|
Trackside on New York Central’s Western Division 1949-1955 with Sandy Goodrick b
Trackside on New York Centrals Western Division 1949-1955 with Sandy Goodrick by Jerry A Pinkepank
Morning Sun Books
Hard Cover w/ dust jacket Reflections from the lights on the covers
128 pages
Copyright 2003
CONTENTS
Introduction 3-5
New York Central - Western Division Map 6
Sanford "Sandy Goodrick" 7
WESTERN DIVISION 8-83
Chicago Ternimal 8-13
West of the Moraine 14-15
Seven Mile Hill 16-26
Introducing the Hill 16-17
Hudson Lake Cut 17-21
East of the Moraine 22-26
New Carlisle 27-33
An MC Detour Day 27-28
New Carlisle Station 29
Niagaras on 59 29-30
LAKE SHORE LIMITED 30
NEW ENGLAND STATES 31
The F3's of 194732
Winter at Wintergreen Street 33
Terre Coupee- South Shore Interchange 34-40
Lydick Track Pans 40-46
Lydick to Bendix 47-55
South Shore in South Bend 56-63
South Bend Terminal 64-76
Between South Bend and Elkhart 76
Elkart 77-79
Kankakee Belt 80-82
E&W Branch 83
EAST FROM ELKHART 84-98
Dunlap 84-86
Old Road 86-87
Goshen-Sturgis Branch88
Big Four Michigan Branch 88-90
Toledo 91-93
Cleveland Union Terminal 94-98
MICHIGAN CENTRAL MAINLINE-PORTER TO DETROIT 99-109
East of Porter99
Michigan City 99
Niles 102
Jackson 103
Avery Track Pans 104-105
Detroit River Tunnel Motors 106-108
NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL SPECIALS 110-128
Southern Cal, November 26, 1949 110-112
Pitt, October 11, 1952 113
At the Cinder Platforms 113-114
Oklahoma, November 8, 1952 115-121
"ND&W" 122
Turning at Olivers 122
Iowa, November 21, 1953 123
PRR Football Specials 126-127
Southern Cal, November 27, 1954 128
INTRODUCTION
The New York Central System that Sandy Goodrick experienced in 1949-1955, including the Korean War years of 1950 through 1953, was in a life or death race with inflation and with loss of business to competitors. Although employment decreased from 122,756 in 1944 to 99,698 in 1953 (down 18.8 percent), payroll expense increased from $321 million in 1948 to $440 million in 1953, 37 percent. Operating expenses, which were $532 million in 1944 (74.4 percent of revenues), were $667 million in 1948 (85.6 percent) and $684 million in 1953 (82.9 percent). The percentage which operating expenses bear to operating revenues is called the "operating ratio." In this case, it was a measure of the degree to which NYC was falling behind in the race to have its income from sales of freight and passenger services keep up with increases in the cost of doing business. Some benefits from cost control efforts can be seen in the 1953 to 1948 comparison, and for that, much of the credit goes to dieselization. By 1953, NYC was almost 100 dieselized east of Detroit and Cleveland, and entirely diesel east of Buffalo.
Central carried 196.2 million tons of freight in 1944, 188.7 million in 1948, and 166.9 million in 1953, a decline of 14.9 percent even before the 1954 recession took its toll. Central carried 81.6 million passengers in 1944, 68.8 million in 1948 and 44.2 million in 1953, a decline of 45.8 percent. The passenger decline stranded $85 million of postwar investment in what proved to be an unwinnable campaign to return passenger business to the profitable, major revenue item it had been for NYC in the 1920's.
The drop from 1944 to 1948 reflects in part the relaxation from the country's peak wartime effort, but the postwar economy boomed and by the 1950-53 period was 'running ahead of World War II peaks. These declines of NYC traffic reflected in part the start of deindustrialization of the Northeast and Great Lakes states as factories moved to the non-union South, but to a far greater extent they reflected the inroads of automobiles, airplanes, and trucks into NYC's traffic base. It was especially galling for NYC managers because their arch-rival, the Pennsylvania, did not lose freight market share nearly so rapidly in these years. NYC initially had a greater share of truck-vulnerable traffic than PRR did, and it bled away sooner.
Of all the things management could do to meet the squeeze of traffic decline and expense inflation, dieselization was by far the most effective. In 1949, 28.7 percent of train miles were performed with diesel or electric power, broken down to freight service being 19.1 percent dieselized, passenger service 34 percent. Switch engine hours were 41 percent dieselized. By the end of 1955, these numbers were in the high 90 percentages, and the last NYC steam operated in April, 1957. However, to realize savings quickly, it was important to concentrate diesels on part of the railroad, allowing engine terminal employment to be reduced to diesel requirements only, and eliminating the substantial expense of facilities for coal and water. This left the western lines of the railroad, including the Michigan Central west of Detroit and the main line west of Cleveland, as brief "operating museums" of what the NYC had been at the height of steam operations. Many first line trains were still powered by J-3a Super Hudsons between Cleveland or Detroit and Chicago, and even the original J-1 Hudsons of 1927-1930 could be seen in prime power slots. Before 1953, Niagaras were relatively rare on the west end, but then they, too, appeared in numbers. Their extraordinary power was not required by that time, and the great machines were entirely underutilized. Nevertheless, they added to the spectacle available to Sandy's lens.
One thing which is striking about these initial years of dieselization on the NYC, and which stands out in the pictures Sandy took, is that Central was clearly willing to accept longer running times in exchange for the economies of diesels. Typical freight power in these pictures is a pair of 1500hp or 1750hp units, 3,000 to 3,600hp maximum, replacing Mohawks having a higher drawbar horsepower. Available published dynamometer results for the Mohawks show 3.320hp at 45mph for L-2's, 4,100hp at 57mph for L-3's. With water scoops and big coal bunkers, the Mohawks were not having to spend time at water plugs or coal docks, so they should have been able to get over the road between Elkhart or Niles and the Chicago area terminals faster than the diesels that replaced them. By the 1960's, NYC had begun piling on second-generation diesels, and the same train seen in this book with 3000hp on the head end would in some cases have 6,000 to 8,000hp ten years later. Service, however, had been redesigned so that the bigger power consists got back and forth over the entire system more rapidly, and the eastbound fleet from Chicago could not depart until the westbound fleet from eastern terminals had arrived. In the early 1950's, though, without the new hump yards that made such speeded freight service possible, NYC was only able to make the crucial savings by cutting corners on horsepower. Until the changed operating pattern brought about by the new yards after 1958, NYC kept its freight Alcos east of Buffalo, and what passed before Sandy's lens were the F's.
All pictures are of the actual item. There may be reflection from the lights in some photos. We try to take photos of any damage. If this is a railroad item, this material is obsolete and no longer in use by the railroad. Please email with questions. Publishers of Train Shed Cyclopedias and Stephans Railroad Directories. Large inventory of railroad books and magazines. Thank you for buying from us.
Shipping charges
US Shipments: Ebay will add $1.25 each additional items, there are a few exceptions.
Ebay Global shipping charges are shown. These items are shipped to Kentucky and forwarded to you. Ebay collects the shipping and customs / import fees. Refunds may be issued if you add multiple items to your cart and pay with one payment. For direct postage rates to these countries, send me an email. Shipping varies by weight.
Payment options
Payment must be received within 7 days. Paypal is accepted.
Terms and conditions
All sales are final. Returns accepted if item is not as described. Contact us first. No warranty is stated or implied. Please e-mail us with any questions before bidding.
Thanks for looking at our items.
|