I remember reading an article in the New Yorker about Frimbo’s brother, who was an artisanal blacksmith. He made a plaque in his brothers honor and set it on a tie in Cumbres Pass, along with his ashes.
[quote user=“MidlandMike”]
I remember reading an article in the New Yorker about Frimbo’s brother, who was an artisanal blacksmith. He made a plaque in his brothers honor and set it on a tie in Cumbres Pass, along with his ashes.
From: Narrow Gauge Discussion Forum:
“Rogers’ younger brother, Francis Whitaker, was a blacksmith; he made the plaque and chose Cumbres Pass for the memorial site.”
“Under the pen name E.M. Frimbo, Rogers Whitaker, along with Tony Hiss, regularly published chronicles of his adventures in the New Yorker magazine. Those articles were compiled in a book that was originally published in 1974 when Frimbo had documented a mere 2.3 million miles. The later edition from 1997 includes stories from all 2.7 million miles of travel and the final chapter, entitled “Frimbo’s Peak,” documents Rogers’ family placing the plaque on the tie at Cumbres Pass. They rode the train up the hill from Chama in 1981 and scattered Rogers’ ashes at Cumbres. On the return trip from Osier, the plaque was installed just ahead of the locomotive. Kyle Railways employees later came back and bolted the plaque down.”
“Cumbres Pass was chosen because Rogers Whitaker loved riding the San Juan and was particularly fond of the $1.15 steak dinners. Legend among Docent circles has it that some have ridden the Cumbres and Toltec with Francis Whitaker though I was never so fortunate. I did have the pleasure of once riding with a gentleman who was in a railroad club with Rogers Whitaker.”
So is the movement to rebuild the old Penn Station officially dead?
This whole rebuilding of Penn station has really been a long novel. To quote the opera saying. " Its not over until the fat lady sings " That could be 20 years hence ?
So there is still hope!
The patient (the project to rebuild the old Penn Station) is brain dead.
The ventilator (state funding) has been turned off.
The coroner (Gov. Hochul) has signed the death certificate (see daveklepper’s Nov. 12 posting).
So the only hope is life after death. But not in this world.
Not only has the fat lady sung, she’s left the building with Elvis.
It’s over.
I agree. The Moynihan Train Hall serves Amtrak in good style. And the current Penn Station (for LIRR and NJT) is going to get a major revamp featuring more space and light. Nothing beyond that will happen. But when all is done, it should be pretty nice.
There is less chance of a new Penn Station being built, even, than there is of that replica of a Pennsy T1 getting completed.
Thanks for confirming. That was a stupid, stooooopid choice by the powers that be.
My meetings with Queen Elizabeth (Prince Edward Island rail and car-ferry) and Golda Meir (same trip as meeting Phil Hastings Winnapeg - St. Paul, Crookstan-Grand Forks E7 cab-ride- and Hiawatha to Chicago with Milwaukee stop-over) certainly involved trains, but the meetings involved my audio (and in the case of the Queen music) expertise, not railroads. I did do my to make the visit of the Queen to Charlottown’s Fathers of the Confederation Theatre and Golda’s to Milwaukee’s Uhlein Hall as pleasant, useful, and memorable as possible.
The meetings were discussed in some detail on two previous threads.
I’m unsure I’d really want New York’s Pennsylvania Station to be re-created. As originally built, it had passenger-flow problems, solved be later changes. And LIRR patrons never had 1st-Class facilities, having nothing more than an enlarged subway station in practice.
The real USA tragedy regarding preservation was the destruction of Castle Gate, a work of art by the Eternal, by Colorado’s Highway Department.
The T-1 rebirth:
The project is 38.7% complete as of September 1, 2021
(Wikapedia)
I hope and believe it will be successful.
I hope you’re right, Dave! Would be great if it happened.
How much has actually been financed?
And if this engineering experiment is actually built, where will it be operated and how will its operation be funded??
Another tragedy of preservation was the scrapping of the SS Normandie in 1947. Done by Lipsett Brothers who demolished Penn Station.
New York saved the right station, GCT.
I would have been happy to see Penn saved, but if GCT had been destroyed, I woul d have been far more unhappy.
Funding of the T-1 revival does not appear a problem. Donations continue to come in as the work progresses. Cayuga Valley and Steamtown are already commited as hosts. And the engineerring chsnges to make the restoration more reliable and easier to maintain seem sensible and won’t distract from its appearance or sound.
Your optimism prompted me to visit their website. There is a video that shows the in-progress boiler. Very impressive.
Nope, Ain’t gonna happen, the current atrocity is “historic”
"NEW YORK — The destruction of New York’s Penn Station — built in 1910, demolished in 1963 — is often cited as a seminal moment in the movement to preserve historic buildings. Now, the processes to protect historic structures may be used to prevent redevelopment of the current Penn Station, the crowded, confusing, and largely unloved underground space currently used by Amtrak, Long Island Rail Road, and NJ Transit passengers.
Bloomberg CityLab reports New York’s Historic Preservation Office is proposing that the 2 Penn Plaza office building, the Garden, and the underground station should be added to the National Register of Historic Places, a move which would almost certainly slow the redevelopment proposed by former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and supported in reduced form by his successor, Gov. Kathy Hochul. The move reflects a law requiring the preservation office “to be consulted throughout the project planning process and have the opportunity to make recommendations.”
The historic status is sought mainly to check the redevelopment plan introduced earlier this year by Cuomo and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. That plan called for 10 new skyscrapers to be built, offsetting the cost of rebuilding the station and adding nine new tracks [see
“Its my way or the Highway!” As Rodney King said, "Can’t WE just get along.
Here’s this from the IRJ
https://www.railjournal.com/infrastructure/us-2-87bn-penn-station-access-project-receives-approval/