Railroad evolutions...distasteful or otherwise

[AggroJones]

Some of you know of the weatherer/modeler Mellow Mike. He hates anything eastern, & that's understandable, being from the far west. He did some eastern cars some time ago, but said that was gonna be it, because he much prefers western stuff. I'm the same way kinda sorta, but if I find a really cool western prototype that can be modeled/weathered, I won't turn my nose up at it.

I live further west than mike and I don't hate the east. When it comes to modeling, its equal opportunity. In fact I own a bit of eastern stuff, including a Pennsy J1, N&W A class and Y6b. And with the modern freight cars I do, same thing....east and west. No discrimination.

[Anonymous]

Sorry. I'm still drawing a blank even with the new criteria. If it's a train, it's COOL!

As usual, I agree with brother loathar. The road really has nothing to do with it...

Tracklayer 

 i third that. 

its hard for me to hate any RR because i dig trains so much. besides, i see pretty much every concievable road name down here because of the port. so basically i stay away from it if the color scheme is ugly.. that means you KCS. :P

[Tracklayer]

Sorry. I'm still drawing a blank even with the new criteria. If it's a train, it's COOL!

As usual, I agree with brother loathar. The road really has nothing to do with it...

Tracklayer 

[eeyore9900]

I've always been partial to somewhat eastern roads. (go figure-I'm in Ohio) I never went for the western roads in my younger years at all, mainly because it seemed most road names of offered products were ATSF, UP, SP, etc. I also have never been a fan of the narrow gauge stuff. Only reason is that I'm not familiar with it 1st hand.

On the other hand, I was a dedicated CR hater in my younger years (right after it formed) & wasn't a fan of PC either-the roads than made them up, that's another story. I was a dedicated B&O/C&O Chessie person, & still am mostly. But I've softened considerably towards CR & PC-as a modeller, they do make some neat models! (I've painted/decaled/weathered 2 CR 1 bay covered hoppers, & one CR ex PC X71 boxcar.

Some of you know of the weatherer/modeler Mellow Mike. He hates anything eastern, & that's understandable, being from the far west. He did some eastern cars some time ago, but said that was gonna be it, because he much prefers western stuff. I'm the same way kinda sorta, but if I find a really cool western prototype that can be modeled/weathered, I won't turn my nose up at it.

Just my 2 cents worth. 

[shawnee]

Why was it that eastern railroads seemed more incompetent than western roads?  It seems you could always single out a struggling, pathetic eastern line...but the western lines just seemed to roll?

[superbe]

I have to agree with you on CSX. They have been poor corporate citizens in my home town. They let the old B&O historic station get in such disrepair that it was a blight to the downtown area. The Mayor who is an avid 3 rail modler and collector arranged for the City to help with the repairs. Also thier yard is never cleaned up for litter, between two downtown streets, and local citizens organize clean up days. Like you I have a "love hate relatioship" with CSX.

Bob

[NS2591]

I have come to the conclusion that you can't hate any RR. When I first started modeling I hated BNSF for taking ATSF. and I hated UP for taking CNW. While CNW was a struggling road they might have made it given another year or two, but we will never know. UP noticed that CNW was not doing well and decided to protect their main gateway into Chicago(Besides the old MP route). But I have grown used to the fact that as much as I dislike UP there is nothing I can do to change what has already happened. BNSF took ATSF. I've heard on different Videos that where done just before the merger that ATSF was struggling. Almost every book I've ever read on the ATSF that was done Post-Merger seems to Indicate that ATSF wasn't doing bad, but they wheren't doing great.

Anyways my point of this is that, You might dislike a certain company for something they've down, but in the end becuase your something you like is part of them, you may end up modeling them. I hated BNSF about 4 years ago, and now here I am modeling BNSF(Mostly ATSF though) Still no UP cars though

[WCfan]

Crash National.......poor, poor mantainance history and bad enviromental awareness.

David B

I turely to my heart, HATE, CN. There Crashing Nationaly, and wanted WC only for it's Main line. They also made the SD45 more endangered, to almost extinct.

Same with me they took Illinois Central away i HATE them for that. IC has alot of history for example CASEY JONES, the original SD40! They run through memphis now and i dont like it. I finally saw an IC unit after 2 years of seeing CN. There like UP taking all the smaller roads away!

