carajul wrote:When did CR eliminate the Beth Branch from Phili-Bethlehem as a through freight route?
I understand that Conrail stopped through service on the line, shortly after SEPTA discontinued passenger service in 1983.
carajul wrote:What was their reason?
Conrail somehow determined that it cost them more to run trains up the Bethlehem Branch, as opposed to taking them up the RDG main line to Reading, and then over to Allentown / Bethlehem.
Bethlehem Steel liked their ore to come up the Bethlehem Branch, as it was a shorter mileage wise, meaning they paid less.
Conrail wasn't using the branch for much else, so they wanted to stop using it totally, the benefits being no maintenance costs, and getting to charge Bethlehem Steel more.
carajul wrote:After it was decommissioned as a through route was it ever used by CR again north of Hellertown?
North of Hellertown, sure. Conrail used the Saucon yard to store coal cars destined for the Bethlehem Steel coke works. There was some activity in between Iron Hill yard, CP HEM and the ex-LV line too. Conrail used the wye formed by the line to turn engines.
South of Hellertown, to Quakertown, nope.
The super thread on the Bethlehem Branch is located here:
http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=79&t=43
JimE
[url=
https://web.archive.org/web/20141029052 ... rains.html[/url] - (Actually, that server doesn't exist any more, so I point to the web archive version....)