The photo is credited to the New York Central, which ceased to be in 1968 when it merged to become Penn Central, and PC failed in the early 1970s, so I am confident I’m not violating any copyright laws. But if I am, I will happily and apologetically remove it upon notification from the rightful owner.
That is an amazing photo Fred. I think people forgot how much rail equipment we sent over during ww2 aside from the planes, tanks ships etc.
Funny you mention Penn Central; between Penn Station, NY and the yard that serves it, Westside Yard, there is (or used to be) an old mail baggage car with PC markings on it sitting at a bumper block with some Amtrak equipment right next to our (LIRR) C yard. It was there for years and never moved. I used to see it every time we took our equipment down to the yard. Always wanted to examine/ explore it but never had the chance. It’s pretty dark and somewhat dangerous in that part of the tracks. I think Amtrak must be using it for something like storage I guess. Not sure if it’s still there as I haven’t worked there in about 5-6 years. Should have taken a pic !
Richard, that would be a sight to see. I, too, image it is MOW or used for storage. What color is it? I don’t recall if they painted their varnish or left it stainless steel. It wouldn’t be that minty jade color, would it?
Indeed. I recall that some of the first locomotives were ALCo* RS-1s sent to Persia to replace English steam locos to supply the Soviets through the arid mountains of Iran. I’ve seen Lend-Lease rolling stock that looks like US prototypes but I think we mainly built them to European specs. Any idea?
Okay, so is it “ALCo”, “ALCO”, “Alco”? I try to write it like I see on old locomotive manuals, but I’ve fouund different spellings on those, from the steam to diesel era. I keep looking for an official letterhead or keychain or something from the company but they elude me.
I’ve got several WW2 “tank train” pix on my PC but can’t find where I saved them. I really need to do better at naming them when I load them. Here’s some while I snoop around.
ALCo - American Locomotive Company. However as times changed and advertising/graphics execs got ahold of things we saw ALCO come into the trade press and the railfan community made it even easier using Alco.
It’s definitely not stainless steel or that famous Jade green, it looks either black or very dark brown , maybe even dark green and it does still have the PC logo on it. It’s been in the same spot as far back as I can remember and it’s laid up on a track used by Amtrak. Would love to investigate further….
Wow didn’t realize RS-1s were around at that time. I’m very rusty when it comes my engine knowledge since I have up the model railroad hobby many years ago lol
Thank you for explaining the ALCO branding. Makes a lot of sense. There’s the company name, there’s the advertising team name, and then they’re the railfans.
After I posted last night, I examined the Soldiers uniform more closely and noticed the leggings over the boots. I also noticed that his shirt looks to be tucked into the pants, rather than a more Cossackish tunic.
Frenchy, as usual you come through with a gallery of fascinating excellent photographs. So many of those, so many ideas. The one with then M6 37mm is particularly interesting, as are the photos that show the block and gear used at the front and rear of the tank tracks.
Your submissions are always welcome here, Henri Pierre.
Henri Pierre, outstanding! Thank you so much! So many diorama potentials.
The bottom picture, taken on the dock with the crane hoisting the component, note the width (gauge) of the rail. It is Narrow Gauge. I’ve been in England, I do not know if they used meter gauge, or if it would be a 3 foot gauge, 3 ft 6 in, or what. But do note that it is much narrower than a standard gauge track. If you build a diorama, you can use smaller scale train track than the main diorama scale that you’re using, if you want to consider it a Narrow Gauge.
