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50 years later - CSX heritage units

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Posted by rdamon on Friday, August 11, 2023 12:54 PM

#5 is alive ...

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Posted by CMStPnP on Monday, July 24, 2023 9:01 PM

BaltACD
In the past year or so, CSX has moved on from that system of train identities to another based on L for Local, M for Merchandise, C for Coal and other letters for other types of traffic.

So can we call that the "Cookie Monster" system?Big SmileDevil

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Posted by BaltACD on Sunday, July 23, 2023 9:57 PM

Leo_Ames
 
Overmod
Conrail Quality came along much later.  I thought it had something to do with leased-out power but never bothered to find out exactly. 

I always thought it was a nod to the concept of "Total Quality Management" that came into vogue in the corporate world around that time.

That was about the same point in time that CSX changed their merchandise train ID's from being R trains for Regular into Q trains for Quality.....ie R137 became Q137.

In the past year or so, CSX has moved on from that system of train identities to another based on L for Local, M for Merchandise, C for Coal and other letters for other types of traffic.

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Posted by Leo_Ames on Sunday, July 23, 2023 4:09 PM

Overmod
Conrail Quality came along much later.  I thought it had something to do with leased-out power but never bothered to find out exactly.

I always thought it was a nod to the concept of "Total Quality Management" that came into vogue in the corporate world around that time.

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Posted by BaltACD on Sunday, July 23, 2023 4:06 PM

Psychot
 
BaltACD

As a B&O guy, I wasn't thrilled when the Chessie paint scheme came on the scene, however, over time and with the transition to CSX - the Chessie scheme grows on one. 

I have to admit it hasn't really grown on me. It still seems very garish, especially compared to B&O blue. 

The original B&O Blue, Gray, Black and Gold has always been #1.  The all blue period sucked.  Chessie was a breath of 'fresh air' and color.

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Posted by Overmod on Sunday, July 23, 2023 1:08 PM

The Conrail logo has the C (which is a stylized pair of wheels on track) the same way as Chessie has the broken dish (which is the reverse silhouette of a sleeping kitten complete with the edge of an ear).

Conrail Quality came along much later.  I thought it had something to do with leased-out power but never bothered to find out exactly.

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Posted by Psychot on Sunday, July 23, 2023 4:37 AM

BaltACD

As a B&O guy, I wasn't thrilled when the Chessie paint scheme came on the scene, however, over time and with the transition to CSX - the Chessie scheme grows on one.

 

I have to admit it hasn't really grown on me. It still seems very garish, especially compared to B&O blue. 

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Posted by BaltACD on Saturday, July 22, 2023 7:12 PM

n012944
 
CMStPnP

   It looks like the Conrail logo is backwards as well but I am not an expert. 

 https://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=529993&nseq=37

From that picture it looks like ConRail swung both ways.

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Posted by n012944 on Saturday, July 22, 2023 6:42 PM

CMStPnP

   It looks like the Conrail logo is backwards as well but I am not an expert.

 

 

 https://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=529993&nseq=37

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Posted by CMStPnP on Saturday, July 22, 2023 3:26 PM

Did anyone else here get the Facebook Post sent out by Conrail, mocking CSX for their CSX - Conrail heritage unit?    It's pretty humorous.    It looks like the Conrail logo is backwards as well but I am not an expert.

https://scontent-dfw5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/362267749_309245168115804_5773361487377132434_n.jpg?_nc_cat=109&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=N3zJcT2tYQgAX8qR8Sk&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-1.xx&oh=00_AfA1cvCpeWyujhDc8B5ZF3keVN3-YMq_g2UjKS9q8oLXTA&oe=64C1AAE7

 

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Posted by kgbw49 on Saturday, July 22, 2023 10:55 AM

We could still be seeing, among others (and not counting the Conrail split):

Atlantic Coast Line

Seaboard Airline

Louisville & Nashville

Western Maryland

Chesapeake & Ohio

Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac

Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis

Pere Marquette

Atlanta, Birmingham & Coast

There are numerous others depending how far out on the limbs and branches of the family tree they want to go.

