Chris Howe's Conrail Action

Various Conrail action shots taken in a variety of locations in Indiana and Ohio from 1996

Various Conrail action shots taken in a variety of locations in Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois in 1997

A variery of Conrail actions shots taken in Indiana, Ohio, Illinois in various locations, along with my first ever trip to Pennsylvania to see Horse Shoe Curve from 1998.

A variety of Conrail action shots from mid December 1998 until May 31, 1999 taken mostly in Waterloo, IN and Bryan, OH along wtih a variety of other spots in Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois. 

The Muncie Belt line was an old PRR line built to serve industries around Muncie, IN like the company that makes Ball canning jars.  It was normally a nocturnal operation during Conrail but on a cold day in December 1984, Bob Jettmore took these three shots of the local running on the Muncie belt on his way home from work.  We are thankful that Bob was nice enough to allow his images to be posted on here for all to enjoy of this very rare occurence.

 

I went to Oak Harbor, OH on December 9, 1998 to record a full day's worth of action at one of my favorite railfan spots east of Toledo on the Chicago line.  This town was where the single track NS Fremont District between Toledo and Bellevue crossed over the Conrail Chicago line on a steel girder bridge that always made for a great photo backdrop, so I parked by the depot which was just east of that bridge to watch the action and my results are inside this album.

 

During Conrail's final week of existance, I spent all five days trying to railfan in different spots just to get Conrail in as many different places as I could. I started out that week on May 27, 1999 by spending the day in Union City, OH, which is located on the old Big Four mainline, just on the other side of the IN/OH state line. The results of that day are in this album

CR 1933 pulling the test train TES-501 at CP 412 in Goshen, IN is westbound as the eastbound OCS-502 with an Operation Lifesaver special prepares to make the turn and head down the Marion Branch on June 24, 1998. Note that they are using NS' track test cars a year before the merger. Dan McDonough photo with permission

CR 2362, still in its Penn Central paint, leads Amtrak's #41, the Broadway Limited after one of the Amtrak engines apparently died thru Valporaiso, IN back in April 1977. William Raia photo, Chris Howe collection

CR 3289 leads a Triple Crown train past the diamonds with CSX at CP54 in Greenwich, OH in this undated photo. Jay Williams photo, Chris Howe collection

CR 3326 and 3325 lead WIFW-30 across the ex Cincinnati Northern diamond at the former site of Estry tower in Van Wert, OH back in November 1997. Jay Williams photo, Chris Howe collection

CR 5075 and CR 8145 sit at Piqua yard Ft. Wayne, IN in this undated photo. Jay Williams photo, Chris Howe collection

CR 6550, a U33C still in pure Penn Central paint leads a eastbound at Warsaw, IN back in May 1977. The tower that guards the diamond of the Marion Branch with the Pennsy main can be seen in the background and the connection track that ELFW/FWEL uses can be seen in the foreground. Photographer unknown, Chris Howe collection

RR 262 with the CR 6780 and friend meets WILI-50 with CR 8217 and fellow GP38 at the siding just east of Upper Sandusky, OH back in October 1998. Jason Hall photo, Chris Howe collection

CR 7760 and some CR and PC lettered geeps at Dearborn, MI on February 6, 1977. Photographer unknown, Chris Howe collection

CR 8087 is heading off the ex Cincinnati Northern line at Estry and back onto the ex PRR Pittsburgh to Chicago mainline with a cut of cars as the WIFW-30 prepares to tie back onto its train in this undated photo. Photographer unknown, Chris Howe collection

CR 8148 and 8149 at Piqua yard Ft. Wayne, IN in this undated photo. Jay Williams photo, Chris Howe collection

CR 8149 sits at Piqua yard Ft. Wayne, IN in this undated photo. Jay Williams photo, Chris Howe collection

Here's a shot of the high wide load that LMS 709 was pulling. CP280 in Indianapolis, IN. Date and photographer unknown, Chris Howe collection

LMS 710 sits at Piqua yard, Ft. Wayne, IN back in October 1997 with a hopper car and caboose 18462. Jay Williams photo, Chris Howe collection