Conrail

Conrail system map with trackage rights in red
CR 6256 and 6469 at former Erie Yard inGang Mills, New York on October 4, 1987
Overview
Headquarters	Philadelphia,Pennsylvania
Reporting mark	CR
Locale	Northeastern United States,Midwestern United States,Ontario,Quebec
Dates of operation	April 1, 1976–June 1, 1999
Predecessor	List Penn Central Transportation Company Erie Lackawanna Railway Ann Arbor Railway Lehigh Valley Railroad Reading Company Central Railroad of New Jersey Lehigh and Hudson River Railway Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines (merged April 1, 1976) Monongahela Railroad (merged 1993)
Successor	List CSX Transportation Norfolk Southern Railway Conrail Shared Assets Operations (current entity) Metro-North Railroad Indiana Southern Railroad Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad Delaware Lackawanna Railroad
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)standard gauge
Electrification	Portions of formerPC lines

Conrail (reporting markCR), formally theConsolidated Rail Corporation, was the primaryClass I railroad in theNortheastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is aportmanteau based on the company's legal name. Itcontinues to do business as an asset management and network services provider in three Shared Assets Areas that were excluded from the division of its operations during its acquisition byCSX Corporation and theNorfolk Southern Railway.

Thefederal government created Conrail to take over the potentially profitable lines of multiplebankrupt carriers, including thePenn Central Transportation Company andErie Lackawanna Railway. After railroad regulations were lifted by the4R Act and theStaggers Act, Conrail began to turn a profit in the 1980s and was privatized in 1987. The two remainingClass I railroads in theEast, CSX Transportation and the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS), agreed in 1997 to acquire the system and split it into two roughly-equal parts (alongside three residual shared-assets areas), returning rail freight competition to the Northeast by essentially undoing the 1968 merger of thePennsylvania Railroad andNew York Central Railroad that createdPenn Central. Following approval by theSurface Transportation Board, CSX and NS took control in August 1998, and on June 1, 1999, began operating their respective portions of Conrail.

The old company remains a jointly owned subsidiary, with CSX and NS owning respectively 42% and 58% of the company's shares, corresponding to how much of Conrail's assets they acquired. Each parent, however, has an equalvoting interest. The primary asset retained by Conrail is ownership of the threeShared Assets Areas inNew Jersey,Philadelphia, andDetroit. Both CSX and NS have the right to serve all shippers in these areas, paying Conrail for the cost of maintaining and improvingtrackage. They also make use of Conrail to performswitching and terminal services within the areas, but not as acommon carrier, since contracts are signed between shippers and CSX or NS. Conrail also retains various support facilities includingmaintenance-of-way and training, as well as a 51 percent share in theIndiana Harbor Belt Railroad.

In the years leading to 1973, the freight railroad system of the Northeastern United States was collapsing. Although government-fundedAmtrak took overintercity passenger services on May 1, 1971, railroad companies continued to lose money due to extensive government regulations, expensive labor costs, competition from other transportation modes, declining industrial business and other factors.^[1]

The largest railroad in the region,Penn Central (PC),declared bankruptcy in 1970, after less than three years of existence. Formed in 1968 by the merger of theNew York Central Railroad andPennsylvania Railroad (and supplemented in 1969 by theNew York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad), the PC was created with almost no plans to merge the varied corporate cultures, and the resulting company was a hopelessly entangled mess.^[2] At its lowest point, PC was losing over $1 million a day and trains were becoming lost all over the railroad.

In 1972,Hurricane Agnes damaged the rundown Northeast railway network and threatened the solvency of other railroads, including the somewhat more solventErie Lackawanna (EL). In mid-1973, officials with the bankrupt Penn Central threatened toliquidate and cease operations by year's end if they did not receive government aid by October 1. This threat to US freight and passenger traffic galvanizedCongress to quickly create a bill tonationalize the bankrupt railroads. TheAssociation of American Railroads, which opposed nationalization, submitted an alternate proposal for a government-funded private company. Judge Fullam forced the Penn Central to operate into 1974, when, on January 2, after threatening aveto, PresidentRichard Nixon signed theRegional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973 into law.^[3] The "3R Act," as it was called, provided interim funding to the bankrupt railroads and defined a newConsolidated Rail Corporation under theAssociation of American Railroads' plan.^{[citation needed]}

