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The same mechanism that saved Grand Central a decade later - legal intervention. The situation was pretty much the same. A bankrupt railroad wanted to demolish

The same mechanism that saved Grand Central a decade later - legal intervention. The situation was pretty much the same. A bankrupt railroad wanted to demolish a beautiful landmark to make money.

ghaff 10y ago
Fair enough. I actually hadn't realized that they were both Penn Central stations. (I assume that at some point they were terminals for two different railroads--hence the lack of decent connections between them just like Boston.)
- gaadd33 10y ago
  They were from two different railroads. Pennsylvania Station was from the Pennsylvania Railroad, Grand Central from the New York Central. They merged in 1968 to try and save both of railroads but it ended up not helping.
  - Aloha 10y ago
    The creation of the PennCentral was probably the most ill thought out merger in US history - but the regulation climate at the time wouldnt have allowed them to seek out a more rational merger partner (like an end to end merger with the likes of the CB&Q or GN) - also mergers took forever because of ICC forbearance - which mean the merger took 6-7 years to complete, and the perennially bankrupt New Haven was shotgunned in at the last moment - In short, failure was all but a foregone conclusion - but given the nature of the market that the time, there was but little choice to proceed. The railroads are an example of how excessive regulation can almost kill an industry - even the UP came mighty close to bankruptcy before deregulation.
    - ghaff 10y ago
      I knew that Penn Central was a massive bankruptcy but I never really looked into the whole history. I should read up on it when I get a chance. Any particular histories of railroads in the US you'd recommend? (I'm probably not interested enough to read one of the books specifically on the Penn Central.)
      - Aloha 10y ago
        https://www.amazon.com/Wreck-Penn-Central-Joseph-Daughen/dp/0316095206/ https://www.amazon.com/Wreck-Penn-Central-Joseph-Daughen/dp/... https://www.amazon.com/Men-Who-Loved-Trains-Railroads/dp/0253220319/ https://www.amazon.com/Men-Who-Loved-Trains-Railroads/dp/025... I've read the first two - I also plan on reading: https://www.amazon.com/Merging-Lines-American-Railoads-1900-1970/dp/0875807356/ https://www.amazon.com/Merging-Lines-American-Railoads-1900-... and https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0875803164 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0875803164 You might also check out the 3 part history of the Union Pacific by Maury Klein. https://www.amazon.com/Maury-Klein/e/B000APV4NC/ https://www.amazon.com/Maury-Klein/e/B000APV4NC/
nerfhammer 10y ago
They didn't want to demolish it, they were bankrupt. They were legally obligated to liquidate everything they could to pay off their creditors.
- Aloha 10y ago
  No.. thats not right either - Penn Station was demolished in 1962-63 - well before the Pennsylvania and New York Central merged. They did want to demolish it, because of prohibitively high maintenance costs.

The same mechanism that saved Grand Central a decade later - legal intervention. The situation was pretty much the same. A bankrupt railroad wanted to demolish a beautiful landmark to make money.

ghaff 10y ago

Fair enough. I actually hadn't realized that they were both Penn Central stations. (I assume that at some point they were terminals for two different railroads--hence the lack of decent connections between them just like Boston.)

gaadd33 10y ago
They were from two different railroads. Pennsylvania Station was from the Pennsylvania Railroad, Grand Central from the New York Central. They merged in 1968 to try and save both of railroads but it ended up not helping.
- Aloha 10y ago
  The creation of the PennCentral was probably the most ill thought out merger in US history - but the regulation climate at the time wouldnt have allowed them to seek out a more rational merger partner (like an end to end merger with the likes of the CB&Q or GN) - also mergers took forever because of ICC forbearance - which mean the merger took 6-7 years to complete, and the perennially bankrupt New Haven was shotgunned in at the last moment - In short, failure was all but a foregone conclusion - but given the nature of the market that the time, there was but little choice to proceed. The railroads are an example of how excessive regulation can almost kill an industry - even the UP came mighty close to bankruptcy before deregulation.
  - ghaff 10y ago
    I knew that Penn Central was a massive bankruptcy but I never really looked into the whole history. I should read up on it when I get a chance. Any particular histories of railroads in the US you'd recommend? (I'm probably not interested enough to read one of the books specifically on the Penn Central.)
    - Aloha 10y ago
      https://www.amazon.com/Wreck-Penn-Central-Joseph-Daughen/dp/0316095206/ https://www.amazon.com/Wreck-Penn-Central-Joseph-Daughen/dp/... https://www.amazon.com/Men-Who-Loved-Trains-Railroads/dp/0253220319/ https://www.amazon.com/Men-Who-Loved-Trains-Railroads/dp/025... I've read the first two - I also plan on reading: https://www.amazon.com/Merging-Lines-American-Railoads-1900-1970/dp/0875807356/ https://www.amazon.com/Merging-Lines-American-Railoads-1900-... and https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0875803164 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0875803164 You might also check out the 3 part history of the Union Pacific by Maury Klein. https://www.amazon.com/Maury-Klein/e/B000APV4NC/ https://www.amazon.com/Maury-Klein/e/B000APV4NC/

nerfhammer 10y ago

They didn't want to demolish it, they were bankrupt. They were legally obligated to liquidate everything they could to pay off their creditors.

Aloha 10y ago
No.. thats not right either - Penn Station was demolished in 1962-63 - well before the Pennsylvania and New York Central merged. They did want to demolish it, because of prohibitively high maintenance costs.