The Northumberland roundhouse was where the Pennsy steam collection was stored before it was donated to the state museum.
Historic Aerials shows roundhouse and turntable there in 1983 and gone in 1993. Also in the early sixties, Pennsy seemed to prefer running their Baldwins through Reading. We rarely saw any other power.
Rick
rixflix aka Captain Video. Blessed be Jean Shepherd and all His works!!! Hooray for 1939, the all time movie year!!! I took that ride on the Reading but my Baby caught the Katy and left me a mule to ride.
It's my understanding that the Pennsy's Lima fleet of center-cabs was still on the roster in 1963, primarily based in Ohio out of places like Columbus and Mingo Junction and used on jobs such as pushers for heavy coal trains.
Their sister Baldwin units were also still active and assigned to Pennsylvania locations like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
As a kid, I remember seeing them come through Wheeling, WV on their way to Benwood on the "Mingo Run." They crossed a bridge into WV from Martins Ferry, OH. The tracks and bridge are gone now. Once in a while, they came down the WV side from Weirton, but mostly over the bridge.
rixflix From the photo's caption: "in the circle". Possibly a backfilled turntable pit? Rick
From the photo's caption: "in the circle". Possibly a backfilled turntable pit?
From the caption on the photo, it appears that the picture was taken by the well-known William Volkmer, a Pennsy mechanical employee. I know that he was assigned to Northumberland for awhile, so maybe the photo was taken there.
I believe the fleet of both models all went at the usual 15 year mark, departing the roster in the mid 1960's.
Only 10 Lima's were known to be off railroad rosters when 1963 rolled around (The New Haven's small fleet, scrapped with the engines and some other components repurposed for marine customers). Some of the survivors would've been stored no doubt, but the vast bulk of the fleet made it to at least the 15 year mark that was commonly viewed as retirement age for 1st gen diesels.
Not all were still rolling for their original owner though by 1963. Perhaps the most well known example was a TP&W Lima (A former demonstrator, iirc). She was sold in the late 1950's to a Chicago based company when the small Lima fleet was retired and sold for further use. During her second life, she worked a rotary dumper in Hammond Indiana, was painted in a special paint scheme designed by Howard Fogg, and carried a fictional railroad name on her flanks.
Leo_Amesalthough some funny things have escaped paint booths in the past unnoticed
There was a Pacific Great Eastern boxcar that roamed North America in the late Sixties with the reporting marks "PEG", I'll have to find a photo some day.
SD70DudeHadn't PRR retired all those by the time of the Penn Central merger?
Remember, this is a photo from 1963, so the PENNSY (must be capped) may still have had the centercabs operational
I'm more interested in the Lima centre-cab transfer diesel that's hiding in the background. Hadn't PRR retired all those by the time of the Penn Central merger?
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
The merger process was well underway at the time, although it would be several years before the final government approval happened. So my guess is that this was a prank by an employee that was aware of the merger proceedings (It seems rather unlikely to be a mistake, although some funny things have escaped paint booths in the past unnoticed).
Judging by how unknown it is, it evidently didn't last very long before being corrected.
BEAUSABREA prank?
Barring "inside" information, that would be my guess.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
https://imgur.com/rbY7WNL
Can anybody explain this? A prank?
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