
Conrail GP38-2 No. 8010 is westbound west of Massillon on May 11, 1985. More likely than not, this is an Orrville Railroad Heritage Society excursion returning from Pittsburgh.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
Norfolk Southern took over from Conrail the Chicago Line between Cleveland and Chicago on June 1, 1999. Shown above are two views of NS trains made during the first year of NS operation of the Chicago Line.
As seen in the top image, Conrail locomotives were still quite common during that era. Former CR C36-7 No. 8485 leads a westbound with a lease unit helping out. The photo was made on Nov. 6, 1999.
A few months later another westbound passes the former BE Tower with a pair of NS units and a former Burlington Northern locomotive. The latter may be a lease unit as its BN markings appear to have been painted over. The photo was made on Feb. 26, 2000.
Photographs by Craig Sanders
It is May 31, 1999, the last day of Conrail operation. Come Monday Norfolk Southern and CSX will take over operating their respective segments of Conrail.
The last day of Conrail fell on a Sunday and I spent much of the day in Berea watching Conrail trains for the final time.
My recollection is traffic on that day was less than normal. Much of what what ran were intermodal and auto rack trains.
Show above is a three-image sequence of a westbound auto rack train. In the top image the train is about to cross Front Street. In the bottom image the rear of the train is passing the former Big Four passenger depot.
You may notice in the middle image that the motive power consist includes units of CSX and NS. The Conrail lead unit has already been patched for the railroad that will take it over.
The next time I would visit Berea the tracks shown here would be CSX property.
Article and Photographs by Craig Sanders