Pittsburgh & Lake Erie had been a semi-autonomous part of the New York Central System for decades and this status carried on through the Penn Central merger of 1968. The New York Central System logos were gradually replaced with new Penn Central logos (although a wider version than that typically used by their parent.) The collapse of Penn Central put the P&LE in an odd position. They were still making money and didn’t need to be “re-organized.” As such, they were not included in the Conrail consolidation. Penn Central, stripped of their own railroad and having become mostly an insurance company, finally sold their stake in P&LE in 1979. P&LE remained independent until they were acquired by CSX in 1993.

FEATURES:

• die cast slope sheet-hopper bay-center sill assembly
• injection molded plastic sides, ends, and hopper doors
• fully molded brake tank, valve and air lines
• body mounted brake hose detail
• load
• body mounted magnetically operating knuckle couplers
• close coupling
• Fox Valley Models metal wheels