The 3R Act also formed theUnited States Railway Association (USRA), anothergovernment corporation, taking over the powers of theInterstate Commerce Commission with respect to allowing the bankrupt railroads to abandon unprofitable lines.^[4] The USRA was incorporated on February 1, 1974, and Edward G. Jordan, aninsuranceexecutive fromCalifornia, was named president on March 18 by Nixon. Arthur D. Lewis ofEastern Air Lines was appointed chairman on April 30, and the remainder of the board was named on May 30 and sworn in on July 11.^{[citation needed]}

Under the 3R Act, the USRA was to create a "Final System Plan" to decide which lines should be included in the new Consolidated Rail Corporation. Unlike most railroad consolidations, only the designated lines were to be taken over. Other lines would be sold to Amtrak, various state governments, transportation agencies, and solvent railroads. The few remaining lines were to remain with the old companies along with all previously abandoned lines, many stations, and all non-rail related properties, thus converting most of the old companies into solvent property-holding companies. The plan was unveiled on July 26, 1975, consisting of lines from Penn Central and six other companies—theAnn Arbor Railroad (bankrupt 1973),Erie Lackawanna Railway (1972),Lehigh Valley Railroad (1970),Reading Company (1971),Central Railroad of New Jersey (1967) andLehigh and Hudson River Railway (1972). Controlled railroads and jointly owned railroads such asPennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines and theRaritan River Railroad (1980) were also included (Seelist of railroads transferred to Conrail for a full list).^[5] It was approved by Congress on November 9, and on February 5, 1976, PresidentGerald Ford signed theRailroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976, which included this Final System Plan, into law.^[6][7]

The EL had been formed in 1960 as a merger of theErie Railroad andDelaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. It too was bankrupt, but was somewhat stronger financially than the others. It was ruled reorganizable under Chapter 77 on April 30, 1974 (as had theBoston and Maine Railroad), but on January 9, 1975, with no end to its losses in sight, its trustees reconsidered and asked for inclusion. The Final System Plan assigned a major section of the EL, from northernNew Jersey west to northeastOhio, to be sold to theChessie System, which would help spurcompetition in Conrail's territory. Chessie, however, could not reach an agreement with ELlabor unions, and in February 1976 announced that it would not be buying the EL section. The USRA hurriedly assigned large amounts oftrackage rights to theDelaware and Hudson Railway, allowing it to compete in thePhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, andWashington, D.C., markets.TheState of Michigan decided to keep operational the fullAnn Arbor Railroad, of which Conrail would run only the southernmost portion. Michigan bought it and the whole line was operated by Conrail for several years until it was sold to ashort line.^{[citation needed]}

Conrail was incorporated in Pennsylvania on October 25, 1974, and operations began on April 1, 1976. The federal government owned 85%, with employees owning the remaining 15%.^[8] The theory was that if the service was improved through increasedcapital investment, the economic basis of the railroad would be improved. During its first seven years, Conrail proved to be highly unprofitable, despite receiving billions of dollars of assistance from Congress. The corporation declared enormous losses on its federal income tax returns from 1976 through 1982, resulting in an accumulated net operating loss of $2.2 billion during that period. Congress once again reacted with support by passing the Northeast Rail Service Act of 1981 (NERSA),^[9] which amended portions of the 3R Act by exempting Conrail from liability for any state taxes^[10] and requiring theSecretary of Transportation to make arrangements for the sale of the government's interest in Conrail.^[11] After NERSA was implemented, Conrail, under the aggressive leadership ofL. Stanley Crane^{[12][note 1]} began to improve and reported taxable income between $2 million and $314 million each year from 1983 through 1986.

Conrail's government-funded rebuilding of the dilapidated infrastructure androlling stock it inherited from its six predecessors succeeded by the end of the 1970s in improving the physical condition of tracks,locomotives andfreight cars. However, fundamental economic regulatory issues remained, and Conrail continued to post losses of as much as $1 million a day. Conrail management, recognizing the need for more regulatory freedoms to address the economic issues, were among the parties lobbying for what became theStaggers Act of 1980, which significantly loosened theInterstate Commerce Commission's rigid economic control of the rail industry. This allowed Conrail and other carriers the opportunity to become profitable and strengthen their finances.^[13]

The Staggers Act allowed the setting of rates that would recover capital and operating cost (fully allocated cost recovery) by each and every route mile the railroad operated. There would be no more cross-subsidization of costs between route-miles (that is, revenue on profitable route segments were not used to subsidize routes where rates were set at intermodal parity, yet still did recover fully allocated costs). Finally, where current and/or future traffic projections showed that profitable volumes of traffic would not return, the railroads were allowed to abandon those routes, shippers and passengers to other modes of transportation. Under the Staggers Act, railroads, including Conrail, were freed from the requirement to continue money-losing services.

