The real Pan Am on Wake Island

I have been reading several books about WWII in the South Pacific. I just Googled Pan Am in Wake Island. To my surprise, I found a picture of a Pan Am locomotive on Wake Island. More like a small switcher unit. I never knew that Wake Island had a "short line" RR. I"m wondering if they used this to pull the flying boats out of the lagoon.

http://www.west.net/~ke6jqp/clipper/clipper.htm

SST wrote:I have been reading several books about WWII in the South Pacific. I just Googled Pan Am in Wake Island. To my surprise, I found a picture of a Pan Am locomotive on Wake Island. More like a small switcher unit. I never knew that Wake Island had a "short line" RR. I"m wondering if they used this to pull the flying boats out of the lagoon.

http://www.west.net/~ke6jqp/clipper/clipper.htm

I think it's absolutely amazing to consider that Pan Am actually owned a railroad locomotive prior to WWII, even if it was just a 4-wheel Plymouth switcher half a world away. It even wore the same logo as today's Pan Am Railways locomotives!

In regards to the "real" Pan Am, I realize many folks are reluctant to accept the legitimacy of Pan Am's transition from "the world's most experienced airline" to a New England regional railroad. Nevertheless, all those dark blue locomotives running around New England with Pan Am logos are very real.

I swear we had a thread on this topic at one point, and someone posted that same picture of the PAA locomotive, but now I can't find it. Thanks for posting it, SST. And if anyone remembers the previous thread and knows where it is, please let me know!

Sorry if this is a repeat. I was going to post this in New York State where I usually post but I looked on the index list and found Pan Am. So I posted here.

A friend of mine who worked for Pan Am Express and then Trans World Express with me, served with the Air Force back in the early 70's for 1 year. He also suspects the RR was used to pull the flying boats out of the water. But he also thinks that the RR went around the island as well. I google mapped Wake Island and zoomed in all the way. There are places that look like track may have been laid at some point. I also suspect that the super typhoon may have removed alot of it too.

No apology necessary! I was happy to see that link again... and even happier to see it in light of not being able to find the old thread.

guilfordrailfan wrote:In regards to the "real" Pan Am, I realize many folks are reluctant to accept the legitimacy of Pan Am's transition from "the world's most experienced airline" to a New England regional railroad. Nevertheless, all those dark blue locomotives running around New England with Pan Am logos are very real.

True, although if we're to go there it's valid to keep in mind that Pan Am Railways (and I wouldn't be averse to seeing them put "Pan American World Railways" on the equipment, just for fun) merely bought the trademarks, etc. from the estate of the original airline, and are in no way a genuine corporate successor to Juan Trippe's global empire.

Actually, I might take that back, if it was the case that the ill-fated Pan Am airline that operated out of Portsmouth actually was running under the original Pan Am's certificate. I somehow doubt that was the case, though.

markhb wrote:Actually, I might take that back, if it was the case that the ill-fated Pan Am airline that operated out of Portsmouth actually was running under the original Pan Am's certificate. I somehow doubt that was the case, though.

I believe Guilford's Pan Am (also known as "Pan Am III") continued to use the Carnival Air Lines certificate that they inherited from Pan Am Corporation (a.k.a. "Pan Am II").

guilfordrailfan wrote:In regards to the "real" Pan Am, I realize many folks are reluctant to accept the legitimacy of Pan Am's transition from "the world's most experienced airline" to a New England regional railroad. Nevertheless, all those dark blue locomotives running around New England with Pan Am logos are very real.

Not to veer too far off topic here, but personally I cringe every time I see a locomotive or rail car with Pan Am on it. The Boston and Maine, Maine Central, and Delaware and Hudson were living, breathing parts of our collective cultural heritage, and many a man literally gave their life to build and run them over more than a century of growth. The predecessor railroads of GRS played major roles in preparing and supplying this country for victory in two world wars, and as an amateur student of history I find them to have been (and remain) far more than just words on a dusty old page or a battered, faded gondola. Pretty and blue or not, the Pan Am name simply reminds me of men playing and failing at being airline magnates and settling on the railroad that they never seemed to even want, eschewing its legacy in the process. Don't get me wrong, the airline earned more than just a footnote in its own right, but when standing upon the shoulders of giants I think we at least owe them the dignity of a proper acknowledgement.

I don't disagree with any of that... but I also don't see how it's any different than 15 years of "Guilford Rail System," with the railroads' names demoted to tiny "MEC" or "BM" reporting marks.

Point being, they snuffed out any/all memories of the original railroads long before they got into the airline biz.

Living in Western New York I rarely see a Pan Am rail car. So when I do, I get enjoyment out of it as it brings back memories working in JFK. But despite the paperwork on how the transactions took place, right or wrong, I don't see the current operations of the Pan Am name as being connected to the original Pan Am, even knowing that PA had at least one RR on Wake Island. Just my opinion of course.

The first time I saw the new PA occured while driving home from NYC. I was westbound on the I-90 west of ALB. As I'm overtaking traffic, I see a truck full of blue stuff. As I get closer, I see that the truck is packed with Pan Am stuff. I think a couple of baggage carts, a Ground Power Unit or two.....other stuff I no longer remember. Long ago...perhaps as far as 10 years.