A grizzled veteran looking good in blue. Photo by Mike Dolenski, from my collection.

Mingo Monster

The feature article in the January 1977 issue of Trains magazine was Jay Potter’s The Monsters of Mingo Junction, which highlighted Conrail’s assign... (more)

An EMD SW1 has removed the HEP (head-end power) car from the Broadway Limited and is preparing to position it for the next morning's eastbound run, to be pulled by GG-1 No. 4913, at the left of th... (more)

In the early days of Conrail, all of the six-axle Alco Centuries were based in Ohio for heavy drag freight service, and the epicenter was Mingo Junction. A long weekend visit yielded less of the b... (more)

For lack of a better name I guess you could call it Conrail crud, sort of a mix of road dirt and some kind of greenish fungus that splotched up older units. It looked contagious. This ex-PRR uni... (more)

The southbound freight is holding for a more favorable signal indication from Union Tower, while the Metroliner is moving thru at track speed. In this area the great Pennsy RR plant is six main tr... (more)

Big Blue in all of its splendor! CR 2573 and 2569 lead a 32 car Mail 9 on the grade towards Horseshoe Curve and Gallitzin. The pair of SD-70s are nearly fresh out of Juniata Shops in Altoona, bein... (more)

CR 6201 and 6429 are in charge of symbol LMPI as it comes through Scotch Run curve and beneath the MP240.6 signal bridge on a gorgeous autumn afternoon.

Conrail’s Allentown Local to Washington, New Jersey, WJAL-18, rolls into Washington on a crisp November morning. In about a half of a mile, the train will reach the junction of the former DL&W P... (more)

Fallen flag boxcars in pre-graffiti days lead Conrail's N5B caboose No. 22874 over the old stone arch bridge at the confluence of the Chickies (or Chiques) Creek and the Susquehanna River. The 22... (more)

An eastbound Conrail manifest nears the end of the Lebanon Valley line as it approaches the Center Street wye in Reading, Pennsylvania. The lead unit, SD40-2 6432, still sports a star under its ro... (more)

E-44 No. 4410 leads a Truc-Train eastbound on the recently-rebuilt Enola Branch in the summer of 1978. No. 4410 was built by GE for the PRR in May, 1961.

Conrail’s Allentown Local to Washington, New Jersey, WJAL-18, enters the former Lackawanna Phillipsburg Branch from the ex-Jersey Central main line at Phillipsburg, New Jersey. This local was ab... (more)

Twin SD40-2’s lead a train west over the Schuylkill River on Conrail’s Lebanon Valley Line, on a bridge that still bears the lettering, “Reading Lines”, which was the logo of its previous ... (more)

A westbound Conrail manifest continues its journey toward Harrisburg as it is at the eastern end of the Lebanon Valley line. The bridge in the background is the North 4th Street overpass in Readin... (more)