Speaking of Early Conrail

[jwb]

A couple of threads mentioning early Conrail got me thinking about various projects. Because I follow a lot of prototypes, early Conrail is one of my favorite subjects, since in the earliest months, you could see power from various roads mixed without even being patched. I have videos showing Lehigh Valley and Reading on Horseshoe Curve, EL on the Boston & Albany.

I just got one of the Walthers new run ex-PC X72 boxcars with early Conrail patch:
   
I'm thinking hard about patching the CNJ RS-3, especially if one of the blue-yellow patch prototypes corresponds with the details on this Atlas loco. It wouldn't be hard to patch, either, just remove the CNJ herald and number and add CR style numbers and the CR patch lettering. I have a pair each of Atlas blue-yellow and red baron CNJ RS-3s, which I'm beginning to realize are major patch candidates.

Here's a Walthers 86-foot auto parts box, in the earliest style CR lettering:
   

[Green_Elite_Cab]

Very nice! I've been trying to find one of those boxcars.

As for the CNJ RS3s, I'm sure there are a couple that might match, though many of the "blue" ones appear to have some sort of battery box (or possibly a cab signal box?) on the long hood deck, as well as other details.

[faraway]

This two former RDG SW1500 are awaiting to become patched Conrail switchers 9614 (solid green) and 9618 (yellow green).


ps. They are both victims of miserable weathering attacks...

[Brakie]

Reinhard,By April 1,1976 those SW1500s looks correct since the Eastern railroads that was included in the formation of CR was in shambles..

I like 'em.

[jwb]

The more I go looking for early CR patch jobs, the more I find unpatched locos in dates like November 1977. So while some patches might be fun, I'm not going to bust a gut on this!

[Green_Elite_Cab]

This two former RDG SW1500 are awaiting to become patched Conrail switchers 9614 (solid green) and 9618 (yellow green).

ps. They are both victims of miserable weathering attacks...

please accept this as constructive criticism!

Typically, Conrail did not paint out the entire logo. There was an unwritten rule that patchs were supposed to be done "attractively", although Reading road units in particular seemed to suffer from awful black patches on their long hoods.

In the case of Conrail 9618, The Reading company diamond was retained, but the "reading lines" lettering blacked over. a CR stencil was a applied.

Sometimes, the panel between the windows and the battery box was painted black as well with white conrail road numbers. On others, the paint was retained (such is the case for Conrail 9620, another former Reading yellow and green unit, with conrail road numbers applied directly to the cab sides). This unit remained in reading paint into the early 80s at least.

9614 was repainted blue very early into conrail, with some of the earlier photos being in July 1977 (Conrail started April 1976). Conrail 9614 was former Reading 2764, a yellow and green unit. However, Reading 2763 WAS an all green unit, becoming Conrail 9613. I don't have any data on when it was repainted, or how it was patched.

[faraway]

please accept this as constructive criticism!

Sure, I am always glad to get some help.

a. The diamonds got lost a long time ago when I changed the RDG switchers into freelance industry railroad switchers. They got a simple one digit number at the cab sides. That was also the time when I did the weathering. I am reusing them now again as a base for early CR units but the diamonds are gone... I do also agree with you as I found the diamonds of all patched engines still in place. But looks like they have been painted black for better contrast with the white "CR". The cab sides have been painted black too for the same reason. Some must have been done in a hurry. It looks awful.

b. The only plain green RDG with CR patches I could find is the 2763 -> 9614. That is the rational I intend to use that road number.
c. I did find photos of patched ex. RDG units with yellow/green paint scheme with the road numbers 9619, 9618, 9598, 9892 and 9889. I would be glad if could could point me to a longer lasting road number than 9598. 9598 has been picked by no reason. It was just a random pick.

[jwb]

Micro Scale trim film is very good for patches. You could make new plain black diamonds from trim film, too.

[faraway]

[quote="j...make new plain black diamonds ....[/quote]
Very good point!

[jwb]

There's a whole additional story about patches and so forth at the same time as early Conrail, since as part of the deal that formed Conrail, the Delaware & Hudson got additional routes to spur competition, and it got locos, cars, and cabooses from Conrail components. I'm interested in this, too. D&H 451 is an ex EL C424 that was briefly Conrail, rebuilt (I think) by GE, and repainted for D&H in a version of the Altschul blue scheme:
   
D&H then got very complicated with the advent of Guilford, since it was about to collapse, and a lot of power was transferred to B&M and Maine Central to route cash to D&H before the merger.

[jwb]

Early Conrail Alcos in general get pretty complicated -- it looks like CR held onto the C-C units longer than the B-B. As far as I can tell, Reading 5207 went to Conrail, but was retired later in 1976 before ever being patched.
   
Again, if you're doing early Conrail, it isn't always necessary to patch locos from predecessor roads.

[jwb]

The Walthers Conrail patch X72 inspired me to pull out an earlier project, an original LifeLike car from the 1970s or so that I stripped and redid with Herald King decals (another blast from the past).
   
