RE: (erielack) What Locals Called the Railroads

["Tupaczewski, Paul R (Paul)" <paultup_@_lucent.com>]

Alan Samostie wrote:

> Although many commuters hated them, the electric MU cars kept 
> the EL name alive in North Jersey years after the railroad 
> itself was gone. 
> (Many of the push-pull coaches and U34CHs still had EL logos, 
> but never bore the EL name).  Until NJT became firmly 
> established, radio announcers still referred to the former EL 
> commuter lines as EL.

The EL MU cars rolled right until retirement wearing full ERIE LACKAWANNA
lettering and numbers (with the few that got the red or orange paint). The
Comet I coaches and U-boats wore EL logos until around 1983 or 1984 - pretty
odd considering the railroad ceased to exist 7 years earlier!

Growing up in Boonton, all my family friends and neighbors called the
railroad (even well into the 1990s) as "the Erie Lackawanna." Only recently
do people call it "NJ Transit," but there are still a lot of folks who call
it the "Lackawanna" or "Erie Lackawanna." It shows you what kind of lasting
impression the railroad made!

	- Paul

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