A bunch of eastbounds at Wyomissing Junction.CONRAIL
This page will cover the former Reading Railroad's Lebanon Valley line west from Reading, PA to Harrisburg and on to Hagerstown, MD. With the track already in very good condition, this line became the continuation of Conrail's mainline from the former Pennsylvania Railroad mainline east of Harrisburg. The advantage being the ability to bypass all of the passenger train routes and allow a more direct route to the New York area. Heading west, lines from New York and those from the Philadelphia area met on the western outskirts of Reading, PA at Wyomissing Junction. Located next to the famous VF Factory Outlet Center, this allows anyone to spend the day shooting trains while your significant other shoots your budget down shopping.
A bunch of eastbounds at Wyomissing Junction.
Westbounds passing the old Reading station at Wernersville.
Two rebuilt GP9's are parked at Robesonia for the weekend. July 29, 1989.
SD40 6470 leads an eastbound unit coal train at Sheridan. May 12, 1985.
SD50 6723 leads an eastbound at Lebanon, PA. The large station now houses
a bank.
Several GP9's sit in the modest yard on the west side of Lebanon.
6613 leads a ballast train and 
6637 leads ALSR west at Annville. July 30, 1989.
6553 westbound at Annville in 1985.
GE B-23-7 1978 heads a westbound at Clear Spring Road overpass in Annville,
PA. 2-18-1990.
A few moments later 6514 is eastbound. The area to the right is now
occupied by Wimpey Materials. They use former Lehigh Valley U23B's to
switch hoppers around.
GP40 3313 leads ALSR west past the nice depot at Palmyra, PA. July 29,
1989.
GP38 7899 westbound passing the Hersey Park
amusement park in 1985.
This is the former Reading engine terminal at Rutherford, PA. Back in 1977, Penn
Central units were just about everywhere. A newly repainted SD40 and a
visiting Chicago and Northwestern unit add some color.
Also brightening things up on a cloudless day was former Erie-Lackawanna SD45
6669 in Bi-Centennial colors.
By 1985, things were winding down at Rutherford. A long line of retired
engines, mostly Alco's rest before their final trip to the scrappers
torch. May 12, 1985.
SD40 6455 leads ENAL ( Enola-Allentown ) by the now closed Rutherford
terminal. A few years ago, Conrail and Norfolk Southern built a
Roadrailer terminal on this site.
The same train back slightly at the west end of Rutherford.
8094 passes the former Reading tower in Harrisburg. At this point, what
was once an interchange track between the Reading and the PRR ( later PC ) was
rebuilt into a new mainline. Eastbound trains having come across
Pennsylvania on the old PRR main bypassed Enola Yard and went over the famous
Rockville Bridge into Harrisburg. There, trains would use the upgraded
connector to access the old Reading Lebanon main to head east to Allentown and
New York City.
Running alongside the old PRR Harrisburg station is an eastbound heading for the
'Capitol' interlocking.
A GP38 leads an ENRO ( Enola-Roanoke ) train toward 'Capitol'. February
1990.
A unit coal train off the Chessie System waits for a signal on the Reading's
Susquehanna River bridge. A very placid river makes for a nice mirror
image. November 5, 1978.
GP40 3313 brings ALSR across the viaduct on July 29, 1989.
A short distance west finds the same train passing through Lemoyne, PA.
GP40 3352 leads counterpart SRAL at Lemoyne.
SD40 6489 leads a westbound at Centerville, PA enroute to Hagerstown, MD.
This view looks west at Shippensburg, PA. There was a PRR branch that
paralleled the Reading-Western Maryland main between Harrisburg and
Hagerstown. Following the Conrail merger, the PRR line was reduced to a
short branch and at Shippensburg where the two lines crossed, Conrail upgraded
the PRR line from here to Hagerstown. The short piece from Shippensburg to
the actual meeting point with the former Western Maryland at Lurgan was left for
rather limited Chessie System interchange traffic. Most of the trains on
this line were destined for the NS interchange.
This is the operators building at Lurgan and the meeting point between Conrail and
Chessie System ( nee-RDG-WM ).
Little GP15 1667 leads a unit train arriving at Hagerstown. The WM main
crossed the former PRR line on diamonds here and the operators building is
visible in the trees. Note the PRR type position light signal in the
second image. By the way, the reason the Conrail unit is leading the
larger NS units is the need for cab signals on any old PRR trackage. Today
many NS units have been equipped with cab signals and it is also the reason why
few off line diesels lead any NS trains.