PGRSCT3                                                        Chasing Trains- Big and Little                        December 2013

First off, the answers to last month’s little quiz.

_ The Pennsylvania Railroad is,or was, The Standard Railroad of the World 

_ Try also Santa Fe, All The Way  ( from Chicago To Las Angeles)

_ You can sleep on the New York Central’s Water Level Route ( Along the Hudson, as opposed to the Pennsy’s  sharp curves and grades over the mountains.

_ Linking Thirteen Great States with the Nation- Baltimore and Ohio

We’ll get back to you with some more at a later date.

There has long been a connection between Trains, Big and Little, and the winter holiday season. From Lionels to LGBs under the tree to passenger trains with many extra cars and few empty seats, trains have long been an important part of the season. 

For those interested in this subject, try All Aboard for Christmas by Christopher Jenison ( Harry N Abrams, Publishers c 2004 )

Thanks are due to Dave Bodnar for obtaining and reproducing the attached article from the December 2009 issue of On The Bi Level. This is the newsletter if METRA , the Chicago rail transit authority. The title comes from METRA’s two level passenger cars.

I came by the original from our daughter Dr. Maria Baldwin who in 2009 was a loyal commuter on the Burlington Northern- Santa Fe line between Union Station, Brookfield, Congress Park and La Grange .

It is submitted to show that somewhere on the railroad is a person with a sense of humor toward the season and Chicago’s weather .

Bill Baldwin