Details

Last Updated: 01 February 2022

Hits: 2179

Rainbow Era

When Amtrak took over intercity passenger rail service on May 1, 1971, it inherited a collection of rolling stock from twenty different railroads, each with its own distinct colors and logos. Needing only to operate 184 of the 366 trains that had been run nationwide by the private railroads, Amtrak was able to pick the 1,200 best passenger cars to lease from the 3,000 that the private railroads had owned. This equipment was haphazardly mixed to form consists, resulting in trains with the mismatched colors of several predecessor railroads. This "Rainbow Era" was short-lived; Amtrak began purchasing some of the leased equipment in mid-1971, setting the stage for wholesale repainting from 1972 to 1974.

Read more: Amtrak Paint Schemes

Details

Last Updated: 01 February 2022

Hits: 1338

	GE DASH 9-44CW	GE AC44C6M	GE ES44AC GEVO	GE ET44AC Tier 4 GEVO	EMD SD70ACe	EMD/NS SD60E
RIght Side View
Left Side View
Top View
Front Quarter View
Rear Quarter View

Details

Last Updated: 08 June 2022

Hits: 6566

and on alphabetroute.com

The Pennsy Modeler is a celebration and collection of information about railroads of Pennsylvania.

The majority of the site pertains to the Pennsylvania Railroad and represents a sequel to the Keystone Crossings web site which was retired several years ago. Under the Pennsylvania Railroad menu, you will find access to blogs of articles, downloads, databases, and an index.

Under the Other Railroads of Pa menu you will find information about Amtrak, Norfolk Southern, Trailer Train Company, and other railroads of Pennsylvania. Within the blogs you will also find information about fallen flags from Pennsylvania.

Please refer to our sister site -- AlphabetRoute.com -- for information on the Central Railroad of New Jersey, Nickel Plate Road, Pittsburgh & West Virginia Railway, Reading Company, Western Maryland Railway, and Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway.​

Details

Last Updated: 17 June 2022

Hits: 10517

The following are the most prevalent Norfolk Southern diesel locomotives in use as of 2022, summarized from Chris Toth's excellent Norfolk Southern Diesel Locomotive Roster.

Road numbers in bold are in the author's collection.

Read more: Norfolk Southern Locomotive Roster

Details

Last Updated: 01 February 2022

Hits: 9326

Heritage Locomotives

Norfolk Southern has honored its predecessor railroads during 2012, its 30th anniversary year, by painting 20 new locomotives in commemorative schemes that reflect the heritage of those predecessors.

Since the 1820s, hundreds of railroad companies were built, merged, reorganized, and consolidated into what eventually became Norfolk Southern, itself created from the consolidation of Southern Railway (SR) and Norfolk and Western Railway (NW) in 1982. In 1999, Norfolk Southern expanded the scope of its heritage with its acquisition of a portion of Conrail (CR). The heritage locomotives represent most of the railroads that played significant roles in Norfolk Southern's history. The first unit, Conrail 8098, rolled out of Altoona, Pa., March 15, and the final one, Lackawanna 1074, rolled out of Muncie, Ind., on June 27.

Each paint scheme was modified to fit contemporary locomotives while staying as true as possible to the original designs. Norfolk Southern employees in Altoona and Chattanooga, Tenn., painted GE ES44AC locomotives, while the EMD SD70ACe units were painted at Progress Rail Services' facility in Muncie, Ind. The heritage locomotives are now hauling freight across Norfolk Southern's 20,000-mile, 22-state network.

Central of Georgia Railway (SR, GE) was formed in 1833 to connect Macon, Ga., with Savannah, completing a rail link between Chattanooga and the port. It was famed for two passenger trains named after prize-winning race horses, the Nancy Hanks and the Man O’ War.

 

 

 

 

 

Central Railroad of New Jersey (CR, EMD) was the first American railroad to have its employees wear uniforms, and in 1892, one of its locomotives set a world speed record of 105 mph.

