Eastern Railroad Discussion > A Rare Sight?

I caught this SD50 leading an eastbound into Conway, Pennsylvania awhile back. I've been told that this is a priceless photo. I didn't realize it at the time, but it's kinda a NS/CR hybrid in the middle of being tagged for NS, and renumbered. I've also been told that some of these units never got "Conrail" on the nose, true? Thanks

CSXDash9

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I don't know about being rare, but you will find that this locomotive is an SD60.

Bill Morrison
MorrisonRailfan@aol.com

That is in fact an SD50. They were 6700-6834.
-Alex

That unit in the photo is still true Conrail and not renumbered. it is easy to tell by the number boards and the numbers on the cab sides (not to mention that its not numbered in the 5400 series with other NS ex CR SD50's). From the looks of it, it appears that this unit must have been involved in a grade crossing accident or something as there is fresh looking paint on the pilot and plow in addition to the front of the nose. I wouldn't consider this rare as the only thing its missing is Conrail on the nose, the rest is pure Conrail.

Bryan

I can't explain the lack of "Conrail" on the nose, but this engine is indeed an SD50, and at one time it would have had "Conrail" on the nose. Like Alex said, it could have lost it due to a grade crossing mishap and a quick patch-up paint job. Who knows.

Some SD50s received the "Conrail Quality" scheme, but many did not.

I have a photo of the former Conrail SD50 6829 [now NS PRR 5473] from January 10, 1999 leading ALCA through Easton, Pa., with the Conrail logo missing from it's nose. Never knew if it was true or not but conductor said at the time that the nose was damaged because of collision and "Conrail Quality" didn't get on because it was outshopped as so as it was OK'd.

Confirming what others have said, this unit ran around for quite a while prior to the merger with a blank nose, apparently after some form of repair. I saw the 6829 in Toledo at least twice in 1998-1999 and seem to recall having seen it again post-renumbering -- though I couldn't tell you what its NS number is. I considered the 6829 to be an unintentional "merger preview" unit and submitted one of my photos to one of the rail magazines but it wasn't used.

I have since seen a few post-merger CR units on CSX upon which the "CONRAIL" on the nose was modified with blue spray paint; on one, it was painted out entirely, while on another someone only painted out the "RAIL" portion, leaving "CON".

Conrail's SD60's were numbered 6840-6867, with the 6840-6842 being former EMD demonstrators and the rest being delivered in 1988.

Redneckrailfan mentioned that other than the nose it is pure Conrail. Would you still call it pure Conrail if it has an NS sticker under the cab window?? Check again, it's kinda small, but it's there, I neglected to mention it earlier.

CSXDash9

Toward the end of Conrail and even after the official split, they frequently made only the bare minimum of repairs necessary after an "incident", just enough to get the unit back on the road. Any blue unit that did not have to be repainted was given a coat of blue on the affected area, if only to protect the metal from rust. I saw the previous unit at Morrisville in 1999 and this one at Port Richmond on December 12, 2000.

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