Books about events leading up to and during the Conrail era

I have read a couple of books on the history leading up to Conrail in 1976, and now want to continue the story into Conrail.

What are some good books about the Conrail Era?

Thanks

The Men Who Loved Trains by Rush Loving

Its about the railroad and an inside look at the men who ran it. Theres a little about the predecessor roads and creation, right up to the bidding war and split up by NS and CSX. Great book, and received excellent reviews and mentions by many publications, including Trains magazine...

Two of my favorites are;

Conrail - Brian Solomon
Conrail Commodities - Jeremy Taylor

You'll learn the most about trains and operations from Conrail Commodities. the Conrail book by Solomon and Doherty is also a good one. There are also several books on Conrail equipment:

"CONRAIL Color Guide to Freight and Passenger Equipment Volume 1"
by Larry DeYoung

http://www.morningsunbooks.com/northeastcat4.html

"Conrail Volume 2: 1983-1990"
by Scott Hartley ISBN-10: 096215413X

"Conrail, the final years, 1992-1997"
by Paul K Withers ISBN-10: 188141115X

"Conrail motive power, 1986-1991"
by Paul K Withers ISBN-10: 0961850396

"The Railroad Mergers and the Coming of ConRail"
by Richard Saunders ISBN-10: 0313200491


Hope this helps.

-otto-

I just finished reading "The Railroad Mergers and the Coming of ConRail", that is why I looking for the next book in time. I also read "Erie Lackawanna Death of an America Railroad". Both good books, and very informative.

I never realized how bad the Penn Central Merger was screwed up, and the damage it did to railroading in the Northeast!

Thanks for the info I will start with some of these.

Ricebrianrice wrote:

I never realized how bad the Penn Central Merger was screwed up, and the damage it did to railroading in the Northeast!

Northeast railroading was screwed up long before the Penn Central merger. You had too many duplicate lines serving too many of the same geographic areas. Couple that with archaic work rules, a federal government not willing to change regulatory rates and procedures, and the massive growth (and federal subsidization of) the Interstate Highway System and it's little wonder that the railroads in the northeast started falling apart.

The Penn Central merger, like most mergers, sounded like a good idea in theory. In reality there were many Us vs. Them issues within the new company that inhibited a true merger. And of course nothing had changed with the unions or the feds so any advantages that might have been gained from a merger wouldn't have been realized anyway.

I always wondered if the climate of the late 60's-early 70's was more receptive to a Penn Central merger what today's railroad map might look like. For sure I think we would have lost some of the same railroads we did when PC fell, like the L&HR, CNJ, and LV but I think that a downsized EL might just have made it. Who knows.......but it is fun to think about.

If you want even more background, read:

"Wreck of the Penn Central"
by Joseph R. Daughen, Peter Binzen
ISBN: 1893122085

also get a copy of the January 1981 Trains, there's an excellent story called "Conrail From The Inside Out" by Fred Frailey.

some others you might be interested in:

http://index.mrmag.com/tm.exe?opt=G&cmd ... t=3&sort=A

-otto-

Since I was not receiving Trains in 1981, how does one " get a copy"?

Here's a link to purchase back issues from Trains:

http://kalmbachcatalog.stores.yahoo.net ... -1989.html

Unfortunately, part 2 of the article was in the February 1981 issue of Trains, which appears to be sold out at Kalmbach. Keep your eye out at train shows (that's where I find most of mine).

-otto-

Just finished reading, The Men Who Loved Trains by Rush Loving

Great Book, thanks for the recommendation.

It was defintely a good read for me too. Sometimes its easy to lose touch with the fact that railroading is really a business with humans behind it...

Another good book is the Conrail one from the Railroad Color History Series from Motorbooks written by Doherty and Solomon.
Its a nice coffee table style book loaded with lots a good photos and text from across the system with predecessor to modern day stuff...

Otto Vondrak wrote:You'll learn the most about trains and operations from Conrail Commodities. the Conrail book by Solomon and Doherty is also a good one. There are also several books on Conrail equipment:

"CONRAIL Color Guide to Freight and Passenger Equipment Volume 1"
by Larry DeYoung

http://www.morningsunbooks.com/northeastcat4.html

"Conrail Volume 2: 1983-1990"
by Scott Hartley ISBN-10: 096215413X

"Conrail, the final years, 1992-1997"
by Paul K Withers ISBN-10: 188141115X

"Conrail motive power, 1986-1991"
by Paul K Withers ISBN-10: 0961850396

"The Railroad Mergers and the Coming of ConRail"
by Richard Saunders ISBN-10: 0313200491


Hope this helps.

-otto-

"Conrail Motive Power Review Vol 1" The First 10 Years 1976-1986
by Gordon Loyd, Jr. and Louis A. Marre
ISBN0-916374-998 (softbound)
ISBN 0-916374-98-X (Hardbound)

dose anyone know where I can locate the 2ed volume to this book above?