Conrail Summer Salute: Big Blue Surviving and Thriving in the Allegheny Mountains

[SD70ACe2011]

Am a big BIG BLUE fan myself. Hate to see them go but they sure did do alot for railroading today. Thanks buddy for this vid. Really enjoyed it. Faved it.

[WRRRA1997]

The unmistakeable sight of a high headlight with under deck ditchlights along with marker lights will still roam the rails of CSX and NS. The midnight echo of a Leslie RS3L will still fill the night air with its moanful warning of a freight train approaching a crossing.

Though Conrail is gone, let's be thankful for what CR did for the railroad industry, CSX and Norfolk Southern.

Goodbye Conrail, it was a fun 36 years

[AliceInChains243]

@WRRRA1997 Now I'll drink to THAT!

[WRRRA1997]

and a small amount of non-negotiable lines becoming Conrail Shared Assets Corporation. For the first time since 1968 competition between rail carriers was returned to the upper midwest and northeast. For the last 13 years, railfans have watched Conrail slowly pass away, and friends, 2012 marks the year Conrail's fleet is forever black or navy. However this is not the end, for Conrail's fleet is still active.

[WRRRA1997]

By the 1980's Conrail was turning profits and in the latter 80's, Conrail went private, no longer under government control. Conrail thrived in the last years of the 80's through the 1990's, and in 1997 CSX Transportation began attempting a takeover of Conrail, Norfolk Southern Corporation soon followed suit and in 1999 a deal was struck between CSXT and NS. Norfolk Southern would take 52% of Conrail with CSX taking the remaining 48%

[WRRRA1997]

Railfan friends, this year we embark on the end of an era that will be gone forever. Our era of Conrail is ending, with only two locomotives left in CR paint on CSX, less than 40 on Norfolk Southern, expect the last of them to be painted by mid-year.

Consolidated Rail Corporation was formed in 1976 by the Federal Government to take over the shambles of the all but destroyed Penn Central Railway, ......the hurricane ravaged Erie-Lackawanna and the numerous bankrupt northeastern carriers.

[Sabres21Buffalo]

@WRRRA1997 Down to 20 total... NS might be doing a couple of heritage units this year in honor of their 30th year as Norfolk Southern!

[F40PH1012]

Mike, great work as always! We are now down to 30 Blue units out there:( I hope we get at least one more leading MOAY/AYMO before they are all gone.

[AliceInChains243]

@F40PH1012 Thanks, now you get to see what you missed after you left! I hope for the same, I'm sure a bad scheduling conflict on my end will bring some blue the PAShole way, though 30 is an unacceptable number in my book. At least it APPEARS that they've not painting them up as fast as they were a few months ago.

[WRRRA1997]

if i was a GE painter, i would get fired before repainting a conrail unit.

[iRECKONER]

About time you get back to business!! Thanks buddy!

[AliceInChains243]

@iRECKONER I told you I'd come back in a big way! Thanks, I figured you'd like this one.

[LycoValleyRRFan]

Sorry I mean in Conrail not on Conrail.

[AliceInChains243]

@LycoValleyRRFan That's more than I thought there would be by now. I knew that the number of blues remaining when I cut together this edit would definitely be at a different number by the time I got to posting it a few weeks later. I'd say they've got no more than two years yet, which is unfortunate. Gotta enjoy them while we still have them, ever if the number has officially dropped below 45.

[LycoValleyRRFan]

Only 43 still on Conrail.

[NS9710]

Sorry about that dislike, I was quickly clicking and accidentally did that, I counter-voted with a like as intended :)

[AliceInChains243]

@NS9710 Thanks alright, I'm just glad to know that you liked the upload!

[Boots1282]

Nice video

[AliceInChains243]

@Boots1282 Thanks!

[Manifest3348]

Great Video, liked the commentary. 

[AliceInChains243]

@Manifest3348 Thanks a lot man, it takes FOREVER to put together once you add in the bigger audio element of narration, but I think it adds a nice touch in the end once it's all finished. Now if I only had a natural voice talent my life recording all of those lines would be 10 times easier!

[Manifest3348]

@AliceInChains243 Hey, we can't all be the Pentrex guy. :)

[pahogger]

SD60I 6723 is in my cell phone,lol. And as for 539, I could ride that choo choo home,lol. Great vid Mike, glad to see ya back in action. This was a bad summer for me to fan with all that was going on in my life, but with any luck I hope to make it back to Tom's in 2012.

[AliceInChains243]

@pahogger And the 6725 on that 539 is the background on my phone! Great minds think alike my comrade! Thanks a lot, this one was for you! Hopefully we'll get things back in order and have a great series of Inn trips to come, I've got some big 2012 plans being worked on, you'll be hearing about them shortly as soon as me and Nick finish attempting to organize what we'll be trying to do out there for next Summer, your name is most definitely on the list!

[pahogger]

@AliceInChains243 Sounds like a plan to me. Cant wait to be trackside again out at the Inn, I love it there so much it ain't funny. With any luck I should have better days off by then also.

[KyleVideoDesigns]

Very nice video! I enjoy seeing all the CR blue. To think, one year ago you could get Conrail several times per day. Now, you get a Conrail every several days. Oh well, great video of a great fallen flag!

