A nice blue string on a snowy day, with a former Pennsy unit in the lead. Photo by Mike Dolenski, from my collection.

Within sight of the yardmaster, a Conrail train waits to leave Reading yard. To the left is Spring Street Tower

Cornwall Branch action, as the 7545 hauls a string of coil cars from Lebanon Yard to Alcoa, near Cornwall. The train is coming off the old Cornwall Railroad onto the old Cornwall and Lebanon Rail... (more)

Spending its last years in ore service in Ohio, former Reading C630 5303 rests in the roundhouse at Mingo Junction. The SDP45 to the left stands derelict today in Roanoke, Virginia as part of the... (more)

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)