Conrail in the 1st year on Horse Shoe Curve. The days of Alco-caboose-4 track main & K4.

[@wurlitzer1538]

Consists like this are why the 70's are my favorite railroading era. Great look in to the past!

[@Charonview]

Wow, 1977-a year after the formation of CR. Really like the diesel combos of EL, PC and CR! Thanks for posting.

[@lunatrain]

Here's something that I love about classic train videos, you would see a WIDE variety of locomotives from Alco to GE's to EMD's. Today though sadly you don't see a variety of locomotives that much, mostly GE wide cabs and the rare standard cab locomotives by EMD.

[@fnm9908]

Simply amazing,to be able to see railroading from the good old days in this modern era,thanks jack

[@Lvfd416]

That's the Conrail I so fondly remember! I grew up across from the Mingo to Conway "River Line", and still remember those big Centuries lugging coal and iron ore drags to the mills around Pittsburgh. Now the mills and the Alcos are gone, as is the old "Panhandle Line" through Weirton Junction!

[@kelvintorrence5994]

Yes I hauled steel down there when we still had many mills and jobs around here.all gone now.

[@escape150]

Great video.....Brings back good memories visiting horseshoe curve when I was youngster seeing those Penn Central and Conrail engines

[@30yrsengr41]

Good memories review for those of us who are old enough, trains before wide bodies,when EMD was king of that mountain and a chance for the younger crowd to see what it was like when you could go up them steps for free to view trains. Thanks for sharing

[@1jackdk]

Thanks for watching and glad you enjoyed it. Many changes over the years! I sure do miss the old days.

[@McClain808]

That was totally awlsome ,my dad was born and raised in Mt Union Pa and we traveled back to his home town alot ,we visited friends in Mapleton and Hunnington ,we would see these type of trains in our travels.Keep them coming it takes me back . Mark

[@WILLIEB189]

I'm truly envious.. I wasn't old enough to video record things back in this era, but I'm sure glad you did.. Jack you are a godsend to those of us that love recalling our memories through your films.. Thank you

[@luciusvorenus9445]

Awesome video! GPs, SDs, U-Boats and bay window cabooses! Nice.

[@CSXJoshua]

Great video. Nice to see Conrail in its early stages.

[@THEATREofPAIN270]

What a great post. I just turned 7 when this was shot. After reading about Horse Shoe Curve in a book it is one place I have yet to visit. It just may be the Spring of 2013. Thanks for sharing your video. Awesome stuff. Liked it for sure.

[@southernpennsyrailfan8579]

I was just there 2 days ago and I had a blast. I also made it on the virtual railfan grab bag

[@1940limited]

Not a great time for railroading in the Northeast. It was sad to see EL locomotives, far from home, on former Penny tracks, with "CR" quickly slapped on them. All the great railroads we had consolidated into one system, with plenty of abandonments in the process. It wasn't a pleasant sight but there just wasn't enough traffic support all the rail roads. It looks as if lots of ties have recently been replaced at the time you took these movies. Penn Central certainly need that and a lot more. Interesting video. It's nice to see cabooses and the steam locomotive still in place on Horseshoe Curve. Thanks for posting. By the way, there's a good video made by Penn Central on You Tube about the state of the railroad in 1974. It gives you a good idea of how badly the physical plant, motive power and rolling stock had deteriorated at that time. It was a painful era.

[@tiarnanferry2735]

Painful maybe, but I'd give just about anything to have seen it

[@ericzerkle8486]

By early 1977, the west end of the EL was mostly unused or very lightly used.

[@CPR1433]

Awesome!!! My buddy is a big EL fan and he got me hooked on them too. Even though they are patched they are still awesome to see. Thanks for sharing the great footage!!

[@cvgeeps]

That 636 was truly the star of this vid I remember seeing them out of Mingo Jct an last stand for the old ALCOs haulin coal.

