Conrail

Of the railroads which went into CR which ones were "complimentary", "redundant" and competitive to the EL.

Complementary: Reading (connected EL to SE Pennsylvania markets)
CNJ (connected EL to Chemical Coast and Southern NJ)

Competitive: Penn Central (Chicago to New England and New Jersey)
Redundant: Lehigh Valley (Buffalo to NJ)
L&HR (Phillipsburg to Northern NJ)

Although off topic to the original posted question, an arguement can be made that prior to Penn Central, both the LH&R and the New Haven were complimentary.

Non Conrail Railroads would also include

D&H, B&O (Via Rdg).

By the way, HI MIKE!

How much of the EL was operated by Conrail. I know the mainline across Indiana was operated by Conrail for a year until September, 1977, when it started going though shortlines that went belly-up. What about in Ohio?

The "southern tier main" along southern New York state was operated by Conrail..it was originally Erie then was part of the EL main..
operated between Binghamton and Buffalo..and I believe east of Binghamton too, but im not sure where and which lines..
today this line is still in use by NS.
Scot

In Ohio,the Spencerville & Elgin ran from Lima to the Indiana state line.A tank car company operates the ex-EL yard in Marion. Joe G.

In Dayton,Ohio EL and NYC had a double track running agreement and yards next to each other on Findlay St.The NYC went south to Cincinnati,the EL had car haulage agreement with the B&O on to Indianapolis.The EL yards are gone and whats left of the NYC on Findlay St.I think is not used except the main NS to Columbus,and ex. EL that may serve gravel pits and water plants.The Pennsylvania to Xeina and Clement Yard where also made redundant by the merger.The majior Conrail Yard was Moraine City for the Dayton area.The double whammy hit when General Motors began downsizing and no longer needed as many cars to ship auto parts and appliances.

In Ohio: Ashland Railway operates from West Salem to Mansfield. Akron Barberton Cluster (ABC Railway) operates from Rittman to Barberton and also Kent to Ravenna. Trackage from east fo Akron to Kent and Ravenna to Windham is abandoned. Ohio Central operates around Warren/Youngstown area. NS operates from Von Willer Yard (East 55th Street) to around Solon (known as Randall Industrial Track). The track from Solon to west of Manuta is abandoned.

Isn't the CSX former Big Four mainline between Galion and Marion still using RoW that was partially owned by EL?

The Erie and the Big Four each owned one track and its land between Galion and Marion. They were operated as joint track (both railroads used both tracks) and it was dispatched by the Erie. The property of both railroads was conveyed to Conrail on April 1, 1976.

There was quite a separation between the two tracks - 50' - 100' or so. In Larry DeYoung's "EL: The West End" book, there is a map suggesting the southernmost track was NYC while the northernmost track was Erie's. EL apparently dispatched both tracks, which from the book's photos, look to be bi-directionally signaled. Are both tracks still in use between Galion and Marion? I would have thought this would have been trackage that Conrail would have rationalized.

The Erie owned and maintained the north track, and the Big Four owned and maintained the south track. They were widely separated as John mentions. They were dispatched by the Erie, but each railroad's trains were governed by their own operating rules, which was unusual. Through 1966, the last I knew of it, the line was signalled as double track, Rule 251, with the north track (1) westward and the south track (2) eastward.

Maximum speed on Track 1 (Erie) was 70 passenger and 50 freight. On track 2 (NYC) it was 79/60.

johnpbarlow wrote:Complementary: Reading (connected EL to SE Pennsylvania markets)
CNJ (connected EL to Chemical Coast and Southern NJ)

Competitive: Penn Central (Chicago to New England and New Jersey)
Redundant: Lehigh Valley (Buffalo to NJ)
L&HR (Phillipsburg to Northern NJ)

John,

How far down South Jersey did the EL go? I only recall the CNJ past Lakewood.

Thanks

EL didn't run any further south than The DL&W Morris & Essex lines and the line to Phillipsburg. CNJ/EL ran a pair of daily intrchange trains (ES-99?) between Elizabeth and Scranton that traversed CNJ to a connection (Wharton?) on the DL&W through the Gap to Scanton.

johnpbarlow wrote:EL didn't run any further south than The DL&W Morris & Essex lines and the line to Phillipsburg. CNJ/EL ran a pair of daily intrchange trains (ES-99?) between Elizabeth and Scranton that traversed CNJ to a connection (Wharton?) on the DL&W through the Gap to Scanton.

Speaking of the ES-99 does anyone on the list have a few pictures of this train on either the High Bridge Branch or the NJ Cutoff that they are willing to share??

Thanks,
Steve