Greetings All,
From Six to One / Conrail at 50
At the stroke of midnight on April 1st, 1976 six bankrupt northeastern railroad flags fell and were replaced by a single quasi governmental agency, the Consolidated Railway Corporation, better known as Conrail. Conrail would struggle through it's first years operating trains on deteriorated rights of way with locomotives that had been victims of deferred maintenance for years before becoming an industry powerhouse fought over by two other Class 1 railroads.
Prototype Information
The northeastern railroads were having trouble going back to the 1920s with too many railroads, too much track, too much capacity and not enough car loads with industries leaving the industrial northeast. Add in money losing passenger traffic it was a slow death spiral that could have been addressed at this time but the proverbial can was kicked down the road despite warnings from railroad officials.
False prosperity during two World Wars was followed by a downturn in both passenger and freight traffic that were being siphoned away by jet airlines and larger trucks operating on the new Interstate Highways that were ushered in during the 1950s.
Over regulation on railroad freight and passenger traffic left the railroads clinging to life. Some would barely survive while others would call it quits.
On June 21, 1970 the death knell for the northeast sounded with the largest commercial bankruptcy to date being filed by the Penn Central. With the PC operating under section 77 it no longer had to pay interline charges that helped drag down the other northeast railroads.
While the outlook was bleak Conrail GG1 4800, "old rivets" provided some bicentennial color.
Amtrak takes over Inter-City Passenger Service
Some of the Northeast Railroads were heavily invested in money losing passenger traffic. Some had quit the passenger business altogether earlier while the others were either already bankrupt or on the road to it. Amtrak was created to take over the intercity rail traffic on May 1st, 1971. In a somewhat ironic move Amtrak was allowed to shed many of the passenger trains that the railroads were not.
State Participation
Commuter traffic, another big drain on the railroads bottom line, would no longer be run without state subsidies. No money, no trains, it was as simple as that and should have been in place decades before.
The 3R Act of 1973
Congress in a very unusual move actually addressed the matter creating the United States Railway Administration to come up with a preliminary system plan for the bankrupt northeast railroads to present to the Interstate Commerce Commission, which would hold hearings and evaluate proposals. In the plans initial phase the Consolidated Rail Corporation, new railroad with government funding would take over the Penn Central plus portions of the smaller bankrupts.
The Bankrupts
Central of New Jersey: 526 miles. Bankrupt: March 22, 1967.
The CNJ was hard hit by the decline of anthracite coal traffic and burdened with commuter traffic, short freight hauls, excess facilities and high real estate taxes. In 1972 the CNJ pulled out their Pennsylvania operations.
Lehigh Valley: 988 miles. Bankrupt: June 24, 1970.
Once profitable with anthracite and general freight traffic the LV was simply one of too many New York-Buffalo RRs. The LV exited the passenger business in 1961 and was the lone Conrail component without commuters. The LV's line across New Jersey became a Conrail main route from the west to the New York area.
Erie Lackawanna: 2,807 miles. Bankrupt: June 26, 1972
Formed in 1960 the EL was a competitor to the Penn Central in the New York-Chicago freight traffic. The EL was done in by Hurricane Agnes in June 1972.
Reading Company: 1,149 miles. Bankrupt: November 23, 1971
Heavy commuter operations and the loss of anthracite coal traffic contributed to yet another Northeast RR bankruptcy.
Lehigh & Hudson River: 90 miles. Bankrupt: April 18, 1972
The diminutive L&HR connected freight traffic from several railroads with the New Haven RRs Maybrook Yard. As mergers diverted this traffic the L&HR faltered. The L&HR was jointly owned in various percentages by the other five Conrail components.
Penn Central: 19,000 miles. Bankrupt: June 21, 1970
The ill fated merger of the Pennsylvania and New York Central in 1968 and the forced inclusion of the bankrupt New Haven Railroad (bankrupt since July 7, 1961) did not bode well. Hampered with competing red and green teams, a changing economy, heavy regulation and extensive passenger operations. In terms of route miles the PC was four times larger than the size of all other Conrail components combined.
The 4R Act Creates Conrail
On February 6th, 1976 President Gerald Ford signed the "Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act known as the 4R act. Two months later on April 1st, 1976 ConRail (initially with the capital R) came into being.
Deregulation to the Rescue
Imagine running a freight train from Chicago to New York with the tariff prices not covering the cost of the fuel. Add in the labor costs and once profitable freight traffic was no longer profitable adding to the red ink. This was railroading in the early 1970s.
The Staggers Act
The Staggers Rail Act of 1980, championed by congressman Harley O. Staggers, was a landmark, bipartisan law that partially deregulated the U.S. freight railroad industry, shifting from strict federal rate regulation to a market-based system. It allowed railroads to set rates freely, negotiate private contracts, and abandon unprofitable lines, saving the industry from financial collapse.
Profitability Arrives
In 1981 Conrail posted its first profit rising from the ashes of the northeast railroading dumpster fire to become an industry leader fought over by two other class one railroads. In 1999 Conrail was split between the Norfolk Southern and CSX Transportation.
Conrail Shared Assets
The CSA was put in place by NS and CSX to handle switching duties in the industrial areas of Detroit MI, New Jersey and Philadelphia, PA and continues to do so today with equipment from both parent roads.
