Double-stack trains are an integral part of today’s railroad scene, but they were cutting edge in the mid-1980’s. Most west-coast and southeastern ports were served by rail lines that could accommodate the new, taller cars, but the northeast lines were riddled with bridge, tunnel, and catenary clearances that would not accommodate the height of the stacks. One northeast exception was the former Eris Southern Tier line, which was a Conrail line over which the Susquehanna had trackage rights. Conrail quickly inked a deal with American Presidential Lines to haul their containers between Chicago and Kearny, New Jersey. CSX, who had its own clearance issues, teamed with the Susquehanna to get Sea-Land’s trains to a New York port. Here westbound Conrail APL train TV-301 nears the top of the grade at Gulf Summit, New York.
