# Any Conrail Modelers here?



## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

I was a teenage railfan..
started taking train photos at age 14..

Mid 1980's in Waverly, NY and Sayre, PA (they are the same place)

Back then we had two rail lines through "the Valley"..the former Lehigh Valley mainline and the former Erie Lackawanna mainline,
both were Conrail by 1984 when I started taking rail pics..

I took a TON of photos as that teenage railfan!

The classic locomotive of my era was the Conrail SD40-2..
perhaps my favorite locomotive! 
(well..maybe 2nd favorite after the LV Alco PA's)

I must model a pair of them in 1/29 scale!
USA trains makes a very nice SD40-2..but they only offer it in the later "quality" scheme..which im not interested in.
http://www.usatrains.com/r22305.html
by the time the "quality" scheme came out, it was the mid-1990's and I wasnt paying attention much anymore..

So I will have to paint and decal my own Conrail engines..to get the classic scheme.










Anyone here ever paint a Conrail loco?
is there a good blue match in perhaps something like Krylon spraypaint?
(I know there is CR blue in things like Floquil and scalecoat bottles..but I dont have an airbrush yet..)

Its hard to believe all those SD40-2's are starting to disappear.. /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/sad.gif
most of the Class-1 railroads have begun retiring them in large numbers..
I still see them fairly often rolling through Rochester on CSX..but they are noticably decreasing in numbers..

After I paint a set of CR SD40-2's, I also plan to someday kitbash some Conrail SD50's..the first locos I ever saw new..
and gotta love those C30-7's..the last of the big U-boats:










thats another future project..(yes I know technically they arent U-boats! 
and the C32-8 of course..

its now 25 years since I started taking those Conrail pics..
im starting to feel nostaligic for the trains of my youth! 
I miss Conrail..

Scot


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## pinewoods (Jan 20, 2009)

Before I made the switch to LS I was an HO Conrail modeler and spent most of my time around Enola and Rutherford. The GEs were always my favorites and I still consider myself a CR fan. 
I used Floquil CR blue on all of my models. I tried Scalecoat on one but it just did not look right. In outdoor natural light I think the real blue always looked a bit more pale than either the Floquil or the Scalecoat. I usully lightened it a bit with some white. In the 80's the accumulation of grunge provided lots of variation in hue. Top of my list was the 'rust' colored stuff that accumulated on many of the horizontal surfaces of the locomotives. 

Tom


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## Dennis Paulson (Jan 2, 2008)

I became a Big Blue fan , AFTER, Conrail was divided up ........................but I still like it a lot . 
Between Aristo and USA , I have 7 Conrail locos . 
The USA Trains Conrail GP-30 , is a well done one , paint scheme , and numbers correct . 
Thank goodness for the couple of Conrail photograph web sites which have so much info .


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## Engineercub (Oct 18, 2008)

GUILTY!!!! I grew up in Reading PA in the Conrail era and will soon be a member of the CRHS. I own USA Trains' GP9, GP38-2, SD40-2, and SD70MAC, all in Conrail. GP30 and alternate road numbers of the aforementioned locomotives are highly desired future purchases. I am also in search of USA's NW-2 cow and calf set, new if possible, but I am not having luck with that thus far. If anyone can help me with that I'd be ever greatful. In N-scale I have over 30 Conrail locomotives including 3 brass Overland Models SD80MACs which are just amazing to behold ^^ . I'll be purchasing any and all Conrail rolling stock and Engines in G-scale as money allows to have a home on my layout. I'll be modeling much more than just Conrail on my layout, but the main focus will no doubt be Conrail. My layout's tentative name is "TheConrailResurrectionProject". 
I honestly thought I was the only Conrail fan here, I'm glad to see that there are others! Thanks for making this thread Scotty, and Dennis I really like the weathering job on your engines, very subtle, looks great! I also have lots and lots of Conrail photos from my pilgrimage to Horeshoe Curve just before the split. I was in search of the elusive 80MAC but didn't find it. It was still a great trip and I loved seeing GG-1 in person. It's great meeting other Conrail fans *JOY*! 

-Will


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## NTCGRR (Jan 2, 2008)

WOOW Dennis is alive, have not seen a post from you for awhile. 
hope all is well.


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## DTI356 (Jan 3, 2008)

Guys,

I suppose since I made this I qualify as a Conrail modeler












It's one of Burl's resin kits with my own decals printed by Stan C.

Although I model the DT&I ....I too miss the old Blue....then again I miss PC as well....actually I miss a lot of the good old days of railroading (first and second generation diesels and a caboose to mark the end of the train)

Brian Briggs


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

Having lived, born and raised in the land of Penn Central/ConRail, I really did not become nostalgic for these roads until their departure. 

A quick look at my HO collection and stacks of books and magazines (including a 95% complete set of PC Railroader and Rails Northeast) will show this is true.


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

....and I have a soft spot for "broken arrow" AmTrak too. 

