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114-854: In 1871, the CNJ leased various railroads in Pennsylvania, most from the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company allowing the CNJ to penetrate to the upper Wyoming Valley , over some stretches, competing directly with the Lehigh Valley Railroad and with the Lehigh Canal and the trunk road connection of the Belvidere Delaware Railroad to New York became less profitable since Philadelphia connected more easily to Northeastern Pennsylvania thereafter without needing

228-650: A 51 percent share in the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad . In the years leading to 1973, the freight railroad system of the Northeastern United States was collapsing. Although government-funded Amtrak took over intercity passenger services on May 1, 1971, railroad companies continued to lose money due to extensive government regulations, expensive labor costs, competition from other transportation modes, declining industrial business and other factors. The largest railroad in

342-558: A bill to nationalize the bankrupt railroads. The Association of American Railroads , which opposed nationalization, submitted an alternate proposal for a government-funded private company. Judge Fullam forced the Penn Central to operate into 1974, when, on January 2, after threatening a veto , President Richard Nixon signed the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973 into law. The "3R Act," as it

456-660: A double-crossing of the Delaware River; a general revenue decline ensued, leading to the Pennsylvania Railroad acquiring the rights, where it served as part of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) system, carrying mainly anthracite coal and iron ore from northeastern Pennsylvania to population centers along the coast. The Belvidere-Delaware Railroad was chartered on March 2, 1836 and was constructed between 1850 and 1855 from Trenton along

570-446: A fairly new design, invented for the purpose by White, were used so water could be retained until required for use. When the dam became full and the water ran over it long enough for the river below to regain its ordinary depth, the sluice ates were let down, while the boats, which were lying in the pool above, passed down with the artificial flood. In this manner the difficulty was overcome. Crews were sent up Mount Pisgah to improve

684-583: A few hundred yards from the central business district and state capitol complex in Trenton, no official interest in taking advantage of the line's passenger potential was raised. To preserve track from possible future abandonment, the BR&;W purchased approximately three miles of track in the Lambertville area to continue to serve several freight customers located in town. (The BR&W had already purchased

798-493: A former Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (PRR Panhandle Route line), while Norfolk Southern got the former Pennsylvania Railroad main line and Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad from Jersey City, New Jersey , to Cleveland, and the rest of the former NYC main line west to Chicago, Illinois . Thus the Conrail "X" was neatly split in two, CSX getting one diagonal from Boston to St. Louis and Norfolk Southern

912-423: A half in width, laid upon wooden ties, which were kept in place by means of stone ballast. The loaded cars or wagons, as they were then termed, each having a capacity of approximately one and a half tons, were connected in trains of from six to fourteen, being attended by men who regulated their speed. Turn-outs were provided at intervals and the empty cars were drawn back to the mines by mules. They descended with

1026-501: A loading chute at the huge slack water pool at Mauch Chunk . Riding this success, the two companies were merged into the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company, which resolved to apply American Canal era technology, including canals, locks, and rails to bring coal to their foundries and the stoves and furnaces of Philadelphia and beyond. On March 20, 1818, the company was granted various powers they sought to secure navigation in

1140-595: A new connection opened at Three Bridges, and with freight business drying up in Frenchtown, they eventually abandoned the line south of Milford to Lambertville by January 1979 after running a signal removal train on the Milford-Lambertville segment in November 1978. Track removal began in the summer of 1979 and ended in the spring of 1982. In those three years Conrail dismantled approximately 31 miles of

1254-610: A primary energy source at the time, to the company's primary markets in the Northeastern United States . By the early 1830s, the Lehigh Canal and its bridges along the Delaware River inspired the development and connection of four other regional canals. Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company's success, along with White's reputation for advancing the state of mining and civil engineering, jump started

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1368-676: A profit in the 1980s and was privatized in 1987. The two remaining Class I railroads in the East , CSX Transportation and the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS), agreed in 1997 to acquire the system and split it into two roughly-equal parts (alongside three residual shared-assets areas), returning rail freight competition to the Northeast by essentially undoing the 1968 merger of the Pennsylvania Railroad and New York Central Railroad that created Penn Central . Following approval by

1482-406: A standardized rulebook called Northeast Operating Rules Advisory Committee (NORAC). This significantly increased operational flexibly, allowing crews to operate on any territory they were qualified on, instead of additionally needing multiple operating rules qualifications. Additionally, standardized signal rules allowed Conrail to standardize signaling hardware and operation across its system. In

1596-415: A tenant. Western Hills Express (5703) With Conrail's increasing success, it decided to merge the company with another railroad, so it approached CSX Transportation about buying Conrail. CSX's bid for Conrail, however, drew the attention of Norfolk Southern Railway which, fearing that CSX would come to dominate rail traffic in the eastern US, made a bid of its own leading to a takeover battle between

1710-507: A terminal operating company owned by both CSX and NS. The Conrail Shared Assets Operations arrangement was a concession made to federal regulators who were concerned about the lack of competition in certain rail markets and logistical problems associated with the breaking-up of Conrail operations as they existed in densely-populated areas with many local customers. The smaller Conrail operation that exists today serves rail freight customers in these markets on behalf of its two owners. A fourth area,