If you want ICCR (IC) then come up here to Wausau! There was a IC GP40 switching here for a couple weeks. There also was a couple IC SD40 and 40-2s.

[Cannoli]

New York Central (or anything else remotely associated with the Yankees.)

But then again I'm a Red Sox fan so that's probably to be expected!

As a kid I loved the PRR so part of my dislike for the NYC also stemmed from there.

[R. T. POTEET]

I have indeed heard on precision advice that Pennsy fans are foamers.  Dave V. beware!

Personally, I like the Pennsy.

Now, I'm honestly looking for guidance here...what did the New York Central have to recommend itself? 

For any of you looking for something to fight about here's something to pop the bladders of all you Pennsy fans out there on this Tuesday evening in the year of our Lord two thousand and seven.

The worst thing that ever happened to the New York Central Railroad was the Pennsylvania Railroad.  New York Central brought most of the competent executive talent into the Penn Central merger; unfortuately the Pennsylvania Railroad brought in most of the (monetary) muscle and they came to dominate the corporate management with an iron fist almost from the mergers inception. The ICC's insistance on the inclusion of the deadhead New Haven into the corporate structure was the handwriting on the wall.  As more and more former-New York Central managers were forced into seeking greener pastures Penn Central began that inexorable slide into bankruptcy which they managed to reach on their 871st day of operation.

Now, I am neither a Pennsyphile nor a Pennsyphobe; I am just a History major who likes to do a lot of reading. There is an axiom in History which says that 'The winners write the History books'.  In the case of some sort of corporate failure such as the Penn Central debacle these 'winners' are usually those who are somewhere else when Samson brings the temple crashing to earth.  This is certainly true in this case; ex-New York Central executives have made some good cause for what Penn Central needed to do to attain solvency charging that the ex-Pennsy managers chose to arbitrarily ignore their suggestions and, in so doing, virtually forced them out of the corporation.  Pennsyphiles do have some ammunition for charges of 'sour grapes' except that there have been a numerous independent studies which incline towards substantiation of the ex-New York Central managers' charges.

Whatever the case, it was a real black-eye administered to what should be one of the most respected of American corporate institutions.  A pox on both their houses!!!

[SD60M]

Crash National.......poor, poor mantainance history and bad enviromental awareness.

David B

I turely to my heart, HATE, CN. There Crashing Nationaly, and wanted WC only for it's Main line. They also made the SD45 more endangered, to almost extinct.

Same with me they took Illinois Central away i HATE them for that. IC has alot of history for example CASEY JONES, the original SD40! They run through memphis now and i dont like it. I finally saw an IC unit after 2 years of seeing CN. There like UP taking all the smaller roads away!

[WCfan]

I dislike - not hate - all railroads that got rid of steam!!  That leaves my UP in my good graces!!!!

What about railroads that never had steam? Like WC.

If they never had steam, are they really a railroad?

HA HA HA.(Sarcasum laugh) Here's what I came up with.  

rail·road [ráyl r?d]
n (plural rail·roads)
1.  track made of rails: a track consisting of steel rails usually fastened to wood or concrete ties, designed to carry a locomotive and its cars or anything similar. Also called road
U.K. term railway n.1
2.  rail system: a network of railroad lines, together with the trains, buildings, equipment, and staff needed to operate a rail transport system, or the organization or company that owns or runs this. U.K. term railway n.2

Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

[lvanhen]

I dislike - not hate - all railroads that got rid of steam!!  That leaves my UP in my good graces!!!!

What about railroads that never had steam? Like WC.

If they never had steam, are they really a railroad?

[espeefoamer]

The first one will be obvious from my username. UNION PACIFIC! Since I am also a Pennsy fan, I hate New York Central,too.I can't hate Penn Central,because they ran GG1s,my favorite electric loco.

[Anonymous]

Railroads is railroads

Trains is trains

I love em all

Just the same!

Teditor 

I'll have to agree with that, although I don't care for the new "Pan Am Railways" name, logo, and paint scheme. I liked the old Guilford one, but don't like a RR being named after an airline.

[shawnee]

Ok Selector, I'm down now (in a good way) with the New York Central.  It had some cool posters, after all (one of which hangs in my living room).

