Nostalgia & History > Summer Day at Summerhill, PA

Summerhill, PA on the west slope between Cresson and Johnstown.  

1.  Former Erie-Lackawanna SD-45-2's worked as pushers for many years over this hill.  Here are two helping a westbound down grade, June 22, 1985.

2.  A short time later, another train also heads west.  My trusty '83 Chevy S-10 pickup over on the right.  Great truck, wish they still made them.

3.  Going away shot.  All June 22, 1985.

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4.  Also near Summerhill, PA.  Same date.  GP-40-2 3298 leads Mail-3 west.

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Nice remembrances of Conrail, thanks.
TC

Thanks for the great Conrail shots.  The abutment that appears in the first photo is the remnant of one of PRR's "flying junctions".  This one was built so that westbound trains of empty hoppers could get into the yard at South Fork without having to cross over the eastbound main tracks.  There was a through truss bridge over the main tracks, with ramps on each side descending to the level of the main lines.  This bit of infrastucture helped keep the PRR main line fluid in the era when there were more than 30 passenger trains a day and when freight trains were much more numerous than today.  With the reduction of passenger service and fewer and longer freight trains, PRR just did not need this extra bit of trackage, and the bridge was taken out sometime in the mid-1960's.  Looks like these photos were taken from the abutment on the south side of the main tracks.  

Steve Salamon
Valley City