[@BNforever2009]

Nice!!!!! Reminds me of when I was in grammar school and high school, watching the PC and later on the CR frieghts running by my house on the old Panhanandle Line in Chicago near the Rock Island crossing in Beverly neighborhood. Its sad to see the tracks taken up and now just seeing the Metra commuter trains going back and forth on the old RI commuter suburban line.

[@ronniefarnsworth8224]

Boy you can see they were down on units in the early days of CR, I know theirs always pushers but its surprising so many trains are led by just two units ! The incredible strain !!!

[@p42Amtrak83]

Nice! They didn't mess around when painting! Almost all of them have CR on them!

[@lamontduplessis3552]

Sorry about that Jack; I Always look for and READ, lol, the notes. Now, whether or not They sink into my So-called Mind, is another matter!! ☺✌Ty Jack!! Have a Great day!!

[@NorthernMaineProductions]

this is an awsome video especially for being filmed in 1977! the quality is quite good for being 30+years old thanks for posting

[@1jackdk]

That's what I like to here brother. Its just coming back home. Hope everything is going well with you and your boy Take care, and thanks again for all your complements,,,

[@b3j8]

As the old saying goes, "It was the best of times, and the worst of times..." Sure do miss the EL, and seeing those Alcos on mainline freights! Also, and I hate to admit it, I miss Conrail now too!

[@branchlinebuff]

This is one the best Conrail videos Ive ever seen! Love it!

[@1jackdk]

@ma7799 No! It says in the description that this was shot 14 days after Conrails first birthday. Conrail was formed 4/01/1976, and this was shot 4/15/1977. Making it 14 days after their 1st Birthday. Thanks for watching...

[@traindude32]

Whoa! I have never seen a Conrail ex- Erie Lackawanna

[@22RailProductions]

Wow talk about going back in time!

[@joestrainworldvideos3977]

Wow. Great train history video 👍👍👍

[@1jackdk]

Thanks Joe. Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for watching...

[@saintangerinc]

One dislike, holy shit......don't know how you could possibly dislike this piece of history......

[@MrPictovid]

love all the old videos you share, thank you again!

[@1jackdk]

Thanks bud. Glad you are enjoying all this old stuff, and thanks for watching...

[@zachariassiefker9249]

Nice video! Love the old school Conrail EMD’s!

[@daniellaubach7544]

Wow. Conrail sure had a eclectic mix of road power between the aling Alco's to the GE's down to EMD's as choices either leading or helper power up the grade around the curve or braking power goin down!

[@1940limited]

Amazing all the ties that had been replaced at the time of this ideo.

[@stevebradbury101]

What a GREAT shot of the Old Pennsylvania Railroad locomotive @1:10!! 🚂

[@KyleVideoDesigns]

Very cool footage!

[@PghTrainFanatic]

This is just an all around amazing video! I love seeing the Birth of Conrail in this and you can still see the K4 standing tall up on the curve. Another thing if you notice all the railroad ties on the sides on the tracks. I presume these were old ties in bad need of replacement. Once Conrail took over the funds were available to start rebuilding the poor rail quality that Penn central had.

[@reginaramsey8053]

Love the Conrail SD40-2 RS3L And the Lawkawanna SD45!

[@MICHAELSTEWART]

+regina ramsey the erie lackawanna sd45 is an sd45p, it had a boiler on it to heat commuter trains in north jersey by day and 3600hp to pull freight by night.

[@1jackdk]

MICHAEL STEWART Michael, You are somewhat correct. The EL unit is a SDP45, but really designated as SD45M by EMD. The EL also had SD45's and SD45-2's, and all are distinctly different. In 1969 and 1970, EL ordered the SD45M's (SDP45) without the steam generator equipment, because the unit was longer, giving an extra large fuel tanks and larger fuel capacity. Where the steam generator equipment went, the unit was ballasted with a concrete block. EL never used them in Commuter service. I lived in Northern NJ, and spent most of my time in WJ tower back in the 70's.

