Conrail inherited a total of 89 2,300hp U23B's from Penn Central and Lehigh Valley, while purchasing 10 new units in 1977. Prior to Conrail, Penn Central assigned their units to various locations, including Collinwood and Columbus. Beginning in April 1976, Conrail assigned the former PC units for maintenance to Selkirk in New York and to Buckeye in Columbus, OH, with all the former LV units going to Buckeye. As a result, the units saw general service duty across the system.Conrail transferred all the units to Buckeye in 1979, where they remained for four years until the yard closed in 1983. During a downturn in service in 1981 that saw thousands of employees laid off and drastic changes in operating practices, Conrail briefly stored their fleet of U23B's. When Buckeye closed in 1983, Conrail sent all the units back to Selkirk, which allowed the U23B's to travel over the entire system once again.
Then in 1985 disaster stuck. Two units (CR 2732 and CR 2739) suffered so much damage during a wreck that Conrail had no choice but to scrap the units at Hollidaysburg the next year. Of course, these were not the first U23B's wrecked. During the winter of 1978, CR 2781, still in its Lehigh Valley paint but renumbered for Conrail, smashed in its short hood. Conrail repaired the damage and repainted the unit at the same time. The unit would eventually go to the Reading, Blue Mountain & Northern on October 3, 1996, where it became RBM&N 2394.In 1986, Conrail was finally ready retire the remaining aging fleet of U23B's, which were becoming a maintenance headache, but increasing traffic and the return of 100 leased GP38-2's to EMD gave the aging U23B's a brief extension on their lives. But five years later on May 9, 1991, Conrail finally retired the surviving 97 U23B's. For a brief time, Conrail considered rebuilding them in Juniata into Super 7's but eventually gave up on the idea in 1994. In the meantime, Conrail placed several units into their leasing division (CRL) with CRL numbers but never renumbered the actual locomotives. They were CR 2706, 2738, 2746, 2753, 2770, 2778, 2780, and 2781.
In 1994, when Conrail decided against the Super 7 program, Conrail either returned the units to GE as trade-ins for the new C40-8W's or sold them off to industrial lines and regional railroads. Units went to Reading & Northern; Wimpey Minerals in Annville, PA, which leased one and bought two units; Providence & Worchester; Texas Utilities; and Transmodal in New Jersey. So ended the lives of these U-boat workhorses that fans enjoyed but Conrail hated.Shortly before Conrail, Penn Central began replacing the glass in the oval fixed cab windows by inserting steel plates while keeping the original rubber gaskets. Conrail did the same on some units, while on others removing the glass and welding rectangular steel plates over the opening. Be sure to check photos to see when a unit got modified.
Here is an interesting operating note. During a period in 1973, when a former Southern Railway executive was a trustee, Penn Central ordered 2750-2776 to be equipped with bi-directional controls, allowing the units to be run long-hood forward. Unfortunately, this meant that the engineer would have to sit on the inside of the tracks when running this way because the units did not have dual control stands, one on each side of the cab. While not a common sight, several units were put on "backwards" as the lead unit, probably to save time instead of turning the unit on a wye or turntable.
Comprehensive GE U23B Roster
The roster below is comprehensive for Conrail's U23B between April 1976 and the last unit's retirement in the early 1990's. The roster contains all predecessor units Conrail inherited, plus it lists retirement dates when known.