Conrail began turning a profit by 1981, the result of the Staggers Act freedoms and its own managerial improvements under the leadership of L. Stanley Crane,^[12] who had been chief executive officer of theSouthern Railway.^[14] While the Staggers Act helped immensely in allowing all railroads to more-easily abandon unprofitable rail lines and set their own freight rates, it was under Crane's leadership that Conrail truly became a profitable operation. Soon after Crane took office in 1981 he shed another 4,400 miles from the Conrail system in the following two years, which accounted for only 1% of the railroad's overall traffic and 2% of its profits while saving it millions of dollars in maintenance costs.^{[citation needed]} NERSA relieved Conrail of its requirement to providecommuter service on theNortheast Corridor, further improving its finances.

In 1984, the government put its 85% share up for sale. Bids were received fromAlleghany Corporation,Citibank, anemployee buyout,Guilford Transportation Industries,Norfolk Southern Railway and a consortium headed byJ. Willard Marriott.^{[15][16][17][18]} On February 8, 1985,Secretary of TransportationElizabeth Dole announced Norfolk Southern Railway as the successful bidder.^[19][20]

After considerable debate in Congress, the Conrail Privatization Act of 1986 was signed into law byPresident Reagan on October 21, 1986. However, in August 1986, Norfolk Southern had withdrawn its bid citing Congressional delays and taxation changes.^[21] The government decided that its interest in Conrail would then be sold by the then-largestinitial public offering in US history.^[22][23][24] The sale was effective from March 26, 1987, when Conrail's stock, worth $1.65 billion, was sold to private investors.^[25][26]

Conrail inherited thecommuter rail operations of its predecessor lines. It relinquished several during the 1970s, including the ErieCleveland–Youngstown service (discontinued in 1977), the Pennsylvania RailroadChicago–Valparaiso service (transferred toAmtrak in 1979), and the services within theMassachusetts Bay Transportation Authority service district (transferred to theBoston and Maine Railroad, under contract to the MBTA, in March 1977^[27]). Pursuant to theNortheast Rail Service Act of 1981, Conrail operated the remainder until 1983 when these services were transferred to state or metropolitan transit authorities.^[28] The transit authorities purchased the track and right-of-way on which their commuter operations ran, leaving Conrail freight operations as a tenant.^[29]

With Conrail's increasing success, it decided to merge the company with another railroad, so it approached CSX Transportation about buying Conrail. CSX's bid for Conrail, however, drew the attention ofNorfolk Southern Railway which, fearing that CSX would come to dominate rail traffic in the eastern US, made a bid of its own leading to atakeover battle between the two railroads. In 1997, however, the two railroads struck a compromise agreement to jointly acquire Conrail^[33] and split most of its assets between them, with Norfolk Southern acquiring a larger portion of the Conrail network via a larger stock buyout.^[34] Under the final agreement approved by theSurface Transportation Board, Norfolk Southern acquired 58 percent of Conrail's assets, including roughly 6,000 Conrail route miles, and CSX received 42 percent of Conrail's assets, including about 3,600 route miles.^[35]

The buyout was approved by the Surface Transportation Board (STB) (successor agency to the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)) and took place on August 22, 1998. Under the control of lawyer-turned-CEOTim O'Toole, the lines were transferred to two newly formedlimited liability companies, to be subsidiaries of Conrail but leased to CSX and Norfolk Southern, respectivelyNew York Central Lines (NYC) andPennsylvania Lines (PRR). The NYC and PRRreporting marks, which had passed to Conrail, were also transferred to the new companies, and NS also acquired the CR reporting mark. Operations under CSX and NS began on June 1, 1999, bringing Conrail's 23-year existence to an end.^[36]

As the names indicated, CSX acquired the formerNew York Central Railroad main line fromNew York City andBoston, Massachusetts, toCleveland, Ohio, and the formerCleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway (NYC Big Four) line toIndianapolis, Indiana (continuing west toEast St. Louis, Illinois) on a formerPittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (PRR Panhandle Route line), while Norfolk Southern got the formerPennsylvania Railroad main line andCleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad fromJersey City, New Jersey, to Cleveland, and the rest of the former NYC main line west toChicago, Illinois. Thus the Conrail "X" was neatly split in two, CSX getting one diagonal from Boston to St. Louis and Norfolk Southern the other from New York to Chicago. The two lines cross at a bridge southeast of downtown Cleveland (41°26′49″N81°37′37″W / 41.447°N 81.627°W /41.447; -81.627), where the former Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad crosses over the NYC's formerCleveland Short Line Railway around the south side of Cleveland.

