The Late, The Great, New York Central[:D]
Mine is the New York Central. Such a fabulous system. However, I grew up watching the Chessie operate on former Pere Marquette rails including the carferry operations out of Ludington, MI. That is something that everyone should have had the chance to see when it was still in operation.
I voted “other”. As a teen ager in the fifties my favorite was the North Shore Line. My buddy and I took it to Chicago from Milwaukee a few times for the day. I don’t think my mother ever knew.
Later my favorites were the New Haven and Erie-Lackawanna. I lived in the Northeast in the late sixties while they were still going but not well. South Station in Boston and the Hoboken Terminal were great stations to visit.
More recently the Wisconsin Central was my local railroad. It’s locos were well cared for, bright and shiny. Now its flag has fallen too.
Now when I see a CN train running through Waukesha, its difficult to tell what railroad it is. The locomotives are leased or unmarked or from the IC. Only 1 in 3 is marked CN.
Mine are the B&O, C&O, WM, SCL, etc. that were absorbed together over the many years to create CSX. But I’m sure you all already know that, lol. Mostly it’s the B&O though, mainly since my grandfather worked there until he retired in the 60’s. I worked for Conrail, but it just wasn’t the same. It was like comparing Chevy(CSX) to Ford(Conrail), and NS would be the Dodge of the east coast lol. I see things in strange ways I guess, lol.
Boston & Albany. Owned by the NYC but kept it’s own identitiy for most of it’s life.
Regards,
Gary
I voted for the NP which is what I model but truthfully I miss them all. I just read about all of them and try to remember the 1950s as they were. I was raised in Santa Fe, Rock Island, Katy, MoPac and Frisco territory.
Western Maryland
I have to say NKP even tho the NYC also ran through my home town
Great Northern! A fallen flag, but not gone! Not when one can look at the chosen paint scheme of successor BNSF! Not when one can go to Montana’s goregous Glacier National Park and stay in numerous GN-built hotels and inns, many decorated with much GN memorabilia. Not when one can go to Waterton Lakes National Park and stay in the GN-built Prince of Wales Hotel and still ride (on Upper Waterton Lake to Goathaunt, Montana) the M.V. "International (built in 1926 by GN). Not when one can still (after nearly 75 years) ride the train named after the creator of the GN, “The Empire Builder”, which is the second longest continuously operated passenger train in the United States. There are literally thousands of museums across the country that feature railroad items…some quite extensive. Yet, the Great Northern is the best example of a fallen flag that you can still very much experience outside the museum. It’s still very much alive.
The “Q” – Chicago, Burlington & Quincy. I sort of grew up with the Twin Cities Zephyr, being born in 1935. In late '40’s and early ‘50’s, it was to the TCZ the day after school ended to East Dubuque and the Grandparents’ farm in NE Iowa. Also rode the Builder and the NC Limited. Actually, I liked them all: a fine Saturday was spent visiting Central, Dearborn, LaSalle St., Grand Central, C A&E, Union, C & NW, and Randolph stations in Chicago. A special feeling exists for G B & W where I watched the steam engines in Independence, WI in early 40’s.
Erie Lackawanna Rwy.
My favorite is Erie Lackawanna. Lots of Alcos, passenger trains with more mail than passengers and a terminal road entry into Chicago. All were signs of a road with a marginal bottom line but the SD45’s, SDP45’s and big GE’s presented a bigtime image that belied the bottom line.
RIO-GRANDE
BURLINGTON ROUTE
Sacramento Northern, or Arcata & Mad River Railroad…
I miss the old Seaboard Coastline Logo on some of the cars,and engines. They were the closet to me, living only 300 feet from the CSX North & south Bound Main Line.
The Wabash because of five now dear departed relatives who were employed by the WAB and I don’t want to rile their ghosts,
The C & E I because they purposely painted their pax units in the school colors of my alma mater, the University of Illinois.
Atlantic Coast Line - My Granddaddy went from wood to coal to diesel with that line and was the first engineer of The Champion with the ACL’s first diesel engines, E3-500 and E3-501, in November of 1939. The day he retired I sat in his lap in the cab and he took me for a little ride and I got to pull the horn lanyard, 3 longs-one short- and one long for a crossing.
E3-500 was wrecked and rebuilt as an E8 but E3-501 is still alive in Salisbury, NC at the Spencer Shops museum. It was retired with 6,250,212 passenger miles, most of any passenger engine ever built; or so I was told. I visited it with my Mother, daughters and my grandson two years ago.
They brought it out of the roundhouse for us and I sat in the engineer’s chair with my grandson on my lap 50 years after My Granddaddy had done the same with me.
As any good Jersey boy would say PRSL
WP-Feather River Route, or ATSF
Per Marquette, Rutland, Southern - I imagined a lotta places thru those names/marques…
My fovorite FALLEN FLAG: Whats left?
C&O,B&O,Morehead&Northfork,Frankfort&Cincinnatti,Eastern Kentucky