It was one of those hot and humid days in August in Central PA. No threat of rain, but there was a heavy haze in the air the entire day. CR 7550 GP10 and CR 7580 GP10 are working the yard. A freight is getting ready to depart. I don't remember which way we are facing in this photo. I was my first real day of railfanning in almost 14 years. It was an odd but exciting feeling to be back in the hobby, seeing all the changes that had occurred since 1981. On this day, all I had to rely upon was a point-and-shoot instamatic.
Location: Harrisburg, PA (Harrisburg Yard)
Photo Date: 8-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 14, 2022

After a while CR 7570 GP10 and CR 7580 GP10 continued their switching of cars, with the trainman on the rear steps of 7580. The crew was incredibly nice to us all morning. I 'us' because my son, who was 3 years-old at the time, was standing next to me and enjoying everything. (You can find roster shots of these two locomotives on the GP10 page.)
Location: Harrisburg, PA (Harrisburg Yard)
Photo Date: 8-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 14, 2022

Since this was my first big day of railfanning since returning to the hobby, I swung through Hershey on the way toward home. As over in Harrisburg, it was hot with a heavy haze diffusing the light. Here we see then-current Hershey switcher CR 8939 SW9 freshly repainted in the Quality scheme. It's switching out the cars from the chocolate plant. We're standing at the Derry Road looking west at the factory. (You can roster shots of CR 8939 on the SW9 page.)
Location: Hershey, PA (Derry Road)
Photo Date: 8-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 14, 2022

CR 8939 parked at the crossing for a while, so I went across the tracks to take a shot with the string of cars it was shifting, the plant as the backdrop. Back then, this was a daily sight during the weekdays and had been since the Reading Company days. Sadly, it is gone forever, the plant being torn down, the sidings ripped out.
Location: Hershey, PA (Derry Road)
Photo Date: 8-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 14, 2022

It was a short wait to learn why the Hershey switcher was waiting at Derry Road. A westbound merchandise freight lead by CR 6973 SD40-2R and a smoking GE unit roll through the grade crossing.
Location: Hershey, PA
Photo Date: 8-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 14, 2022

With the Harrisburg Line cleared, CR 8939 crossed over onto the westbound track and pushed the string backwards on the westbound main. Here CR 8969 is picking up a string of boxcars cars from a siding that goes into an unloading building and will couple them back onto the waiting covered hoppers.
Location: Hershey, PA
Photo Date: 8-97
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 14, 2022

Taken during all the switching activity, this shot looks west down the Harrisburg Line at the Hershey plant. CR 8969's headlights are barely visible on the righthand tracks.
Location: Hershey, PA
Photo Date: 8-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 14, 2022

Another shot of the plant, looking down along the eastbound tracks. That haze just did not let up!
Location: Hershey, PA
Photo Date: 8-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 14, 2022

Who is this? How did he get in my photos? LoL. This is my son, Jeremy, who was 3 years old. Until I scanned this shot, I had forgotten about his Goof Troop shirt. Anyway, when we were travelling from Harrisburg over to Hershey, I asked him if he wanted to get some chocolate. He said no. After a while of hanging out at the plant taking photos, he said to me that he wasn't hungry for chocolate earlier but now he was for some reason. That is what railfanning at Derry Road could do to you back then! After this, we headed over to Hershey's ice cream shop he liked and got a hot fudge sundae, ending our big first railfan day together. BTW he is standing at Milepost 99. Every year until we moved to Florida, I took a photo of him here at the MP. He loved Derry Road and the elderly lady who lived on the corner, whose yard he would clean while I took train photos. Sigh. He's almost 31 now as I post this. He was a ham back then and still is one today!
Location: Hershey, PA
Photo Date: 8-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 14, 2022

Several days after our Harrisburg and Hershey trip seen in the photos above, Jeremy and I took a trip beyond Harrisburg. We headed down I81 to Hagerstown, MD, where I had fond memories as a teenager hanging out at the Western Maryland, Norfolk & Western, and of course early Conrail. Sadly, most of my memories of the area have faded. When I took Jeremy there in 1994, I drove around like it had been yesterday. It’s now 2022 as I post these photos for the first time, and I cannot remember much about the area. Anyway, we are at Shomo Yard where Norfolk Southern and Conrail met, sharing the yard if memory serves me. I’m looking from the NS side toward the CR side of the line. Way off in the distance on the far right of the photo, ALNS (Allentown, PA – NS/Hagerstown, MD) is approaching.
Location: Hagerstown, MD (Shomo Yard)
Photo Date: 8-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 19, 2022

