Pennsylvania’s “clocker”, 1936-1950s

Fred Klein, 2010, 2012, 2013

The busiest section of railroad in the county was Pennsylvania Railroad’s northeast corridor between New York City and Washington. To satisfy demand for the New York to Philadelphia part of this trip, the Pennsylvania ran train service with departures on the hour, and the trains were thus known as “clockers”. They were billed as travelling 90 miles in 90 minutes. Electrification of the PRR from New York to Philadelphia was completed in 1935, and trains were led by the famous GG1 electric locomotives. These routine, unglamorous locals did not get the most modern equipment. The common P70 coaches, built from 1914 to the 1920s, were standard equipment for the clockers. Longer trains in the early years (and during commute hours) had parlor cars, diners and “club” series parlor-buffet cars.

 

A clocker at Broad Street station in Philadelphia. This 1940s era train is longer than later clockers from the 1950s and may be typical of trains during commute hours. Photo from Lucius Beebe and Charles Clegg’s The Trains We Rode, Promontory Press, 1965, page 602.

 

A Pennsy “clocker” at Newark New Jersey in the late 1950s or 60s. The first two coaches are older P70 coaches, and the last may be a 1947 P85 coach. Photo from Pike size passenger trains, by Mike Schaefer, Model Railroader, November 1980.

 

I show two trains to represent two successive time periods. The consists are only possibilities: the number of baggage cars (if any) varied, the number of coaches varied, and the inclusion of other extended service cars like parlor cars all varied according to need. The GG1 electric locomotives were introduced in 1936 when electrification of the line was complete, and that begins the first time period. Coaches in the pre-war and wartime eras were painted plain, or possibly with some fine black stripes that do not show up in photographs. After world war II (1947 is a representative year), passenger cars were painted tuscan with three fine stripes. In 1952, some of the GG1s were painted tuscan to match the passenger cars, and that is an option for trains. In the mid 1950s, most of the GG1s were repainted with a large stripe and a large keystone symbol instead of the previous 5 stripes.

 

 

 

The whole train, 1936-1947

 

The model clocker train above is like an older version of the color photo above. The GG1 is a Kato model, and the Brunswick green paint with 5 stripes is appropriate for the pre-war, wartime, and early postwar years. The baggage car in the photograph is from Seaboard Air Line, but the closest car I have is a Wheels of Time model of an Atlantic Coast Line baggage car. The P70 model coaches (two custom-painted Model Power and one factory-painted Con cor) are not air conditioned, but 1940s and later coaches should have enclosed roof ducts to be prototypical. Needless to say, there is no fixed clocker consist used throughout the 1936-1950s period.

 

1947-late 1950s clocker, first part

 

After the war, 5-stripe brunswick green GG1s were still the norm, here with a Kato model. The most common baggage PRR car during the 30s through the 50s was the 60’ Pennsylvania B60b with arched roof. They were used as needed on most passenger trains and traveled on many off-line express trains around the county. These are made from Hellgate models resin kits, one with roof vents and one without. The first P70 coach is a prototypical Model Power model with its post war stripes.

 

1947-late 1950s, second part

 

Two more yellow-stripe coaches follow. The models are factory-decorated micro-trains paired-window coaches. They are modeled after a Pullman coach made for the B&O, but are fairly close to and have the same window arrangement as the P70 coach prototype. The train ends with a 28-seat parlor car for first class passengers. The model is a factory-painted micro-trains car, which is prototypical to the type used by the Pennsylvania.

 

More modern P85 coaches (built in the PRR shops in 1947) sometimes found their way into clocker trains (see color photo above). These were typical postwar coaches for long distance trains (see the page on the 1950 Admiral) and had more comfortable and more widely spaced seats than the old P70 coaches. This is a Centralia-Intermountain model.

 

 

After 1952, GG1’s painted tuscan were in the electric locomotive pool. The model is by Kato.

 

 

References

Beebe, Lucius and Charles Clegg. The Trains We Rode, Promontory Press, 1965.

Schaefer, Mike. Pike size passenger trains, Model Railroader, November 1980.

 

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