My favorite is the Penn Central. The PC merger took place when I was six years old. I didn't know, or care, about the business of railroading at that time. I just wanted to see trains run! Our home was about 1/2 mile from the former PRR Ft. Wayne line, in northwest Ohio. I could look out our back window and watch trains stretch for over a mile. My friend's dad was the manager at a local grain elevator. My friend and I would sit in the elevator parking lot and watch the local switch the various businesses in town, I can still hear the generator whine from the GP9's. As I got a little older I began to recognize the various types of locomotives. Part of the excitement of watching the trains was seeing what kind of motive power was in the consist. I especially enjoyed heavy coal trains where the big GE's or Alco's really had to work. Conrail was formed when I was 14 years old. By that time I was more interested in girls and what my first car was going to be. Conrail never had the appeal that PC did for some reason.
I have recently been attracted to the AC&Y. The west end of the AC&Y was in Delphos, Ohio. I live about two blocks from the old right-of-way. The Delphos yard was about 1/2 mile north of our house. As I have studied the history of Delphos I have come to appreciate the railroads that served our town: PRR, AC&Y and Nickel Plate. For some unknown reason I have been drawn to the AC&Y. I only remember ever seeing an AC&Y locomotive once. Maybe it was the FM locomotives?
Tom
