December 3, 1967
Last run of NYC's 20th Century Limited took place 50 years ago today.
Feb. 1, 1968: Grand Central Terminal becomes Grand Central Station.
Excerpt from Penn Central Post, March 1968 http://www.canadasouthern.com/caso/post/images/post-0368.pdf Some people thought it would never happen. The legal maneuvers seemed endless. One official of another railroad offered to bet $500 that it would never take place. But at 12:01 A.M. on Thursday, February 1, 1968, the merger finally, formally went into effect, and America's largest transportation company came into being. "Good morning, Penn Central," was the way Phyllis Weisse, a switchboard operator, answered the phone at Syracuse, N. Y. She felt a little odd about it, after saying "New York Central" for the past 11 years. At 30th Street Station, Philadelphia, Car Foreman John McMurrough walked up to a business car marked Central and stripped off a sheet of paper concealing the word Penn, which had been painted in advance for this occasion. At Grand Central Station, New York, Building Superintendent Warren R. Grove and two carpenters hung a PC banner over the main staircase, and he said, "Now it's official." At Samuel Rea Shop, the big car-repair and car-building facility at Hollidaysburg, Pa., two secretaries, Sarah Webb and Peggy Jo Carney, got the new Call Us Penn Central buttons, and wore them as earrings. "The newest railroad deserves the newest fashion," explained Miss Webb. Everybody felt part of an event of great historical significance—as in fact it was.
wanswheelFeb. 1, 1968: Grand Central Terminal becomes Grand Central Station. Excerpt from Penn Central Post, March 1968 http://www.canadasouthern.com/caso/post/images/post-0368.pdf Some people thought it would never happen. The legal maneuvers seemed endless. One official of another railroad offered to bet $500 that it would never take place. But at 12:01 A.M. on Thursday, February 1, 1968, the merger finally, formally went into effect, and America's largest transportation company came into being. "Good morning, Penn Central," was the way Phyllis Weisse, a switchboard operator, answered the phone at Syracuse, N. Y. She felt a little odd about it, after saying "New York Central" for the past 11 years. At 30th Street Station, Philadelphia, Car Foreman John McMurrough walked up to a business car marked Central and stripped off a sheet of paper concealing the word Penn, which had been painted in advance for this occasion. At Grand Central Station, New York, Building Superintendent Warren R. Grove and two carpenters hung a PC banner over the main staircase, and he said, "Now it's official." At Samuel Rea Shop, the big car-repair and car-building facility at Hollidaysburg, Pa., two secretaries, Sarah Webb and Peggy Jo Carney, got the new Call Us Penn Central buttons, and wore them as earrings. "The newest railroad deserves the newest fashion," explained Miss Webb. Everybody felt part of an event of great historical significance—as in fact it was.
And things started down the drain from there!
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Was already heading down the drain...then it went faster.
June 9, 1781.
George Stephenson born at Wylam, Northumberland, England.
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