Conrail Volume 2: 1983-1990

After several years as a recipient of federal subsidies, Conrail began to ake a profit in the early 1980's. Although the giant government-owned railroad was earning money for the treasury, the Reagan administration nevertheless was anxious to sell Conrail-- whole, or piecemeal. This book follows the efforts of CR executives and employees in their fight against the government's attempt to sell the railroad to Norfolk Southern, and continues through the 1987 stock sale that made Conrail a publicly-held corporation. This was a period of simultaneous expansion and rationalization. Conrail was the nation's largest intermodal rail carrier, and this business continued to grow. At the same time, the railroad was abandoning and selling off marginal main and branch lines. Employment continued to drop, as unions agreed to perform their duties with smaller crews. Under the capable leadership of chairman L. Stanley Crane, Conrail kept afloat during the severe recession of the early Eighties. The railroad's initial fleet of elderly locomotives was upgraded with modern diesels from General Electric and Electro-Motive. New technology, in the form of platform cars carrying doublestacked containers increased Conrail's intermodal traffic, and the company became the eastern link for several coast-to-coast "land bridge" stackpack container routes. New routings with southern and western connections resulted in locomotive runthrough agreements, adding color to Conrail's bright blue power consists. CONRAIL Vol 2: 1983-1990 shows today's Conrail. Many of America's and Canada's leading rail photographers have contributed their work to this volume, resulting in an outstanding array of brilliant color pictures which illustrate Conrail from east to west and north to south. You will witness the drama of 70 mph piggyback trains behind high-horsepower diesels on perfectly-maintained main lines. You will be trackside to see the rural charm of Conrail's scenic, yet profitable, branches.