Overcoming the Many Hurdles
In their first five years of existence the newly created Conrail was faced with a myriad of challenges from their inheritance of the bankrupt Northeastern Railroads that included locomotive power shortages, deteriorated track and other infra-structure, six different labor agreements covering all aspects of the railroads and six different railroad operating cultures.
Leadership Matters
Edward G. Jordan CEO 1976-1980. A former insurance executive, served as the first CEO, establishing the company's structure from bankrupt predecessors like Penn Central.
Leo Stanley Crane CEO 1981-1988. A former Southern Railway CEO, took charge, revitalizing the railroad, improving profitability, and downsizing the workforce and infrastructure. Managed the experts focused on privatization, Conrail successfully moved to the private sector with a $1.9 billion IPO in 1987.
Motive Power
The Conrail Rainbow / Kaleidoscope Era
According to Rudy Garbely, author of Conrail Rainbow Years Volume 2, and a Conrail Historical Society President on April 01, 1976, C-Day, the new Consolidated Rail Corporation inherited a motive power fleet of five thousand locomotives that was so deplorable that almost a quarter of them were deemed in too poor condition to operate.
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The power starved Conrail was forced to lease additional locomotives from other railroads like the CN, C&NW, BAR, BN and others to get its trains over the road.
Inherited locomotives were hastily renumbered and patched CR to conform to the new railroads roster with little regarded to aesthetics. Locomotives in working order were moved around the system as part of the rationalization process meaning a railfan in Illinois could suddenly see locomotives in Central of New Jersey colors.
On the Layout
I started in the hobby around 1992 with Conrail being the railroad serving the northeast where I lived and I purchased a couple of Athearn Conrail and Conrail Quality locomotives for my roster.
The Conrail locomotives were more of a novelty than anything else as I started to focus on the New York Central Railroad and then the Penn Central Railroad. The last Conrail locomotive I purchased was this Atlas EMD Conrail, ex Reading MP15DC in 2022.
In early 2026 I moved some of my model railroad operations into the Conrail era for some added diversity and future virtual operations.
Other Predecessor Railroad Locomotives
Reading GP40-2 #3672 was one five such locomotives (3671-3675) delivered to the Reading in December, 1973. It was conveyed to Conrail on April 1, 1976 and renumbered to CR #3276
Recent Model Projects
Mantua New York Central #21742 and an Athearn Penn Central #5023 provided the cabooses needed for this project.
Rust-Oleum rattle can brilliant blue and K-4 Decals provided the paint, lettering and numbers.
This newly painted, lettered and numbered ex Reading caboose is now a Conrail N4 caboose #18721. It has just been released from the Patti-O Paint Shop and is being delivered to Terminal Yard by ex LV SW9 #292. The 292, not a pup, would become CR #8939 after C-Day.
The Athearn PC caboose is now Conrail N-20 caboose #22130. This is also an ex Reading caboose.
This IHC Conrail N4B 18863 had been released from the purgatory box and given metal wheelsets.
This non powered Life Like GP38 started life as a powered ATSF blue and yellow locomotive that was stripped, painted and lettered as a New York Central GP40 #3067. The early NYC GP40s were delivered in full NYC regalia and with later group being painted as seen below.
Ex RDG GP40 3672 is third out in a four unit consist with an ex PC GP38 on point and a power pool Cotton Belt GP40 sandwiched between them.
An Alco fan favorite. Two ex PC and two ex LV C628s have escaped from Mingo Junction bringing a long train towards Terminal Yard.
A six unit lash up brings a train out of Terminal Yard hoping at least three will stay online until they reach their next destination.
The Conrail 50th Anniversary Trains
Conrail Books and Videos from
my Home Library
Final Thoughts and Comments
First and foremost let me ask could Conveyance Day, called C-Day, happen a day earlier or later and not on April Fools Day? The chosen date doesn't do the new railroad justice.
While Conrail did a fine job rising from the ashes there was a tremendous cost for many railroad workers who were furloughed or retired early. To their credit the CR didn't start their existence by just closing freight yards and eliminating redundant lines.
Instead they kept to a plan, made sure of what they were doing, rehabilitated the infrastructure that would become the core of their system and slowly implemented the changes.
The first five years weren't pretty and could basically be considered the same old, same old. That said each year the railroad was in existence it improved its performance posting its first profit in 1981 and never looked back boasting profits each year until 1999 when the railroad was bought by NS and CSX.
Additional Links and Resources
Conrail Home Page.
Conrail Shared Assets Overview.
Conrail Wikipedia Page.
Conrail MP15DC 2022 Locomotive Spotlight Blog Post.
Conrail exRDG GP40-2 #3276
Erie Lackawanna GP35 #2570
Conrail ex EL GP35 #3676
Erie Lackawanna SD45 #3632
Conrail ex EL SD45 #6097
Lehigh Valley SW9 #292
Conrail ex LV SW9 #8939
Conrail Kaleidoscope Volumes 1 thru 5. John Pechulis Media
Conrail Rainbow Years Volumes 1 and 2. Garbely Publishing
The Staggers Act of 1980
Thanks for reading and watching!!!
See you soon!!!
