CONRAIL
Welcome to the Conrail Home Page
Born on April 1, 1976 by government planning, Conrail was the consolidation of several bankrupt Northeastern US carriers. It was hoped that by eliminating numerous duplicating lines and other consolidations, the railroad would eventually break even and end the constant government subsidies that were being paid to the Penn Central and the other lines. In one of the few success stories of the twenty-first century, Conrail did indeed become profitable, independent and free of government dependence. Having the railroads deregulated in 1980 and the advancement of technology to reduce crew sizes also played a large role in Conrail's success.
However, by most railfan's perspective, April 1, 1976 is still known as "the end" for those old enough to have seen the Reading, Lehigh Valley, CNJ, Penn Central, Erie-Lackawanna, Lehigh and Hudson River and the other smaller lines in action. Even today, some lines are still referred by their original owners name, such as the Lehigh Line for ex-LV east of Allentown, PA. Some former mainlines were abandoned by Conrail, such as the Lehigh Valley west of Allentown, PA and the Erie-Lackawanna west of Hornell, NY. Numerous branch lines were also abandoned.
The images below are from some of the early years of Conrail and then into the 1990's. After things began to get so mixed up in the late 1970's and early 1980's, I almost gave up on the hobby altogether. Hence, there are a few years in which I didn't take a single railroad photo. Fortunately, I didn't give up and I gave in to the reality that Conrail was here to stay. ( Or so I thought )
Since Conrail covered such a vast area, there will be numerous pages. Some lines will be broken up to reduce loading time for quicker viewing.
Jersey City & Oak Island Yard Boston Line
Newark to Manville, NJ West Shore ( No. Bergen,NJ to Selkirk,NY)
Manville, NJ to West Trenton,NJ Albany to Syracuse, NY
Manville,
NJ to Easton, PA
Syracuse, NY to Cleveland,
Ohio
Easton, PA
to Allentown, PA
Collinwood Yard,
Cleveland, Ohio in 1976 2-22-2007
Reading to Hagerstown, MD (ex-RDG)
Enola Yard, Harrisburg, PA to Lewistown, PA (ex-PRR)