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Home / Railroads & Locomotives / Fallen Flags / Conrail passenger trains: A small chapter for a big blue railroad
Conrail is Classic Trains' Railroad of the Month for April 2022
Conrail is Classic Trains' Railroad of the Month for April 2022
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Conrail passenger trains are probably the least known of all the aspects of the big blue railroad’s operations over time.
As Conrail is the Fallen Flag Railroad of the Month for April 2022, please enjoy these Conrail passenger trains images from Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library.
Conrail started operations April 1, 1976 taking over from several defunct or bankrupt railroads, including Penn Central, Erie Lackawanna, Central of New Jersey, and Reading, to name a few. Each of those railroads, to greater or lesser extent still operated largely unprofitable commuter trains around the Northeast and Midwest’s largest population centers.
Each image in this photo gallery helps tell a bit of the story about the last vestiges of passenger service tied up with Class I railroads in the 1970s — primarily in commuter operations from Chicago to metropolitan New York City, Philadelphia, and even Pittsburgh. Aside from the inspection train or executive excursions, Conrail routinely moved people with the rainbow of equipment typically associated with early Amtrak until newly formed commuter railroads assumed the services on Jan. 1, 1983.
All through April, Classic Trains editors will celebrate the history and heritage of Consolidated Rail Corp., including a history article, this passenger train gallery, plus freight train and locomotive photo galleries.
Since October 2019, Classic Trains’ editors have celebrated a different Fallen Flag, that is, a Class I railroad that has been felled by bankruptcy, merger, or outright take over — and whose name, logos, symbols, and colors are relegated to history.
Regarding the picture of GG-1 4800 hauling the ex-Reading EMUs, Torresdale is the easternmost(or northernmost) station within Philadelphia City Limits. This was a strike extra…the Transport Workers Union was on strike against SEPTA’s City Transit Division(the former PTC operations), hence, this extra train(along with a few others. These EMUs lacked the signal equipment needed for NEC service…otherwise, they could have run on their own. The motors were cut out, with a pan or two reaching the wire for light and heating…there were a few chilly mornings during the strike, which ran 44 days
4800 going thru a tunnel with an E60 behind is on the Port Road between Perryville MD and Columbia PA and is on a fantrip for the 1976 NRHS Convention. The E60 is to supply HEP to the Amfleet consist.
The Reading MU’s being hauled by 4800 are for the 1977 SEPTA transit strike. These strikes occurred regularly every two years. The MU cars had been retired as self-propelled (considered locomotives) but could still serve as towed passenger cars.
RDG used the same voltage and frequency as PRR and their cars were compatible with PRR’s electrification with the possible exception of high and low wire, and the definite exception of phase breaks. RDG drew its AC power from one source and its power was always in phase but PRR drew its power from multiple sources and there was a possibility one section could be out of phase with the next. A phase break was a short section of wire between power sources that was normally live but when the two ends were out of phase with each other, the “Phase Break” signal was lit and the section was dead.
RDG MU’s had a power line on the roof with bus connectors between cars so a train could use only the front and rear pans and power all the cars. Trailers had no pans and drew power for light and heat from the power line on the roof. A RDG train with front and rear pans up would bridge a phase break with a catastrophic effect on PRR’s power.
The bus connectors were removed when SEPTA converted RDG MU cars to operate on PRR.
Some RDG MU cars had cab signals for the Lansdale trains (RDG Bethlehem Branch) and these were compatible with PRR’s cab signals although RDG’s display was color light and PRR’s position light.
Two more thoughts on the ex-RDG electrification. RDG electrified in 1930-1931 and set up the frequency converters for the original fleet (commercial 60 Hz to RR 25 Hz) with 100% redundency to cover maintenance. They acquired 16 more cars in the 1940’s, 17 Budd Silverliner II’s in the 1960’s and 14 GE Silverliner IV’s in the 1970’s without retiring any cars (traffic had increased). They then needed both converters every day. SEPTA has since replaced all the 1930’s frequency conversion equipment (still 25 Hz) but there is a phase break between the RDG side and the PRR side.
The GP30 running backwards was pulling Silverliner IV’s. You will note the pans are up for lighting, heating and A/C.
The two GP10’s are pulling what RDG called the “emergency train,” usually out of service old cars with propulsion difficulties. In snowstorms or those frequent SEPTA transit strikes, they ran on West Trenton trains (less frequent stops) and RDG had used GP35’s then GP39-2’s. CR used GP10’s.
Finally, RDC-3 9166 is ex-B&M. RDG converted it to the larger of two refreshment cars used in its Phila-NY (actually Newark NJ) service. RDG-2 9165 ran on the Crusader and 9166 on the Wall Street. 9166 is now on the RBMN.
A final note. In the “Emergency Train” consist are MU cars 800 and 863. 800 is preserved at the RR Museum of PA at East Strasburg while 863 is preserved by Reading Co. T&HS at Hamburg. Both are preserved as MU cars with their pans and bus connectors intact.
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