Former Conrail, now PRL 2202 on CSX branch

http://www.fgmgaming.com/images/2202

A few images I snapped tonight. This unit is sitting on the CSX Bustleton Branch, off of Bluegrass Road and Grant Ave. in Northeast Philadelphia. I'm curious as to what PRL is, and what its doing on a CSX branch.

I've found http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... ?id=786107

That is PRL 2202. Looks nothing like what I was on tonight.

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Found another PRL 2202
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... ?id=752765

Whats the deal? Also, feel free to move this to the appropriate forum. Sorry.

PRL is now the designated operator of the CSAO Bustleton branch.

First pic is of EMD GP 10
Second pic is of a GE U23B.

I am not sure if they are both still on the roster and numbered 2202.

Penn Eastern Rail Lines EMD GP10 2202
ex Conrail GP10 7557
ex Conrail GP9 7068
ex PC GP9 7068
nee PRR GP9 7068 - built 10/1956


Penn Eastern Rail Lines GE U23B 2202
Ex P&W 2202
nee Conrail 2792 - built 5/1977


Scot

Ah okay. Why is it sitting next to a grade crossing, though? From the other pictures I've found, its been sitting there for quite a few months. Theres more rust than Conrail Blue.

I wonder if they had one of those data tags on the GE and used it to get the GP10 shipped back, and renumbered it to 2202 so everything matched up?

Wasn't this unit running on another line (the ex-Erie out of Mansfield, forget the name of the shortline, ?) as #57 previously?

Might just be there as a backup unit for occasional use.

Whats to stop somebody from parking next to it (like we did) to vandalize it? Or worse, break into it? There are several fenced in, stub-end tracks along the Bustleton branch.

TheOneCalledA1 wrote:Whats to stop somebody from parking next to it (like we did) to vandalize it? Or worse, break into it? There are several fenced in, stub-end tracks along the Bustleton branch.

or illegally trespass, climb all over the engine, then post photos of yourself doing so on the internet for everyone and anyone to see?

Scot

This afternoon I saw PRL 2204 and 2202 sitting at the old Reinhold, PA station. One engine was on the mainline the other was on the siding. Tried to upload pictures but too large for this URL. Both engines were silent but appear to be in working order. Have no idea what they do, just passing through and thought it was unusual to see them in the middle of town.

Railfan828 wrote:This afternoon I saw PRL 2204 and 2202 sitting at the old Reinhold, PA station. One engine was on the mainline the other was on the siding. Tried to upload pictures but too large for this URL. Both engines were silent but appear to be in working order. Have no idea what they do, just passing through and thought it was unusual to see them in the middle of town.

Wow, its been two years since this post! but here's the answer to your question. PRL stands for "Penn Eastern Rail Lines", now ESPN (East Penn Railway), and is a railroad shortline company that owns a bunch of shortlines scattered throughout PA and even like 2 in NY i think. Anyway, the PRL 2204 and 2202 U23B engines you saw belong to the Lancaster and Northern Branch (LANO) of PRL, which is a 13 mile shortline that runs between Ephrata and Sinking Spring, and interchanges with NS at Sinking Spring.

Here's some info about the line: it was originally the Columbia and Reading Railroad, founded in the 1800s, and then became the Reading and Columbia Branch of the Reading Railroad. Then in the 70s or 80s(?), Conrail bought out the line, but then was bought over by PRL (now ESPN) when Conrail kicked the bucket.

Some info about the line today: it has class 3 track, meaning the train only travels at 10 mph because any faster would cause it to derail.. and even at 10 mph, it sometimes still does! the LANO branch, where you saw the two U23B engines, delivers to only 4-5 customers along the line, which is only a fraction of what it used to deliver. They used to run on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, but usually run on Tuesdays and Thursdays now. And also, the PRL 2202 GP10 you guys were referring to earlier used to run on the LANO branch as PRL 57. Here's a video of it in service on the LANO branch back in 2002 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EhGYJ3MBnY and if you wanna see a vid of one of the U23B engines running on the line in modern day, here ya go http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezad2j1lltQ

One other thing, i live 3 miles from the LANO branch! so i get to hear it every now and then :D