Nostalgia & History > Forty Plus Years Ago (71) - PC

In 1969 the New Haven became a part of Penn Central, so in reality, this is a Penn Central RDC.
An unknown photographer caught PC (NH) 38 in Boston, Massachusetts on June 16, 1970.
Bob



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/20 07:55 by refarkas.

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A nice photo; however, look at all the exhaust dirt on that unit which would indicate that it most likely was pulled by a regular locomotive spitting out a lot of carbon and soot in the smoke.
John in White Marsh, Maryland

I never thought of this RDC being pulled by a locomotive although I have seen photos of that being done at other times. Thanks for that information.
Bob

 Very unique car....thanks!

Cool shot - thanks for sharing.

A bit of a correction to your original caption - the New Haven was not "forced" into Penn Central - the NH was forced on the Penn Central by the ICC.  Already in bankruptcy (1961), they were big time hurting in the 60's with their massive money-losing commuter and intercity passenger operations, with the de-industrialization of New England and the new interstates decimating their freight revenue.  Their interchange with the PRR via the Bay Ridge, Brooklyn/Greenville, NJ car ferries was now made redundant with the PC merger.  There was no way they could survive as an independent road surrounded by the new PC giant.  

That area in South Boston was a cool place to visit back then.   I remember seeing all kinds of cool stuff in the yards back then.  Of course in 1972 all changed as the MBTA took ownership of much of the yard and made a maintenence base  for the Red Line.

Photo taken five days before PC filed for bankruptcy.  The pre-bankruptcy period was much shorter than the post bankruptcy.
The RDC appeared to be in reasonably good condition. 
Thanks for the Interesting PC posting.
ALLEN

I don’t remember locomotive hauled RDCs being common in Boston until after the 1978 snowstorm fiasco. Common as dirt after that, right up until they were retired.