[PRCo] Troop trains

[Bob Rathke]

A couple of follow-ups, Fred: 



- In March, 1963 I took my brother to Greater Pittsburgh Airport where he boarded a TWA Constellation for his induction in the Army at Ft. Knox.  Attached is a photo of my brother about to enter the door, looking back toward the camera. 



By 1964-67, the Defense Department was sending a greater number of Pittsburgh inductees to basic training on trains from the PRR and P&LE stations.  I took photos of the 1930's Pullman cars kept in those stations for use on the inductee trains. 



- Last Fall, my uncle told me about his rail trip to basic training in 1942 (previously, he had never talked about his WWII experiences).  His dad accompanied him to the P&LE station that day where he boarded a B&O train to Washington, D.C., and then on to an Army base in the South. Hhe said his parents (my grandparents) didn't know that he enlisted in the Army - they always thought that he had been drafted. 



Last Fall he talked freely about his experiences in the U.S. and Pacific 1942-45, and I furiously took notes on everything he said. 



Bob 



  











----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Fred Schneider" <fwschneider at comcast.net> 
To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org 
Sent: Sunday, May 8, 2011 10:40:38 AM 
Subject: [PRCo] Re: Pennsylvania RR Heritage Passenger Train 

Back on October 8th, 1958, I entered the army. Â  The local recruiter (yes, guys, RA stood for ragged ass) gave me a ticket to Harrisburg on the Pennsy. Â  My parents were on the station platform in Lancaster to say good-bye. Â  And dad had one last picture of the train disappearing west with one of those Pennsy business cars on the rear end of number 25. Â  

That was one hellish long day. Â Hours of processing and finally a bus to Philadelphia and another bus to Fort Dix. And then standing in formation for an hour. Â  Finally some a-hole sergeant comes out of a building and says, "Oh, you guys still here. Â  Well maybe we do something." Â And he sent us to dinner at 11 PM for what was left over in the reception center. Â  Then to bed at 1 AM. Â  Then they woke us up again at 4 a.m. to tell us we were in the army now. Â  

Thanks Bob, for the memories. 


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