Penn Central F Units in Alliance

Penn Central F7A No. 1772 leads an eastbound passing through Alliance on Feb. 18, 1973. This train is headed for Bayard and then east. It is about to cross the Fort Wayne Line.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Penn Central Helpers in Alliance

Penn Central FP7A No. 4333 and GP9 No. 7337 are helpers on a westbound freight leaving Alliance on July 9, 1972. Helpers were often needed to help trains up the hill from Conway Yard near Pittsburgh to CP Wood and on up to a cut about two miles west of Wood. Many trains could have made this jaunt without help, but helper locomotives kept them moving faster on the busy Fort Wayne Line. The 7337 was built in December 1956 for the New York Central

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Alco, EMD and GE Motive Power in Alliance

How is this for a motive power consist? There are Alco, GE and EMD units pulling this Penn Central westbound train in Alliance in August 1972. The lead unit, PC 6300 is an Alco C628. A  GE U33B is also in the motive power lineup. Of note in the background is a transfer caboose and a Burlington boxcar.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

F Units in Alliance

PC F7A No. 1703 leads a train bound for Conway Yard near Pittsburgh down the Bayard Branch in Alliance in July 1972. The 1703 was built for the New York Central in May 1951. Although the scene depicts former Pennsylvania Railroad territory, the NYC had a line that passed through Alliance.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Penn Central GP40 in Alliance

Penn Central GP40 No. 3234 leads an eastbound train on the Fort Wayne Line in Alliance on Feb. 18, 1973. It’s a nice period piece of what the former Pennsylvania Railroad infrastructure once looked like here at this busy PRR junction. It can still at times be a busy place under Norfolk Southern ownership, but the scene is much changed.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Alliance as It Used to Be

One glance at this image and you can easily see how things have changed in Alliance over the years.

This image was made on July 9, 1972, of a westbound Penn Central train on the Fort Wayne Line. The locomotives that you see are helpers.

They include No. 4333 (EMD FP7A) and 7337 (EMD GP9). Of course just about everything you see in this scene is gone.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

When Penn Central Ruled Alliance

Alliance was a Pennsylvania Railroad town even if a branch of the New York Central passed through it.

But after the PRR and NYC merged in 1968 Alliance became purely Penn Central territory.

The image above was made early in the PC era on July 9, 1972, but traces of the predecessor roads were still around. Note the NYC boxcar in the yard behind the train.

The bottom image was made in late 1972 and shows PC 6336 and 6335 leading a southbound toward Bayard.

Conrail made changes in Alliance, but the track layout seen here is still largely in place in the Norfolk Southern era.

However, there aren’t as many weeds growing on the right of way and the brick passenger platform is not as wide.

Photograph by Robert Farkas