Over the years, there have been several articles on detailing these cars. The biggest problem, still there with the new run of Walthers, is that there's no cushion underframe extensions. The PC car on the right has the original underframe with Walthers extensions. The new run Walthers on the left will get a spare Details West cushion car underframe I have on hand (shown in front of the car). I have a later-run Walthers in PC as well, which needs just a little more work.

[Green_Elite_Cab]

Sure, I am always glad to get some help.

Good, sometimes i become worried because in the past my attempts to share knowledge have been taken as me telling people how they should do things, which isn't my intention.

on a silly side note, I just realized I myself am wearing a "Reading Patch" T-shirt (Green with a black diamond and a PC style CR in the center), which is appropriate for this conversation!

a. The diamonds got lost a long time ago when I changed the RDG switchers into freelance industry railroad switchers. They got a simple one digit number at the cab sides. That was also the time when I did the weathering. I am reusing them now again as a base for early CR units but the diamonds are gone... I do also agree with you as I found the diamonds of all patched engines still in place. But looks like they have been painted black for better contrast with the white "CR". The cab sides have been painted black too for the same reason. Some must have been done in a hurry. It looks awful.

The Reading paint scheme suffers a lot when patched, not only because Black splotches on yellow are particularly glaring. For some reason, the black paint patches on Reading units didn't seem to "stick". I can immeadiately think of several road units that barely look like they were patched at all!

This SW1500 #9589 is a perfect example. You would hardly need to paint the hood, and the cab-side patch isn't holding out well either. This photo was taken April 1980.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://crcyc.railfan.net/locos/emd/sw1500/xrdg9589cf.jpg">http://crcyc.railfan.net/locos/emd/sw15 ... 9589cf.jpg</a><!-- m -->


I had mentioned 9620 as not having black cab-side patches, but is appears to either have partial patches (none on the left side, and a block on the right just big enough to fit the numbers, not the whole panel), or the black paint had indeed worn away entirely, leaving the white numbers on the yellow cab sides!

b. The only plain green RDG with CR patches I could find is the 2763 -> 9614. That is the rational I intend to use that road number.

I'm away from home (between classes) and so i can't access my books, but i'm fairly certain 2763 became 9613. This is supported by the Conrail Cyclopedia (a link of which is below).

Sadly, I am unable to find a reasonable photo of 9613 in green online. The only "patch" photo I can find is a small thumbnail on the pay-site "Train Orders". The photo says its 9613, and its the only green unit in the photo. I think I may have a photo in the book "Reading In the Conrail Era", but i'll have to get back to you on that.

Either way, 2763 is the only All green Reading SW1500. It was hit and partially wrecked by a runaway hopper in 1974, and repainted into the "new" Reading paint scheme upon being rebuilt.

This paint scheme was the last used by the Reading Company. Only a few locomotives wore it. These include Reading's GP40-2s, GP39s, MP15s, and a handful of oddballs, including 2763 and a GP35 (which would become Conrail #3640).

Its technically possible that some of the old olive-green reading units survived into Conrail, but these would be older units from the late 40s and 50s.

c. I did find photos of patched ex. RDG units with yellow/green paint scheme with the road numbers 9619, 9618, 9598, 9892 and 9889. I would be glad if could could point me to a longer lasting road number than 9598. 9598 has been picked by no reason. It was just a random pick.

The Conrail cyclopedia has a "paint" roster. Its often incomplete, but it does have some units, the latest of which are 1983.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://crcyc.railfan.net/locos/emd/sw1500/sw1500repaint.html">http://crcyc.railfan.net/locos/emd/sw15 ... paint.html</a><!-- m -->

I have plenty of books as well, and i'll search to see what I can find. You're not likely to find to many patched beyond the early 80s though.

Conrail was fighting a politics and public relations battle at the time, pushing for deregulation with the Staggers Act of 1980. President Reagan also threatened to liquidate Conrail if it did not perfrom profitably. As a result, Conrail wanted to be seen as far away from the "last era" as possible, and having ratty patch jobs did not gel with that image.

[faraway]

That is a lot of information. Thank you!
You are right, the 2763 became 9613. I did find this photos of RDG 2763 ( <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locoPicture.aspx?id=48816">http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locoPi ... x?id=48816</a><!-- m --> ) of the engine before and after the crash. It was my assumption that the engine must have been plain green with patches in the early CR time. The Athearn model is plain green so must have been the RDG 2763.
Trainorders has a photo of the patched engine <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/attachments/fullsize/536000/CR_9613_Abrams.jpg">http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/a ... Abrams.jpg</a><!-- m --> in this discussion <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,2448517,2448517#msg-2448517">http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/r ... sg-2448517</a><!-- m -->

[faraway]

I have got two more possible candidates (they served at the freelance line too).


They belonged to the EL 1405 - 1409 GP7 series and became CR 5925 - 5929.
I did find lots of former EL GP7 still in EL paint scheme and CR patches but none of this very specific series with steam heater and used for passenger service.
The 1407/5927 became rebuild into GP8 with chopped nose and plain CR blue in 1980. A photo of 1406/5906 made in 1980 shows the engine in plain blue too. I could not find photos of the other engines of that series in CR service and none at all with patches.

I would like to know if two of them made it into 198x still in EL paint scheme with CR patches?