Penn Central: The Movie (1974)

[Blutorse4792]

The sad fate of two (Okay, three if Tbob is still out there) of America's greatest railroads. This movie was basically a plea to get bailed out by the federal government (Which as we know, led to the creation of CONRAIL two years later).

Just how bad had freight railroading in this country gotten before the Staggers Act? Let's have a look...

Not for the faint of hearted.

 

[Euphod]

Wow, what a fascinating video. It was kind of like a car accident... you don't want to look, but you can't take your eyes off it! Thanks for the link.

 

[wilh]

Those freight cars that are shown when the title comes up. Whoa! They are swaying quite a bit.

 

[Jrrrail]

I't sounds like the bled the business, by Trying " SAVE MONEY"...

Penny wise and Pound foolish.

Alot of Americans are this way today!

Sometimes we lose money by saving money.

I see people trying to save money on food and ruining there health long term...

Sometimes I need to spend a little more to save in the long run...

I thing people go broke by purchasing inferior products...

 

[rgcx]

The PC officials were hoping that this film would move Congress to extend emergency funds to fix their tracks. Instead people focused on lavish executive salaries and golden parachutes. A really good book on this subject is "The Wreck of the Penn Central" by Daughen/Binzen.

Moreover, the FRA quickly moved in to red-flag hundreds of locomotives and rolling stock for mechanical defects. They also forced line closures due to bad maintenance of track. PC had to develop a program to prove to the FRA that their "middle managers" were competent enough to stop trains from operating over tracks that were not safe to do so.

Unfortunately, PC was often associated with standing derailments~ cars and locos would derail while the train was parked.

 

[BD1]

placemarker

 

[RooRocz]

The main issue was that the railroads were regulated, and the trucking companies weren't.


Once they deregulated the railroads, they could pick and chose which routes to serve, what rates to charge, and so on, and we got the modern, highly-profitable freight railroads we have today.

(of course, we also lost vital commuter rail services into several major cities (Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis, what have you) which led to massive gridlock and the overbuilding of urban highways that strangled downtowns. Also intercity passenger rail service was curtailed significantly and is only just now starting to bounce back as the highways overfill and it's too expensive to buy up land to widen them. But hey, corporate profits!)

 

[Blutorse4792]

The main issue was that the railroads were regulated, and the trucking companies weren't.

Let's not forget that those railroad regulations were written in 1887...

 

[slabay]

The main issue was that the railroads were regulated, and the trucking companies weren't.

Begging to differ from you there, but the trucking industry was regulated as well. It didn't break free from the ICC until it was deregulated by the Motor Carrier Act of 1980. Penn Central was gone in 1976.