"The Pennsy wanted to make the track areas and stations look good. They gave out prizes to different sections for beauty and upkeep."
- Lou Johnston, Posy Gang member

A Hint of Nature in a Mechanical World
Among the hundreds of jobs on the Pennsylvania Railroad was a gardner foreman, whose duty was to cultivate flower beds on railroad property. The crew that did the spade work was called the Posy Gang. Mostly they planted around stations and switch towers to spruce them up for the public - like the Princeton, New Jersey station and its 1,000 pink and white rose bushes that bloomed every summer. But you could also find gardens at Horseshoe Curve and sprinkled throughout the Juniate Shops complex.

Flowers Can't Grow on Cinders
Lou Johnston, who worked on the gang when he was 16, remembers, "There would be a foot of cinders in places and we would scatter this manure. Then we would plant thousands of flowers."

Posy gangs ended with the arrival of the Great Depression, as the PRR trimmed half of its work force.

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Show me all markers in:  Altoona, PA  |  Blair County  |  16602  |  Pennsylvania  |  United States of America

The Master Mechanic
PRR Class X29L Steel Boxcar No. 2136
PRR Class N5 Cabin Car (or Caboose) No. 477577
PRR Class D78F Dining Car No. 4468
The Altoona Works
Pennsylvania Railroad Shops
Track Cars
The Juniata Shops
PRR Express Refrigerator Car No. 2561
Scale Test Weight Car

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