[@MICHAELSTEWART]

jackmp294.5™ where was the WJ tower? i used to see them at night at the white castle in elizabeth as they were using the CNJ for their nightly trip to scranton right before conrail took over. they used to add cars at the elizabethport yard. wish i had a camera when i was young as i grew up in elizabethport and still have memories of camelbacks pulling commuter trains from the windows of school 13.

[@1jackdk]

MICHAEL STEWART Mike, The WJ tower was on the ex-Erie where the mainline and Bergen County line came together at Ridgewood Jct. EL and CNJ had a joint venture going in the late years, and pooled power. I never saw CNJ on the EL, but I did see EL pooled with CNJ trains, but the EL was always trailing. I road the 148 steam excursion back in the 70's from Bound Brook to Bay Head and back. Somewhere close to Elizabeth, we passed a pooled power train lead by a CNJ SD35, and two big EL motors. That was the last I ever saw CNJ pooling with EL.

[@richardgerlach5156]

+jackmp294.5™ I used to watch EL trains at the arched stone bridge over the Hohokus brook back in the mid 60's -mid 70's! Fun times!

[@Scrapmanluke1]

Interesting to see 6693 & 6694 together. one still in EL colors & one in CR blue.

[@1jackdk]

Like a before and after. Thanks for watching...

[@daveporter8351]

I started filming 94 loyallhana...hillside.. derry.... sandusky....Westfield..ash and Conneaut oh vhs...old school

[@TheFlagman2]

Great video man! Those must have been the days..

[@Crazytrainkid]

AWESOME VID!!! Man do I miss those great blue bulls.

[@ClearSignalProductions]

Wow that place has changed so much! Awesome video!!!

[@catdaddy9038]

Don't care for the "canopener con" but enjoy those diesels, ALCo's & those big-ol freight of yesteryear!

[@wrailfan]

Absolutely beautiful!

[@conrailfire22]

This is awesome great video of the good olde days

[@NSHorseheadSD70]

Great video Jack. I love the raw and gritty video and sound you get with the 8mm.

[@donconklin1770]

Jack, thanks for uploading this. This is a sweet piece of history never to be seen again in the foreseeable future. I enjoyed watching this video, keep cool things like this coming!

[@1jackdk]

+Donald Conklin Thanks Don. I keep digging into my archives to pull stuff out. There will be some more coming after the holidays are over. Thanks for watching...

[@Cornelu]

Awesome!

[@RyansColoradoRailProductions]

2:33 Ian "EdwardJSmithTitanic/ConrailFan76" 's favorite engine! still in EL paint too from when it was 3674

[@TheMaus9]

When I lived in Roebling,NJ a CSX freight would come through every night and it was almost always led by a Conrail unit

[@2NY100]

Great Guns Jack, Thank you for the memories, Great sound too on your film transfer. Keep them coming. I am subscribing. The EL SDP45s were beastlt and always had a door open somewhere. LOL.

[@1jackdk]

Yes I did Nickolas. They used a bunch of my early Conrail Clips. He also just released a DVD on the B&O which there are a few clips of mine as well. Thanks for watching...

[@larrydockery7201]

love the sd45 s thoes sre great engs of all time

[@anb7408]

When Stanley Crane became president in 1981, he rode over Horseshoe and his first response was “what the f*** have we got FOUR tracks here for?!!” Main #2 was gone by year’s end.

[@bullfrog1954]

There were still 4 tracks in 1977? I first went in 1981 and there were only 3! I last went in the early 2000s...and still just 3! Shame that K4 isn't there any more-but, then again, they removed it to run it. I have a photo someplace of it on the way to the Herr's plant in Nottingham! Great shots of the westbound movements up the grade! I have shots of some locos with the Conrail logo on the nose...and the PC "worms in love" still on the sides!

[@edwardcdaves]

love your videos

[@hansenfiet2539]

When a young supervisor, David Levan, rode around that curve shortly after Conrail was formed, his question was “why the hell do we have FOUR tracks here?!!!” He had one of them ripped up soon enough.

