Ashtabula, OH OD Tower 12/27/1990

A Conrail 2 unit "pig train" on Track # 1 heads east bound under the  5th St. Bridge and towards the Youngstown Branch and old Ashtabula Station.                   CR3348 (GP40-2) and CR8258 (GP38-2).

Dunkirk, OH 12/01/1990

A south bound Conrail mixed freight with 114 cars on the old New York Central Toledo Branch heads towards Kenton, Marysville and then Columbus.  The train is about to cross the east-west tracks of the former Pennsylvania Rail Road Crestline to Lima Branch.                 CR6830 (SD50) in the lead.

more Conrail in Marion, OH

11/17/90  A morning east bound 3 unit "pig train", TV-4 rolls past former Erie-Lackawana AC Tower, also a landmark in Marion on Conrail, Norfolk & Western and earlier the Pennsylvania Rail Road.  Today AC Tower serves the CSX and N-S railroads, and is a nationally recognized railfan "hot-spot".                                CR5074 (B40-8), CR3355 (GP40-2) & CR5035 (B36-7).

Conrail in Marion, OH

8/26/90  A Conrail 2 local freight with 20 cars backing slowly into Marion Yard (ex Erie Lackawana).  CR8164 (GP38-2) and CR8160 (GP38-2).

Consolidated Rail Corporation

12/27/1990  Conrail 5071 (B40-8) leads a three unit "pig train" east and about to cross Conrail's Youngstown Branch  in Ashtabula, Ohio on the former New York Central Cleveland-Buffalo mainline (the "water level route").  Conrail was a creation of Congress and offically came into being in 1974 and started operations on April 1, 1976.  Its purpose was to provide rail service to the Northeast and Midwestern portions of the United States on lines previously owned and operated by the Penn-Central Transportation Company (the merged Pennsylvania and New York Central railroads), and the former Erie-Lackawana and several other smaller lines, all of whom were either bankrupt or in very serious financial trouble.   Conrail successfully and profitably operated until its stockholders agreed to sell and split the railroad with 58% going to the Norfolk Southern and 42% going to CSX which started operations on Conrail trackage on June 1, 1999.

Ashtabula Harbor, July 7, 1957 - The New York Central Side

In this photo by Bob Rathke, you can see what the bigger New York Central Harbor Yard looked like on the east side of the Ashtabula River.  The picture shows several GP-7s (the standard NYC diesel yard engine in Ashtabula during the mid-50s and 1960s) and the size of the yard  in general.  It was at least three times the capacity of the Pennsy side.  Picture is looking north with Lake Erie off in the distance.  I, like my father, his brother and my grandfather all worked in this yard , on this side of the river.  My grandfather and my uncle because they were New York Central men, Dad and I (and later my brother) because we were brought over as Penn-Central employees when the Pennsylvania and New York Central merged in 1968.

As on the Pennsy side, coal was shipped to Ashtabula Harbor and the Central coal docks from Youngstown, Ohio and the P. & L.E. R.R. (the farthest south NYC trains could travel out of the Harbor).  Like the Pennsy, emptied coal cars were used to take iron ore (brought in by lake freighters) from the Central's several ore docks back down to Youngstown via Carson Yard ( up the "hill" and southeast of Ashtabula), and the New York Central Youngstown Branch.  This all terminated at the P. & L.E.'s Gateway Yard in Youngstown.

After the Penn-Central merger, it was obvious that there was not a need for parallel track lines ending in Youngstown from Ashtabula, both mainly hauling iron ore and coal.  Unlike the Pennsylvania Rail Road, the New York Central maintained and upgraded its Youngstown Branch, and in 1975, with the coming of Conrail, the Pennsy P.Y.& A. branch was  abandoned in favor of the Youngstown Branch which lives today under the flag of the Norfolk-Southern as the "Youngstown Line".  In the hearts of old "P - Company" men, such as myself, the P.Y. & A. will live on.

Ashtabula Harbor, July 1962

Here in a photo by Bob Rathke, you  can see what Ashtabula Harbor looked like in the early 1960s (just three years before I went to work for the Pennsy).  Looking at the picture you can see the Hannah Docks in the foreground serviced by the PRR and across the Ashtabula River, the A.& B. and Union Docks, serviced by the New York Central.  Closest in the picture are storage tracks for the coal and iron ore docks.  The coal unloading machine is on the near side of the river on the left side of the picture, and the ore bridge is beyond that to the far left. The main function of the Pennsy docks in the late 1950s and 1960s was to unload  ore boats that Cleveland could not handle.  The docks and the PRR had to be ready almost at a moments notice awaiting a call from Cleveland telling that an ore boat was on its way.  Smart train masters always kept a stash of empty hopper cars ready so Cleveland would NOT send boats to Ashtabula for lack of cars to take on a boat load of ore.  The 1960s were a time when business use of computers to do things like keep accurate inventories of locomotives and cars was in its infancy, and so hoppers could be hidden in back, out of service yard tracks along the winding Ashtabula River.  From March until mid December, Ashtabula Harbor always stayed busy.