 

 

 

 

 

Conrail (GE) was created by the U.S. government in 1976 from the bankrupt Penn Central, Lehigh & Hudson River, Erie Lackawanna, Central Railroad of New Jersey, Lehigh Valley, Reading and Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines, becoming the largest railroad at the time, with 34,000 route miles.

 

 

 

 

 

Delaware, Lackawanna and Western (CR, EMD) was created in 1849 to connect the rich anthracite coalfields of the Lackawanna Valley of Pennsylvania to northern New Jersey. A hurricane in 1955 knocked the railroad out of operation for a month, with the resulting financial difficulties forcing it to merge with the Erie Railroad in 1960 to formthe Erie Lackawanna Railroad.

 

 

 

 

 

Erie Railroad (CR, EMD) was key to economic development along the Southern Tier, which includes Binghamton and Elmira, N.Y. In 1851, Secretary of State Daniel Webster, wrapped in a blanket and clutching a bottle of rum, was strapped to a rocking chair on an open flatcar so he could ride the just-completed railroad.

 

 

 

 

 

Illinois Terminal Railroad (NW, EMD) began life as the Illinois Traction System in 1896 as an interurban electric railroad in central and southern Illinois. Hit by the Great Depression, it was reorganized as the Illinois Terminal in 1937 and attempted to survive as a passenger railroad until relinquishing that business in 1956, when it was acquired by a consortium of railroads. It was operated as a freight railroad until acquired by NW in 1982.

 

 

 

 

Interstate Railroad (SR, GE) was incorporated in 1896 to serve southwestern Virginia coalfields. Despite its name, it operated entirely within Virginia. It was acquired by Southern in 1961.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lehigh Valley Railroad (CR, GE) was built to haul coal, replacing water transport down the Lehigh River, and was known as the Route of the Black Diamond.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monongahela Railway (CR, GE) was created in 1901 as a joint venture of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad to haul coal out of Pennsylvania and West Virginia, with its base of operations in Brownsville, Penn. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad acquired a one-third stake in it in 1927. It was merged into Conrail in 1993. The lines of the former Monongahela continue to serve a vital coal-producing region today.

 

 

 

 

New York Central Railroad (CR, EMD) was organized from 10 roads paralleling the Erie Canal between Albany and Buffalo, N.Y., and became known as the “Water Level Route.” Today, the former NYC line between Cleveland and Chicago is the busiest on the NS system, with more than 100 freight trains daily.

 

 

 

 

 

New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad(NW, GE) was known commonly as the Nickel Plate Road, a moniker it acquired when the Norwalk (Ohio) Chronicle referred to it in 1881 as “the great New York and St. Louis double track, nickel plated railroad,” supposedly indicative of its solid financial backing.

 

 

 

 

 

Norfolk Southern Railway (SR, EMD) (not to be confused with today’s Norfolk Southern) was a line serving southeast Virginia and northeast North Carolina, chartered in 1883 and acquired by Southern Railway in 1974.

 

 

 

 

 

Norfolk & Western Railway (GE) originated as City Point Railroad, a nine-mile road between Petersburg and City Point, Va., in 1836. Following numerous mergers and acquisitions, it became the Norfolk & Western in 1881.

 

 

 

 

 

Penn Central (CR, EMD) The Penn Central Transportation Company was created in 1968 from the merger of the New York Central and the Pennsylvania Railroad, and the New York, New Haven and Hartford was added shortly afterward. Penn Central formed the core of Conrail when Conrail was created in 1976.

 

 

 

 

 

Pennsylvania Railroad (CR, GE), incorporated in 1846, billed itself as the “Standard Railroad of the World” and was for many years the largest American railroad by tonnage and revenues. PRR opened the Horseshoe Curve railroad engineering marvel; carried President Lincoln to his inauguration; implemented the “line and staff” organizational structure used by business today; built Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan; and electrified the route between New York and Washington, among its many achievements.

