Category: Conrail

Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail for short) was created by the US government, as a result of several major eastern railroad bankruptcies in the 1970’s. The end result was a well-run, profitable railroad; a true ‘rags to riches’ story, which the government then sold to the other two major eastern roads, Norfolk Southern Corporation and CSX Transportation, in a 58-42 split. Conrail does still survive, as Conrail Shared Assets Operations, serving as a terminal switching entity only, owning no locomotives or railcars.

Chemical Coast Secondary hosts other railroads’ locomotives

Conrail

With the frequent unit ethanol trains arriving in NJ from the midwest, locomotives from other railroads are commonly seen on the Conrail Chemical Coast Secondary, which is just a few miles from the Atlantic Ocean. Today is no exception, as the power from yesterday’s Norfolk Southern train 68Q traverses the ‘Hess’ crossovers in Port Reading, NJ, for a reverse move into the CSAO Port Reading Yard, until a crew is called to take an empty train back west.

Today’s lashup is interesting for two reasons; first of all, Burlington Northern Santa Fe C44-9W 4412 is a welcome splash of color in NJ (considering the ‘basic black’ of the NS fleet), and secondly, a four-axle unit is part of todays lineup. The unit ethanol trains almost always get six-axle power assigned to them, but here we see a GP40-2 (NS 3045, ex-CR 3355, blt 3/79) sandwiched by two big GE units, with the leader being NS C40-9W 9365.

Image recorded August 18, 2010.

Click on the image to display it at a larger size. Use your browser’s Back button to return to this page.

Conrail Shared Assets Operations in shadows of oil refinery

Conrail

In the shadows of the Hess Oil refinery sits the small, but very busy, Conrail Shared Assets Operations Port Reading Yard in Port Reading, NJ. Conrail Shared Assets is a terminal switching railroad, the remnants of the Consolidated Rail Corporation empire of the 1980s and 1990s, which was divided between CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway in 1999.

In the metropolitan NY/NJ area, the ‘Shared Assets’ operation is independent of the two big railroads, with the stipulation that CSX & NS both supply locomotives for power, while Conrail crews operate the trains. This day we find CSX 2810 (ex-Conrail 8724, blt 6/79) sitting patiently in front of the yard office with a handful of cars, waiting for her crew to continue the day’s work.

Image recorded August 3, 2010.

Click on the image to display it at a larger size. Use your browser’s Back button to return to this page.

At 50-plus, these two locomotives show no signs of retiring

Conrail, Raritan Central

OK, folks, here we go again with ‘what year is this?’ … 1980, 1990? We know it’s after the formation of Conrail in 1976, as the lead unit wears the CR colors, but EMD hasn’t produced GP7’s or GP9’s since the early 1960s. The two modern centerbeam flat cars, whose size almost dwarfs the two locomotives, are a good indication that this photo was taken in the last 20 years. The second unit looks to be in very good condition, with new paint applied not too long ago; I wonder what colors she wore previously? Is it possible that these two units are in excess of 50 years of age?!

Well…….yes, it’s possible, and you should hear these girls sing. These are two of the six units on the property of the Raritan Central Railway, serving the Raritan Industrial Center in Edison, NJ.

Now for the history….RCRY 7579, now classified as a GP10, was originally built for the Pennsylvania Railroad as PRR 7121 in June of 1957 (!), and survived the Penn Central years to become a part of the Conrail fleet, where she was retired and put up for sale. RCRY 7545, also classified as a GP10 after rebuilding years ago, was constructed for the New York Central Railroad in August of 1957 as NYC 6065, and also survived the PC and CR years to work again in the 21st century.

It’s not often that I have the opportunity to photograph revenue-producing locomotives older than myself, but this is the case today, as the very efficient crew of the Raritan Central backs into their yard with two empties on a bright sunny day in Edison, NJ, in the year …………………… Two Thousand Ten.

Image recorded July 22, 2010.

Click on the image to display it at a larger size. Use your browser’s Back button to return to this page.

Middletown preserves old freight house structure

Conrail, NJ Transit Rail Operations

There’s a good amount of history in this photo from Middletown, NJ. This line, the former New York & Long Branch RR (now operated by New Jersey Transit Rail Operations), was originally built in 1875 to bring New Yorkers to the resort towns and sandy beaches of central coastal New Jersey. Fortunately, the Township of Middletown saw fit to preserve the original freight house built in the early 1880’s, one of the first such structures built on the railroad.

Today, Middletown is one of the largest station stops on NJ Transit, with a huge commuter parking lot and a newer station with high-level platforms to serve the public just behind the photographer. On this beautiful spring day we see Conrail Shared Assets train SA31 traversing the NJ Transit North Jersey Coast Line on its way south (railroad west) to Red Bank, where it will leave the Coast Line and venture down the former Central RR of NJ Southern Division main, now referred to as the Conrail Southern Secondary. Norfolk Southern GP38-2 5282 is quite familiar with this area, as she was built in February 1973 as Penn Central 8079, and served the Conrail years as CR 8079, before being absorbed by NS in the Conrail split-up of 1999.

At age 37, this old workhorse seems to have a few more good years left in her career before retirement.

Image recorded May 13, 2010.

Click on the image to display it at a larger size. Use your browser’s Back button to return to this page.

Despite age and reduced volume, mainline still operational

Conrail

A former Conrail locomotive (ex-CR 3356, blt 3/79), CSX GP40-2 4431 mostly saw mainline service in her younger years. This line, the former CNJ Southern Division mainline, then CR Southern Secondary, now Conrail Shared Assets Southern Secondary, generally hosted smaller units, such as the GP38-2, GP15-1, and B23-7 model locomotives during the Conrail years (1976-1999).

Now that the bigger 4-axle units are getting older, this once proud mainline now sees once proud mainline locomotives, as seen here in Farmingdale, NJ, with CSAO symbol SA31 bringing its small train through town on her way south to Lakewood, NJ. This is a bittersweet moment; this line is not nearly what it once was, but it is operational and does see a once-weekly train where there could easily be rusted, overgrown, and abandoned rail for us all to lament over.

Many thanks to Woodhaven Lumber in Lakewood, NJ, for generating enough inbound traffic to keep the trains rolling on this old and historic line.

Image recorded April 29, 2010.

Click on the image to display it at a larger size. Use your browser’s Back button to return to this page.