Led by CR 3387 GP40-2, ALNS has gotten closer. Shomo Yard was the Conrail/Pennsylvania Railroad name for the yard, whereas Norfolk Southern/Norfolk & Western called it Vardo Yard. In the 1970’s and early 1980’s, I loved the Norfolk & Western. My two favorite spots on the N&W were here at Hagerstown and down in Virginia at Norfolk, where I spent many days watching ancient Alco’s and their slugs working the coal trains in the yard. I always found the N&W train crews, tower crews, and yard offices to be amazingly friendly. Okay, I could say that for every railroad back then! It was so different. On this day, the folks at the yard office were very friendly. I parked at the office, chatted a while with them about the past, and asked if we could snap some photos. No problem. Sometimes I think toting a 3 and a 1/2 year old with me back then could work wonders!
Location: Hagerstown, MD (Shomo Yard)
Photo Date: 8-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 19, 2022

ALNS keeps inching closer and will soon be stopping down by the office. Since it was another dog-day in August, the crew had been running with the conductor’s cab door open. No air conditioning in those old locomotives! That day, ALNS had as its power CR 3387 GP40-2, NS 3970 high-nose B23-7 (ex-SOU 3970), and CR 3282 GP40-2 in the safety stripe scheme. They were a rugged trio of locomotives!
Location: Hagerstown, MD (Shomo Yard)
Photo Date: 8-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 19, 2022

ALNS slips by us and comes to a stop just outside the office. He would sit there for a while, allowing me to snap some more photos of him and the locomotives, which appear on the GP40-2 page.
Location: Hagerstown, MD (Shomo Yard)
Photo Date: 8-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 19, 2022

One final shot of the trio before we left to head home to West Reading. Storm clouds had been building, and we had a long way to drive. At the time, I didn’t realize that it would prove to be a very long and very painful trip home. As we neared Harrisburg, I began having a stomachache that got worse and worse the farther we went on the Turnpike. I barely made it home. Turned out I had gotten food poisoning that morning. But that is another story for a different place! I hope you enjoyed my trip down memory lane. I often wish I could go back to those days.
Location: Hagerstown, MD (Shomo Yard)
Photo Date: 8-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 19, 2022

CR 8238 GP38-2, L&N 1600 U25B, and CR 7705 GP38 are at the engine facilities at the old Sharonville Yard. I noticed the L&N has been painted out on 1600, which I find interesting. A year earlier, the L&N and the other railroads in the Family Lines were all rolled into the Seaboard System Railroad. Of course, the CSX had been a paper railroad since 1980, but it wasn't until 1986 when the first CSX locomotive was painted. I guess L&N 1600 was caught up in all that transition craziness of the early days of CSX. Wait a minute? This is a Conrail website, and here I am talking about an L&N U25B! I always loved Conrail. You never knew what you would see. Thanks for sharing the photo, Greg!
Location: Sharonville, OH
Photo Date: 9-18-83
Photographer: Brian Ambrose     Added: January 25, 2022

The next several photos were from a little trip my 3-year-old son and I took in August 1994. In the morning, we left our home in Sinking Spring, PA and headed south to York, PA. There were shot some photos on the Ma & Pa and Yorkrail. On the way home, we stopped by Dillerville Yard in Lancaster. Here we are on the old Franklin & Marshal footbridge across the rails. We're looking north toward Dillerville Yard. Not much to see back then!
Location: Lancaster, PA (Dillerville Yard)
Photo Date: 8-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 26, 2022

This is more interesting. We still on the footbridge but looking south toward Dillerville Yard itself. The two tracks to the right (if I remember these were the old PRR?) headed into downtown Lancaster. The Reading Company yard would have been on the left side of the photo. Looking at it now, I should have gone down and shot the MoW equipment and the caboose. (Our neighbor was an almost-retired engineer out of the yard, which opened many doors back then!) We had been at the yard before to say hi to our neighbor and meet everyone, but I didn't have a camera with me. I hadn't gotten back into 'real' railfanning yet. This day I had my faulty Olympus OM-10 instead of an instamatic. Let's get down into the yard!
Location: Lancaster, PA (Dillerville Yard)
Photo Date: 8-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 26, 2022

Let's start with CR 1627 GP15-1 and CR 7578 GP10 sitting on a ready track, so to speak. You can see the sun was low in the sky. I knew it was better shooting in the morning, but for whatever reason hitting York was more important. Of course, we'll return to Lancaster a few more times when the sun would be in our favor.
Location: Lancaster, PA (Dillerville Yard)
Photo Date: 8-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 26, 2022

CR 1621 GP15-1 and CR 8263 GP38-2 are preparing to leave the yard. Not much else to say here, except that I took several roster photos of the GP15-1's, GP10's, and GP38-2's that were in the yard that day. Check their locomotive pages for those photos.
Location: Lancaster, PA (Dillerville Yard)
Photo Date: 8-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 26, 2022