 

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Posted by Leo_Ames on Friday, July 21, 2023 6:23 PM

Chessie wasn't incorporated until 1973. They were just getting a head start on painting locomotives in the new scheme, not unlike the Kodachrome units on the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific.

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Posted by mvlandsw on Friday, July 21, 2023 4:08 PM

The first Chessie units came new from EMD in 1972, not 1973.

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Posted by rdamon on Friday, July 21, 2023 8:07 AM

And the Conrail "Q" is 1976

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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Friday, June 30, 2023 1:52 PM

CSX is smart by coming up with heritage units that are a blend of historic and current.  It's distinctive from the NS heritage fleet.

The daily commute is part of everyday life but I get two rides a day out of it. Paul
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Posted by rdamon on Friday, June 30, 2023 12:40 PM

Seaboard is 1982!

 

 

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Posted by ns145 on Wednesday, June 21, 2023 8:24 AM

BaltACD

 

 
ns145
NS got one of the best, busiest, and most visible parts of the former NYC.  CSX's only major ex-PRR route is the backwater St. Louis Line.  After Conrail got done rehabbing it, it looked like an ex-NYC line complete with Type G "V" light signals.  Not a lot of PRR heritage or esprit de corps left from what I could tell when I railfanned the line back in the late 80's/early 90's.

 

However, that PRR line is enough to have 'trashed' the former B&O's St. Louis Division between Cincinnati and E.St. Louis.

Well half out it.  The east portion of the PRR route between Indy and Terre Haute was abandoned by Conrail.  The NYC/Big Four was the real B&O killer.  The only reason the PRR line was kept west of Terre Haute was that it was shorter and had a decent sized yard in East St. Louis (Rose Lake).  Conrail effectively had to "NYC" it in the 1980's to bring it up to modern standards.  As Alfred Perlman once observed, the PRR really was a "wooden-wheeled" railroad.

Also, blame CSX.  While Conrail was investing in routes and improving traffic flows, CSX was doing nothing.  Personally, I think both CSX and NS knew that one day they would eventually snatch Conrail and split it up one way or another.  There was no point in investing in their own directly competing routes.  A lot of CSX's perplexing abandonments in the 1980's make a lot more sense when this eventuality is taken into consideration.

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Posted by BaltACD on Tuesday, June 20, 2023 11:03 PM

ns145
NS got one of the best, busiest, and most visible parts of the former NYC.  CSX's only major ex-PRR route is the backwater St. Louis Line.  After Conrail got done rehabbing it, it looked like an ex-NYC line complete with Type G "V" light signals.  Not a lot of PRR heritage or esprit de corps left from what I could tell when I railfanned the line back in the late 80's/early 90's.

However, that PRR line is enough to have 'trashed' the former B&O's St. Louis Division between Cincinnati and E.St. Louis.

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Posted by ns145 on Tuesday, June 20, 2023 9:34 PM

NS got one of the best, busiest, and most visible parts of the former NYC.  CSX's only major ex-PRR route is the backwater St. Louis Line.  After Conrail got done rehabbing it, it looked like an ex-NYC line complete with Type G "V" light signals.  Not a lot of PRR heritage or esprit de corps left from what I could tell when I railfanned the line back in the late 80's/early 90's.

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Posted by MidlandMike on Tuesday, June 20, 2023 9:05 PM

Leo_Ames
I didn't even notice the absence of the Pennsy in that list. Strange indeed. I wonder if rights issues are behind that if this list proves to be accurate.  ...

I wondered about that too.  I understand that merging railroads aquire the trademarks of the predecessor lines.  While Conrail was split between NS and CSX, I noticed that NS got the PRR reporting marks, and CSX got the NYC reporting marks.  However, NS painted a NYC heritage loco.  Maybe the surviving PC entity kept rights to the trademarks.

