Steve Lubetkin, a former Conrail executive (albeit, like many corporate types a "boomer" in the corporate world) has posted on his blog an online video showing a thirty-minute "propaganda" film made by Penn Central in 1974, during the midst of their bankruptcy and begging for a government bail-out:

http://www.lubetkin.net/blog/

No matter what anyone may think of any comparisons (apt or no) to the current bailouts of the auto and airline industries, the way the respective industries got into said messes, etc., the fact that someone preserved this film and transferred it to video is noteworthy. No matter what those who lived through the bad old days of Penn Central and early Conrail may think, this is indeed a part of railroad history worth preserving........

..... if for no other reason than to show the online "young punks" of today that constantly deride CSX, NS, etc. as "bad track" and a "terrible railroad" what a REALLY bad railroad actually looked like!

There's further railroad content further down in the blog, much comparing the PC situation to the automakers' current straits. (Please carry on political rants in his blog's comments, not here--I'm just pointing out the history to be saved.....)

That is a remarkable video, even for those of us who lived through it. It is easy to forget in what poor shape Penn Central was ... I've always said, deregulation came twenty years too late.

There is some very cool footage in that video. I wish I could have seen more of the movable bridges in Wilmington.

This is really worth watching- thanks for posting. Kind of puts the average railway museum track and working conditions in perspective!

A slightly larger window version is found on Blip TV: http://blip.tv/file/1566325

Happy New Year!