A little farther down the track in this shot. I may have been on the wrong side of the sun, but I liked how these turned out. Scanning and thinking about all my old Conrail photos has been more difficult emotionally than I thought it would be when I started scanning earlier this month. When I started the CRCyc in April 1998, I felt like a young man of 35. In April of this year, the CRCyc will be 24 years old, and wife and I will be 59. My son will be 31 in March. Where has the time gone? I'm sure many railfans my age know what I'm talking about. Okay, I won't keep whining about getting older! Onto posting more classic Conrail photos!
Location: Lancaster, PA
Photo Date: 8-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 26, 2022

The sun is setting low in the sky as CR 6720 heads eastbound out Reading Yard and through CP Belt, heading onto the Blandon Lowgrade eventually. CP Belt (my email's namesake) never was photogenic, but the blooming flowers caught my eye.
Location: Reading, PA (CP Belt)
Photo Date: 9-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 27, 2022

Run-through train CSAL (CSX/Philadelphia, PA - Allentown, PA) powered by CSX 7063 C30-7 and CSX 6154 GP40 have been stopped for a while on the Belt Line side of CP Belt. It was a busy afternoon, with freights stopped all over the line waiting for other freights to clear CP Belt. At this moment, an eastbound powered by CR 6205 C40-8W and another C40-8W run around CSAL.
Location: Reading, PA (CP Belt)
Photo Date: 9-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 27, 2022

CSAL still hasn't gotten the right of way as HBAL (Harrisburg, PA - Allentown, PA) lead by CR 6733 SD50 pulls out of Reading Yard towards its destination.
Location: Reading, PA (CP Belt)
Photo Date: 9-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 27, 2022

Another day late in the afternoon, an eastbound coal drag powered by CR 6221 C40-8W and CR 6797 SD50 are stopped at the old tower, waiting for a westbound out of Reading to clear. Stopping any train on this line in Reading was dangerous and avoided at all reasonable costs. Even going too slow was dangerous. Thieves would jump onto boxcars or containers, breaking into them to steal whatever they could. They'd also jump onto the cars. It was nuts. Much like today around the country.
Location: West Reading, PA (Valley Junction)
Photo Date: 9-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 27, 2022

Slowly on the move onto the bridge, CR 6221 has gotten the yellow as the eastbound still rolls by.
Location: West Reading, PA (Valley Junction)
Photo Date: 9-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 27, 2022

CR 8707 SW900 (former RDG 1507) and CR 8710 SW900 (former RDG 1510) are working the Spring Street end of Reading yard as they have been doing since coming onto the Reading Company in 1961. The full-length handrails along the long hood were an easy spotting feature of the former RDG units, which began as Baldwin VO-660 locomotives that the Reading Company traded-in for their SW900's. The only parts EMD reused were the Baldwin trucks, the other spotting feature of the former RDG SW900's. Back in the late 1970's when I was a teenager, I used to ride with the Spring Street switcher crew on many Saturdays and when I had off during the week. It was a blast. I even detailed and custom painted an HO model of the SW900 we often used, giving to the engineer as a gift. Back then, the railroad was more my family than my real family. It was fun being able to watch and photograph the yard jobs again, this time with my son.
Location: Readng, PA (Reading Yard - Spring Street)
Photo Date: 10-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 29, 2022

For the next few photos, we’re going to visit one of my favorite railfanning spots from 1994 until we moved to Florida in 1997. That place is Blandon, PA. I would pick up my son from morning preschool and shoot up to Blandon from Wyomissing, following the Blandon Lowgrade most of the way. Often it would be in time for the afternoon run of ALNS (Allentown, PA – NS/Hagerstown, MD). At this time, NS still had many older N&W and SOU high-nose units on this train. Today, CR 6751 SD50 leads ALNS with four GE Dash-8 NS locomotives: NS 8587 C39-8, NS 8742 C40-8, NS 8757 C39-8, and NS 8632 C39-8.
Location: Blandon, PA
Photo Date: 10-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 29, 2022

Here we see the “East Penn Local” that worked the Lehigh Line westward and then returned eastward. It was a push-pull train, meaning it had a locomotive on each end because there was no where on the Reading Line for it to turn an engine. Today, CR 7558 GP10 is pulling the train westward, and CR 7545 GP10 was on the other end to pull the train home eastward. CR 7545 had been repainted in the Quality scheme, but my photo of it didn't come out well.
Location: Blandon, PA
Photo Date: 10-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 29, 2022

On another day, westbound ALNS is being lead with CRL 600 SD40 that had been repainted solid blue for Conrail Leasing. More info and a roster photo of this unit can be found on the SD40 page. Following CRL 600 is NS 8060 C30-7, CR 7901 GP38, and CR 9611 SW1500. I’m pretty sure CR 9611 was running dead in-transit.
Location: Blandon, PA
Photo Date: 10-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 29, 2022