1824-587: A wire mill foundry at the Schuylkill River falls near Philadelphia . White and Hazard were delighted by the quality of the fuel, and subsequently bought the LCMC's final two barges to survive the trip down the Lehigh River. In 1815, convinced they could much improve the reliability of its delivery, they began in 1815 to inquire after the rights to mine the LCMC's coal and hatched a plan to improve

1938-626: Is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania . The society aims to preserve and restore equipment, items pertaining to, and photographs of Conrail specifically and of American railroading in general. As of 2022, the group publishes a quarterly magazine and a calendar, as well as other occasional mailings. Previous conventions have been held in Altoona, Pennsylvania , Philadelphia , Cleveland , and Warren, Ohio . More recent preservation activities include completion of

2052-578: Is ownership of the three Shared Assets Areas in New Jersey , Philadelphia , and Detroit . Both CSX and NS have the right to serve all shippers in these areas, paying Conrail for the cost of maintaining and improving trackage . They also make use of Conrail to perform switching and terminal services within the areas, but not as a common carrier , since contracts are signed between shippers and CSX or NS. Conrail also retains various support facilities including maintenance-of-way and training, as well as

2166-444: Is to pass," wrote one of the commissioners, "I need only tell you that I considered it quite an easement when the wheel of my carriage struck a stump instead of a stone." The public, meanwhile, was divided. Some held that the attempt to operate the coal mine was farcical, but that the improvement of the Lehigh River was an undertaking of great value and would prove profitable to investors. Others were just as positive that improvement's to

2280-569: The American Industrial Revolution . The company ultimately encompassed source industries, transport, and manufacturing, making it the first vertically integrated company in the United States. In 1792, a hunter named Philip Ginter discovered anthracite coal on Pisgah Mountain near present-day Summit Hill, Pennsylvania close to the border Schuylkill and Carbon counties. The following year, in 1793,

2394-611: The Ashley Planes and made or supported means to other novel solutions of transport problems; and created transport corridors still important today. It also pioneered the mining of anthracite coal in the United States, acquiring virtually the entire eastern lobe of the Southern Pennsylvania Coal Region , and brought in Welsh experts to bootstrap Iron production using blast furnace technology in

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2508-663: The Canal Age in the U.S. It also spurred historically significant investments in raw materials and bulk transportation infrastructure projects. The company also supported funding efforts behind the Schuylkill Canal project, which began in 1814, and was finally funded and finished with the company's support. White and Hazard had backed the Schuylkill project since their mills were on the River, but became disgusted with

2622-755: The Chessie System , which would help spur competition in Conrail's territory. Chessie, however, could not reach an agreement with EL labor unions , and in February 1976 announced that it would not be buying the EL section. The USRA hurriedly assigned large amounts of trackage rights to the Delaware and Hudson Railway , allowing it to compete in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , and Washington, D.C. , markets. The State of Michigan decided to keep operational

2736-596: The Delaware River north to Belvidere, New Jersey . The Trenton- Lambertville section opened on February 6, 1851, eventually reaching Belvidere on November 5, 1855. On June 7, 1854, the Bel-Del agreed to operate the Flemington Railroad and Transportation Company , where a connection was made with the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) at Flemington, New Jersey . LV coal trains began using

2850-677: The Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad in Portland, PA, via the former Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Bangor-Portland Division. Flemington Branch (current BR&W) Lehigh Coal %26 Navigation Company Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company was a mining and transportation company headquartered in Mauch Chunk, now known as Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania . The company operated from 1818 until its dissolution in 1964 and played an early and influential role in

2964-534: The Industrial Revolution in the United States . The company also established the Lehigh Canal , whose construction began in 1818. The Lehigh Canal became usable in 1820, was improved further between 1821 and 1824, and was finally transformed into a two-way canal between 1827 and 1829. The Lehigh Canal played a hugely influential role in the nation's ability to transport anthracite coal ,

3078-648: The Lehigh and Delaware rivers. The mining camps were over nine miles from the Lehigh River at Mauch Chunk. Sporadically active between the years of 1792 and 1814, the Lehigh Coal Mine Company was able to sell all of the coal it could mine to fuel-hungry markets but lost many a boatload on the rough waters of the unimproved Lehigh River, contributing to lost operating profits for the company and sometimes outright losses. The owners later sold some coal to Josiah White and Erskine Hazard, who operated

3192-499: The Lehigh Coal Mine Company (LCMC) was founded. It was incorporated the following year, in 1793, and the company also acquired 10,000 acres (4,000 ha) in and around Panther Creek Valley and Pisgah Mountain , and the aim of hauling anthracite coal from the large deposits on Pisgah Mountain near what is now Summit Hill, Pennsylvania , to Philadelphia via mule train to arks built near Lausanne on

3306-562: The Lehigh Valley , building the first six such furnaces and puddling furnaces to create steel, which the company then provided to its own wire rope (steel cable) manufactury, the countries first it set up in Mauch Chunk. Completing the vertical integration, the wire ropes were then marketed to other mining operations, cable railways, and other industries needing high tensile reliability in managing weighty loads. In 1822, Lehigh Coal Company bought out partner George Hauto and formed

3420-812: The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority service district (transferred to the Boston and Maine Railroad , under contract to the MBTA, in March 1977 ). Pursuant to the Northeast Rail Service Act of 1981, Conrail operated the remainder until 1983 when these services were transferred to state or metropolitan transit authorities. The transit authorities purchased the track and right-of-way on which their commuter operations ran, leaving Conrail freight operations as