[@VArailfan89]

Wow Jack! Classic stuff! You need to put this stuff on a DVD!

[@LocalRailfan]

Excellent footage and sound Jack!

[@adventurekid9242]

Original.... Genuine..... A Treasure. ...

[@apostleverde]

In the dictionary under "Railroading", it says to see this video. :) Great one! Thanks for sharing!

[@meccaturbo]

That track on Horseshoe is looking rough....CR was probably trying to recover from PC's (and PRR's) deferred maintenance, it took years to overcome that.

[@mark_wooley001]

Great memories this movie brings ... Thanks jackmp294.5 ...

[@northpennvalleysteamrailroad]

This is nice.

[@mikeytrains1]

Beautiful!

[@NSNWFAN34]

Loved the video

[@kurtkauffman4326]

Norfolk Southern's Heritage Units can still be seen on Horseshoe Curve off & on here in 2014.

[@stevenmichael2845]

That whole situation with the K4 REALLY upsets me. So many theories on where it is. Chances are it's never going to be finished, at least not for a long time. Really frustrating

[@GG1man]

Is the restoration? the reason the K-4 was removed?

[@stevenmichael2845]

Yes, and it actually ran for a year or two. Now it is sitting in pieces somewhere in steamtown, no one is really sure exactly what state/condition it is in. I would really be surprised if it is ever restored to operation condition. Search PRR 1361 on Wikipedia, and read the paragraph titled "restoration".

[@stevenmichael2845]

This aged well

[@davidhopson729]

Beautiful footage Jack!!! We need a time machine!!!

[@sgtuniblab1508]

Holy Shit. This is amazing.

[@biker944]

awesome video

[@biker944]

I love it now

[@moonspots01]

That classic Pennsy signal bridge.

[@1jackdk]

@RailfanTube I did catch a few "Bee Line" units. SD45, and a few U30C's...

[@douglasskaalrud6865]

With the exception of the NS “horsehead” scheme, has there ever a better basic black paint scheme than Penn Central’s? They had a classic logo with modern Microgramma Bold font for the lettering. It was bold yet subdued at the same time, as if PC was afraid to be more splashy, given the rock-bottom condition of their railroad. Perhaps adding safety striping on the nose and tail to liven it up just a little but not really necessary. PC’s logo was an instant classic on the same plane as Canadian National’s “wet noodle.” If Stanley Crane had not felt there needed to be a clean break, that scheme would have had a good long run. It would have looked perfectly at home on the side of a GEVO or an ACe.

[@kurtkauffman4326]

It is now used by Norfolk Southern (Known affectionately as "The Thoroughbred of Transportation").

[@Stoker58]

Great shot at 1:06 with the K4 in the foreground.

[@TheMaus9]

Great vid

[@bradklingensmith]

Miss that K-4, then again I have a giant tattoo of a K-4 on my arm. lol

[@1jackdk]

I probably seen that K4 in action on the NY&LB as a kid a bunch of times. Grerat memories. Thanks for watching...

[@bradklingensmith]

jackmp294.5™ I drove by your cam last week or so. I beeped. .

[@norfolksouthernf-7guy642]

Now there was conrail in former reading lines paint, and former Penn central paint, along with errie Lackawanna

[@1jackdk]

Who could ask for more. Thanks for watching...

[@zigman8550]

The rock face is still somewhat black from all the years of Pennsy steamers belching smoke going up the curve.

[@Retired88M]

All the old 2nd generation diesels 😊

[@kurtkauffman4326]

Someday,Plets Express should add these to their Videos.If they got a chance to.

[@FrehleyFan3988]

What ever happened to all of erie lackawannas SDP45s?

[@1jackdk]

From what I understand, all but one has been scraped, and it is in pretty bad shape. fundrazr.com/locomotive?ref=ab_4x79kaJaWcV4x79kaJaWcV

[@CSX4772]

Giving it all they got!