CR 7553 GP10 and CR 7577 are working the Belt Liner on an afternoon of difused light.
Location: Unknown
Photo Date: Reading, PA (CP Belt)
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 31, 2022

CR 6746 SD50 and CR 6420 SD40-2 are on an eastbound on the Belt Line heading into CP Belt. The conductor watches as they lay a bit of sand to prevent the wheels from slipping.
Location: Reading, PA (CP Belt)
Photo Date: 10-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 31, 2022

They make it through slow without any problems.
Location: Reading, PA (CP Belt)
Photo Date: 10-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 31, 2022

We're going to take a brief trip along the Reading Line, looking at some stops without trains. Our first stop is the old Reading Company station at Mertztown, which was named after the Mertz family. The station was built in 1895 when the East Penn branch was built. Having been restored, the station look much like it when in service on the Reading. For some odd reason in all my life, I never was ever able to catch a train here! We're looking eastward, away from Topton and towards Alburtis.
Location: Mertztown, PA
Photo Date: 10-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 31, 2022

A closer of the station.
Location: Mertztown, PA
Photo Date: 10-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 31, 2022

The back of the station looking west. Nope. None of those cars are mine. I never seem to get one of our cars in my photos! As I add more photos from my collection, we'll get to some other scenic and historical locales along Conrail from the 1970's through the 1990's.
Location: Mertztown, PA
Photo Date: 10-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: January 31, 2022

Continuing westward down the old East Penn Branch of the Reading Company, which became the Reading Line under Conrail, we come to the next town on the line, Topton. We're standing at the grade crossing on North Home Ave looking west. Behind us on the north side of the tracks will be the old station.
Location: Topton, PA
Photo Date: 10-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: February 4, 2022

We’re looking at the Reading Company station as it was in 1991. This is the side facing the tracks. The roof and its pillars surrounding the building on the track side are gone. Looking at Google Maps, I see the station has been rebuilt into a cafe and catering company. Topton was always a fun railfan spot. I assume that has not changed. I have more and better photos from along the Reading Line and will post them as I scan them.
Location: Topton, PA
Photo Date: 10-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: February 4, 2022

One of my favorite locations to railfan was the interlocking in Wyomissing, PA, on Reading Company’s Lebanon Valley Branch, which became the Harrisburg Line under Conrail. Growing up in neighboring West Reading from 1969 until 1988, Wyomissing Junction and the old tower at Lebanon Valley Junction were within an easy walk. In 1989, I moved to Sinking Spring but moved back to West Reading in 1994, staying there until we relocated to Central Florida in 1997. The autumn leaves are gone. Winter has arrived. We’re looking east toward Reading at the crossovers that lead to what everyone called “the connection,” which was a single-track line leading down the Belt Line around Reading on the west side of the Schuylkill River. Being a steep incline, westbound trains coming up the connection could have a difficult time. We’ll be seeing many shots taken at this location.
Location: Wyomissing, PA (Wyomissing Junction)
Photo Date: 1-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: February 4, 2022

This was the junction box at Wyomissing Junction as it was in January 1995. I can’t tell how many times as a teenager in the 1970’s I sat on the low boxes to the left of the ‘big box,’ as my son would call it. To the right is the old phone box for crews to call the dispatcher. Way long ago, the Reading Company installed a light on the box. They did the same at Belt Line Junction (CP Belt) to the north of the city and at Titus Junction on the south side. When a train got a signal though one of these junctions, the light on the box would turn on, alerting maintenance crews working on the crossovers to stay clear. Conrail continued this practice. Of course, it was awesome for railfans! Back in my day, train crews didn’t have to call out every signal, so sometimes a train would never talk on the radio to the dispatcher (or operator at Valley Junction when towers were still in service). “We got a light!” was a common phrase to hear a fellow railfan shout, alerting us to get our cameras ready. Yes, this location is deeply rooted in my psyche! I miss it.
Location: Wyomissing, PA (Wyomissing Junction)
Photo Date: 1-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: February 4, 2022

An eastbound has the high green on the signal ahead through Wyomissing Junction. A green on the top signal meant he was going straight through the junction into Reading for whatver reason. It could be to pick up or set off cars. Also, it could be something was already on the Belt Line below, so he had to run through the city.
Location: Wyomissing, PA
Photo Date: 1-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: February 5, 2022

Here is the reason the freight (photo above) had to run into the city. Shortly after he passed, ALNS (Allentown, PA - NS/Hagerstown, MD) came up the connection from the Belt Line and is heading westbound on the Harrisburg Line. Off in the distance, we can just make out the headlight of another approaching eastbound into the junction. Railfanning at Wyomissing often was like shooting fish in a barrel. I hear it still is.
Location: Wyomissing, PA
Photo Date: 1-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: February 5, 2022

