It is July 1972 in Alliance where Penn Central GP35 No. 2381 is eastbound on the ex-Pennsylvania Fort Wayne Line. The train is about to pass the passenger station just behind me. The old bridge with its signals adds to the scene. The train is crossing over the original Cleveland & Pittsburgh route to Bayard and beyond.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
Penn Central GP35 No. 2353 is in Alliance in September 1972. The unit was built for the Pennsylvania Railroad so it is on home rails.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
It may look like a Conrail unit, but No. SD40-2 No. 3404 is now working for Norfolk Southern. It is leading a westbound making the transition from the Fort Wayne Line to the Cleveland Line in Alliance on Nov. 12, 2010. The unit was built in November 1978
Photograph by Robert Farkas
In a classic Alliance shot, Norfolk Southern 9206 leads an eastbound stack train making the transition from the Cleveland Line to the Fort Wayne Line en route to Conway Yard near Pittsburgh and beyond. Note the former Conrail unit trailing. The image was made on Nov. 12, 2010.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
Norfolk Southern C409W No. 9670 is leading an eastbound train on the Cleveland Line in Alliance on Aug. 24, 2013. The train is entering the connection to the Fort Wayne Line continue its journey toward Conway Yard near Pittsburgh.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
On Wednesday morning the Pennsylvania Railroad heritage unit was leading train 14N and I thought that would be a perfect train to chase down the Cleveland Line single main and possibly catch a few other trains as well.
I arrived at Alliance at 11a.m. just in time to watch a double-stack train go east on the mainline.
This was not a good sign. Had NS reopened the mainline through the wreck area at East Palestine? It turned out they had not done so yet but would have a track open in a few hours.
The 14N was holding west of town and would spend the rest of the afternoon there before the crew outlawed.
I knew of a couple westbound trains that were coming so I went to Wellsville to try and catch them. I missed a 25P but I did find a 35N and chased that train back to Alliance.
It was almost dark when 35N left Alliance heading for Cleveland.
There were two more westbounds, a 171 and a 15N, but these both came after dark so no photos of them.
Article and Photographs by Todd Dillon
The wayback machine has taken us to Alliance in December 1974. Conrail is still two years away and Norfolk Southern is still the name of a regional railroad in Virginia and North Carolina. This is a Penn Central town and we see U25B No. 2743 on an assignment.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
As Conrail GP40-2 No. 3353 works in the small yard across from the old ex-Pennsylvania Railroad station in Alliance, a westbound intermodal train led by LMS C40-8W No. 710 passes on the Fort Wayne Line on Oct. 19, 1996.
The 3353 was built in March 1979 while No. 710 dates to October 1994. Locomotive Management Services was jointly owned by Conrail and General Electric and provided motive power to railroads, notably Conrail, Union Pacific and Canadian National, that needed additional locomotives to meet their service needs.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
We asked the wayback machine to take us to a time and place where we could see a motive power consist of mixed eras. That was how we wound up in Alliance on Dec. 23, 1978, to see a consist of Conrail, Erie Lackawanna and Penn Central liveries.
Conrail was just over two years old and such sights would not last much longer. Note that the ex-EL and ex-PC units have a CR initial stenciled on their flanks.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
In the foreground is the bus-stop type shelter that served as the Amtrak station in Alliance for several years. A little to the south of the shelter is the new station that Amtrak built in spring 2011. The new station looks much nicer but provides little more than what the existing station did. Both stations were little more than a shelter against the elements. This image was made on April 17, 2011.
Alliance is a stop for the Chicago-Washington Capitol Limited and for a few years also was served by the Chicago-Philadelphia Pennsylvanian.
Photograph by Craig Sanders
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