Getting out on the railroad is essential to better understand prototype railroad operations and experience the thrill of the mainline first hand. That experience can provide the motivation to more deeply research a specific carrier or route and later, share that experience in writing or model building. The demise of the traditional commuter locals, many that traversed light-density branch lines, makes such experiences more limited. The renaissance in government-managed transit operations has stabilized key, high-density routes but unfortunately due to modern railcar design and construction, intense security and insurance restrictions, outings on such routes is far more muted and sanitized than in the past.
Along the pre-1970 Northeast Corridor, the best way to satisfy that impulse to explore was to purchase transportation on a route served by the aging Pennsylvania Railroad – later Penn Central – electric MP-54 MU cars. Those battered but durable cars once served lines that radiated from Philadelphia to terminals at Paoli, West Chester, Chestnut Hill, Norristown, Trenton and Wilmington. Beyond the Quaker City, MP-54 cars operated south from Penn Station, NY and between Baltimore and Washington. After 1969, a some went north to serve former New Haven railroad lines. Few daily commuters had much appreciation or respect for that vintage fleet, with good reason, and even the most avid fan of railroad antiquity knew that the cars were on borrowed time.
The MP-54 were designed and built, starting in 1910, as “steam hauled” commuter cars but were designed for conversion to electric operation and that commenced in 1915. (PRR one-time subsidiary Long Island first employed the MP-54 design in 1908). Classed “M” for multiple unit operation “P” for passenger and “54” for the length of the car body (less vestibule length) the cars featured a pair of porthole windows at each end, hence the nickname Owl-Faced. The cars were delivered painted in PRR Tuscan red, with gold-leaf striping and lettering, accented by thin line of black, coated with high-gloss varnish to preserve the gold-leaf striping and lettering. Interiors featured moss-green fabric that covered straight-backed seats, green glass in transoms above, that extended the length of the car but beyond those elements, craftsmen at Altoona Shops made little attempt to soften the environment within the hard riveted, steel sidewalls.
On to the later-day ride: Approaching a line of the vintage cars with ticket in hand, the owl-faced cars looked like dingy antiques, glossy finish long-gone, standing in the shadows of the subterranean platforms at Suburban Station. By 1970, the exterior of the cars reflected a mix of PRR red and PC dark green paint that was seldom washed. Stepping aboard the cars, the fabric seats of the past were covered with vinyl and the green glass above had been covered over years before. The large ceiling fans with blades slowly revolving circulated hot air mixed with a strong ozone smell and hot metal from the vintage motors that powered them.
The cars accelerated quite well on the open railroad and the tooth geared drive train that powered them made a constantly loud and distinctive whirring sound. Roller bearings helped smooth the ride but the PRR-design, side-stabilizers on the trucks seemed to give the car a rough side to side shaking motion. When the brakes were applied suddenly, the smell hot metal filtered through the open windows, often accompanied by dust, cinders and small fragments of metal from the aging brake shoes. Commuters of that era were highly competitive for “their space”, were extremely regimented and accordingly, outlanders were instantly noticed. Amidst that structured environment, evidence of civility occasionally prevailed. Just before retiring in 1968, PRR President A. J Greenough, properly attired with a straw hat – once a summertime requirement for railroad management – stood up and offered his seat to a lady passenger one morning enroute to the city aboard the packed, steamy and rocking commuter coaches. Like most citizens along the Mainline, PRR executives faithfully rode the train to work and back home each day, and fully believed in the time-honored regional adage: “Nothing was more holy than the local to Paoli”.
Freedom to explore on board was tolerated by most train crews so riding the open vestibule or standing at the end platform allowed one to fully experience the scenes enroute including local yard crews switching freight cars, branch line junctions, loading packages at stations and on occasion, mail pick-ups. Frequently a senior conductor would sit down and offer some interesting observations about his career or history of the line and some took time out to point out subjects of interest along the way. That casual environment vaporized as the 1970s pressed on. When PC successor Conrail set the date for replacing the cars that operated between Baltimore and Washington in 1978, jubilant commuters chalked messages on the car sides and brought champagne on board the day the old cars made their final trips. The journey the next week just wasn’t the same, isolated from the railroad, sealed inside the stainless-steel, air-conditioned car body of the fleet that replaced them.
No matter how you do it, seeing a railroad up front and personal can influence the way you proceed in the hobby with type of operation, era and equipment. MTS offers a full line of locomotives and equipment from different eras as well as scenic details. So, when you have the need to start or refine your current operation, please review our listings since they change frequently. We thank you for your continued patronage.
Frank Wrabel
modeltrainstuff.com