A little farther westward from Wyomissing on the Harrisburg Line is Sinking Spring, where we had first lived when married. We are standing on the Dwight Street bridge looking east toward Reading as a freight rumbles underneath us.
Location: Sinking Spring, PA (Dwight St.)
Photo Date: 1-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: February 5, 2022

We're back at Wyomissing on a later January day when the sun was better. (As you can see, I shot photos in all sorts of weather other than downpours!) WPRE-10 (Way Freight / Philadelphia Division / Reading, PA) was a push-pull local out of Reading, PA. It had CR 7560 GP10 and CR 7557 GP10 as its power, heading eastbound back into Reading. Note on CR 7560 the extra 'blat' horn on the conductor-side roof and the white steps.
Location: Wyomissing, PA
Photo Date: 1-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: February 5, 2022

The sun is getting low in the sky as CR 8090 GP38-2 (before it was rebuilt as an Operation Lifesaver unit) leads a trio of GP38-2's on a westbound freight ready to leave Reading Yard at the Spring Street office end. CR 8710 SW100 and CR 8131 GP38-2 sit on the tracks next to him.
Location: Reading, PA (Spring Steet)
Photo Date: 1-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: February 5, 2022

CR 8090 and its train head toward CP Oley on their way out of Reading. I'm not sure if it was heading out toward Wyomissing and then Harrisburg or heading straight down toward Philadelphia. This area of Reading Yard had been desolate for ages.
Location: Reading, PA (CP Oley)
Photo Date: 1-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: February 5, 2022

I must have loved railfanning on cold, overcast days because I sure have enough photos of those days. Here we have an eastbound freight through Wyomissing lead by CR 5044 B36-7, CR 5081 B40-8, and CR 9592 SW1500, the latter of which was in tow (not running).
Location: Wyomissing, PA
Photo Date: 1-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: February 5, 2022

CR 5066 C40-8W, CR 6204 C40-8W, and an EMD unit lead MAIL-3 (Kearny, NJ - East St. Louis, MO).
Location: Wyomissing, PA
Photo Date: 1-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: February 5, 2022

On another day in January, we see MAIL-3 (Kearny, NJ - East St. Louis, MO) again, this time pulled by CR 5571 SD60M, an SD40-2, two C40-8W’s, CR 3297 GP40-2, and CR 3376 GP40-2. That’s six locomotives, which was a treat to see. The two geeps might have been in tow.
Location: Wyomissing. PA
Photo Date: 1-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: February 5, 2022

Here we see the rest of MAIL-3 heading away from us, round the curve.
Location: Wyomissing, PA
Photo Date: 1-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: February 5, 2022

In 1994 when I returned to railfanning and model railroading, I was obsessed with feed mills across eastern PA and MD. It probably had something to do with all the good memories of them starting in my childhood. It was a warm August day when my little boy and I ventured about the Lancaster area. We at Wenger Feeds in Mount Joy, PA looking east-southeast toward Lancaster. South Angle Street overpass is in the background. Conrail regularly served Wenger with Conrail H54 covered hoppers. I found it interesting how they used a backhoe to move the cars on the siding. Here the backhoe is getting ready to do some work.
Location: Mount Joy, PA
Photo Date: 8-12-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: February 18, 2022

Here we see the backhoe pushing CR 887499 H54 covered hopper down the siding. Check the Covered Hopper section to see more photos of Conrail's H54 class covered hoppers.
Location: Mount Joy, PA
Photo Date: 8-12-94
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: February 18, 2022

The Reading area was no stranger to shared power and run-throughs. Here we see an eastbound freight headed by CR 6818 SD50 and running under train orders on the opposing track. The trailing units are CR 5080 B40-8 and UP 3785 SD40-2.
Location: Wyomissing, PA
Photo Date: 3-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: March 2, 2022

Grabbed a close-up of Union Pacific 3785 SD40-2.
Location: Wyomissing, PA
Photo Date: 3-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: March 2, 2022

One more shot as it enters into the junction.
Location: Wyomissing, PA
Photo Date: 3-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: March 2, 2022

Another dreary day in March, so I decide to go railfanning that afternoon. Here CR 5056 B36-7 leads eastbound CSAL with CSX 8087 SD40-2 and CSX 8101 SD40-2 in th new-ish Bright Future paint scheme.
Location: Reading, PA (CP Belt)
Photo Date: 3-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: March 2, 2022

What was it with me and dreary days? It's late in March 1995 as CR 6081 C40-8W leads an eastbound through the detectors at Sinking Spring, PA near where we used to live from 1989-1994.
Location: Sinking Spring, PA
Photo Date: 3-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: March 2, 2022

