10-30-2013, 10:36 AM
A sad set of pictures.
Hopefully, our modular group will be saving an enormous HO model of this station. The only thing it needs is catenary! I haven't heard any words on the subjet yet, but apparently the museum who owns it no longer wants it.
I strongly suspect there were people in the Pennsy who saw Penn Station as just a giant commuter station, and figured money could be saved by not having to maintain such a structure.
In fact, its funny you mention real estate, as that is one of the factors leading to the failure of the Penn Central. There were some in the upper management of the railroad that thought they could make more money investing in real estate (much of it not anywhere near the northeast). It got to a point where according to some books i've read, that requests for funds to maintain tracks and trains were denied so that the money could be invested in "the real money makers", real estate. This was just part of the massive mismanagement of that company.
At the very least, good did come from this, since it drove people to be more concerned about what they tore down. At least we still have Grand Central Terminal.
Hopefully, our modular group will be saving an enormous HO model of this station. The only thing it needs is catenary! I haven't heard any words on the subjet yet, but apparently the museum who owns it no longer wants it.
nachoman Wrote:It always surprises me when a historic structure like that can't be repurposed for something else. But my guess is that at the time the real estate in Manhattan was simply worth more than whatever else they could use the building for.
I strongly suspect there were people in the Pennsy who saw Penn Station as just a giant commuter station, and figured money could be saved by not having to maintain such a structure.
In fact, its funny you mention real estate, as that is one of the factors leading to the failure of the Penn Central. There were some in the upper management of the railroad that thought they could make more money investing in real estate (much of it not anywhere near the northeast). It got to a point where according to some books i've read, that requests for funds to maintain tracks and trains were denied so that the money could be invested in "the real money makers", real estate. This was just part of the massive mismanagement of that company.
At the very least, good did come from this, since it drove people to be more concerned about what they tore down. At least we still have Grand Central Terminal.
Modeling New Jersey Under the Wire 1978-1979.
![[Image: logosmall.png]](http://i543.photobucket.com/albums/gg445/CAB_IV/Model%20Trains%202013/logosmall.png)