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Northeast Railroads

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  • Member since
    March 2016
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Posted by PRR8259 on Saturday, August 10, 2019 5:04 PM

Yes, various sources report that an EL-N&W merger was discussed, but N&W was seriously concerned that EL would drag them into bankruptcy, and ultimately wanted no part of EL.

 

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  • From: Boise, Idaho
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Posted by E-L man tom on Friday, August 9, 2019 11:31 PM

ATSFGuy
Had EL not been attacked by agnes in 72, it certainly would have been interesting to see if NW would have added them to thier NW/C&O system.

My old hockey coach back in upstate NY worked for the Erie, then EL. He said that a merger with NW was considered but he believed that NW was hesitant to take on the financial liability of the EL. That would have been in the late 60's-early 70's. He later became an executive for Conrail before he passed away about 1993. He started out as an operator (when stations still had operators), on the extra list.

Tom Modeling the free-lanced Toledo Erie Central switching layout.
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Posted by Brammy on Friday, August 9, 2019 7:59 AM
Yeah, my dad grew up on the EL mainline and moved up north when he married my mom. When the Conrail merger happened the look on his face seeing EL units patched for Conrail was heartbreaking. I also got into the EL when I got into the hobby, and when he passed in 2010 our collections merged. He was trying to build an ISL at home before he got sick. Now at least his stuff runs with mine. I know Agnes made it impossible to go on. A man can dream, though. I love modeling the EL. The paint scheme, the "if it runs" lashups. I also like running stack trains, so I have a modern fleet of locomotives for that. Just a few more years on the EL and stack trains and the new enclosed auto racks would have been possible to model.
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Posted by ATSFGuy on Thursday, August 8, 2019 9:25 PM

I wish EL was still here today, but....

1972 was the year hurricane agnes hit, forcing them into bankruptcy and wiped out 60-70% of the southern tier in New York. During that time, it was thought EL might be able to reorganize on it's own and there was a propsal for Chessie to get the Marion, OH - Chicago segment. But since the unions on both sides could not reach a compromise, CHESS cancleled the idea. With not other options, EL petitioned, and was acccepted into Conrail at the last minute. Meanwhile EL's creditors decided the railroad was worth more "dead than alive" so an estate sale took place to sell off everthing from the former railroad company. When that concluded, the corporation disposed of it's assets, creditors were payed out in full, and exited gracefully.

Had EL not been attacked by agnes in 72, it certainly would have been interesting to see if NW would have added them to thier NW/C&O system.

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Posted by Brammy on Thursday, August 8, 2019 11:46 AM

E-L man tom
Brammy

I model the EL and I love that unit. If it wasn't for the lack of ditch lights and the number being wrong, I'd get an NS unit to run it behind.

 

 

 

Yes, EL SD45's were numbered in the 3600 series. In addition, any SD45's that i've seen on the EL had that flared long hood for the dynamic brake fans. Could that be an SD40, not the SD40-2 (short frame)?

 

 

The NS 1700 is an SD45-2. I believe it is an ex-EL unit. And yes, now that you mention it my SD45s (one Athearn Genesis (3666), one Overland (3668) have the flared radiators.

I do hope Athearn or Scaletrains make this unit someday.

 

Aside: I do wish the EL hung on until the double-stack trains. Would make my modeling life a LOT easier.

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Posted by E-L man tom on Thursday, August 8, 2019 11:29 AM

Brammy

I model the EL and I love that unit. If it wasn't for the lack of ditch lights and the number being wrong, I'd get an NS unit to run it behind.

 

Yes, EL SD45's were numbered in the 3600 series. In addition, any SD45's that i've seen on the EL had that flared long hood for the dynamic brake fans. Could that be an SD40, not the SD40-2 (short frame)?

Tom Modeling the free-lanced Toledo Erie Central switching layout.
  • Member since
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  • 102 posts
Posted by Brammy on Monday, July 29, 2019 5:15 PM

I model the EL and I love that unit. If it wasn't for the lack of ditch lights and the number being wrong, I'd get an NS unit to run it behind.

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  • From: Ridgeville,South Carolina
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Posted by willy6 on Saturday, July 27, 2019 5:26 PM

Nittany Lion...thats it, that is the picture I saw.

Being old is when you didn't loose it, it's that you just can't remember where you put it.
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  • From: Potomac Yard
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Posted by NittanyLion on Saturday, July 27, 2019 2:38 PM

Probably NS 1700, an SD45-2, assigned to the Conrail Shared Assets operations.  It is commonly seen in New Jersey.

https://www.railpictures.net/photo/621714/

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Posted by dehusman on Saturday, July 27, 2019 9:18 AM

The EL folded into Conrail in 1976 and the SD50 wasn't produced until 1981.  Most SD50's have been retired/scrapped by now.

There were no original EL SD50's.

The photos are either misidentified as to type and date, or are a second hand engine painted for a shortline that looks like the EL.

It would have been helpful to have had a link to exact photo you were asking about.

Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com

  • Member since
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  • From: Ridgeville,South Carolina
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Northeast Railroads
Posted by willy6 on Saturday, July 27, 2019 9:08 AM

I recently discovered a website that has awesome up to date pictures of the Northeast corridor railroads. It is done by Russell Sullivan at Flickr. It showed pictures of the NS Hertiage locomotives and others. But what puzzled me was he had recent pictures of SD-50's in the EL paint scheme and they weren't hertiage units. I thought EL was long gone. And I was amazed by all the UP, BNSF and KCS locomotives that use the NE corridor. He has GREAT pictures.

Being old is when you didn't loose it, it's that you just can't remember where you put it.

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