Keeping the 'dreary day' theme going, it is early April 1995 on a foggy morning as a westbound ballast train passes by 'the dentist' at Wyomissing, PA on the Harrisburg Line. CR 6632 C36-7 and CR 6611 C32-8 are doing the service today. Both units were regulars on ballast duty, but within two years CR 6611 will be repainted MoW grey and placed in dedicated 'Ballast Express' service.
Location: Wyomissing, PA
Photo Date: 4-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: March 3, 2022

The next several photos are from a day in July 1995 we spent at Lititz, PA along the old Reading & Columbia Branch. Since my childhood, the R&C was one of my favorite branchlines. Prior to Conrail, I would catch the Reading Company working the line at many of the small towns. After Conrail, the R&C was cut in half and became the Lititz Secondary on the Lancaster side and the Akron Secondary on the Reading side. In the late-1970's, I often rode along with the crew that worked the Akron Secondary. I haven't thought of this in decades, but I suddenly remember the engineer's name. Everyone called him "Fish" because his last name was Haddock. When he went off working the "Belt Liner" local around Reading and the R&C, he worked the Spring Street end of Reading Yard. I custom painted and detailed an HO scale model of the old Reading Company switcher "we" usually used and gave it to him as a gift. Wow. Funny how I just remembered all that and his name. It sent shivers through me!

The photo? This is an old Reading Company "box," as I used to call them. If I remember correctly, it contained a phone if the conductor needed to call the dispatcher or operator.

Location: Lititz, PA
Photo Date: 7-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: March 9, 2022

This is the old Wilbur Chocolate factory in Lititz. At this time, it still was a working factory with a small shop inside. On this day, I didn't shoot the old Reading Company station that became a town welcome center. The first shots I took at Lititz were 110 slides (yes, 110 instamatic slides!) from 1977. I will try to scan those.
Location: Lititz, PA
Photo Date: 7-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: March 9, 2022

Powered by CR 8262 GP38-2, the local working the Akron Secondary is approaching westbound directly behind the Wilbury factory.
Location: Lititz, PA
Photo Date: 7-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: March 9, 2022

CR 8262 stops prior to the crossing.
Location: Lititz, PA
Photo Date: 7-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: March 9, 2022

The crew has a chat about how they're going to proceed. (For more photos of CR 8262, see the GP38-2 page.)
Location: Lititz, PA
Photo Date: 7-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: March 9, 2022

Back in 1995, the local runs still used cabooses. Here we see CR 24043.
Location: Lititz, PA
Photo Date: 7-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: March 9, 2022

The old Reading Company freight house used to sit just east of the chocolate factory at Milepost 14 between N. Cedar Street and N. Water Steet.
Location: Lititz, PA
Photo Date: 7-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: March 9, 2022

The back side of the freight house.
Location: Lititz, PA
Photo Date: 7-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: March 9, 2022

We're standing at the N. Water Steet crossing and looking west from the freight house. The old Reading Company signal post remained. This is the last photo I shot that day. I hope you enjoyed this quick look at Lititz from 1995.
Location: Lititz, PA
Photo Date: 7-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: March 9, 2022

Going through these photos almost 30 years later sure has been emotional for me! This scene disappeared not long after I took this photo in April 1995. On this day, my little boy and I were at one of my favorite spots from when I was 12 to 14 years old. It is the old foot bridge that crossed the Harrisburg Line (former Lebanon Valley Branch on the Reading Company). It connected South Morwood Ave in West Wyomissing (on the side I'm shooting from) with North Morwood Ave on the West Lawn side where they intersected Penn Avenue. My brother and I spent many days sitting on that bridge or in the grass, watching trains with our bikes nearby. My three aunts, three uncles, and several cousins lived a few blocks down on the West Wyomissing side. On the West Lawn side, my father's knitting mill was several blocks west on Woodside Ave, from where I could watch Reading Company and then Conrail trains roll across the old bridge crossing West Wyomissing Blvd. It was fun in 1995 to take my son, then four years old, to some of my old spots. One last claim to fame about this bridge: on the West Wyomissing side sat a bust and memorial to Franklin D. Roosevelt. I think it's still there. As I look through my photos, I'll have to check if I have any shots of Conrail tearing down the bridge to make way for double-stack intermodal trains. I know I shot video of them tearing it down. About the train...it's an eastbound ore train running on the opposing track, lead by CR 6805 SD50 and CR 6190 C40-8W. Conrail was working on the 'real' eastbound's ballast.
Location: West Wyomissing, PA
Photo Date: 4-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: March 11, 2022

Hearing about the track work going on farther west, we left West Wyomissing and headed down to West Lawn. Eastbound MoW train pulled by CR 3376 GP40-2 in the Quality scheme is running opposite. Notice the ties along the rails and the cleaner ballast?
Location: West Lawn, PA
Photo Date: 4-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: March 11, 2022

