Nostalgia & History > Conrail Bricks

The E44 electric locomotive Conrail inherited from the PC/PRR were referred to as "bricks" because of their angular design. If you ever heard one it sounded like a giant vacuum cleaner.
First 4418 at Frankford Jct. in Philadelphia coming off the Delair Bridge
Second 4405 heading toward Camden, NJ
Last image 4452 crossing the Susquehanna River at Perryville, MD

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My closest location was Earnest Yard on the Trenton Cutoff at Plymouth Meeting, Pa.
Do you remember those "things" at the end of a train called a caboose (PRR cabin car)?

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Next a westbound train at Thorndale, Pa

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RDG630 Wrote:
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> My closest location was Earnest Yard on the
> Trenton Cutoff at Plymouth Meeting, Pa.
> Do you remember those "things" at the end of a
> train called a caboose (PRR cabin car)?

Earnest yard was the site of a auto rack unloading ramp ...

> The E44 electric locomotive Conrail inherited from
> the PC/PRR were referred to as "bricks" because of
> their angular design. If you ever heard one it
> sounded like a giant vacuum cleaner.
> First 4418 at Frankford Jct. in Philadelphia
> coming off the Delair Bridge

either CAPI or CAEN originated in Camden Pavonia coming off #1 track on the Delair Branch and will either cross over at Shore to #3 track or run up the "0" track to North Philadelphia and then crossover to #3 track ...

> Second 4405 heading toward Camden, NJ

either PICA or ENCA coming off #1 track onto #2 Delair Branch and will terminate in Camden Pavonia ...

> Last image 4452 crossing the Susquehanna River at
> Perryville, MD

> Next a westbound train at Thorndale, Pa

wb coming down the ramp off the Trenton Cutoff

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/15 14:35 by Out_Of_Service.

In the second shot, is the green bridge across the tracks the Market-Frankford line?

CPR_4000 Wrote:
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> In the second shot, is the green bridge across the
> tracks the Market-Frankford line?


yes

Posted from Android

Wonderful shots; remember them when they were delivered!

Really nice photo's, would have liked to see them in service. Only one I have ever been in is stuffed and mounted at Strasburg. I was really surprised to see they had dual controls.


ernie



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/15 19:37 by wmfan3798.

In a couple of shots the units are leading long hood forward. Were they set up as dual control or just run them like a diesel long hood forward? Nice shots, by the way! I wish I had seen them running.

James Nelson
Thornton, CO
www.flickr.com/mojaveflyer

E44s had duel controls.

the E44s were quiet as a church mouse coming down the track ... they had a quiet hum until they were right on top of you ... then they went by humming like a multi megawatt generator especially when MUd and notched up with a heavy train ... i loved'em and miss'em ... working for Amtrak from the mid 70s i got the opportunity to watch them run up and down the NEC, the Harrisburg Main Line, the High Line through Philly to South Philly, over the Delair Bridge to/from Camden ...

Posted from Android

I saw a few of them, but dismissed them because they didn't look interesting. I regret that now and appreciate your photos.

The freight cars in your photos are of interest, too.

mojaveflyer Wrote:
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> In a couple of shots the units are leading long
> hood forward. Were they set up as dual control or
> just run them like a diesel long hood forward?
> Nice shots, by the way! I wish I had seen
> running.

they looked best in reverse elephant formation all running lhf ... what an impressive sight with 3 or 4 running lhf ...

RuleG Wrote:
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> I saw a few of them, but dismissed them because
> they didn't look interesting. I regret that now
> and appreciate your photos.
>
> The freight cars in your photos are of interest,
> too.

how could've those babies been of non interest ... i found them sooo fascinating ...

Posted from Android

Do the axles have different spacing on the trucks, or is it just the photos?

How did they pull?

I liked running them and they pulled good.

Kimball Wrote:
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> Do the axles have different spacing on the trucks,
> or is it just the photos?

Unequal axle spacing, 13' wheelbase. This was GE's version of the 3-axle "Trimount" truck. The same truck was used under U25Cs and early U28Cs.

Lot to like in this series. Thanks.

Great series of photos! Living in eastern PA less than 2 miles from the former PRR main line for 27 years, with at least 35-40 freights a day on the line, I remember the E44's well. One of these days I'll get around to hooking up the new slide scanner I got for Christmas, and when that happens I'll post some photos on this board.

Bob
Thayne, WY

You could hear the cooling blowers on those things from two miles away. If they stopped next to you trackside you couldn't hold a conversation over the howl. What was neat was the rectifiers inside glowed purple through the louvers at night. They pulled so much current that on icy nights they would arc as they broke the ice off the cat and the intensity was like a continuous lightning storm. Other than that they were kind of boring black bricks.
The only thing left of Earnest now is a single main track, the Plymouth Siding and the connector track to the Harrisburg mainline at Norristown.
That big pile of white stuff behind the blue cabin car was asbestos waste. It just used to sit around eastern Pennsylvania in big piles. In the Eighties the EPA covered them up with dirt and put chain link fencing around them. The piles are starting to disappear. I'm not sure where the stuff is going but its being carted off to somewhere.
Lots of good posts Dale!
Gonut