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Conrail Under Pennsy Wires Vol 2 by Robert L Davis Jr Morning Sun Books
Conrail Under Pennsy Wires Vol 2 by Robert L Davis Jr Morning Sun Books
SE Pennsylvania, Delaware & Northern Maryland
Hard Cover w/ dust jacket Reflection from lights on some photos
128 pages
Copyright 2015
CONTENTS
1970 4
1971 6
1972 9
1973 15
1974 17
1975 24
1976 38
1977 48
1978 66
1979 84
1980 94
1981 95
1982 101
1983 102
1984 106
1985 116
1986 122
1987 124
1988 125
1989 125
1991 126
1993 126
1995 127
1996 128
INTRODUCTION
Growing up on the lower Eastern Shore of Maryland, my first recollections of PRR trains were limited to the few serving the branch line that terminated in my hometown. I didn't become familiar with Pennsy electric operations until I attended Western Maryland College in Westminster, Md. in the early 1960s. There I met John Lassahn, a fellow
railfan, and we have been good friends ever since. John kept detailed records on the trains he saw, and I became interested in doing the same thing. John and I made many trips together to nearby rail hot spots, including the Pennsy around Baltimore where I recorded my first trains powered byGG1's and E44's. In those days, my only camera was an inexpensive Brownie box model with a slow shutter speed, and unless a train was stopped or barely moving, trying to capture it on film was a waste of time. Photographing 90-mph PRR passenger trains or50-mph freights wasn't even attempted.
I didn't acquire a good camera until 1967. Serving in the U.S. Army in Vietnam, I purchased a Canon 7S 35mm rangefinder model with a fast shutter speed of 1 /1000'h of a second and a relatively sharp lens. Now railroad action photography was possible, and after I finished my active military service and accepted a position with Penn Central in September 1968,I was finally able to start shooting fast-moving trains, including those powered by former PRR electrics. The Canon 7S was eventually replaced with a double rig consisting of a Pentax Kl 000 for slides and a medium format Pentax 6x7 for color negatives. I continued to photograph electric-powered Conrail freights until the end of CR juice operations in 1981.
The Penn Central job led to a 31-year railroad career, mostly in Philadelphia and lasting until the breakup of Conrail in spring 1999. At that point, I decided to take an early retirement and moved with my wife Judy to far western Wyoming. We had long thought about moving "out west," and the CR split gave us the opportunity to actually do it. The nearest main line railroad to our home, Union Pacific's Pocatello Subdivision -the former Oregon Short Line- is 60 miles away, so my railfanning out here has been limited to occasional daytrips and usually one week-long trip each year. Otherwise, fly-fishing for trout on our many rivers and creeks and operating a large HO scale model railroad based on the Pennsy keep me busy.
I have always been a fan of the Pennsylvania Railroad, going back to my childhood years in Crisfield on the southern tip of Maryland's Eastern Shore. A Pennsy branch
4 served my hometown, and I remember the steam-powered local passenger train and a short visit to the cab of one of those locomotives, probably around 1950. Over the years, I have amassed a relatively large collection of Pennsy-related books, videos, and other material. Pennsy Diesel Years, Pennsy Electric Years, Pennsy Steam Years series, and other PRR titles from Morning Sun Books rarely sit on the shelf long before I pull one of them.
After reading MSB's Conrail Under Pennsy Wires featuring the excellent photography of the late Ralph Curcio, an idea came to me. Seeing that CUPW's coverage was primarily between northern New Jersey and Morrisville, Pa., I proposed a second volume, continuing the theme of electric and diesel operations in former PRR electrified territory, expanding things to include southeastern Pennsylvania, northern Delaware, and northern Maryland. I had a collection of several thousand Penn Central and Conrail color slides of that area from 1970-99, along with supporting material-operating timetables and freight schedules from my days as a PC/CR employee, personal weather observation records, detailed train notes, and other material that could provide useful info.
The majority of the photography in this book covers Penn Central and Conrail freight operations on the former PRR Philadelphia-Harrisburg main line and the electrified freight lines in that territory- including, but not restricted to, the Atglen & Susquehanna Branch, Columbia and Port Deposit Branch, and Philadelphia and Thorndale Branch. Some coverage further south, along the main line between Wilmington, Del. and Baltimore, Md., is also included. The primary intent of Conrail Under Pennsy Wires Volume 2 is to preserve via photography the last years of electrified freight service of the early- and mid-1970s, when upwards of 40-50 freight trains per day traversed parts of the territory to the end of Conrail electrified operations in 1981 and the gradual rerouting of as much CR freight traffic as possible off Amtrak-owned lines. The era of GG1's, E33's, and E44's hauling "Trail Van" hotshots, heavy coal, ore, and grain trains, p and long general freight consists is now part of railroad history, but fora railfan/railroader with a camera, it was a great time to be trackside!
All pictures are of the actual item. There may be reflection from the lights in some photos. We try to take photos of any damage. If this is a railroad item, this material is obsolete and no longer in use by the railroad. Please email with questions. Publishers of Train Shed Cyclopedias and Stephans Railroad Directories. Large inventory of railroad books and magazines. Thank you for buying from us.
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