 

 

 

Reading Company (CR, EMD) was one of the first railroads built in America and built its fortune hauling coal. It featured the first iron railroad bridge in America.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Savannah & Atlanta Railway (SR, EMD) began life as the Brinson Railway in 1906, slowly expanding from Savannah toward the Northwest. It was consolidated with other small railroads to become the Savannah & Atlanta in 1917. Central of Georgia bought the S&A in 1951.

 

 

 

 

 

Southern Railway (GE) originated as the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company in 1827. On Christmas Day, 1830, it put into service the nation's first regularly scheduled steam passenger train, "The Best Friend of Charleston." Southern was incorporated in 1894 from the reorganization and consolidation of numerous predecessors, and absorbed another 68 railroad companies over the next six years.

 

 

 

 

Virginian Railway (NW, EMD) was the only railroad created through the capital and credit of one man, oil magnate Henry Huttleston Rogers. After building a short line, the Deepwater Railway, to haul coal out of West Virginia and then being blocked by the bigger railroads, he created another railroad, the Tidewater Railway, to reach Norfolk, Va., then combined the two into the Virginian in 1907. It was acquired by N&W in 1959.

 

 

 

 

Wabash Railroad (NW, EMD) was formed in 1877 and served the central U.S. It was acquired by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1927 and leased to Norfolk & Western in 1960. In 1991, N&W, by then part of Norfolk Southern, purchased the Wabash outright. Made famous by the 1904 song “Wabash Cannonball,” there was in fact no such train by that name until 1949.

Details

Last Updated: 01 February 2022

Hits: 8023

Triple Crown is a subsidiary of Norfolk Southern, created to provide Roadrailer services.

With a hub at Fort Wayne, in 2011 routes extended to Minneapolis (through Chicago), Kansas City (through St. Louis), Toronto (through Detroit), Jacksonville (through Atlanta), and Bethlehem (through Harrisburg).

In 2015, routes were reduced to just autopart service between Detroit and Kansas City.

Timeline:

• 1956: C&O Railvans begin testing
• 1957: NYC Flexi-Vans begin testing
• 1958: Flexi-Vans enter revenue service
• 1959: Railvans enter revenue service
• 1961: Railvan name changed to RoadRailer
• 1969: Original RoadRailers out of service
• 1974: Flexi-Vans out of service
• 1978: Bi-Modal Corp. introduces its 45-foot RoadRailer
• 1986: Triple Crown service established
• 2004: RoadRailer service peaks with 9,000n trailers in service
• 2015: Triple Crown reduces service to Detroit-Kansas City

Details

Last Updated: 01 February 2022

Hits: 8261

Details

Last Updated: 01 February 2022

Hits: 8813

Timeline:

• 1978: Santa Fe's Fuel Foilers enter service
• 1981: 4-Runner skeleton cars enter service
• 1982: Impack trailer-only cars debut
• 1983: Front Runner single-platform skeleton cars debut
• 1987: TTX receives container-only spines
• 1988: All-purpose sping cars enter service
• 1993: 53-foot AP spines begin arriving
• 1997: 57-foot, Twin-28 AP spines enter service

Notes:

• Bethlehem Steel Car (BSC) sold to Johnstown America (JAC) in 1992.

Details

Last Updated: 01 February 2022

Hits: 8433

Timeline:

• 1953: First experimental Clejan cars enter service on New Haven.
• 1955: Pennsylvania receives first 75-foot cars.
• 1956: ACF introduces the Model A triler hitch.
• 1956: New Haven receives 80-foot Clejan flatcars.
• 1958: Trailer Train receives first 85-foot flatcars.
• 1964: Trailer Train receives first 89-foot flatcars.
• 1968: First ACF flush-deck all-purpose flatcars enter service.
• 1987: TTX converts first Long Runner flatcars for service.

Details

Last Updated: 01 February 2022

Hits: 8707

Present TTX Car Classification System

The following car classification was adopted in 1968 and took until 1974 to be completely adopted. It consists of six characters.

Original Trailer Train Classification System

Cars were assigned classes based on the length of the loading deck.