3534-490: The Northeast Corridor , further improving its finances. In 1984, the government put its 85% share up for sale. Bids were received from Alleghany Corporation , Citibank , an employee buyout , Guilford Transportation Industries , Norfolk Southern Railway and a consortium headed by J. Willard Marriott . On February 8, 1985, Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole announced Norfolk Southern Railway as

Belvidere Delaware Railroad - Misplaced Pages Continue

3648-671: The Raritan River Railroad (1980) were also included (See list of railroads transferred to Conrail for a full list). It was approved by Congress on November 9, and on February 5, 1976, President Gerald Ford signed the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976, which included this Final System Plan, into law. The EL had been formed in 1960 as a merger of the Erie Railroad and Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad . It too

3762-556: The Surface Transportation Board , CSX and NS took control in August 1998, and on June 1, 1999, began operating their respective portions of Conrail. The old company remains a jointly-owned subsidiary, with CSX and NS owning respectively 42% and 58% of its stock , corresponding to how much of Conrail's assets they acquired. Each parent, however, has an equal voting interest . The primary asset retained by Conrail

3876-542: The 11-mile line between Flemington and Lambertville from PC in March 1970 for $ 153,000.) The Trenton-Lambertville segment was abandoned in March 1977. While the Trenton-Lambertville segment was not included in their system, Conrail retained the rest of the line from Lambertville to Belvidere, renaming it their Delaware Secondary. Conrail ceased interchanging at Lambertville with BR&W in January 1977 when

3990-544: The 2010s, as railroads upgraded their signals for Positive Train Control compliance. Today, most Northeastern railroads associated with former Conrail lines have maintained standardization of all systems as vertical color light signals using NORAC rules. Conrail Shared Assets Operations continues to use the tri-light as its standard signal type. Amtrak uses a colorized version of PRR position light signals called "Position Color Lights". The Conrail Historical Society, Inc.,

4104-615: The Bel Del as the Belvidere Division of the United Railroads of New Jersey Grand Division in 1871 and purchased the line soon afterwards. The Flemington Railroad & Transportation Company then merged into the Bel-Del on February 16, 1885. For much of the late 19th century and early 20th century the railroad line proved vitally useful. In 1882, the Lehigh and Hudson River Railway made a deal with PRR to operate on

4218-570: The Bel-Del as a dispensable secondary line. The chief function of the Bel-Del ;— bringing coal and iron ore between the LV connection at Phillipsburg with the PRR system — had long since ceased. The main priority freight trains were rerouted to other lines. With little industry remaining between Trenton and Lambertville, Conrail had little use for the line. Though the south end of line passed within

4332-410: The Bel-Del between Phillipsburg and Belvidere where L&HR's track to Maybrook, New York connects. By the 1950s, steam locomotives had been replaced with diesel operated self-propelled doodlebugs as a cost-saving measure resulting from dwindling patronage. In August 1955, flood waters from the Delaware River caused by Hurricane Diane washed out portions of the line north of Belvidere near where

4446-592: The Bel-Del in January 1856, joining the Bel-Del by the LV's bridge over the Delaware River where it connected in Phillipsburg, New Jersey . An extension was then completed in 1864 that gave the Bel-Del access to the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W) at Manunka Chunk, and permitted trains to operate via trackage rights to East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania through the Delaware Water Gap . The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) began operating

4560-482: The Conrail breakup was agreed upon, and neither NS or CSX wanted 'their' locomotives to be equipped with markers. Similarly, the standard-cab SD70, Conrail's final order of locomotives, were ordered to NS specifications, and were in Norfolk Southern's preferred numbering series (the 2500's), which they retained after the breakup. When Conrail was formed, it acquired many different railways, and as typical in

4674-652: The Flemington Branch from PRR on weekends to operate steam excursions. As part of the leasing agreement, BR&W was required to pay PRR for all track expenses, totalling $ 5,000. Trains began operating between Flemington and Lambertville by May 16, 1965. The PRR merged with rival New York Central Railroad in 1968 to form the Penn Central (PC), which fell apart faster than it came together. PC remnants were absorbed by Conrail in April 1976, which treated

Belvidere Delaware Railroad - Misplaced Pages Continue

4788-646: The LCN & Co. from rebuilding. In 1827, the Company in one massive well organized effort, completely built the 9.2 miles (14.8 km) of America's second railroad using the road bed of the wagon road built in 1818–19 in just a few months — a gravity railroad named the Mauch Chunk and Summit Hill Railroad using wooden sleepers on a gravel substrate (as did most more modern railways) — to bring coal from mines to river more efficiently. The work went quickly since

4902-604: The Legislature put it, was granted by an act passed March 20, 1818. According to a history of the navigations, authored in 1884: The improvement of the Lehigh was begun at the mouth of the Nesquehoning Creek , during the summer of the year 1818, under the personal supervision of Josiah White. The plan adopted was to contract the channel of the river in the form of a funnel, wherever it was found necessary to raise

5016-647: The Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company (LC&N) by combining the Lehigh Coal Mining Company, the Lehigh Coal Company, which was leased, and the Lehigh Navigation Company. The transactions represented the first merger of interlocking companies in the nation's history. Five years later, the company built the Mauch Chunk and Summit Hill Railroad , the first coal railroad and just the second railroad company in

