Throwback Thursday #12 - Conrail Roundhouse at Mingo Jct Ohio in May 1977

A humid May 1977 morning finds an interesting variety of power laying over at the ex-Lehigh Valley roundhouse at Sayre, PA Mingo Junction OH. Don Laing photo, author's collection.

Edit April 19: Note: Location should be Mingo Jct OH, slide has incorrect location on mount.

It’s late, but at least its’ still Thursday! Today’s Throwback takes us 38 years to a hot May 1977 day at Mingo Junction, OH, on the banks of the Ohio River not far from the steelmaking communities of Pittsburgh, PA and Weirton, WV. Inside the roundhouse on this day we find Conrail GP9 #7256, one of more than 300 inherited from Penn Central, C636 #6788, C628 #6743, and SD45 #6104 (ex-Reading). Also among the congregation is CN M636 #2326, making this a three-builder photo (EMD, Alco, MLW). Mechanically the same as stablemate 6788, the CN unit must have felt at home here while on lease to the newly-formed Conrail. It’s just over a years since Big Blue (well, maybe not in this photo) assumed operations over a number of bankrupt roads in the northeast, primarily the Penn Central, so the lack of a cohesive paint scheme is understandable. The railroad had much bigger problems than deciding on a paint scheme, including – but not limited to – excess/duplicate track, inefficient operations, far too many derailments, and bad track, leftovers from years of running in the red under Penn Central management. Over time though, the railroad managed not only to survive but indeed thrive under talented management who carefully developed a very large X-pattern of operation, bringing cars from the Midwest to the northeast and cars from Chicago to southeastern roads. Track was either improved or abandoned (the amount of duplicate trackage at merger time was staggering), train speeds increased, and a sense of pride was instilled in the employees of the new road. A fascinating read on the subject is Rush Loving Jr’s book The Men Who Loved Trains (highly recommend, quite an interesting read). The Conrail that was split in 1999 was indeed very different than that of April 1, 1976. Conrail successor Norfolk Southern continues operations through Sayre, though much of the track laid by the LV has since been removed. 

As far as the motive power goes, it’s classic early Conrail – hastily renumbered and patched, and not all in the same paint scheme. While some geeps were rebuilt by Conrail into GP10’s, it is probable that old #7256 wasn’t one of them. Built in November 1959 as Pennsy 7256, it’s probably safe to say that the engine has since met the torch, like hundreds of other tired old engines from the merger roads. Mingo Junction was an Alco-lovers dream, as many of the Schenectady-built engines were collected here for use on coal and ore trains serving the northeast’s steel mills. Both 6788 and slightly older 6743 were inherited from Penn Central, though 6743 was in fact built as Pennsy 6305 in March 1965 (6788 was ex-PC 6338, built April 1968). Poor old 6743 survived only a year and a half after this photo, relegated to the Altoona deadlines by December 1978. Though I am a huge Alco fan, the ex-Reading SD45 might be the coolest unit in the bunch – the last of five SD45’s inherited by Conrail from Reading, the unit has a rather unique feature. Like the PRSL GP38’s, the Reading SD45’s featured built-out front cab windows, I believe for dual controls (or extra space for a crewmember if cabooses were eliminated). The engine was built in July 1967, and once deemed excess by Conrail, the engine was subsequently sold to the Chicago & Northwestern, who ultimately scrapped it in 1985. CN 2326, despite being the newest unit among the group, built in February 1971, didn’t fare much better – a wreck in December 1985 left the unit a write-off, and was subsequently removed from the CN roster.

It is interesting to note that the roundhouse doesn’t appear to have doors, but at least someone spent a few bucks to get some new ballast on some of the tracks. It always struck me as odd seeing diesels in a roundhouse – something anachronistic about not seeing steam engines in the stalls! 

‘Til Next time,

Cheers,

Peter.