Allentown Bethlehem 1990s

A compendium of shots from various visits to the Allentown-Bethlehem area during the 1990's.

[@DynamicDuo795]

Conrail era Allentown and Bethlehem was a completely different world back than compared to today. Thanks for sharing.

[@markwilliams5811]

Lots of rail history!! Nice Show!

[@nickygmp_350]

Love all the different paint schemes on the locomotives!

[@leehuff2330]

That's what was fun about the early Conrail days. You never knew what you would see. A freshly painted Conrail unit might be in a lashup with a Lehigh and Hudson River, a Penn Central, and a PRR. When they took over, Conrail moved the big ALCOs to Mingo Junction and Conway to handle coal and iron ore trains on the old Cleveland and Pittsburgh line, which passes right across the river from my house.

[@parailfan]

Outstanding video there kind sir. Even though I was born in '85, I still remember Big Blue running up the Bethlehem Branch to Saucon Yard. Southside Bethlehem has changed quite a lot since then.

[@alexandergrube6437]

a lot has changed since then. the Bethlehem branch from Bethlehem to Quakertown is completely ripped up, and the sounds of those Leslie horns and roaring 645s are replaced by K5LLAs and ES44 engines. and of course, blue has faded to black. this is a wonderful video.

[@patricknoveski6409]

Always great video. Good edits. Nobody wants to see all 100 car trains. Can you imagine back then. Running a train with worn out U boats. 😝. SD 40-2 please ! Not to mention a host of different engines, not serviced. Somehow the crews managed, despite the Company.

[@joshbenton4080]

Awesome! This is footage that by todays standards is impossible to shoot today. "Big Blue" is mostly gone, just a shell of it's former self. The Chessie System painted "jeeps" still lettered C&O, B&O etc, you certainly can no longer see anymore. The then new GE Dash 8-40CW locomotives in Conrail's "can opener" scheme was cool.

[@MelissaMG363]

Thanks for sharing my last decade of living in Allentown fled in 97 went bankrupt just to get out

[@mr.j2776]

Enjoyed your video. Who knew that the 90s would be sort-of "the good old days".

[@Zach_Bloomquist]

I am probably the only person on the planet that thinks the sounds of a railroad yard are relaxing. Great video fmnut. That Reading boxcar in the deadline at allentown was rather cool.

[@BonzoGal1980]

I grew up near the old Ford plant and NJ Transit/CSX rail yard in Suffern, NY. I miss those sounds, especially late at night- there is something incredibly soothing about it.

[@RosTheBanned...]

I remember when I was younger, I had a Conrail to CSX dvd and I always listened to it before I went to bed. It was really soothing to hear the different engines go by at different speeds. Sometimes I would try and guess which engine was going by lol.

[@mrjsanchez1]

Great video , I work out of Allentown, it is nice to see the freight cars without the stupid Graffiti , very few wide cab engines either. The Conrail blue still looks good. Allentown is still a very busy place, the river yard by the old steel mill actually looks much better in 2018 and handles lots of intermodal and regular freight for Lehigh Redevelopment Corp. short line railroad.

[@mr.j2776]

I feel the same was about the graffiti. Why do people think it is OK to deface someone else's property.

[@leehuff2330]

Also rather neat to not see ditch lights. That's how I remember power from the PC days when I was a kid.

[@carlosturren2683]

Una impresionante actividad en el patio de maniobras ( Yard ), con hermoso sonido Diesel, en un escenario de carbón y acero, conforman un espectacular video que, merece ser visto una y otra vez. Muchas gracias.

[@johnmilliard2696]

Used to ride the rdc's from Lansdale to Bethlehem. Saw a lot of different power there right after conrail started in 1976.

[@leehuff2330]

I remember as a kid seeing a big variety here, between Conway Yard and Mingo Junction, back then. It wasn't uncommon to see power from the Anthracite roads in a lashup with PC, NYC, and PRR power on those heavy iron ore drags headed to Pittsburgh from the docks at Cleveland.

[@eeny1954]

I work with a guy who was a safety inspector for Conrail he tells me all his stories about the rails

[@johnhemple7459]

love the reading boxcar in the Allentown yard

[@iusetano]

Excellent video. Some the last Alco's in mainline service on a class 1.

[@redbarnz]

Nice mix of places blended together to make an interesting video!

[@Steven_Williams]

Great video! Miss seeing Conrail in the Chicago area.

[@royscreen61]

Great stuff

[@ktm505sx1]

It looks like that single Conrail unit is pulling a white camper like a pickup on the highway! Headin to the campground. Lol

[@Zach_Bloomquist]

Was that dark blue Alco a Delaware and Hudson unit? Looks to be a high hood RS11 or RS18 from a distance. I wish I could have seen this back then. Oh well. At least I got to see Pavonia around this time period.

[@fmnut]

Zach Bloomquist Yes, it was a D&H RS-11. They kept a unit in the Bethlehem area to make up cuts from the steel mill.

[@Zach_Bloomquist]

Thanks FMnut. Nice to know.

[@yardmstr]

What line are those Conrail engines on the light engine move traveling on?

[@fmnut]

yardmstr the former RDG Bethlehem Branch in South Bethlehem.

[@jamesevans6086]

Great to see footage on this part of the Bethlehem Branch. I'm still sad this is gone now.

[@drutalero2962]

This is literally just the trains

[@gravelydon7072]

Back when Conrail blue looked good.

[@Belleville197]

Are those shots of the yard from River Dr. in Allentown, PA?

[@fmnut]

Belleville197 yes

[@Belleville197]

thanks

[@douglasskaalrud6865]

Seems like Conrail really had a thing for the GP40-2 when few others did.

[@fmnut]

Douglas Skaalrud Conrail was the second largest user of the GP40-2, with 125 purchased new and 4 ex RDG for a total of 129. Chessie System had more than twice as many with 95 C&O and 218 B&O for a total of 313.

[@douglasskaalrud6865]

Did the Blomberg M truck cure the slipperiness?

[@fmnut]

@@douglasskaalrud6865 GP40-2'S were not really slippery. They had a power reduction feature that reduced amperage to the traction motors that essentially turned them into GP38-2'S below 27 mph to avoid slipping and overheating the motors.

[@AmericanRailfan-gb8oq]

The days of leaser and foreign power

[@kaibrown6204]

Offer to CP RR eight-seven A share an thousand a shares of conrail

[@kaibrown6204]

Two thousand shares

[@dwayneday9458]

Selkirk New York humb yard. Legal track right 20 million a year 5 year contract CRS railroad of the twenty billion track repair account one billion Selkirk New York