I had a neighbor that was an engineer for them until his retirement on the National Limited on the Columbus/Indy leg. SDP40Fs with steam heat cars. All of it, loco, cars, train, and even the line are now gone along with the neighbor. 

My dad did get a cab ride from him and has some of this on 8mm movie from around '76, including a "pusher" move on the back of a CR freight....


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

Nice models guys! 
thanks for the photos and comments.. 

I will post a few more of my 1980's Conrail pics tomorrow.. 

Here is an old dinosaur I came across a few years ago.. 
probably the last time I will ever see one: 

http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=31824&start=0 

I photographed her when she was new in the late 80's.. 
then got to see her again 20 years later.. 

Scot


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## wchasr (Jan 2, 2008)

Scot,
I too grew up watching Big BLue rolling thru my town. now that even NS is gone I see some pretty wild consists rolling thru town on a track that was totally defunct for 40 years and the secondary that Conrail ran on thru my life is now all but idle. Still the local Yards host some pretty wild pieces of Equipment including some Alco's and a lot of leased equipment lately. Even a passenger train that's been parked here all winter.

Chas


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## Dennis Paulson (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks Marty , I visit here daily ,, just takes something like this Conrail postings to pull me in . Great photos and info guys . 
And oh yes Marty , my OLD model buddys in HO , have brought me around again to operating sessions and etc , so now here, beside this puter I also have a 8 inches by 8 foot , HO inglenook switchiing layout . 
There is just way to many beautiful models available in all scales now , I expect I will have a sound equiped HO diesel within a month or so . 
So many trains , so little money .


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## markoles (Jan 2, 2008)

Scot,

Now that he's riving a big rig all over the country, my friend Russ Swinnerton probably won't see this and reply. However, he is a big Conrail guy. He has modified a stock E8 to resemble a Conrail OCS E8, not sure exactly which road#, but might have been 4020. Anyway, I think he posted pictures last summer of his efforts. I did see his GP-30 and GP-38, and the two blues are not the same. The GP-30 paint looks a lot better to me. Never really was much of a Conrail fan, but growing up along a commuter branch line, there wasn't much freight anyway. Mostly FL9s in CDOT and a revised McGinnis (New Haven) scheme..

Mark


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

ok! a whole bunch of Conrail pics! 
just because..

In 1984 there was still a lot of "predecessor" power around..although not much left still in predecessor paint..
I saw several units still in PC black, and one Reading unit, but I never saw any units in LV or EL paint though..

An ex-Reading GP30..the GP30's and GP35's were near the end of their careers, but still around. 










a Lehigh Valley U23B! repainted however. 










Another ex-Reading unit, a GP35..also quite rare by this time. 




























An SD40! (not a dash-2!) 










Cabooses were still in general use until around 1984-85, when they began to be phased out.. 










First generation GP's..still in service. Conrail rebuilt many of these in the late 70's. 



















While a lot of the older power was still around, the Mid-80's also saw an increase
in brand-new modern power! Including SD50's, C30-7A's, C32-8's and C39-8's, among others. 




































In 1986 a string of 13 former Erie Lackawanna SDP45's arrived in Sayre, for storage.
I never saw any SD45's or SDP45's in service on Conrail, but these rare SD's spent
about a year in Sayre. (several still exist today!)
http://gold.mylargescale.com/Scottychaos/Erie-Lackawanna-Survivors/





























The big C30-7A's were fairly common around Waverly/Sayre.











the SD50's were the first units I ever saw brand new..still among my favorites.
I would like to model a set of them in 1/29 scale. 



















the C32-8's were rare beasts..only 10 total ever built, all owned by Conrail.
They had the distinctive "hump-back" look, shared with the C39-8, which IMO
made for a very interesting look. The later spartan cab C40-8's had a raised cab, eliminating the "hump",
making a much more boring unit IMO.. 



















The more common C39-8, sharing the same "hump-back" look with the C32-8. 









and thats the end of my mid-80's Conrail tour..
I graduated from highschool in 1987 and headed off to College..(New Paltz, NY)
I then dropped out of active railfanning for about 10 years..
by the time I picked up my camera again it was the late 90's and Conrail was almost gone..
the era of widecabs had arrived, and soon Conrail was gone.. /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/sad.gif

I ran into an old friend, who I hadnt seen for 20 years, in 2006..
one of those "hump back" C39-8's! working her last few days in Class-1 service:










(more pics here: http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=31824&start=0)

Its now Spring 2009, Conrail has been gone 10 years already! 
and spotting units still in CR blue is getting harder every day..
get out and get them while you still can!

Scot


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## Dennis Paulson (Jan 2, 2008)

THANK YOU Scott , for all of those wonderful photos , really great photos you have taken .


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## Engineercub (Oct 18, 2008)

Update: I now have USA Trains GP30 and NW-2 cow and soon U25B's (Thanks Dennis) , just lack calf, 20-tonner, and 40-tonner. The 20 and 40-tonners are both going to be fairly tough to get. I'll try my best though. 

-Will


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