Trains of the ‘40s

Trains of the ‘40s.

Since I was so pleased with “Trains of the ‘60s,” I decided I should get “Trains of the ‘40s,” a more recent magazine-format booklet by Classic Trains magazine.
But “Trains of the‘40s” ain’t “Trains of the ‘60s.” What I liked about “Trains of the ‘60s” is it had many articles by David P. Morgan, editor of Trains Magazine in the ‘60s, a really great writer, and the reason I subscribed back in 1966.

DPM.

I’ve subscribed ever since.
David had pretty much same appreciation of railroading I had, and also made me think.
“Trains” was first published in 1940 by Al Kalmbach as an adjunct to his Model Railroader Magazine, first published as the January 1934 issue.
It could be said “Trains of the ‘40s” is pretty much Kalmbach, although there are other writers from that time that Kalmbach published in Trains.
But there are multiple articles by Kalmbach, and he ain’t Morgan.
I feel like “Trains of the ‘40s” is required reading. It ain’t the fabulous stuff of Morgan.
The ‘40s was a very important time for railroading. It could be said our nation won WWII because of the railroads.
Huge amounts of freight and passengers gravitated to the railroads. And unlike Germany, our railroads weren’t being bombed.
A vast ocean insulated our infrastructure. We were slow to get rolling, but once we did we were unbeatable.
Hitler tried to sabotage our railroads, but the plot fizzled. Targets were Pennsy’s tunnels over Allegheny Mountain, and Hell Gate Bridge in New York City, among other locations including Horseshoe Curve.
But the tiny band of saboteurs got caught.
I don’t know as the saboteurs would have made much difference. The tunnels would have been reopened, and Hell Gate rebuilt.
Too much remained, and was put to heavy use.
Destroyed tunnels and bridges would have slowed things, but detours would have been found.
“Trains of the ‘40s” does a giant treatment of the saboteur plot. But I can’t get much interested; it’s not Morgan.
Despite railroading’s contribution to the war effort, there was more at play after the war ended.
Railroading thought it was gonna be pre-eminent; but didn’t notice the car and airlines.
Railroads were switching to diesel locomotives, and investing heavily in streamlined passenger-cars.
“Trains of the ‘40s” recognizes that. There’s a giant article on GM’s “Train of Tomorrow.”
Like HELLO; it’s General Motors. They manufacture automobiles.
It seems all business organizations follow a cycle, rise followed by decline and fall.
In the late ‘40s the railroads began falling apart. Now even GM has declared bankruptcy. Awash in the good fortune of their technology, they become targets, then falter of their own weight.
The railroads performed miracles during WWII, but then declined after the war and collapsed in disarray.
There is one article in “Trains of the ‘40s” I’ll read, a treatment of Spuyten Duyvil interlocking north of New York City, published by Kalmbach long ago.
Spuyten Duyvil is the junction of the Hudson and Harlem rivers north of Manhattan. It’s where New York Central divided into freight and passengers into Manhattan Island.
Freight went down Manhattan Island via the West Side Line, and passengers continued along the Harlem River toward Grand Central Terminal.
But I probably won’t read much else.
There is one article by DPM I’ll probably read, about coming dieselization.

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I have read the article by Morgan. It’s 1949, so before his finding full flower.
I’ll publish the first paragraph; it seems to have the flash he later developed.

“The courtship of the diesel locomotive by the railroads has run it’s erratic course from a shy flirtation on the back porch of Jersey Central to a formal wedding, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer.
The question is no longer one of proposal but simply, ’How long will the honeymoon last?’’’

But it’s more like an assignment, not a reflection. Like Kalmbach told him he needed a report on dieselization by the railroads.
Morgan had a similar long report on Denver & Rio Grande Western in “Trains of the ‘60s” that was much better — more interesting.
And this was from a steam-junky, which Morgan was, and I still am.


Oh my goodness! (Photo by BobbaLew.)