5130-468: The Lehigh Coal Company on April 21, 1820. Under the conditions of the lease, it was stipulated that, after a given time for preparation, they should deliver for their own benefit at least forty thousand bushels of coal annually in Philadelphia and the surrounding districts, and should pay, if demanded, one ear of corn as a yearly rental. White and Hazard found a wide divergence of opinion on whether

5244-520: The Lehigh Coal Company was launched with capital stock of $ 55,000. This formed one of the most striking illustrations in American history of the dependence of a commercial venture upon methods of inland transportation. The Lehigh Navigation Company proceeded to build its dams and walls while the Lehigh Coal Company constructed the first roadway in America built on the principle, which was later adopted by

5358-468: The Lehigh Coal Mine Company was founded, but management proved weak and tried to operate in an absentee mode. Company personnel ambitiously attempted to trek to the mine site, dig the anthracites, and then use mules to transport bags of it to the Lehigh River , which required cutting down trees and building crude arks near Lausanne Landing and then shooting the Lehigh River's rapids, hoping to reach

5472-416: The Lehigh River could be tamed, and even fewer believed that the mining of coal from the Lehigh River's surrounding lands was feasible. On three separate occasions, funds were raised to improve the Lehigh River's functionality. By 1820, the two companies had a marginal level of navigability on the Lehigh over four years ahead of their targeted 1824 deadline. Coal was transported by mule track from Summit Hill to

5586-438: The Lehigh River towns Jim Thorpe , formerly Mauch Chunk, to the towns west, and Nesquehoning to its north. Both towns are built into the flanks, the traverses , of the mountain , with flats along the river banks. (A few decades later, railroads would follow the canals.) Within the next two years, White and Hazard constructed a descending navigation system that used their unique "bear trap" or hydrostatic locks , which allowed

5700-400: The Lehigh River, including with boats loaded with one hundred barrels, or ten tons on coal. Pennsylvania's state government kept an eye on the operation, however, and a minority felt the two men might succeed. The state reserved the right to compel the adoption of a complete system of slack-water navigation from Easton to Stoddartsville if the company did not succeed satisfactorily. Capital

5814-595: The North American rail industry, signaling was not standardized between these railways. This caused problems for Conrail, which had to "qualify" train crews on as many as seven different signaling systems and operating rules. The varying systems included the PRR position light signals , the NYC searchlight signals and tri-light signals, and the EL tri-light and semaphore signals. Conrail, and other eastern railroads which required multiple operating rules, came up with

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5928-519: The Northeast Rail Service Act of 1981 (NERSA), which amended portions of the 3R Act by exempting Conrail from liability for any state taxes and requiring the Secretary of Transportation to make arrangements for the sale of the government's interest in Conrail. After NERSA was implemented, Conrail, under the aggressive leadership of L. Stanley Crane began to improve and reported taxable income between $ 2 million and $ 314 million each year from 1983 through 1986. Conrail's government-funded rebuilding of

6042-489: The Staggers Act, railroads, including Conrail, were freed from the requirement to continue money-losing services. Conrail began turning a profit by 1981, the result of the Staggers Act freedoms and its own managerial improvements under the leadership of L. Stanley Crane, who had been chief executive officer of the Southern Railway . While the Staggers Act helped immensely in allowing all railroads to more-easily abandon unprofitable rail lines and set their own freight rates, it

6156-460: The United States. Using anthracite as fuel in its production, iron for the first time became plentiful and inexpensive. For a period of thirty years, three decades that shaped the future of the valley, anthracite fueled furnaces throughout the Lehigh Valley produced greater quantities of iron than any other part of the nation. The June 6, 1862 flood proved to show a fatal flaw in White's grand dream. The Upper Grand contributed to its own demise in that

6270-427: The canal banks, Conrail Conrail ( reporting mark CR ), formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation , was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do business as an asset management and network services provider in three Shared Assets Areas that were excluded from

6384-434: The company from 1822 until 1865, White and Hazard were constantly seeking innovative solutions to increase business and revenues. The vertical integration many economists credit them with inventing would appeal to them as a very natural way to control costs, hence maximize profitability. The two, and the various members of the corporate board often heard of ideas that separately( ? ) or together needed financial investment which

6498-429: The company was combined with the Lehigh Coal Company with the ouster of George Hauto, but was not rechartered officially until 1822. By late 1820, four years ahead of their prospectus 's targeted schedule, the unfinished but much improved Lehigh Valley watercourse began reliably transporting large amounts of coal to White's mills and Philadelphia. The nearly 370 tons of coal brought to market that year not only salved

6612-413: The company would often join as investors, and often end up providing a later critical boost of finishing financing, investing in such ventures directly, or buying out at a later time as subsidiaries as things developed a proof of concept, track record, better promise, or dependency on another business. From that moment on, anthracite and the canals were of pivotal importance in the industrial development of

6726-516: The cosmetic restoration of N7E caboose 21165 and a partnership with the B&O Railroad Museum to restore its ex-Conrail SW7 8905. The CRHS owns four pieces of on-track equipment: 86-foot boxcar 243880 (currently under development into a stand-alone Conrail museum), cabooses 21165 and 22130, and former Triple Crown RoadRailer TCSZ 463491. A preserved Conrail ex-PRR GP30 is on display at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania . To mark its 30th anniversary, Norfolk Southern painted 20 new locomotives with

