Conrail Lehigh Line

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Conrail Lehigh Line

Allentown & Bethlehem, PA Photos
CR Reading Line Photos
Reading Line Railfan Trip

CR Reading Line Timetable
CR Lehigh Line Timetable

Delaware & Hudson 556-02 rumbles below Bridge Street in Catasauqua, PA behind locomotives of the three Class I's in the east: Conrail, CSXT, and Norfolk Southern. The CR unit is making a rare appearance on this train.

Here are three photos of CP Rail (former D&H) train 266 around Allentown, PA. At the time of these photos, eastbound 266 and counterpart 265 ran from Binghamton, NY to Oak Island, NJ. Soo Line power was common on these trains, as the power from Chicago-Binghamton train 262 (and counterpart 261) was often forwarded on this train. Currently, 265/266 run from Allentown to Oak Island, with the train and power being forwarded on train 558.

Above left: 266 is running on ex-CNJ trackage just east of Allentown Yard, entering CP-JU Interlocking. At JU, 266 will cross the Lehigh River to CP-Bethlehem, where it will enter the ex-LV main line (CR Lehigh Line) for it's run to New Jersey. (03/27/94)

Above middle: Powered by two different Soo Line SD60's, 266 awaits a crew at WK, north of Allentown on Conrail's Lehigh Line. WK was actually the name of a CNJ tower just south (railroad east) connecting this line with the CNJ Passenger Main Line. (04/09/94)

Above right: Again at WK, a different 266 awaits a crew, on December 22, 1995.

Delaware & Hudson train RPPY (Rouses Point, NY to Potomac Yard, VA) is awaiting a crew at Adams Island. Adams Island is about one mile south of WK, and is about one mile north of Allentown Yard. This is a post-Guilford RPPY, operated under the auspices of the NYS&W. D&H 221 is a former Guilford (originally Lehigh Valley) GP38-2, received by the D&H at the time of the Conrail merger. In order to provide competition to the fledgling Conrail, Delaware and Hudson was assigned trackage rights to Potomac Yard, Philadelphia, and Oak Island. In addition, some thirty locomotives were transferred to D&H to power their new trains.

Selkirk-to-Hagerstown SENS-3 is about to activate the hotbox detector at South Richards, PA. To the left is an old structure - perhaps a coke oven. Behind the power, SENS' usual consist can be seen: containers of garbage. Kindly referred to as the "New Jersey Dinner Train ", SENS and ALNS haul large quantities of NYC garbage. Recently, Conrail added symbol freights OPNS/NSOP (Oak Point, NY to Amelia, VA); dedicated garbage trains running from The Bronx to the landfill at Amelia.

Mail-8 rounds the curve at Steel City, PA on a frosty January morning in 1997. Mail-8 was recently rescheduled to operate via the River and Chicago Lines.

A pair of GP38's, recently repainted into Operation Lifesaver livery, pull local WPAL-18 past the ex-Lehigh Valley Easton Tower at Easton, PA. WPAL-18 runs from Allentown to Washington NJ, where it exchanges cars with WPDJ (Dover, NJ). In the background, the former Lehigh Valley's Easton and Northern branch crosses the Lehigh River.

Due to a derailment on the River Line, Conrail detoured priority doublestack TV-200 via the Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Trenton, and Lehigh Lines. TV-200 is generally a monster train loaded with containers for American Presidential Lines. TV-200 is shown here passing Bound Brook, New Jersey at 11:13 AM on August 2, 1996. Later, TV-200 would be a regular visitor to Bound Brook, after having been scheduled to run this route in early 1997.

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