TRAIN TRIVIA - 11/11/05

Which one of the following was NOT a mascot for a railroad during the 20th Century?

  1. Phoebe Snow

  2. Peake, Chessie’s “Old Man”

  3. The Pennsylvania Pacer

  4. Chico

Thanks lotus098 for letting me post!

I have heard of 1, 2 and 4, so it’s got to be #3.

I’m going to guess #2. Chessie the Kitten had an “Old Man”?!?[:O]

No problem. Hey, I know this one.

Well for cryin’ out loud- don’t give it away![;)]

IT IS

HERBERT HOOVER!

[(-D][(-D][(-D]

YES; Chessie Had an “Old Man”;and his name was “Peake !!”[:0][:D]

So It AIN’T number 2 !!

I have heard of both 1 and 2, so on a 50-50 gamble, I’ll go with number 3 as well [banghead].

You guys are too smart for me! Even the wrong answers wern’t all that far off.

#1. “I won my fame and wide acclaim /
For Lackawanna’s splendid name /
By keeping bright and snowy white /
Upon the road of Anthracite.”

It’s been years since I’ve seen an image of Phoebe Snow but I recall her vaguely as a kind of cross between a Gibson Girl and Nokomis.

#2 I used the wording and punctuation that the C&O used in its magazine ads.
Why was “old man” put in quotation marks? To show they knew it was slang?
(I guess “husband” would be too cute and “mate” too graphic for those times.)

“Peake” was drawn as a barrel-chested, proud-looking cat in a “top-kick” or Master Sergeant’s uniform. Chessie remained a kitten (folks, this is mythology, not reality.)
And those berths were SO comfortable – yes, kittens happened.

  1. This is something I made up. But there was a train called the “Pacemaker”; it was the all-coach train from NYC to CHI, I believe.

If there WERE a “Pennsylvania Pacer,” I would imagine him as a kind of Coke-boy-with- bottle-cap of the same era, only the cap would have to look like a real cap and be Tuscan Red.

  1. Seems 'most everyone knows and loves Chico, the Native American (Navajo? Hopi?) boy who urged the public to “Ship and Travel Santa Fe.” Even after Amtrak took over ATSF passenger service, in the 1970s Chico still appeared on note paper the company sent to corporate shippers and shipping agents (or “logistics specialists,” if you will). But Chico was certainly a figure of the past after the BN merger, if not before.

You all have been great; thanks for participating!

Lotus 098, thanks for the opportunity. I don’t have a second question just now but will work on one. (Sharp crowd, not just anything will do.)
– Al Smalling