6840-404: The country to be constructed after the Granite Railroad in Quincy, Massachusetts . The company was founded by industrialists Josiah White and Erskine Hazard , who sought to improve delivery of coal to markets. and a thickly=accented German immigrant miner named Hauto. The company is known in the Lehigh Valley as the "Old Company", as distinct from the later 1988–2010 company, which

6954-482: The dams and locks necessary to allow the coal barges to travel on the river meant that huge pools of water sat at the ready. Once the heavy June rains began, and dams began to be breached, devastating tidal waves of flood water burst dam after dam causing a great flood and loss of life. John J. Leisenring Jr., then Superintendent of the LCN & Co. estimated that 200 people lost their lives from White Haven down to Lehighton. The state legislature stepped in and prohibited

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7068-412: The dilapidated infrastructure and rolling stock it inherited from its six predecessors succeeded by the end of the 1970s in improving the physical condition of tracks, locomotives and freight cars . However, fundamental economic regulatory issues remained, and Conrail continued to post losses of as much as $ 1 million a day. Conrail management, recognizing the need for more regulatory freedoms to address

7182-416: The division of its operations during its acquisition by CSX Corporation and the Norfolk Southern Railway . The federal government created Conrail to take over the potentially profitable lines of multiple bankrupt carriers, including the Penn Central Transportation Company and Erie Lackawanna Railway . After railroad regulations were lifted by the 4R Act and the Staggers Act , Conrail began to turn

7296-413: The dormant Milford and Lambertville lines. Norfolk Southern (NS) retains ownership of the Phillipsburg-Belvidere main line after the Conrail split of 1999 with CSX Transportation . They continue to use the line serving several customers in Martins Creek accessed by the former Lehigh and New England Railroad Martins Creek Branch, Roxburg via a spur over the river and Belvidere. NS also interchanges with

7410-465: The early years of Conrail, the NYC "small-back" searchlight was adopted as the systemwide standard for new signal installations and replacements. The standard signal was quickly changed to the NYC tri-light. This move was done to decrease maintenance requirements, as searchlight signals need moving parts to switch between colors, unlike tri-lights, which have individual lamps. Many signals from previous railroads were re-used though, as new signaling hardware

7524-473: The economic issues, were among the parties lobbying for what became the Staggers Act of 1980, which significantly loosened the Interstate Commerce Commission 's rigid economic control of the rail industry. This allowed Conrail and other carriers the opportunity to become profitable and strengthen their finances. The Staggers Act allowed the setting of rates that would recover capital and operating cost (fully allocated cost recovery) by each and every route mile

7638-432: The former Monongahela Railway in southwest Pennsylvania , was originally owned jointly by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad , Pennsylvania Railroad and Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad . Conrail absorbed the company in 1993, and assigned trackage rights to CSX, the successor to the B&O and P&LE. With the Conrail breakup, those lines are owned by NS, but the CSX trackage rights are still in place. Since Conrail

7752-408: The full Ann Arbor Railroad , of which Conrail would run only the southernmost portion. Michigan bought it and the whole line was operated by Conrail for several years until it was sold to a short line . Conrail was incorporated in Pennsylvania on October 25, 1974, and operations began on April 1, 1976. The federal government owned 85%, with employees owning the remaining 15%. The theory was that if

7866-400: The lights above the deck. Red marker lights (not class lights, which are multi-color) were also a preference of Conrail. Most locomotives that went to CSX retained their marker lights, while Norfolk Southern quickly removed them. All Conrail locomotives that went to CSX and NS have been either retired or repainted. The last unit to wear "Conrail Blue", NS 8312, was retired in 2014. Conrail was

7980-436: The line in the Riegelsville area at the time. The New York Susquehanna & Western Historical & Technical Society (NYS&WH&TS) started running passenger trains in 2004 between Phillipsburg and Carpentersville and has since become a successful operation. In recent years both the NYSWHTS and the Black River Railroad Historical Trust (the entity that now runs passenger trains on BR&W) have been gradually restoring

8094-434: The line. Freight service was non-existent by the late 1990s. Service trains operated over the Ringoes-Lambertville portion on a seldom basis until 2002. BDRV served a paper plant south of Milford, New Jersey, until 2003 when the paper plant closed. The line south of Carpentersville was soon after closed to Riegelsville in 2005 when another paper plant decided to not continue using rail service. Flooding also partially damaged

8208-476: The line. The former railroad bed was converted for use as part of the Delaware & Raritan Canal Trail . Conrail later sold the Phillipsburg-Milford section to the newly formed Belvidere & Delaware River Railway (BDRV) in 1995. In 1998, BR&W ceased regular operations into Lambertville when track was demoted to excepted prohibiting the continuation of passenger trains on that segment of

8322-421: The mule trails down from the coal deposits at Summit Hill, Pennsylvania , and others to build docks, boat building facilities, and the canal systems head end pool and locks. The canal head end needed a location where barges could be built and timber and coal could be brought into slack water. The challenge was to do it above the gap made by the east end of Mount Pisgah , a hard rock knob that towers 900 feet above