CR # Former Built Retired Notes
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2700 PC 2700 08/72 05/09/91
2701 PC 2701 08/72 05/09/91
2702 PC 2702 08/72 05/09/91
2703 PC 2703 08/72 05/09/91
2704 PC 2704 08/72 05/09/91
2705 PC 2705 08/72 05/09/91
2706 PC 2706 08/72 05/09/91 reactivated 11/92, retired 3/8/93
2707 PC 2707 08/72 05/09/91 reactivated 11/92, retired 3/8/93
2708 PC 2708 08/72 05/09/91 reactivated 11/92, retired 3/8/93
2709 PC 2709 08/72 05/09/91 reactivated 11/92, retired 3/8/93
2710 PC 2710 08/72 05/09/91
2711 PC 2711 08/72 05/09/91
2712 PC 2712 08/72 05/09/91
2713 PC 2713 08/72 05/09/91
2714 PC 2714 08/72 05/09/91
2715 PC 2715 08/72 05/09/91
2716 PC 2716 08/72 05/09/91
2717 PC 2717 08/72 05/09/91 to RBMN 2391, ??/94
2718 PC 2718 08/72 05/09/91
2719 PC 2719 08/72 05/09/91
2720 PC 2720 08/72 05/09/91 reactivated 11/92, retired 3/8/93
2721 PC 2721 09/72 05/09/91
2722 PC 2722 09/72 05/09/91
2723 PC 2723 09/72 05/09/91
2724 PC 2724 09/72 05/09/91
2725 PC 2725 09/72 05/09/91
2726 PC 2726 09/72 05/09/91
2727 PC 2727 09/72 05/09/91
2728 PC 2728 09/72 05/09/91 reactivated 11/92, retired 3/8/93
2729 PC 2729 09/72 05/09/91
2730 PC 2730 09/72 05/09/91
2731 PC 2731 09/72 05/09/91
2732 PC 2732 09/72 11/06/85 wrecked, scrapped by CR 9/86
2733 PC 2733 09/72 05/09/91
2734 PC 2734 09/72 05/09/91
2735 PC 2735 09/72 05/09/91
2736 PC 2736 09/72 05/09/91
2737 PC 2737 09/72 05/09/91
2738 PC 2738 09/72 05/09/91 reactivated 11/92, retired 3/8/93
2739 PC 2739 10/72 05/09/91 wrecked, scrapped by CR
2740 PC 2740 10/72 11/06/85
2741 PC 2741 10/72 05/09/91
2742 PC 2742 10/72 05/09/91
2743 PC 2743 10/72 05/09/91
2744 PC 2744 10/72 05/09/91
2745 PC 2745 10/72 05/09/91
2746 PC 2746 10/72 05/09/91 reactivated 11/92, retired 3/8/93
2747 PC 2747 10/72 05/09/91
2748 PC 2748 10/72 05/09/91
2749 PC 2749 10/72 05/09/91
2750 PC 2750 08/73 05/09/91
2751 PC 2751 08/73 05/09/91
2752 PC 2752 08/73 05/09/91
2753 PC 2753 08/73 05/09/91
2754 PC 2754 08/73 05/09/91
2755 PC 2755 08/73 05/09/91
2756 PC 2756 08/73 05/09/91
2757 PC 2757 08/73 05/09/91
2758 PC 2758 09/73 05/09/91
2759 PC 2759 09/73 05/09/91
2760 PC 2760 09/73 05/09/91
2761 PC 2761 09/73 05/09/91
2762 PC 2762 09/73 05/09/91
2763 PC 2763 09/73 05/09/91
2764 PC 2764 09/73 05/09/91
2765 PC 2765 09/73 05/09/91
2766 PC 2766 09/73 05/09/91
2767 PC 2767 09/73 05/09/91
2768 PC 2768 09/73 05/09/91
2769 PC 2769 09/73 05/09/91
2770 PC 2770 09/73 05/09/91 reactivated 11/92, retired 11/24/92
2771 PC 2771 09/73 05/09/91
2772 PC 2772 09/73 05/09/91
2773 PC 2773 10/73 05/09/91
2774 PC 2774 10/73 05/09/91
2775 PC 2775 10/73 05/09/91
2776 PC 2776 10/73 05/09/91
2777 LV 501 11/74 05/09/91 to RBMN 2396, 4/3/97
2778 LV 502 11/74 05/09/91 leased Wimpey Minerals until 1996
2779 LV 503 11/74 05/09/91
2780 LV 504 11/74 05/09/91 to Reading & Northern 2395, 4/3/97
2781 LV 505 11/74 05/09/91 to RBMN 2394 10/3/96
2782 LV 506 11/74 05/09/91 to RBMN 2393, 11/14/96
2783 LV 507 11/74 05/09/91 reactivated 11/92, retired 3/8/93
2784 LV 508 11/74 05/09/91
2785 LV 509 11/74 05/09/91 to Wimpy Minerals 2785
2786 LV 510 11/74 05/09/91 react 11/92, retire 3/8/93, Wimpey 2786
2787 LV 511 11/74 05/09/91
2788 LV 512 11/74 05/09/91 reactivated 11/92, retired 3/8/93
2789 -- ---- 05/77 05/09/91 to RBMN 2397, early 1992
2790 -- ---- 05/77 05/09/91 reactivated 11/92, retired 3/8/93
2791 -- ---- 05/77 05/09/91 to RBMN 2399, early 1992
2792 -- ---- 05/77 05/09/91 reactivated 11/92, retired 3/8/93
2793 -- ---- 05/77 05/09/91 to RBMN 2398, early 1992
2794 -- ---- 05/77 05/09/91 reactivated 11/92, retired 3/8/93
2795 -- ---- 05/77 05/09/91 reactivated 11/92, retired 3/8/93
2796 -- ---- 05/77 05/09/91
2797 -- ---- 05/77 05/09/91
2798 -- ---- 05/77 05/09/91 reactivated 11/92, retired 12/3/92