Now Amtrak is a railroad that's really hard to love.

[Paul3]

I think this sort of says it all: 

The biggest failure in American business history until Enron, Penn Central was a merger mistake that took almost 30 years to correct.  And this is not just that the PC took over the NH (of which I am a fan of), it's also how they treated the NH's thousands of employees as good-for-nothin' bums that also rankles.  The PC was poorly managed, poorly maintained, and spent more time with infighting then in running a RR.  The PC should never have happened in the first place, and nothing good took place between 1968 and 1976 on the PC.  It was a terrible RR during a terrible era in American RR'ing.  Even their paint scheme stunk.  Ick.

Now, as far as other RR's?  CSX is pretty bad.  2nd place, if you will.  They seem determined to run their RR into the ground (literally), and they can't seem to stop "ping-ponging" freight cars back to the shipper still loaded with what it left with.  Sigh. 

Paul A. Cutler III
************
Weather Or No Go New Haven
************

[shawnee]

CP Rail...OMG, that CSX site is rabid. 

Anyway..i read that someone once loved the Penn Central...y'know, after they killed all the good stuff and decided their business was real estate and all. 

[WCfan]

Crash National.......poor, poor mantainance history and bad enviromental awareness.

David B

I turely to my heart, HATE, CN. There Crashing Nationaly, and wanted WC only for it's Main line. They also made the SD45 more endangered, to almost extinct.

[selector]

...Now, I'm honestly looking for guidance here...what did the New York Central have to recommend itself? 

Okay, for starters, it ran steam engines.  That, by itself, should be good for a grudging nod.

It partnered with the CPR to own 80% of the Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo Ry to bridge the distance between the Yankee states and Trahnah (it's how the locals pronounce it).

It saw the need, and ordered the construction for, the wonderful J-series Hudson 4-6-4 type that was used across N. America.

Last, but not least, it designed and gestated this beauty in the foreground.  Behind her is another mighty engine, but from its arch-rival, the Pennsy.   A bevy of beaties, all in one shot.

[MilwaukeeRoad]

Soo Line..sorta.

[Dave Vollmer]

I have indeed heard on precision advice that Pennsy fans are foamers.  Dave V. beware!

Personally, I like the Pennsy.

Now, I'm honestly looking for guidance here...what did the New York Central have to recommend itself? 

I am a proud foamer!!!    In fact, we have a special acronym for ourselves:

SPF - Serious Pennsy Fan

...often mistaken by non-PRR fans to stand for:

Slobbering Pennsy Fan

As for my least favorite railroad, I know it should be New York Central...  but I don't mind it.  I don't know.  I will say non-US railroads hold less interest for me.

I should hate Conrail for ripping up so much former PRR...  or should I hate Penn Central for running the PRR into the ground?  After all, PC also abandoned a lot of marginal PRR track that Hurricane Agnes destroyed in 1972.  In the end, though, PRR was itself largely responsible for its own demise because of a combination of poor priorities and failure to adjust in a timely manner to a changing world.  So, should I hate the railroad I love?  Oooh, how deep is that?

[WCfan]

I dislike - not hate - all railroads that got rid of steam!!  That leaves my UP in my good graces!!!!

What about railroads that never had steam? Like WC.

[lvanhen]

I dislike - not hate - all railroads that got rid of steam!!  That leaves my UP in my good graces!!!!

[shawnee]

I have indeed heard on precision advice that Pennsy fans are foamers.  Dave V. beware!

Personally, I like the Pennsy.

Now, I'm honestly looking for guidance here...what did the New York Central have to recommend itself? 

[Anonymous]

I like it, but if I had to choose my least favorite, it would be the Pennsylvania Railroad. It's just so popular that sometimes I can't stand it.

[selector]

New York Central (or anything else remotely associated with the Yankees.)

HEY!!!    DON'T MAKE ME COME OVER THERE....!!!

You can get back in my good books if you say good things about the Pennsy.

[Teditor]

Railroads is railroads

Trains is trains

I love em all

Just the same!

Teditor 

[Cox 47]

I like them all but can't warm up to the CN for taking over Illinois Central.....Cox 47

[shawnee]

Spacemouse...The New York Central or Penn Central...which was worse?  Wasn't the Penn Central singularly the worst managed railroad in history?