Here is why all the eastbound trains that day were running on the opposing track under train orders. A crew from LORAM is cleaning the shoulder ballast. Tie work had also been going on. This was all in preparation of running double-stack intermodal trains on the Harrisburg Line. The sand pile is for the baseball field. It was a fun spot to railfan. For more info on what the LORAM machines do, check their corporate website.
Location: West Lawn, PA
Photo Date: 4-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: March 11, 2022

Westbound ALNS (Allentown, PA - NS/Hagerstown, MD) kicks up the ballat dust as it passes by the LORAM crew.
Location: West Lawn, PA
Photo Date: 4-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: March 11, 2022

An eastbound headed by CR 6264 C40-8W has the red signal at CP Valley Jct waiting to cross the Schuylkill River and enter the city of Reading. In 1995, the old Reading Company tower that sits off to the left behind the locomotives had been closed for a long time, its large windows bricked up and operator panels removed. It had become a home for MoW, as can be seen by the yellow Conrail van. Having a very limited budget for film, I shot the photos of the train but ignored the van. From Winter 1976 until 1980, Valley Junction had been a home-away-from-home for me. You know it's bad when my mother had the tower's phone number and sometimes called looking for me!
Location: West Reading, PA (CP Valley Jct.)
Photo Date: 9-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: March 17, 2022

I stepped back to take a wider shot of the eastbound. I took roster shots of all its locomotives, but I posted those on their respective locomotive pages here at the CRCyc. On the lead it had CR 6264 C40-8W, CR 6073 C40-8W, LMS 722 C40-8W, CR 7890 GP38, and DUPX 105 SW1500 (aka CW Rail). The last two units were in tow.
Location: West Reading, PA (CP Valley Jct)
Photo Date: 9-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: March 17, 2022

Even though the switcher's herald is SWRail, this SW1500 belonged to DuPont. It was built 12/67 as Roscoe, Snyder, and Pacifc #500. Later, it was sold to DuPont, where it became DUPX 105, and worked the company's Chamber Works plant in Deepwater, NJ. The "CW" in CWRails stands for "Chamber Works." If I recall correctly, the switcher had contract work done on it in Altoona and was being shipped back to New Jersey.
Location: West Reading, PA (CP Valley Jct.)
Photo Date: 9-95
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: March 17, 2022

It was a cold afternoon in early March 1996. A westbound freight lead by CR 6035 C40-8 is picking up train orders from a temporary operator working out of the phone box at Derry. Due to track work, westbound trains were running opposite that day. This is a scene that quickly disappeared from railroading. I remember talking with the operator and crews that day, but I made no notes about it. I miss old school railroading.
Location: Hershey, PA (Derry St)
Photo Date: 3-6-96
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: May 4, 2022

Around 2015, a fellow at a swap meet over by Tampa was selling a collection of railroad memorabilia, models, and original slides that belonged to a friend who had recently passed away. He knew nothing about trains but promised his friend's widow he would sell everything for her. Most of the slides and memorabilia was for railroads here in the South. He did have a small collection of Conrail slides. After a pleasant conversation, he simply gave the slides to me. (My son bought a bunch of HO and N scale from the fellow.) Unfortunately, I forgot to ask about his friend's name. When I remembered, it was too late. Since these scans are from original slides now in my possession, I legally can post them. Ironically, the slides are from the Reading, Enola, and Altoona areas--remember, I got these outside Tampa, Florida! Small world indeed.
Here we see three Conrail B36-7's (CR 5056, CR 5034, and CR 5040) hauling a hot evening intermodal sometime in August 1988. Even though the slides had no locations noted, I recognized most of them. This location looks very familiar, but I can't put my finger on it. If you know where it was shot, please drop me an email. I do like the three ties formed into an arrow, a fun detail for a train layout.
Location: Unknown
Photo Date: August 1988
Photographer: Robert Waller Collection     Added: July 22, 2022

As a railfan and one-time model railroader, I love elevated shots of rail yards because they are a snapshot of railroad operations at that moment. This was a classic spot for snapping a few shots of Enola. Nothing too exciting here, other than some Chessie units out of Hagerstown, MD.
Location: Enola, PA
Photo Date: August 1988
Photographer: Robert Waller Collection     Added: July 22, 2022

Another shot of Enola taken a few moments after the previous shot, shows a string of four Conrail locomotives down by the turntable (left to right): CR 2748 U23B, CR 6254 SD40, CR 6904 U23C, and CR 3303 GP40-2. In 1988, Conrail was still using blue on the MW vehicles, as barely can be seen in front of the locomotives.
Location: Enola, PA
Photo Date: August 1988
Photographer: Robert Waller Collection     Added: July 22, 2022