[AliceInChains243]

@KyleVideoDesigns And that's a Big Blue every several days if you're LUCKY! Thanks a lot for the comment, though I hate that it has to be of a fallen flag, I wish things could still be blue out in that area as well as mine.

[KyleVideoDesigns]

@AliceInChains243 Thats true. I was lucky enough to nab NS (CRQ) #6718 back in mid-August. Only Conrail seen that trip, not including the Juniata Shops/Altoona Works area.

[nprsux]

i guess we won't be seeing anything like that again

[AliceInChains243]

@nprsux Unfortunately not man, it'll take a series of miracles for a Summer like this to be documented by luck again.

[davesb45]

Great Video and commentary. Couple of questions. The very last vid. was that at the peak of the hill? It sounded like the engines were into dynamic braking in a minute or two after passing your camera. I also couldn't help noticing the sound of braking on a couple of others. Nice job on video and sound.

[AliceInChains243]

@davesb45 The last scene was 2 miles east of the summit, the grade around that curve is 1.86%, so just about every train headed west is really digging in by this point for the final push to the top. Since they crest just past the opposite portal of the tunnel, I'm not sure how well you could have heard the dynamics going, but if you can make them out, more power to you! And thanks, this one took a LONG time to get all of the editing together, I'm glad it's been appreciated!

[youbite1]

Nice video mike! It sure was nothing like this over this summer

[AliceInChains243]

@youbite1 Yeah, I'm really sorry to hear that, I guess there really is a lot to be said about how much difference a year makes. :(

[cvgeeps]

Enjoyed this vid very much watched it just before bed it was relaxing thanks for postingzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz­.

[AliceInChains243]

@cvgeeps Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed this one, I'll be uploading more videos structured like this very soon.

[Brian4449]

Sweet Video. If i ever catch a train with a conrail in the consist ill send the video to you so u can watch it.

[AliceInChains243]

@Brian4449 Thanks man, it's too bad catching a Conrail consist has now gone from increasingly hard to come by to RIDICULOUSLY hard to come by these days.

[Brian4449]

@AliceInChains243 one day NS should gather all of the conrail engines and pull a long train thru Horse shoe curve.

[AliceInChains243]

@Brian4449 It WAS done at one point, I think 2008? I'm pretty sure the Conrail Historical Society or another organization had something to do with it. They paired a bunch of blue units together that were around the Altoona area at the time, I remember it being the weekend after I was just in that area, whichever year that actually happened.

[Brian4449]

@AliceInChains243 Ok thanks.

[o00o00ozy]

Nice! What a great clip to end on...nothing beats a blue trio gleaming against those old rust-colored PPLX gons!

[AliceInChains243]

@o00o00ozy You got that right! It took me the longest time to put together the final order for this video, I had so may good places I could have put that last clip, but in the end I think I made the right decision. Too bad you can't capture that scene anymore, there are still only two left wearing blue right?

[o00o00ozy]

@AliceInChains243

Only 2: 6718 and 6723. They're both in the Harrisburg Area right now.

[AliceInChains243]

@o00o00ozy Well that's fitting then, it only makes sense that they hang around your home stomping grounds when you're farrrrr from it.

[o00o00ozy]

@AliceInChains243

I know right? And a BCOL C44-9W and SP GP60 just went through Harrisburg this week! But it's okay, I got 6718 and 6723 paired on 538 on 6-28-11.

[AliceInChains243]

@o00o00ozy Yeah I saw the photos of that bloody nose Espee, I haven't seen the BCOL one yet, I'm sure someone's got a photo that I know. And ahhh, now you know what it feels like to be me, I've been the "sacrificial goat" of New England rails for about two years, whenever I leave Mass, RIDICULOUS THINGS HAPPEN! This past week has been pretty epic though, I'll (hopefully) be throwing that compilation together in the next week or so, depends on how busy things get.

[NSHorseheadSD70]

You're alive! I haven't seen nor heard from you in months. Good to see you're still out an about.

[AliceInChains243]

@NSHorseheadSD70 Yeah man I'm here, it's just been a while since I've actually put forth any effort to stay in touch with the "digital" side of things. How's the start of the season treating you so far? Carolina just trashed my team for the second straight time, can you say HANGOVER?

[NSHorseheadSD70]

@AliceInChains243 We're hanging in there. Injuries are killing us but some new guys are stepping up and keeping up. We lost to Winnipeg, that hurt lol. I'm surprised at how slow Boston's season is starting. I figured they'd be tearing it up.

[AliceInChains243]

@NSHorseheadSD70 At least you've got Malkin back, that's definitely a good start. I was glad to see you beat Vancouver a week or however long ago that was, I've learned to hate that team, especially the those two sisters they employ. I don't care what anybody says, the "Marchand speedball" was the highlight of the Final. And we're all a bit surprised here, the Cup hangover is really starting to get frustrating, but oh well, it is what it is. So do me a favor, blow out Montreal tomorrow night?

[yurysausage]

love your videos !

[AliceInChains243]

@yurysausage Thanks! If all goes well, I'll be uploading some more soon.

[kittycraft]

CSX will burn IN HELL!

[NS6677]

What a classic video man, I am glad you came back!