[@RailfanTubeNetwork]

AWESOME! Did you ever catch any Reading Lines "Bee Line Service" SD45's?

[@1jackdk]

@conrailqualityguy Glad you enjoy them. Thanks for watching...

[@snagletoothscott3729]

"Ah, Conrail, the government run railroad with their patriotic read white and blue paint scheme" "What? There's no red on their engines!" "Red is the color of their bottom line"

[@CRQ5508]

I'm more surprised to see SD40-2s already in helper service than anything else. I had always thought the early Dash-2s (the 6300s) didn't arrive in the helper pool until the early 90s. I know most of CR's odd balls (like the SD35s and EL's various SD45 models) and the older SD40s, especially of CNJ heritage, dominated the helper pool in the first 15 years or so. Though I guess this was still the period that, if it ran, put it on a train. GP7s and C636s together were not uncommon in this time frame!

[@scpiedmontvideoproductions878]

CRQ5508 What better place to test these 6 Axel 3000 HP EMDs than in helper service! But you're right! My friends and I first went to the curve in 9/80.And I don't recall seeing any SD40-2s at least until after the ex ERIE LACKAWANNA SD45-2s were retired!

[@CRQ5508]

You know, I didn't even think of that when I originally watched the video. That's probably exactly what they were doing; testing them out. Just about every time Conrail purchased a new locomotive model, helper service over HSC was where it got tested.

[@lamontduplessis3552]

Excellent Jack!! ☺✌Ty for the cool memories!! The "Conrail" loco @ the approx 2:35 min mark, #6659, is that the former "Family Lines Service" (I think that's what the correct name was) paint scheme??

[@raritania7581]

Nope, that's Erie Lackawanna.

[@stevenmichael2845]

Jack, the thing I really like about your videos is how you had the knowledge to use real sound. You go watch those Green Frog videos, and all the sound is dubbed in. Not on yours. I really enjoy your footage, and I hope your uploads continue for a long time.

[@1jackdk]

Steven Michael Thanks Steven. Everything I have posted is live sound, and I'm glad you enjoy it. Its been a while since I posted something, so maybe I should do some more editing. Thanks again, and thanks for watching...

[@FrehleyFan3988]

jackmp294, remember CONRAIL

[@ericzerkle8486]

Probably was using super 8 film that had sound.

[@christopherdibble5872]

The engineers don't wave from the trains anymore, not like they did back in 1954.

[@Crazytrainkid]

Wow, those years when Conrail had "Ruled-The-Rails". Now its just Norfolk Southern with rarely any Conrail on it. When was the last Conrail in Erie Lackawanna paint scheme? I know Penn Central was 1982. So sad. Now all you catch is crap, sometimes you can see a 80MAC (NS) on that curve. I can tell there is actually MORE EMD's than GE's that Conrail owned but the GE's improved more in 1990's.

[@ReadingAreaRailfan]

I will never understand why they got rid of the alcos when they did. The Centurys were barley even 12 years old.

[@bigrezide]

It looks like one of the first things Conrail did was put new ties on the Shoe.

[@1jackdk]

Yah, they transformed the Pittsburgh mainline, and it needed it bad. Thanks for watching.

[@impala327]

Is that the actual audio for that footage?

[@1jackdk]

Yes it is Chuck. It was Kodak Ecktasound. Super 8mm Sound film. Little tough to shoot, as the film cartridge only holds 3-1/2 minutes of film. So you try to be conservative, but you still always manage to run out of film in the middle of something. Thanks for watching...

[@Conrailfan2596]

you should do dvds

[@vrfan]

Has there been much enhancement with this video? Looks better than the earlier analog video footage. Great upload.

[@nickolasroland7661]

Those are the same trains that they show in the conrail hall of fame video did u sell them the video

[@HOTRAILProductions]

Shouldn't this have been shot on 4/15/76?