The Penn Central occupied centre stage during an especially depressed period in US railroading in which the operative word was bankruptcy. In existnce for just over eight years, Penn Central was a typical example of undercapitalized railroad operations -steadily deteriorating track structure, increasingly unreliable train service, and precipitous decline in revenues. The brevity of its existence narrowed the opportunity for coverage of its operations. It only existed from the New York Central/Pensylvania merger on Feburary 1, 1968, until the formation of Conrail on March 1, 1976. This book fills an information-void with its 208 photographs taken between 1970 and 1972. The photos, with their detailed captions, portray the 5,000-plus miles of PC's Southern Region, an especially volatile region. It was here in the Midwest that the Pennsylvania and New York Central lines overlapped most abrasively. Redundancy was rampant and called for intensive planning and capital projects to connect some of these lines and discard others so as to realize maximum operating efficiences. "A Sampling of Penn Central" is more than just a photographic documentation of the difficulties of the merger: every nook and cranny of this vast region is explored in detail, with four maps provided to enable the reader to stay oriented. Major terminals -Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis - are thoroughly dissected, for it was at those locations that make-or-break operations were conducted. Perhaps most important of all, "A Sampling of Penn Central" gives author Jerry Taylor the opportunity to reflect on those hectic days. With the benefit of almost 30 years distance his new introduction helps the reader understand the successes and failures of those most crucial days for the nation's premier railroad.

Table of Contents:
Table of contents (preliminary): Columbus Division Dispatchers' Office Pittsburgh-Columbus main line and Millersburg secondary track Cleveland-Bellefontaine main line and St. Marys branch Western branch north of Columbus, Eastern branch, and Thurston secondary track Western branch south of Columbus and Zanesville branch Southern branch and Hitop branch Columbus terminal area Buckeye Yard and vicinity Cincinnati Division Dispatchers' Office Sharon Yard and vicinity Cincinnati terminal area Dayton-Cincinnati main line, C&X branch, and Middletown secondary track London-Dayton main lines (via Springfield and Xenia) and Bellefontaine branch Northern branch Ansonia and south, Richmond branch, and Fort Wayne branch Columbus-Bradford-New Paris-Indianapolis main line Mechanicsburg branch, Springfield branch, and Northern branch north of Ansonia Southwest Division-former Indiana Division territory Bellefontaine-Indianapolis main line and Michigan branch Dispatchers' Office Cincinnati-Kankakee main line, L&A branch, and Whitewater branch Louisville branch, I&F branch, and Madison secondary track Petersburg, AW&W, and Lynnville secondary tracks Indianapolis terminal area Big Four Yard and vicinity Southwest Division-former St.Louis Division territory Dispatchers' Office Indianapolis-Terre Haute main line and Greencastle branch Terre Haute-East St. Louis main lines and Peoria secondary track East St. Louis terminal area Cairo branch and Danville branch Peoria and Eastern Railway