8436-506: The navigation on the Lehigh as a key step. In 1818, building on two predecessor companies, founders Erskine Hazard and Josiah White entered the coal industry to serve customers seeking a steady supply of fuel for foundries and mills on the falls of the Schuylkill River . Its role in accelerating regional industrial development by taking on civil engineering challenges initially thought impossible and creating important transport and mining infrastructure, proved influential in spearheading

8550-417: The new Consolidated Rail Corporation. Unlike most railroad consolidations, only the designated lines were to be taken over. Other lines would be sold to Amtrak, various state governments, transportation agencies, and solvent railroads. The few remaining lines were to remain with the old companies along with all previously-abandoned lines, many stations, and all non-rail related properties, thus converting most of

8664-538: The new companies, and NS also acquired the CR reporting mark. Operations under CSX and NS began on June 1, 1999, bringing Conrail's 23-year existence to an end. As the names indicated, CSX acquired the former New York Central Railroad main line from New York City and Boston, Massachusetts , to Cleveland, Ohio , and the former Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway (NYC Big Four) line to Indianapolis, Indiana (continuing west to East St. Louis, Illinois ) on

8778-548: The old companies into solvent property-holding companies. The plan was unveiled on July 26, 1975, consisting of lines from Penn Central and six other companies—the Ann Arbor Railroad (bankrupt 1973), Erie Lackawanna Railway (1972), Lehigh Valley Railroad (1970), Reading Company (1971), Central Railroad of New Jersey (1967) and Lehigh and Hudson River Railway (1972). Controlled railroads and jointly-owned railroads such as Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines and

8892-555: The only railroad to receive EMD SD80MACs (an order from the Chicago & North Western was cancelled when that company merged with Union Pacific ) and were separated evenly between CSX and NS. Conrail had a different paint scheme for these locomotives and also the SD70MAC , with a large white, cone-shaped line on the front, bearing "Conrail Quality" lettering. The SD70MACs were not fitted with marker lights, as they were ordered after

9006-504: The other from New York to Chicago. The two lines cross at a bridge southeast of downtown Cleveland ( 41°26′49″N 81°37′37″W  /  41.447°N 81.627°W  / 41.447; -81.627 ), where the former Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad crosses over the NYC's former Cleveland Short Line Railway around the south side of Cleveland. In three major metropolitan areas – North Jersey, South Jersey/Philadelphia, and Detroit – Conrail Shared Assets Operations continues to serve as

9120-600: The paint schemes of predecessor railroads. The first, on March 15, 2012, was GE ES44AC #8098 in Conrail blue with the "can opener" logo. In July 2023, CSX unveiled GE ES44AH unit #1976, which was repaired and repainted at the CSX shops in Waycross , GA with a CSX dark blue and yellow color scheme on the front (nose) and cab of the locomotive, and the light blue Conrail scheme with the Conrail Quality logo throughout

9234-487: The passage of coal boats by means of artificial floods. The coal arrived at the head end from the mines at Summit Hill or down along the steep mule trail from near the headwaters of Panther Creek . It floated down the navigation; at journey's end, the barges were sold as fuel or for Delaware basin transports. The navigation company began shipping significant quantities of coal by early 1819, ahead of expectations, and attained their goal of regular shipments in 1820. In 1820,

9348-497: The railroad operated. There would be no more cross-subsidization of costs between route-miles (that is, revenue on profitable route segments were not used to subsidize routes where rates were set at intermodal parity, yet still did recover fully-allocated costs). Finally, where current and/or future traffic projections showed that profitable volumes of traffic would not return, the railroads were allowed to abandon those routes, shippers and passengers to other modes of transportation. Under

9462-458: The railway, of dividing the total distance by the total descent in order to determine the grade. The Lehigh Navigation Company, then suffering from an unprecedented dearth of water, adopted White's invention of sluice gates connecting with pools that could be filled with reserve water to be drawn upon as needed for navigation. By 1819, the depth of water between Mauch Chunk and Easton was obtained. The two companies were immediately amalgamated under

9576-621: The region, Penn Central (PC), declared bankruptcy in 1970, after less than three years of existence. Formed in 1968 by the merger of the New York Central Railroad and Pennsylvania Railroad (and supplemented in 1969 by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad ), the PC was created with almost no plans to merge the varied corporate cultures, and the resulting company was a hopelessly-entangled mess. At its lowest point, PC

9690-455: The rest of the locomotive. It was numbered #1976 in homage to the year of Conrail's creation. In August 2023, MTA Metro–North Railroad unveiled locomotive #201, a GE P32AC-DM , wrapped in a yellow and blue scheme worn by Conrail's EMD FL9 units between 1976 and 1982. In October 2024, New Jersey Transit unveiled EMD GP40PH-2B #4208 in Conrail blue with the "can opener" logo, similar to Norfolk Southern #8098. NJT stated that Conrail

9804-660: The right-of-way crosses modern-day US Route 46 , although the line still remains active south of this point to serve the Hoffmann-LaRoche pharmaceutical plant. North of where the plant is now to the junction at Manunka Chunk, the line was subsequently removed in late 1955. On December 31, 1957, the Bel-Del was merged into the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company , with passenger services ending on October 26, 1960. Heritage operator Black River & Western Railroad (BR&W) began leasing

