{"id":44892,"date":"2026-08-15T08:39:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T12:39:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/?p=44892"},"modified":"2026-08-15T08:40:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T12:40:32","slug":"hot-train-on-a-hot-day-conrails-friday-only-tv80w","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/hot-train-on-a-hot-day-conrails-friday-only-tv80w\/","title":{"rendered":"Hot Train on a Hot Day\u2014Conrail\u2019s Friday Only TV80W"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I liked to seek out unusual trains: Second Sections, Extras, unit trains, and moves that operated once a week\u2014or less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 1980s and 1990s, Conrail\u2019s Friday-only TV80W was a short, hot intermodal train that ran to Worcester, Massachusetts, over the Boston Line (former Boston & Albany).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

August 12, 1988 was a steamer: hot, humid, and polluted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I drove over to CP79, east of Palmer, Massachusetts, to catch the once-a-week intermodal train. On this day, it was powered by a pair of GE B23-7s, locomotives atypical for Conrail\u2019s intermodal service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conditions were less than ideal for photography\u2014flat light and hazy\u2014but I made this 120-size black-and-white view with my father\u2019s Rollei Model T. TV80W was waiting for a \u201climited clear\u201d signal to exit the controlled siding after meeting a westward carload freight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two versions of the photo appear below: the unmodified scan and an adjusted version using Lightroom to eliminate spots and vignetting and improve contrast and highlight detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Scan from B&W negative without cosmetic adjustment. (Scan size scaled for internet presentation only)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Adjusted scan to improve contrast and overall appearance without eliminating the effects of the hot hazy afternoon. It was unpleasant to be outside that day.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Someone may ask, \u201cWhat is a \u2018hot\u2019 freight?\u201d To run \u201chot\u201d means to operate quickly, often in excess of normal speed. A \u201chot freight\u201d is a high-priority train. So, it was unusual to find TV80W sitting in a siding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tracking the Light has explored railroad photography for 14 years!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I liked to seek out the unusual trains; Second Sections, Extras, Unit Trains, and moves that operated once a week (or less).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"I liked to seek out the unusual trains; Second Sections, Extras, Unit Trains, and moves that operated once a week (or less).","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[10],"tags":[5714,5044,8743],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2BVuC-bG4","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44892"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44892"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44896,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44892\/revisions\/44896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}