Conrail came into being 49 years ago—April 1, 1976.
In honor of this momentous event for Northeastern Railroading, I am posting this view I made of Conrail SD40-2 6364 passing Lilly, Pa., on its ascent of the Alleghenies working the former Pennsylvania Railroad main line.
This was exposed on a sunny morning in November 1998, Conrail’s last full year as a Class-1 carrier.
I spent more than 20 years photographing Conrail trains. Yet, it always amazes me how much of the Conrail network that I never saw in action.
About ten years ago I was photographing at Washington, Mass., near the summit of CSX’s Boston Line —the former Boston & Albany—and saw my first ever FedEx trailer rolling west on an intermodal train.
I’m sufficiently antique that I remember sending a package when the company was called ‘Federal Express.’
At the end of October, Kris and I caught an eastward Norfolk Southern intermodal train at Lilly, Pa., that was largely hauling FedEx boxes. We were both impressed—especially by the BNSF stack wells.
I made these images using my Nikon Z-series mirrorless cameras.
Big Blue had just six full months left. Mike Gardner and I made another epic whirlwind trip to Pennsylvania to catch Conrail on the move while we could.
I made this view of a helper set working the back of a westward (down hill) freight looking down a side street in Lilly, Pennsylvania.
There’s nothing like a bright clear day in November, especially with Conrail’s brilliant blue paint.