9918-414: The right-of-way surveyed by White (well before 1818's charter) ran along the virtually uniform gradient created by grading the original mule trail, work overseen by Hazard in 1818. During the summer of 1827, a railroad was built from the mines at Summit Hill to Mauch Chunk. With one or two unimportant exceptions, this was the first railroad in the United States. It was nine miles in length, and occupied

10032-479: The river's confluence with the Delaware River at Easton on the Pennsylvania border with New Jersey . The Lehigh Coal Mining Company was sporadically successfully in mining and transporting anthracite coal to Philadelphia , and its rights were eventually absorbed by the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company, which leased their own operational rights from their predecessor, the Lehigh Coal Company. In 1792,

10146-399: The river's navigation would follow the fate of so many similar enterprises but that a fortune was in store for those who invested in the Lehigh mines. The direct result of the examiners' report and of the public debate ultimately was the organization of the first interlocking companies in American commercial history. The Lehigh Navigation Company was formed with a capital stock of $ 150,000 and

10260-494: The route of the old wagon road most of the distance. Summit Hill, lying nearly a thousand feet higher than Mauch Chunk, the cars on the road made this descent by gravity, passing the coal, at their destination to the boats in the river by means of inclined planes and chutes. The whole of this plan was evolved by Josiah White, under whose direction it was consummated in a period of about four months. The rails were of rolled bar-iron, three-eighths of an inch in thickness and an inch and

10374-542: The service given by the company did not meet "the wants of the country." In 1817, they leased the Lehigh Coal Mine's properties and took over operations, incorporating it on October 21, 1818, as the Lehigh Coal Company. They petitioned the legislature and proposed acquiring rights to make improvements to the Lehigh River for which there had been a string of supportive legislation going back decades. In 1820, White and Hazard bought out their partner Hauto and dissolved

10488-491: The service was improved through increased capital investment , the economic basis of the railroad would be improved. During its first seven years, Conrail proved to be highly unprofitable, despite receiving billions of dollars of assistance from Congress. The corporation declared enormous losses on its federal income tax returns from 1976 through 1982, resulting in an accumulated net operating loss of $ 2.2 billion during that period. Congress once again reacted with support by passing

10602-608: The successful bidder. After considerable debate in Congress, the Conrail Privatization Act of 1986 was signed into law by President Reagan on October 21, 1986. However, in August 1986, Norfolk Southern had withdrawn its bid citing Congressional delays and taxation changes. The government decided that its interest in Conrail would then be sold by the then-largest initial public offering in US history. The sale

10716-475: The timid investment and management attitudes of its board, so they explored property and feasibility examinations elsewhere in 1814–1815 and petitioned to build the canal that next year. Upon their return, the company's two founders took over Lehigh Coal Mining Company's mines and mining rights in a 20-year lease. built the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad and had its hands in many other northeastern Pennsylvania shortline railroads, spurs, and subsidiaries; created

10830-480: The title of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company. By 1823, the two companies delivered over two thousand tons of coal to market. Having displayed great technological skills by creating the world's first iron wire suspension bridge, which spanned the Schuylkill River at their wire works, White and Hazard schemed with other industrialists to secure a reliable source of anthracite. To move the coal to market, they entered political negotiations to acquire rights to tame

10944-430: The trains in specially constructed cars, affording a novel and rather ludicrous spectacle. Thirty minutes was the average time consumed in making the descent, while the weary trip back to the mines required three hours. The wagon road to become gravity railroad ran from what later became Summit Hill along the south side of Pisgah Ridge to Mount Pisgah to the canal's loading chute over 200 feet (61 m) above

11058-437: The turbulent and rapids-ridden Lehigh River for navigation. By 1817–18, they had organized the separate Lehigh Navigation Company and had written stock flyers announcing plans to deliver barge loads of coal regularly to Philadelphia by 1824. The LCMC had trouble delivering Anthracite to Philadelphia at costs cheaper than imported Bituminous Coal from Britain or Virginia. Their last expedition had been sent out in 1813 during

11172-530: The two railroads. In 1997, however, the two railroads struck a compromise agreement to jointly acquire Conrail and split most of its assets between them, with Norfolk Southern acquiring a larger portion of the Conrail network via a larger stock buyout. Under the final agreement approved by the Surface Transportation Board , Norfolk Southern acquired 58 percent of Conrail's assets, including roughly 6,000 Conrail route miles, and CSX received 42 percent of Conrail's assets, including about 3,600 route miles. The buyout

11286-514: The war & blockade caused bituminous shortages, and by the time five arks were sent down river, three sank, leaving the directors of LCMC disgusted and unwilling to fund more losses. The company began to prepare plans and surveyed sites, and when the state legislature approved the river work in 1818, immediately hired teams of men and began to install locks, dams, and weirs, including water management gates of their own novel design. The desired opportunity " to ruin themselves ," as one member of

11400-483: The water, throwing up the round river-stones into low walls or wing dams, thus providing a regular descending navigation. It soon became apparent that the carrying out of this plan would not insure sufficient water in seasons of drought to float a loaded ark or boat, and the success of the whole enterprise hung in the balance. White resorted to the expedient of creating artificial freshets. Dams were constructed in Mauch Chunk in present-day Jim Thorpe , and sluice gates of

