Thanks for posting this. An aside. @3:50 I believe the MN&S #21 BLW RT-624 is at the Illinois Railway Museum.
Rodney was such a great guy and great photographer as well. I traded slides with him for many years and even met him in person trackside once at Winslow, AZ in 1994 entirely by accident. Great show.
This was excellent and well worth every moment. I always enjoy seeing pictures of PRR passenger trains - they had so much variety! Thank you.
My comment comes several years later, this compilation is very much appreciated. At Arlington a pennsy signal mast still remains in the brush but you have to know where to look, and the area is very streamlined and the speed is upgraded to 25 mph to allow for a better climb going west and the erie roadbed still exist but my question was why 9 miles of an extra main ( pennsy/conrail was never reinstalled to alleviate a bottleneck between barberton and warrick …ohhh, 1 other comment was the loyal fans that gathered on the sterling wye to wave, I always looked for them to wave as I announced Kaufman avenue…good day…
Excellent photos and thanks for sharing.
Great photography! of a great railroad The "PENNSY" !
My Grandma worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad. She would always get me the coolest PRR Stuff.
The two RF16s with the 1500hp B unit in Cresson are Eastbound. You can see some of the buildings on Front Street in Cresson behind the train. No question we are looking South. Eastbound mainline trains got "Snappers"(PRR lingo for "helpers") at Conemaugh (Eastern end of Johnstown) for the push up to Cresson. While it is true that the West Slope of the Mountain (referring to the crossing of the Alleghenies between Altoona and Johnstown) had a shallower gradient, this simply meant that the PRR would dispatch longer, heavier trains, if they could, heading East...So helpers were used on every train on both slopes. In fact, the Conemaugh engine facility/snapper station was the busiest in the world at the height of the PRR. Snappers from Conemaugh would stay with their trains through Cresson and uncouple while the train paused at the top of "The Slide" at AR tower in Gallitzin. The PRR did not uncouple Snappers on the fly. Then the Snappers would back around the Loop track between AR and UN and head back to the helper station they started from. There were parallel tracks on the loop which were referred to as "Conemaugh" and "Altoona" because the returning snappers would use the same track every time depending on their operations base. Of course, turning locomotives at the loop was a practice dating back to steam locomotive days. Obviously this was not needed as much when the transition was complete from steam to diesel however the usefulness of the loop track has never completely disappeared. Even with UN and AR towers long gone, the loop is still in use.
Excellent information, things I did not know.
great collection of pictures particularly the e44s electrics john meredith england
The landmark asked about at time point 42:55 is East Liberty Presbyterian Church.
Sadly the station in East Liberty was torn down 60 years ago. The lot is now a parking lot for Trader Joe's, and occasionally I will watch trains on that spot. Half of the right of way is now the east busway.
The photos are remarkable. I also like Pittsburgh is being covered. So many people who talk about the PRR tend to skip Pittsburgh.
Excellent video thank you gentlemen
They keep calling SD35's SD40's. The third engine back on the slab train is a U25C, not a U30C. I believe the PRR did not own any GP40's. Other than that, fantastic video, clear, crisp photos, job well done.
The PRR did not have cabooses. They were called "cabins" or cabin cars. Most railroads pushed with caboose behind the helper but Pennsy cabins had steel frames and concrete to allow the helper push behind.
Plus, the Pennsylvania Railroad tractor on Delaware Avenue in Philadelphia, that one is a little rare.
Que lindas fotos de esas hermosas máquinas, que pena que no haya vídeos de las mismas, gracias
I enjoyed the presentation and learned a lot. Maybe in the future you can do another and include the Panhandle division.
I found one of the original 1940s Pennsylvania Railroad spike the last steam locomotive on the Pennsylvania Railroad was the 6-8-6 no 6200
Can you please turn up the volume on the commentator? Sounds like he's talking into a corner.
`0/10/2021
I'm sorry , but what you called bridge one, at 1:13:53, in Cleveland, is not correct. Bridge one was the NKP main line and became the N&W main line between Buffalo and Toledo, now used by Norfolk Southern and Amtrak, and is a bit longer. Just to the south is the bridge you see. You are correct that the bridge goes to Whiskey Island.
Freight traffic came down the river valley from the south, Akron. That track was B&O and C&O. The PRR main line into Cleveland ended at About East 55th street where the PRR rail road station was located.
There any cars into down town were picked up by the CUT electrics. Freight traffic was transferred to the NYC or some local railroad, such as the Cuyahoga River Valley. East 55th street was very close too the NYC Collinwood yard where the PRR probably had a servicing facility.
The bridge In that photo over the Cuyahoga still existed in 2018, I think but, was no longer used and permanently in a raised condition.
I grew up just south of there where the NYC freight by pass route, known as the Belt Line, and formerly the Big Four main freight connection to the Collinwood yard, skirted the city's southern border,
So, the bridge is actually bridge 2 or 3. I'm sure that PRR equipment occasionally ran over the B&O track, from Akron, if just to save switching time etc.
As your map shows, the PRR went into Ashtabula, Cleveland, at East 55th street, and Sandusky, and never transversed the city of Cleveland, dominated by the NYC and the N&W, All other rail traffic entered Cleveland from the south, only.
Also it is not the Lake Erie and Pittsburg , but the other way around (P&LE) controlled by the NYC. '-)
love it
It'd be a great video if you could hear this guy talking better. You can barely hear this person it just ruins this video with all this low volume.