[PRCo] Re: Memories Story Online

[John Swindler]

>Ken recalled:
>
>I remember my uncle driving us to the station to catch the PRR to
>Chicago (where we'd catch one of the "Day Hiawatha" trains to Milwaukee)
>during December, 1967.


Never rode the Pennsy to Chicago, but three months after your trip, used the 
B&O's Capital to go to Chicago to apply for a summer job driving CTA buses.  
  The Capital was the night train with a dome car, and I still remember 
riding across Ohio - or maybe it was Indiana - or maybe a bit of both - at 
night with search light scanning across the farm fields.  Also vaguely 
recall that the train seemed to crawl into Chicago, also walking under the 
el structure for first time, and being told at the end of the interview 
process: 'if you don't hear from us, come back to Chicago when your school 
term ends'.

Why the B&O and not the PRR?  Cheaper.  B&O had off peak fares on certain 
days of the week, just like the airlines today.  PRR didn't.   But didn't 
seem to help that much.  Don't recall any crowds in P&LE station at train 
time, and seemed to have the dome car pretty much to myself.

Used the Capital three more times for this purpose, as it was not until 1972 
that I became a typical auto owning American.

John



>An aunt and a cousin from NYC were along to catch a train home as well. It 
>was still dark. As we passed Clearview Loop, I
>saw the track and wire and mentioned I hoped to see another trolley
>before we left town. My aunt mentioned that nobody had trolleys anymore.
>Her son piped up that he had seen some when he and other relatives were
>at the Bemis to catch a flick. She laughed him off. Then a PCC rolled by
>in the opposite direction and my cousin exclaimed, "See? There's one
>now! I told you so!" My aunt, defeated (and as I learned later,
>wondering why her two brothers let her go out on limb with one of her
>children) quietly told my cousin, "Always show respect for  your
>parents." :-)
>
>K.
>
>P.S.- I still remember the smell of that station and the Batman plastic
>toy watch my dad bought me when we arrived in Pittsburgh the week
>before.
>

_________________________________________________________________
The new MSN 8: smart spam protection and 2 months FREE*  
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail