first let me say i’m a novice rail fan.
i just got done reading an article about the Conrail split and how NS and CSX got pieces and parts. I could not make heads or tails out of this article of who got what.Could someone please explain it who got what and how on the Conrail split without using lawyer talk? i would greatly appreciate it.
In simplest terms, CSX got most of what used to be the New York Central, and NS got most of what used to be the PRR. There are also “shared assets” in the NY/NJ area and trackage rights in other locations. IIRC, the shared assets segment is still operated by Conrail. Richard Saunders’s book, Main Lines: Rebirth of the North American Railroads, 1970-2002 will give you all the details (in English) - recommend you take a look at this.
Hope this helps.
work safe
thank you COALMINER3,you condensed the 4 page article into something easier to understand.
I saw a CSX autoparts boxcar with NYC markings the other day. Was interesting too see.
Richard Saunder’s two books on mergers are both interesting books. I highly recommend both from my standpoint, which is more on the historical and operational aspects of railroading, rather than the photofan aspect.
If you are looking for pictures of old paint schemes on rare locomotives…save your money. If you are looking for how we got to 2004 in this industry, order today.
MP173
NS got 58%, CSX got 43%, CSX letters both engines and cars “NYC”, NS letters engines PRR (a few units got CRCX lettering) but NS cars still have CR reporting marks.
Yep including alot of MOW equipment that ns got too.
stay safe
Joe
It would make for an interesting map of the month to see the pre-Conrail Northeast, the Conrail era and what it looks like today. I need to check out Richard Saunders’s book and see how the rest of the lines were split up.
Main Lines: Rebirth of the North American Railroads … $50 at Amazon! And no library in my county has it.
Anyone seen this book cheaper? Sounds like a great read/historical reference.
Jim
Another factor in the split was the formation of the “New Conrail” and before there is any disagrement of it there was an article in a recent trains(July) that stated that in some areas there was no room for two railroads such as the Doremus Avenue Auto terminal at Port Newark, N.J. in this case a company under the Conrail name And Harold they take control of the area and move both CSX and NS traffic.
There was not even enough room for ONE railroad here in northern New Jersey and the area. Not enough yard space, not enough passing sidings, etc etc , and no open space to do anything about it. Many passing sidings are in residential areas, and the people complain about idling trains, etc. Me? I enjoyed it!
I think that was Conrail’s strong point … they were able to manage what other railroads would consider unmanageable. Kind of JIT (Just In Time) railroading.
This Shared Assets arrangement expires 5 years after the merger, which I think is about now. So, CSX and NS may split it up, or extend the arrangement.
This might be it completely for the Big Blue engines (what small, dirty, rusty ones are left).
Jim
They shouldn’t have even put the “Conrail” in Conrail Shared Assets, half on the engines were in CSX and NS paint and they weren’t even #ed for Conrail.
Comparisons of tonnage over 5 10 year periods, Major engineering upgrades, Ownership changes and anything new that has been added. that would make it even better. The Saunders book sounds like a good read so I’ll join you in that
The CSXT would have got all of 100% of Conrail if butt sniffin NS Would have kept their nose clean,It still makes me so damn mad in how the south invaides the north.I hate the NS more than ever now.I was born and raised in the east and just to see conrail broke up like that just makes me sick.I will never ever railfan in the east ever again.
There was a lot of history behind Conrail,Conrail ment alot to me in my time. The book of history has been closed. What lies ahead is unknown.Conrail should have never died!
I will miss you CONRAIL!
BNSFrailfan.
It’s interesting to note that NS made two attempts to purchase Conrail intact. The first attempt was rebuffed by political arm-twisting and a “Let Conrail be Conrail” public relations campaign by Conrail management.
The second attempt was about to lead to a big-time bidding war with CSX when negotiations to divide Conrail between the two bidders were allowed by the STB.
I became interested in railroading just as Conrail was formed (when I was 16), and have lived near tracks in NJ my whole life. So, it did really stink when it was split up. Sounds corny, but it was a sad thing. I went from having a pretty cool railroad “to call my own,” to nothing.
At least if it were a merger, like BN and SF, or something. Still have Conrail colors on the engines and the name around … in some way, shape, or form.
But they just killed it, and ripped it in half, and soon the vultures will take the little pieces that are left.
Jim
The history of railroad has been about companies coming and going, being bought and sold, being merged and split…on and on and on to the point where we are today with onece were thousands of railroad companies merged down to functionally 4 US Class I’s and 2 Canadian Class I’s (one of which, CN has enough mileage and revenues to be a Class I on its US holdings alone). While we can bemoan the ConRail split, it is nothing more than the continuing evolution of the rail system of this country.
If you mourn ConRail, you should also mourn all the predecessor companies that went into the formation of ConRail (PRR, NYC, RDG, LV, EL, CNJ and the hundreds of smaller companies that those roads fed on).
Railroading is a brutal business, in more ways than one. It is brutal from the sheer business aspect…turn enought profit to be able to reinvest in new equipment and technology or die. It is brutal from the competition aspect, trucks, barges and other rail carriers comptete for the same traffic…there is only one winner at a time, and sharp traffic managers play each carrrier off against the rest of the competition to get better rates and service. It is brutal from the employee stand point, operating mistakes are punishable by death, the hours are long and vary around the clock, for the operating employee railroading is not just a job, it is a lifestyle…live it or leave.
The ConRail split is just symptomatic of the brutal nature of the rail industry.
I suppose you could mourn those railroads too, only thing is I wasn’t around when they were. Conrail is the reason I am a Railfan although I like all railroads. For example, my second favorite railroad is the Santa Fe but I have never lived in Chico territory. I don’t hold any ill will towards CSX and NS or any railroads; if only one of them would have gotten Conrail that attitude would be different.
There’s not a one of those smaller companies that wouldn’t have built every last mile of US rail if they had access to the funding to do so “in their time”.
They didn’t, so instead many players found ways through hook or crook to build incrementally what they could manage. The consolidation process that has gone on ever since is little more than “natural selection” in the business world.
Yes it certainly would…I’d like to see a similar map for Ohio/Indiana/Michigan/Illinois, IF ANYONE READING CAN MAKE THAT HAPPEN.
Several months ago they did a “shipping volume” map of the month depicting the split, but lacked the detail I would like to have seen, instead employing the standard disclaimer of “Not all routes shown” that was minorly irritating as much as it was anything else.