In three major metropolitan areas – North Jersey, South Jersey/Philadelphia, and Detroit –Conrail Shared Assets Operations continues to serve as a terminal operating company owned by both CSX and NS. The Conrail Shared Assets Operations arrangement was a concession made to federal regulators who were concerned about the lack of competition in certain rail markets and logistical problems associated with the breaking-up of Conrail operations as they existed in densely populated areas with many local customers. The smaller Conrail operation that exists today serves rail freight customers in these markets on behalf of its two owners. A fourth area, the formerMonongahela Railway in southwestPennsylvania, was originally owned jointly by theBaltimore and Ohio Railroad,Pennsylvania Railroad andPittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad. Conrail absorbed the company in 1993, and assignedtrackage rights to CSX, the successor to the B&O and P&LE. With the Conrail breakup, those lines are owned by NS, but the CSX trackage rights are still in place.

Since Conrail was divided betweenNorfolk Southern Railway andCSX Transportation in 1999, all remaining locomotives have been successively repainted, and many remain in service. CR units had unique features such as "Bright Future" blue paint, flashing ditch lights, and Leslie RS-3L horns. Another key spotting feature is ditch lights mounted under the locomotive's front deck. This is a preference different from Norfolk Southern and CSX, which order locomotives with the lights above the deck. Red marker lights (not class lights, which are multi-color) were also a preference of Conrail. Most locomotives that went to CSX retained their marker lights, while Norfolk Southern quickly removed them. All Conrail locomotives that went to CSX and NS have been either retired or repainted. The last unit to wear "Conrail Blue", NS 8312, was retired in 2014.^[37]

Conrail was the only railroad to receiveEMD SD80MACs (an order from theChicago & North Western was cancelled when that company merged withUnion Pacific) and were separated evenly between CSX and NS. Conrail had a different paint scheme for these locomotives and also theSD70MAC, with a large white, cone-shaped line on the front, bearing "Conrail Quality" lettering. The SD70MACs were not fitted with marker lights,^[38] as they were ordered after the Conrail breakup was agreed upon, and neither NS or CSX wanted 'their' locomotives to be equipped with markers. Similarly, the standard-cab SD70, Conrail's final order of locomotives, were ordered to NS specifications, and were in Norfolk Southern's preferred numbering series (the 2500's), which they retained after the breakup.^[37]

When Conrail was formed, it acquired many different railways, and as typical in the North American rail industry, signaling was not standardized between these railways. This caused problems for Conrail, which had to "qualify" train crews on as many as seven different signaling systems and operating rules. The varying systems included the PRRposition light signals,^[39] the NYCsearchlight signals and tri-light signals,^[40] and the EL tri-light and semaphore signals.^[41]

Conrail, and other eastern railroads which required multiple operating rules, came up with a standardized rulebook calledNortheast Operating Rules Advisory Committee (NORAC). This significantly increased operational flexibly, allowing crews to operate on any territory they were qualified on, instead of additionally needing multiple operating rules qualifications. Additionally, standardized signal rules allowed Conrail to standardize signaling hardware and operation across its system.^[42]

In the early years of Conrail, the NYC "small-back" searchlight was adopted as the systemwide standard for new signal installations and replacements. The standard signal was quickly changed to the NYC tri-light.^[43] This move was done to decrease maintenance requirements, as searchlight signals need moving parts to switch between colors, unlike tri-lights, which have individual lamps. Many signals from previous railroads were re-used though, as new signaling hardware was expensive, and Conrail faced financial difficulty.

As mentioned above, significant projects took place to reduce trackage, oftentimes removing double-track with automatic block signals in favor of single track withcentralized traffic control (CTC). Conrail also installed CTC across much of the former PRR multi-track mainline, which had relied on local towers to operate signals and control track. Conrail spent its entire existence installing tri-light signals (using NORAC rules) across much of its system. Many Conrail-installed signaling locations were removed in the 2010s, as railroads upgraded their signals forPositive Train Control compliance.

