Waiting Patiently

The Pennsylvania Railroad ran both electric and steam locomotives on their

lines. The locomotive on the front of this post card is waiting for a power swap that occurred at South Amboy station. The electric locomotives would bring the train this far, then hand over the consist to the steam locomotives for the rest of the trip. This happened from 1938, when the Pennsylvania Railroad extended electrification from its New York-Washington D.C. The trade off was made between GGI electrics and steam locomotives until 1957, when the Pennsylvania Railroad switched the final steam locomotive for diesels. Penn Central, and its successor railroads continued the switching of power until 1988. This is when the rest of the line was electrified and the switching was no longer required. The article on this website has a great story of a gentleman who was able to participate in a historic recreation of the power switch: https://www.railwayage.com/news/njt-40th-anniversary-express-south-amboy-power-swap-redux/

The post card was published by Audio Visual Designs out of Earlton, New York. It has a 5-digit zip code, so we know that it was published after 1963. The picture was taken in 1954 by Richard R. Wallin.