Whose idea was ot to keep PC going after 1976?

[carajul]

I've often wondered this. Who was it at the top that kept PC holding co going aftet CR in 1976? I know Perlman was terminated by the board after the bk and Saunders was politely asked to leave too.

Did a new corporate board or CEO get the idea "hey let's try to save this company and keep it going" or did outside investors buy the stock dirt cheap or something?

In all the bools I've read its never explained. Just oooop 4/1/76 and CR is here.

I know the bk trustees forced PC to sell a lot of their NY real estate assets and otjer subsidiary companies.

I mean somebody had to be calling the shots at the top.

[Noel Weaver]

Just because the bulk of the railroad properties were conveyed to Conrail the former railroad companies of which Penn Central was the largest and best known still remained in existance to manage the properties that did not end up with Conrail. This included not only railroad lines that were not to be operated by Conrail but real estate and other assets. Properties and facilities remained to be sold, scrapped, leased out or otherwise disposed of and this took a considerable period of time after day one of Conrail in 1976.
Noel Weaver

[L&HR C&S]

Noel has it right; The Lehigh & Hudson River Railway was in existance til 1981 or so doing the same thing. And they where the smallest railroad to go into Conrail.

[carajul]

I understand what you are saying about the corporation remaining to tie up lose ends such as real estate et al. But while the other fallen flags were dissolved after doing that or raided by Wall St scum, the Penn Central was all of a sudden an insurance company and did not dissolve. That's what I'm getting at. How did that happen? Someone (new CEO) had to take the idea to do it. In all the books I read PC was basically just not talked about after 4/1/76.

Saunders, Perlman, and Beavan were dismissed by the PC board of directors who did nothing anyway, the bk trustees took over, THEN WHAT...

[ExCon90]

Penn Central ceased to be a railroad in 1976 -- it did not cease to be a company. It had assets which had to be managed, and while I didn't follow its activities after 1976 it apparently emerged from bankruptcy as a going concern (and still is, though I can't remember the new name) -- it became just another corporation. The Reading Company likewise remained in existence for quite a while after 1976, as did the other bankrupt estates, as far as I know.

[JimBoylan]

PennCentral is now American Premier, in the insurance business. Whatever Reading Company is called, they now are mainly in the Australian movie theater business. ErieLackawanna successfully liquidated. I think that Central Jersey Industries, the old Central Railroad of New Jersey, is into real estate ownership. I think that Lehigh Valley and Lehigh & Hudson River also liquidated.

[D.Carleton]

Penn Central Corporation became American Premier Underwriters which was acquired by American Financial Group in 1995. As an aside they still own 55% of Amtrak common stock.

[ajt]

A large part of the predecessor RR's decisions to continue in exist in other industries had to do with tax loss carryovers. PC, RDG, CNJ etc had plenty and could use them advantageously if they continued in other profitmaking businesses. EL had none (theirs were used by N&W during the Dereco days) so liquidation was their best route.

[130MM]

For a while in the '80's Penn Central owned Sperry Rail Service, the rail defect detection company. The cars were lettered "Penn Central Company" in smaller print above the windows on the side of the car. I have a slide somewhere. So the last official piece of Penn Central rolling stock was a Sperry Car!

DAW

[charlie6017]

So the last official piece of Penn Central rolling stock was a Sperry Car!

How ironic is that considering how often the Penn Central was hitting the ground from 1968 to 1976?

Charlie

[ExCon90]

So the last official piece of Penn Central rolling stock was a Sperry Car!

How ironic is that considering how often the Penn Central was hitting the ground from 1968 to 1976?

Charlie

I think that mostly the rails themselves were OK, just a little too far apart now and again, and not always completely upright, there not being much underneath them -- but nobody needed a Sperry car to see that. Come to think of it, would the pitching and rolling have interfered with the Sperry cars' ability to read the rails accurately?