Another shot of Enola taken a few moments after the previous shot, shows a string of four Conrail locomotives down by the turntable (left to right): CR 2748 U23B, CR 6254 SD40, CR 6904 U23C, and CR 3303 GP40-2. In 1988, Conrail was still using blue on the MW vehicles, as barely can be seen in front of the locomotives.
Panning more to the right, going south toward the Day Tower end of the yard as I always called it, we see CR 9580 SW1500, CR 8190 GP38-2, CR 6322 SD40, CR 7554 GP10, and CR 9531 SW1500. There still are Penn Central boxcars, at least one Pennsylvania hopper, and a mix of blue and yellow MW vehicles.
Location: Enola, PA
Photo Date: August 1988
Photographer: Robert Waller Collection     Added: July 22, 2022

PC 11111 and PRR 493205 MoW cars along with two bay-window cabooses, CR 21538 N-7A and CR 21631 N-7A, sit outside the old shops. Behind them are several other cabooses. (The PRR and PC MoW cars will have closer photos in the MoW section of the website.
Location: Reading, PA
Photo Date: 8-88
Photographer: Robert Waller Collection     Added: July 28, 2022

A closer image of CR 21538 N-7A (ex-PC 21538/NYC 20434) was built May 1952 by the St. Louis Car Company as denoted by the A in its class.
Location: Reading, PA
Photo Date: 8-88
Photographer: Robert Waller Collection     Added: July 28, 2022

WPRE-10, the local based out of Reading Yard, is travelling westbound in reverse through Wyomissing Junction, with the conductor and trainman acting as the eyes for the engineer. After it traversed the crossovers to the eastbound track, the crew returned to the caboose, with the train continuing back home to Reading Yard. It was an interesting operation. Unfortunately, I no longer remember why they did this; I never wrote it down in my notes.
On this day, WPRE-10 had CR 7744 GP38 and CR 7727 GP38 as its power. Both units are in the Quality scheme and are also on the GP38 Photos page. Trailing the local was a treat, CR 21222 N-21 class caboose. This was only one of two cabooses to be repainted in the Quality scheme, the other being CR 22137 N-20 class. CR 21222 was also given small Operation Lifesaver stickers on the sides and ends.
Location: Wyomissing, PA
Photo Date: 3-30-96
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: July 28, 2022

With the train back on its proper track, the crew has gone inside and WPRE-10 heads east back into Reading.
Location: Wyomissing, PA
Photo Date: 3-30-96
Photographer: Robert Waller     Added: July 28, 2022

CR 6759 SD50, CR 6738 SD50, and CR 6458 SD40-2 lead a freight in 1988. I'm not sure of the location.
Location: Unknown
Photo Date: 8-88
Photographer: Robert Waller Collection     Added: July 30, 2022

According to Rudy Garbely's The Comprehensive Guide to Conrail Cabooses, CR 19137R was an "anomaly." It carried the class of N-5, the largest and oldest class of cabooses Conrail inherited, but its handrails should make it an N-5B. CR 19137R was built in April 1917 as PRR 477138. It has a complicated history, working in regular freight service, express passenger service, and MoW service during its life on the PRR and PC. On Conrail, it served in freight service. Most N-5 class cabooses had an "R" at the end of their road number, assigning them to "restricted" service due to age or condition. Here we see CR 19137R after it was removed from the Conrail roster. It would eventually find a home at the Western New York Railway Historical Society.
Location: Unknown
Photo Date: 6-87
Photographer: Robert Waller Collection     Added: August 2, 2022

CR 21153 had the longest Conrail herald of any caboose, looking more like an early boxcar. It was built October 1969 as Erie Lackawanna C366. It was painted Conrail blue in June 1976 at the former EL Meadville shops. Eventually, it had its end ladders and roofwalk removed. It also got an Operation Lifesaver sticker applied to it. It was in rough condition in June 1988, having been removed from service a few years earlier. It not resides with the Lancaster Chapter NRHS.
Location: Unknown
Photo Date: 6-87
Photographer: Robert Waller Collection     Added: August 2, 2022

The next three photos were taken at Conrail's Juniata Locomotive Shop at Altoona Works in Altoona, PA. Ralfans standing at the fence and shooting the turntable was a common sight. Even I did it on a snowy day in 1976. (I need to see if my 110 instamatic slides will scan properly!) In March 1989, the shops look rather sparce compared to earlier years when Conrail was purging their roster of "odd ball" and outdated locomotive classes.
Location: Altoona, PA
Photo Date: 3-89
Photographer: Robert Waller Collection     Added: August 2, 2022

This shot pans right to show more of the turntable.
Location: Altoona, PA
Photo Date: 3-89
Photographer: Robert Waller Collection     Added: August 2, 2022

The final shot of the three, as the camera pans right past the turntable.
Location: Altoona, PA
Photo Date: 3-89
Photographer: Robert Waller Collection     Added: August 2, 2022