Nostalgia & History > Calif. boys go East, 1986 Part 16: Conrail C39-8 Encounters

The next day after our visit to Sand Patch, October 27, began at Cresson PA, where we were thrilled to see a westbound coal train with 6665-6000-6013.  Dash8s were a novelty in 1986, so we were very happy to get two of them on a train, even if the lead engine was an SD45-2.   - Eric Blasko

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The SD45-2s were a treat as well, so we were pleased to get this pair 6661-6666 moving around.
 

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Soon after arriving at Horseshoe Curve, Brad and I got an eastbound led by 6655-6657-6018-6481.  This was a massive 17,000-ton UBTE-588, hence the brakeshoe smoke. I blew the shots of the head end; here are a couple photos of the rear helper 6292-6664. A chase east was in order, not only because I didn’t get a good photo of the head end, but also because I knew the head end helpers 6655-6657 would come off at Altoona, leaving C39-8 6018 on the point!
 

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At this point, Brad had to head west to home in Akron OH. I went east of Altoona to wait for the 6018 East.  At Tyrone, I got this nice westbound with 6643-6640. (We had seen 6643 before on this trip, 15 days earlier on Oct. 12 at Starrucca Viaduct and Narrowsburg – see the first post of this series, posted Sep.6 2020).  The 6018 East didn’t show at Tyrone, so I headed back towards Altoona, and found him sitting in the siding at Bellwood PA.  The shiny C39-8 looked glorious. The crew was friendly and invited me up in the cab for a look.  While in the cab, the 6009 came west with an ore train!  A westbound chase was in order, and I bagged the 6009 again before its arrival in Altoona. Of course, I had to go back to Horseshoe Curve to get this train again (albeit with two SDs added on the point as helpers).  This will be featured in my next post.  - Eric B.
 

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A couple more. - E. B.

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Fantastic shots, well done!

Thanks for the great look-back.  The 4th view looking west toward MO and the jumpover is great
for the history it shows. 

Really nice!  I still say that Conrail blue, while a very basic paint scheme, was one of the best for photography.  Also, the fall colors around Horseshoe really looked good.

Bob

Thanks for posting - my favorite era for Conrail.

The EL SD45-2's were always favorites.  On Thanksgiving day 1985, a carload of fans and I followed the line from Pittsburgh to East Altoona.  As I remeber, we saw 11 of the 13 SD45-2's on that trip.  Great times!

Nice to Cresson in better times. Those C39-8 had a certain brute ambiance to them. Came and went quickly. Thanks for sharing these.