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Posted by YoHo1975 on Tuesday, June 20, 2023 8:05 PM

azrail

And BNSF's 25th anniversary "heritage" paint job sucked....just some stickers of defunct RRs on a regular "pumpkin" paintjob.

 

 

The Pumpkin paintjob IS a heritage paint scheme. It's a Great Northern paint scheme with a few ATSF hints on it. At least that's true for Heritage 1 and Heritage 2. The Swoosh scheme is less so.

 

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Posted by wjstix on Tuesday, June 20, 2023 2:42 PM

azrail

And BNSF's 25th anniversary "heritage" paint job sucked....just some stickers of defunct RRs on a regular "pumpkin" paintjob.

 

 
I've heard that BNSF originally did intend to paint up diesels for each of the old railroads (GN, NP, ATSF, etc.), but finally decided time and money wouldn't allow it, so settled for adding 'stickers' to a few engines instead.
Stix
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Posted by azrail on Tuesday, June 20, 2023 2:36 PM

And BNSF's 25th anniversary "heritage" paint job sucked....just some stickers of defunct RRs on a regular "pumpkin" paintjob.

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Posted by azrail on Tuesday, June 20, 2023 2:33 PM

UP already did a Katy Heritage unit.

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Posted by BaltACD on Tuesday, June 20, 2023 9:04 AM

Leo_Ames
...

Furthering the CSX connection to the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Pennsy also had trackage rights on a few small pieces of C&O (Toledo to Carleton), B&O (Ravenna to Niles), NYC (Girard Junction to Erie), and C&EI (Terre Haute to Otter Creek Jct). Trackage that CSX as far as I know still owns and operates.

When I was a Train Order Operator, I worked both Niles Jct. and Ravenna off the Extra List.  Recall runing PRR trains at Niles Jct when I was working there, don't recall operating any when I was working Ravenna, however, the tracks to access the PRR were in the interlocking.

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Posted by M636C on Tuesday, June 20, 2023 8:33 AM

rdamon

is being numbered 1973  an indicator of birth year?

 

The B&O locomotive is number 1827, so it's a good bet, but wait for the others...

Peter

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Posted by rdamon on Tuesday, June 20, 2023 8:22 AM

is being numbered 1973  an indicator of birth year?

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Posted by Leo_Ames on Tuesday, June 20, 2023 2:28 AM

I didn't even notice the absence of the Pennsy in that list. Strange indeed. I wonder if rights issues are behind that if this list proves to be accurate.

A few other small bits and pieces are CSX owned like Woodville to Toledo. All together it must amount to close to 200 miles of former PRR trackage, although some of it like said is out of service or leased out to another operator.

Furthering the CSX connection to the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Pennsy also had trackage rights on a few small pieces of C&O (Toledo to Carleton), B&O (Ravenna to Niles), NYC (Girard Junction to Erie), and C&EI (Terre Haute to Otter Creek Jct). Trackage that CSX as far as I know still owns and operates.

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Posted by BaltACD on Monday, June 19, 2023 11:12 PM

Chessie 

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Posted by BaltACD on Monday, June 19, 2023 5:00 PM

ns145
NS needs a Katy heritage unit.  69 miles of former Katy trackage makes up part of NS' Detroit-KC mainline between Moberly and Hannibal, MO.

CSX operates part of EL's former mainline between Galion and Marion, OH.  This was a joint paired single track operation with NYC/Big Four, but controlled by the EL.  CSX also operates a small portion of EL's Marion Yard.

PRR should be included to represent the west end of the St. Louis Line and the fact that CSX owns the former PRR mainline west of Crestline, OH (leased to the CF&E).

Back in the day - B&O and PRR had paired operations in two locations with each carrier owning one track and the pair being operated as double track.

This existed between Newark, OH and Columbus with B&O doing the Train Dispatching.  It also existed between Akron, OH and Warwick with the PRR doing the Train Dispatching.

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