I know that CONRAIL had TV 98,99 and 100. Is their any more that head eastbound and westbound???
Off the top of my head;
TV-0 through TV-7, TV-9 through TV-14, TV-22, TV-25, TV-55, TV-80, TV-200 through TV-203, TV-556, TV-600, TV-601 plus TVLA and TVLT. And of course the Mail series. There were a few more stack trains in the TV-2xx series.
I used to run TV22 from Bayview (Balto.) to Enola or Harrisburg and; TV25 going back. Used to have extras occassionlly.
Here’s a pretty good list:
What was the determining factor for a Conrail train to receive a “Mail” title?
Did those trains handle a large percentage of UPS business? Or did they handle Postal Service trailers? Or was there another reason?
ed
Yes. most of conrail TV trains were mail and they did have a large UPS business.
Conrail’s MAIL trains were the same trains they had always been under PC and PRR, evolving from head end cars, and steam line equipped boxes and reefers to TOFC and COFC on TTX flats. The MAIL trains were always allowed 70 on lines where it was permitted, 79 where permitted, too. But GP40-2s at 75 MPH were not as captivating as an army of E7s or E8s at the same speed. East of Harrisburg,GG1s could get those TOFC/COFC consists up to 79 as fast as an automobile! Now, there was a sight to see! The E44s were even faster, but were limited to 70.
I witnessed a meet between MAIL4 and an anonymous SB clocker at (not yet) Metropark in Metuchen NJ in 1975. Both trains had GG1s and they shot through there like nobody’s business and how! A CNJ train nearby with a GP40P was struggling to get up to 30 a short distance away, with a much shorter train, later that same day. Kind of a letdown!
The Mail trains did carry mail, but at the end of Conrail, they were really just another premium TV train. There was still some Mail on them (think “junk mail”), but that was a small minority of the traffic. The schedules were timed to accomodate “premium” traffic and they had somewhat faster schedules and higher HP/ton than the generic TVs - even though they were only allowed 60 mph.
The train symbols were, indeed, a carry over from PRR days as there were no CR Mail trains running on the NYC side of the system.
Just this morning I heard the NS Chicago District dispatcher refer to the “mail train”. I would assume that is train 217 or 218, which has received that designation in the past. The train usually has only 60 trailers and quite a few UPS. My guess is UPS is equated with “mail” or at least on this train.
ed