Portrait of a Conrail Geep

CR 8150 is in Alliance on Oct. 14, 1988. The GP38-2 was built in 1973 for Penn Central. It was not among the locomotives rebuilt by Conrail.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Conrail Eastbound in Alliance

Conrail B23-7 No. 1992 leads an eastbound in Alliance on Aug. 22, 1988. The unit was built in July 1979 and later wound up on the roster of the Fore River Transportation Company in eastern Massachusetts.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

A Conrail RoadRailer Memory

It’s a cloudless afternoon that is perfect for railroad photography. Conrail B36-7 No. 5010 leads a RoadRailer train out of Massillon on July 20, 1996.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Conrail at Mace

Conrail SD40-2 No. 6470 leads an eastbound trailer train through Mace in Massillon in May 1979. The 6470 was built by EMD for Conrail in 1978. The trailing unit appears to be a GP40 still in Penn Central black with minimal Conrail markings.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Switcher Sunday: Conrail Pair in Alliance

Conrail 8865 and 9095 are back-to-back in Alliance on Aug. 19, 1986. No. 8865 is an SW7 while the 9095 is an SW9. They are sitting in the yard adjacent to the Fort Wayne Line where it crosses and connects with the Cleveland Line.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Stepping Back to the Conrail Era

We’re feeling blue today so let the wayback machine take us to a time and place where blue locomotives were common. CR GE C39-8 No. 6006 is eastbound in Ravenna in July 1986. This unit would later be on the Norfolk Southern locomotive roster.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Good Catches While Trolling CSX, W&LE

I always remember Marty Surdyk using the fisherman’s term of “trolling” when hoping for a good catch.

On May 23, 2008, I had a good day of trolling during the afternoon before an Akron Railroad Club meeting. Craig Sanders and I caught a few unexpected prizes.

In Grafton as in photos one through three we caught CSX (ex Baltimore & Ohio) on the former Cleveland, Lorain & West Virginia) crossing the Big Four. Conrail units were still around but the surprise was the B&O caboose restored to excellent condition.

I also got a railfan (Craig) in the first photo. Often I did that on purpose to document who was on the scene.

Afterwards we were working our way to Spencer and we had a catch by surprise on the W&LE. Photos four and five show former Nickel Plate coaches 62 and 90 of the Midwest Railway Preservation Society being shipped to Wellington for short excursions on the Lorain & Wheeling.

Finally in photos six and seven on the former Akron, Canton & Youngstown we caught an empty Wheeling & Lake Erie stone hopper train headed back west to Carey.

Photo six was made west of Spencer while photo seven was at New London about to get on CSX (ex Big Four) on trackage rights to Greenwich.

Today I consider those heritage unit catches: Wisconsin Central, and Denver & Rio Grande Western.

I always wonder since we had good catches, did I have fish for dinner?

Photographs by Edward Ribinskas

Conrail Monday: Westbound Out of Massilon

Conrail SD40 No. 6297 leads a westbound out of Massillon on May 8, 1981. Today this stretch of the Fort Wayne Line is single track with no pole line and most of the background industry is missing.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Another Conrail Train in Alliance

Conrail GP40-2 No. 3400 is on the point of an eastbound intermodal train near Alliance on June 12, 1980. The unit despite its road dirt is still new having been built four months earlier. It would later go to join the Norfolk Southern motive power roster with roster number 3068.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Looks Like an Alco Except on the Inside

By outward apearances Conrail 9931 looks like an Alco locomotive. It was built in March 1953 for the Central of New Jersey as an RS3. But by the time this image was made on Nov. 1, 1980, it’s Alco power plant had been replaced by one built by EMD.

It is shown on the Fort Wayne Line in Canton at McKinley Tower were Conrail crossed the Chessie System branch to Mineral City. This was a Baltimore & Ohio route and much of it has been abandoned south of here.

This line, which is partly visible to the right of the locomotive nose, continued north to Akron and Cleveland and is used today by the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad between Akron and Independence.

The tower is partly visible in the upper left hand corner.

Photograph by Robert Farkas