Nostalgia & History > Big Blue and Bethlehem Steel

Several views of Conrail action around the Bethlehem Steel plant in Bethlehem, PA. The plant closed in the mid-1990's with a big loss of business to Conrail. Surprisingly the immediate area has thrived thanks to a casino in the middle of old plant. Bizarre sight for sure. The blast furnaces serve as a backdrop to a music concert stage. The free concerts are nice, who wouldn't want those good paying American jobs back.
Pic #1. Train OIAL is stopped awaiting yard space in the Allentown yard. September 29, 1980.
Pic #2. SD40 6361 leads a train of empties out of Saucon yard as viewed from the Lynn Ave overpass. June 15, 1982.
Pic #3. SD50 6790 is trying to bring a train of ore into Saucon yard. Unfortunately this is as far it got, stalling out here. Note the engineer looking down. A PB&NE switcher set is moving some cars in the background. September 27, 1987.

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Pic #4 & #5. A pair of shiny new GE's move lite through the yard on July 7, 1990.
Pic #6. A Conrail SD40 with two Norfolk Southern units sit at the site of the former Bethlehem passenger station on former Reading tracks. The signal in the distance protects the crossing of the former LV main. The Hill-to-Hill bridge is undergoing a rebuilding. The area just to the left now has a highway ramp leading up to the bridge. That signal post near the units remained until just recently buried in weeds and brush. March 8, 1990.
I have lots more if anyone is interested.

Bob S.

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Great pictures, keep them coming!

Lehigh Heavy Forge and the trans-load facility have generated some 21st century jobs in addition to the Sands Casino.

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Watched many a train from the spot in #1 a few years before Big Blue.

TJY

Thanks for sharing! Would definitely like to see more.

thebluecomet Wrote:
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> Several views of Conrail action around the
> Bethlehem Steel plant in Bethlehem, PA. The plant
> closed in the mid-1990's with a big loss of
> business to Conrail. Surprisingly the immediate
> area has thrived thanks to a casino in the middle
> of old plant. Bizarre sight for sure. The blast
> furnaces serve as a backdrop to a music concert
> stage. The free concerts are nice, who wouldn't
> want those good paying American jobs back.

Perhaps things are different in the Allentown/Bethlehem area, but in the Pittsburgh region which also experienced a huge decline in steel-making, employers have been trouble finding skilled workers for industrial jobs.

https://observer-reporter.com/news/localnews/shortage-of-skilled-workers-a-bane-for-region-s-employers/article_e9eabc69-3168-5d99-ae84-a2fcf70d7baa.html

I'll never forget a lecture by an economics professor that I heard in the 1980s, explaining how and why it was cheaper for CR to rehab the tracks leading into Beth Steel using Japanese rail, despite the fact that Beth Steel made rail in the mill.

At that time, the Japanese were getting their ore and their coal from Australia, making the steel in Japan, and delivering it by water to Philadelphia. But water transport is so cheap that they could pay those bills, and allow the efficiency of their steel mills to create a lower delivered price.

It made quite a stink in the US press at the time, and I don't remember if CR went through with the purchase or whether governmental agencies required them to buy American.

Great shots!!! Thanks for sharing them.