Imitation: The highest form of flattery. Today, April 1, 2020, we celebrate the 44th Anniversary of the beginning of operations of the Consolidated Rail Corporation, aka Conrail. Norfolk Southern Corp 8098 (ES44AC) carries on the proud tradition of “Big Blue”, but never operated for Conrail, having been painted in 2012 as part of NS’s Heritage Units program and arrived that evening on NS Train 38G. Sitting next to it are (left to right) CSXT 8828 (nee-Conrail 6431, SD40-2), NS 5271 (ex-Conrail 8061, nee-Penn Central 8061, GP38-2), CSXT 4412 (nee-Conrail 3306, GP40-2) and, NS 5271 (nee-Conrail 3300, GP40-2) - all actual ex-Cons! The Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976, which was signed into law on Feb. 5, 1976, included the Penn Central, Erie-Lackawanna, Jersey Central, Lehigh Valley, Reading, and Lehigh & Hudson River Railroads in Conrail. Appropriately, they all rest on the evening of November 10, 2019 at the Conrail Shared Assets Operations Camden, New Jersey Pavonia engine terminal. Earlier, the same train crossing the Delaware River:
https://www.railpictures.net/photo/715916/
