Those of you who drive in or anywhere near Pennsylvania must have seen the special license plates the state issues, with a Grif Teller painting of a k4 Pacific.
Every day, I see dozens of them. I’m a foamer, and I never thought it necessary to pay extra to get one. My point is, are there really THAT many railfans? These things are common as dirt - way more common than the Penn State plates, in my experience.
We could take over the world and force the return of the Broadway Limited if there were really that many fans. And if these aren’t fans, why are they getting the plates?
Probably for the same reason there were so many takers for the " illegal" Flagship Niagara plate that Pa issued several years ago - it is a very colorful and very distinctive plate.
The reason for the word “illegal” is that the color of the plate numbers blended in too well with the picture and thus made the plate difficult to read at almost any distance from the car. Pennsylvania allowed those who wished to do so to keep their Niagara plates but they didn’t issue any more and once the plate are retired the owner cannot re-license.
I don’t think they’re that common. I used to see maybe one or two a week, compared to the one or two a day of the Penn State ones or the one or two an hour of the wildlife one. And that was back before I lived in State College, where there’s no shortage of the Penn State plates.
Mersenne6, you may have hit on the answer. They certainly ARE hard to read. But they could do what everybody else does, just put those opaque plastic covers over their regular plates. I have no idea why the cops do not immediately pull those people over.
And I can’t speak for State College. All I know is that I guarantee you here in the Philadelphia area that I can see at least 10 on my 15-mile drive home, which I’m acbout to do.
I see em from time to time. Never got them or the personal plates either cuz I don’t want people to have something easy to remember if I don’t want them too if you know what I meen. [;)][;)][;)]
Adrian"speeder"speeder
Hmmm…seems I had a run on thought as opposed to a run on sentence. What I meant by comparing the Pennsy RR plate to the Niagara plate was the notion of a colorful plate. My license plate collector friends tell me the Niagara plate sold well and since there aren’t (at least there weren’t the last time I checked) legions of nautical buffs roaming the streets of Pennsylvania it would appear it was the appeal of the graphic itself and I would guess that the same thing applies in this case.
I mentioned the “illegal” only to explain why that particular plate was withdrawn. It’s not the only plate in that category several other states have made similar mistakes. For example the original Virginia Autumn Leaf plate had very colorful leaves scattered across the face of the plate. The pattern was such that it acted as perfect camoflage. The pattern was modified to just leaves around the perimeter but these proved to be so large that they hid the first and last numbers/letters. The final version reduced the size of the leaves to eliminate this problem and it is this plate that you see today.
Boy it would be nice to see Nebraska come up with something that nice for the Railfan.
Or other States.
Im not a fan of this plate. I loove trains and its a good idea but look at the picture. It is a great painting but is way to hard to see as a train. A better picture/image could have been selected for the plate.
the Pennsylvania K4 locomotive…the official steam loco of the state of Pennsylvania
CHPENNSYLVANIA I agree with you. I would like to see a better picture showing the majesty of the K4. However, I would’d mind owning one.
I haven’t seen much of the PRR license plates latly. I must be in the wrong area or somtheing.?/////…interesting.
You can see em if your lookin for em. I like the black DARE plates better to match the trucks. Got one of those on the '92 bronco. Still not sure if I will renew, as I don’t want memory hooks if someone trys to remember my plate, if ya know what I mean…
Adrianspeeder
Until five years ago my job used to take me into the Delaware and Maryland seashore towns, where I would occasionally see one. One time I stopped in a parking lot to take a real close look at one (I agree it’s not a very clear picture). Two ladies came out of a hotel to the car and saw me studying it. While we all joked and laughed a little, they gave me a slight hint that they were afraid I might steal it. “No, I couldn’t do that”, I told them. “I don’t have a screwdriver.”