Today, most Northeastern railroads associated with former Conrail lines have maintained standardization of all systems asvertical color light signals using NORAC rules. Conrail Shared Assets Operations continues to use the tri-light as its standard signal type. Amtrak uses a colorized version of PRR position light signals called "Position Color Lights".^[44]

The Conrail Historical Society, Inc., is a501(c)(3)non-profit organization based inShippensburg, Pennsylvania. The society aims to preserve and restore equipment, items pertaining to, and photographs of Conrail specifically and of American railroading in general. As of 2022, the group publishes a quarterly magazine and a calendar, as well as other occasional mailings. Previous conventions have been held inAltoona, Pennsylvania,Philadelphia,Cleveland, andWarren, Ohio. More recent preservation activities include completion of the cosmetic restoration of N7E caboose 21165 and a partnership with the B&O Railroad Museum to restore its ex-ConrailSW7 8905.

The CRHS owns four pieces of on-track equipment: 86-foot boxcar 243880 (currently under development into a stand-alone Conrail museum),cabooses 21165 and 22130, and former Triple Crown RoadRailer TCSZ 463491.^[45] A preserved Conrail ex-PRRGP30 is on display at theRailroad Museum of Pennsylvania.

To mark its 30th anniversary, Norfolk Southern painted 20 new locomotives with the paint schemes of predecessor railroads. The first, on March 15, 2012, wasGE ES44AC #8098 in Conrail blue with the "can opener" logo.^[46][47]

In July 2023, CSX unveiledGE ES44AH unit #1976, which was repainted at the CSX shops inWaycross,GA with a CSX dark blue and yellow color scheme on the front (nose) and cab of the locomotive, and the light blue Conrail scheme with the Conrail Quality logo throughout the rest of the locomotive. It was numbered #1976 in homage to the year of Conrail's creation.^[48]

In August 2023,MTAMetro–North Railroad unveiled locomotive #201, aGEP32AC-DM, wrapped in a yellow and blue scheme worn by Conrail'sEMD FL9 units between 1976 and 1982.^[49]

In May 2024,SEPTA unveiledSilverliner IV #304 with a heritage Conrail logo as part of their celebration of the Silverliner IV cars' 50th anniversary. SEPTA stated that several of theirReading Railroad-acquired Silverliner IVs wore a Conrail logo from 1976 to 1981.

In October 2024,New Jersey Transit unveiledEMD GP40PH-2B #4208 in Conrail blue with the "can opener" logo, similar to Norfolk Southern #8098. NJT stated that Conrail was the predecessor to NJ Transit Rail Operations and that many of the original lines, stations and rolling stock were inherited from Conrail in 1983.^[50]

• Defunct railroads of North America
• History of rail transportation in the United States
• List of companies transferred to Conrail
• Railroad Development Corporation

• Jacobs, Timothy (1996).History of the Pennsylvania Railroad. New York: Smithmark.ISBN 0-517-63351-5.
• Baer, Christopher T."PRR Chronology".Pennsylvania Technical and Historical Society. Archived fromthe original on January 1, 2006.
• EuDaly, Kevin; Schafer, Mike; et al. (2009).The Complete Book of North American Railroading. Minneapolis:Voyageur Press.ISBN 978-0-7603-2848-4.OCLC 209631579.
• Grant, H. Roger (February 1992). "Life and death of Erie Lackawanna".Trains.
• Stephens, Bill; Sanders, Craig (July 1998). "Cleveland: center of controversy".Trains.
• Stover, John F. (1997).American Railroads (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.ISBN 978-0-226-77658-3 – via Google Books.
• Withers, Paul (1997).Conrail, The Final Years: 1992–1997. Halifax, PA: Withers Publishing.ISBN 978-1-881411-15-4.
• "A Brief History of Conrail". Consolidated Rail Corporation. 2003. Archived fromthe original on November 21, 2010. RetrievedFebruary 16, 2011.

• "CSX Corporation and CSX Transportation Inc., Norfolk Southern Corporation and Norfolk Southern Railway Corporation--Control and Operating Lease/Agreements--Conrail Inc. and Consolidated Rail Corporation".Surface Transportation Board. July 23, 1998. Archived fromthe original on April 25, 2006.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toConrail.

• Official website at theWayback Machine (archived April 27, 1999)
• The Conrail Historical Society
• TheSpecial Court ReporterArchived August 7, 2020, at theWayback Machine available atHagley Museum and Library constitutes a step-by-step account of the Special Court's proceedings and the playing out of the final stages of railroad reorganization in the Northeast.

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