11514-461: The whole range of tried and untried methods for securing "a navigation downward once in three days for boats loaded with one hundred barrels, or ten tons." The State kept its weather eye open in this matter, however, for a small minority felt that these men would not ruin themselves. Accordingly, the act of grant reserved to the commonwealth the right to compel the adoption of a complete system of slack-water navigation from Easton to Stoddartsville if

11628-619: The winter's fuel shortage but created a temporary glut. After buying out co-founder George Hauto, White and Hazard reworked their lease deal with the Lehigh Coal Mine Company, and merged it with the Lehigh Coal Company, acquiring ownership of its 10,000 acres spanning three parallel valleys in the 14 miles (23 km) from Mauch Chunk to Tamaqua . A few months later, they merged the LCC and the Lehigh Navigation Company. In late 1821, they filed papers to incorporate Lehigh Coal & Lehigh Navigation , which took effect in 1822. As operations managers of

11742-691: Was approved by the Surface Transportation Board (STB) (successor agency to the Interstate Commerce Commission(ICC) and took place on August 22, 1998. Under the control of lawyer-turned-CEO Tim O'Toole , the lines were transferred to two newly formed limited liability companies , to be subsidiaries of Conrail but leased to CSX and Norfolk Southern, respectively New York Central Lines (NYC) and Pennsylvania Lines (PRR). The NYC and PRR reporting marks , which had passed to Conrail, were also transferred to

11856-408: Was bankrupt, but was somewhat stronger financially than the others. It was ruled reorganizable under Chapter 77 on April 30, 1974 (as had the Boston and Maine Railroad ), but on January 9, 1975, with no end to its losses in sight, its trustees reconsidered and asked for inclusion. The Final System Plan assigned a major section of the EL, from northern New Jersey west to northeast Ohio , to be sold to

11970-656: Was called, provided interim funding to the bankrupt railroads and defined a new Consolidated Rail Corporation under the Association of American Railroads ' plan. The 3R Act also formed the United States Railway Association (USRA), another government corporation , taking over the powers of the Interstate Commerce Commission with respect to allowing the bankrupt railroads to abandon unprofitable lines. The USRA

12084-459: Was divided between Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX Transportation in 1999, all remaining locomotives have been successively repainted, and many remain in service. CR units had unique features such as "Bright Future" blue paint, flashing ditch lights, and Leslie RS-3L horns. Another key spotting feature is ditch lights mounted under the locomotive's front deck. This is a preference different from Norfolk Southern and CSX, which order locomotives with

12198-568: Was effective from March 26, 1987, when Conrail's stock, worth $ 1.65 billion, was sold to private investors. Conrail inherited the commuter rail operations of its predecessor lines. It relinquished several during the 1970s, including the Erie Cleveland–Youngstown service (discontinued in 1977), the Pennsylvania Railroad Chicago–Valparaiso service (transferred to Amtrak in 1979), and the services within

12312-577: Was expensive, and Conrail faced financial difficulty. As mentioned above, significant projects took place to reduce trackage, oftentimes removing double-track with automatic block signals in favor of single track with centralized traffic control (CTC). Conrail also installed CTC across much of the former PRR multi-track mainline, which had relied on local towers to operate signals and control track. Conrail spent its entire existence installing tri-light signals (using NORAC rules) across much of its system. Many Conrail-installed signaling locations were removed in

12426-459: Was incorporated on February 1, 1974, and Edward G. Jordan, an insurance executive from California , was named president on March 18 by Nixon. Arthur D. Lewis of Eastern Air Lines was appointed chairman on April 30, and the remainder of the board was named on May 30 and sworn in on July 11. Under the 3R Act, the USRA was to create a "Final System Plan" to decide which lines should be included in

12540-426: Was less likely to succeed. They secured additional investors by forming two companies, the Lehigh Coal Company (LCC) and the Lehigh Navigation Company, and began seeking legislative approval for improving the Lehigh River 's navigation. The desired opportunity "to ruin themselves," as one member of the Legislature put it, was granted by an act passed March 20, 1818. The various powers applied for, and granted, embraced

12654-524: Was losing over $ 1 million a day and trains were becoming lost all over the railroad. In 1972, Hurricane Agnes damaged the rundown Northeast railway network and threatened the solvency of other railroads, including the somewhat more solvent Erie Lackawanna (EL). In mid-1973, officials with the bankrupt Penn Central threatened to liquidate and cease operations by year's end if they did not receive government aid by October 1. This threat to US freight and passenger traffic galvanized Congress to quickly create

12768-401: Was subscribed by a patriotic public on condition that a committee of stockholders go over the Lehigh River ground and pass judgment on the probable success of the effort. The report was favorable so far as the improvement of the Lehigh River was concerned. But the nine-mile road from the river to the mines was unanimously voted impracticable. "To give you an idea of the country over which the road

12882-413: Was under Crane's leadership that Conrail truly became a profitable operation. Soon after Crane took office in 1981 he shed another 4,400 miles from the Conrail system in the following two years, which accounted for only 1% of the railroad's overall traffic and 2% of its profits while saving it millions of dollars in maintenance costs. NERSA relieved Conrail of its requirement to provide commuter service on

12996-408: Was very similarly named the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company and was known as the "New Company" in the region. White and Hazard very shortly found themselves on the receiving end of investor criticisms that the improvements and mining operation at Summit Hill were failing and were both considered crackpot schemes. The majority opinion was that improvements were possible, but that coal mining

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