How did Baldwins fare on the Penn Central?

Were there many Baldwins in service on Penn Central? How long did they last? Any make it to Conrail? I always thought Baldwins were neat engines, yet they couldnt make a dent in the diesel market like EMD and Alco...

-otto-

Here is a list of Baldwins in service as of 3-1-1974:S10, 8 units;DRS44-1000, 4 nits;RS12,1unit;S12, 23units;DS44-660, 7units. This is from the book "Penn Central Diesel Spotter's Guide" Joe G.

Thanks for the info...

Sounds like most of these units came from the PRR side...

-otto-

The main Baldwin base of operation was the PT Philadelphia Terminal and PCA Philadelphia Commuter Area. IIRC they were maintained at Frankford Junction engine house or Pavonia E.H. over in Camden N.J. Most of the Philly local switchers in the 70-74 PC era were Baldwins. The four stack versions were neat to watch on a cold morning you could see the pulses puffing out in firing order sequence. I saw one over in Weehawken, N.J. at the engine house one afternoon in 1974 however it was shutdown. They were excellent luggers hence top flight drill engines.

I think PC or Conrail rebuilt some S-12's and recalled them SW1200RS locomotives. Don't recall the numbers will post them when I find them. These little switchers came from a Line in eather the Buffalo or PA area as well.

This is what I got from Conrail Motive Power Review Vol:1 by Gordon Lioyd, Jr. and Louis A. Marre.

All Baldwin Locomotives were off the rostor befor 1983. These are the Penn Central and Conrail numbers in which these units were assigned.

8308-8334 S-12 Penn Central (2 Units)
8343-8352 S-12M Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines (10 Units)
8354 DS-4-4-1000 Ironton Railroad (1 Unit)
8397-8399 AS-16 Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines (3 Units)
9301-9314 SW1200M (Rebuilt VO1000's) Reading Lines (14 units)

I can recall Baldwin S-12 switchers at Bayview Yard in Baltimore. They were replaced by Alco RS-11's circa 1968.

check it out, a Baldwin in CR Blue!
and lots of excellent Conrail Baldwin info..
(and there isnt much "conrail Baldwin info" to begin with!


http://yardlimit.railfan.net/baldwindiesels/conrail/

Thanks for the plug, Scot!
SMS #302, which still operates today, was the PRR 9069, PC 8019, 8281.
It then went to New Hope & Ivyland, Tyburn RR, and then SMS .

At the time of PC takeover, were there any of the RF-16, DR-6, DR-4 or DR-12s left?

Of the units that survived into CR, only the 8308 was an ex-NYC unit!
The rest were PRR, and the PRSL units, plus the one Ironton unit.
Most were on the Pavonia deadline (Camden), but PRSL 6017 went to Harrisburg and was retired there. The Ironton unit was based out of Beth. engine term.

CarterB wrote:At the time of PC takeover, were there any of the RF-16, DR-6, DR-4 or DR-12s left?

All of these units were long gone befor 1976.

I bet even fewer (if any) Fairbanks-Morse units made it to PC.

calorosome wrote:I bet even fewer (if any) Fairbanks-Morse units made it to PC.

There were some Fairbanks Mess units that actually made it to Penn
Central and they ran for a while when they ran. Most if not all of the FM
units were shipped to the Chicago area in 1968 and 1969.
There were some NHRR units that ended up in NH paint but in Chicago as
well as the other stuff.
I for one and probably most everybody else was not sorry to see these
things shipped as far from the north east as possible.
Noel Weaver

I rember seeing a photo of an FM H-12-44 in PC Paint it had been convereted over to a water tender for a steam crane? The whole unit was welded shut along with all the windows plated over the cab remained intact and in place as well and the whole shell was filled with water. rubber hoses from the cab roof lead to the craines steam engion.