Lehighton:
Will have to dig through my slide files, but I believe that the eastbound side of Manchester yard was pretty much gone by late 1977 (the westbound side was torn out by the LVRR in the early 1970s if recall is correct). ConRail did operate, as you suspect, about 1x/wk through Manchester at the time the photo was taken. The boxcars were the property of a local grain/coal dealer, having been purchased by that concern from the Lehigh Valley Railroad mainly for grain storage. Will have to agree that the cars would no doubt have had some difficulty passing a initial terminal air brake test.
Will have to dig through my slide files, but I believe that the eastbound side of Manchester yard was pretty much gone by late 1977 (the westbound side was torn out by the LVRR in the early 1970s if recall is correct). ConRail did operate, as you suspect, about 1x/wk through Manchester at the time the photo was taken. The boxcars were the property of a local grain/coal dealer, having been purchased by that concern from the Lehigh Valley Railroad mainly for grain storage. Will have to agree that the cars would no doubt have had some difficulty passing a initial terminal air brake test.
You can't go home again- Thomas Wolfe