Pennsylvania Railroad Company. Dept. of Special Services.

The Special Services Dept. was created on November 1, 1955 as the Research & Development Dept. and was renamed the Dept. of Special Services on March 1, 1958. It lasted until the consummation of the Penn Central merger of February 1, 1968, at which time it was abolished.

The department had its beginnings in March 1953, when W. W. Patchell was appointed vice president and put in charge of special projects, particularly those connected with the long-distance and commuter passenger problems. Patchell's title was changed to Vice President-Research & Development in 1955. Despite its name, the R&D Dept. was not devoted to technical research but rather to special interdepartmental projects that required both technical and marketing inputs. The first important projects were piggyback transportation and the development of lightweight, low-center-of-gravity passenger trains.

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