Conrail's last few years east of Fort Wayne (1997-1999)

[@ChadQuick270W]

Great footage here. Thanks so much for capturing it. That hot air balloon was a nice touch. Monroeville at one time had double track and a siding that was remote controlled from Estry Tower. I’ve always liked the sound of that jointed rail. It’s just soothing to me. 👍

[@wmuzeke]

Thanks! Yeah, I think that was the only time I saw that car dealer's hot air balloon. It is amazing to think how busy the PRR used to be through there.

[@heatherjenkins1009]

Rest in peace to a great rail road

[@mccoy79productions66]

awesome

[@TrainsOhio]

Great clips!

[@wmuzeke]

Thanks!

[@logandetwiler4483]

Long live Conrail!!!! Gone but not forgotten

[@thedenverrailfan1985]

Miss conrail horns. Great video

[@wmuzeke]

Thanks. Agreed about the horns!

[@alexschmollinger6576]

Chicago Fort Wayne & Eastern Operates the line now

[@westernmarylandrailway4006]

I was living in NW Ohio (Findlay) at this time and was a member of the Ada Ohio Model RR club. We were in the attic of the Ada Ohio PRR Depot. Was a thrill to see a train roar by the depot from the upstairs bay window. Of course, not a lot of traffic on the PRR at that time, but they had been running some Triple Crown Trains.

[@wmuzeke]

That would have been a nice vantage point. The RoadRailers, locals, and occasional grain trains were about it. Things picked up a little bit after the CR merger with CSX running a set of through-trains on the line and NS used it for a few years for some intermodal trains, too. Thanks for your comments!

[@doubleutubefan5]

I was a toddler during these years.... I have some..... strained faded memories of these units

[@wmuzeke]

That's a pretty good description of my memories of Penn Central...

[@joetarantine4075]

The circus train also rearranged its consist while in Crestline. There's a video somewhere of them passing Crest Tower on the Indy Line as they started towards Columbus. They would have backed around the new connection that was put in place at Crestline shortly before the split

[@wmuzeke]

I would like to see that video if you know where it is.

[@joetarantine4075]

@@wmuzeke kzbin.info/www/bejne/imiaY6B7ptJjl5I When the circus train heads off for Columbus, you can see the cars were in a slightly different order than how they were when shot at Dunkirk

[@wmuzeke]

Thanks for the link. It is interesting seeing more footage from that day. I see what you mean. They moved the flat cars and auto racks to the other end. Also, in the opening shot it looks like they are doing some switching on the PRR side east of the diamonds. I am wondering if they dropped part of their train in the old Triple Crown yard, while they did the switching to the east - then rejoined everything and shoved north onto the Indianapolis Line. They must have spent quite a bit of time there. At least the rain had quit when they filmed there, but the photographer had the advantage of being under that bridge. It was raining pretty intensely that day.

[@joetarantine4075]

@@wmuzeke Hope you have more good stuff to share soon!

[@wmuzeke]

For sure. Stay tuned....

[@christopherdibble5872]

Trackside; the engineers don't wave from the trains anymore, not like they did back in 1954,but you see them wave?

[@wmuzeke]

I still get quite a few waves these days. It's tough to see with the tinted windows sometimes, though.

[@christopherdibble5872]

You eye, really nice to hear that, my friend God bless those engineers.

[@christopherdibble5872]

You're right, but are they waving at just cellphones? Or sincerely.

[@garynewell7072]

This is on the Ft. Wayne Division worked on maintenance out of Lima next to NS tower

[@ChadsRailfanExperience]

Man, how much more would I have caught had we had social media flowing operational heads up back in that day!

[@wmuzeke]

Yep. eGroups was pretty good back then, but you couldn't check it while trackside and I still had dial-up. Word of mouth and a scanner were still the way to find out what was going on.

[@TheRrxing]

Miss those horns

[@jamielacourse7578]

I've never seen that method of moving trailers before. Interesting.

[@thekentuckyrailfan]

I wish conrail would come back the only conrail I have seen is 8098

[@wmuzeke]

Yeah. Definitely one of my favorite HU's!

[@thekentuckyrailfan]

@@wmuzeke yep at least I caught t leading

[@Steelers2841]

261&262 Were the Night Trains that Ran from NS Calumet Yard in Chicago to Elizabeth port, NJ And Vice Versa 262 Come through Canton Late Morning or Early Afternoon Right Behind TRPI AND NLPI And RR261 Come Mid to Late Afternoon right Behind TV3 and Head of PIIN the Canton Helpers of 8215 and 3389 would Come out to Fort Wayne. RR241 and 242 would Connect with 255 and 260 that would Go to Detroit or KC or Connect with 267 the Fort Wayne to Saginaw, Tx

[@wmuzeke]

Thanks for the info.