"Conrail Quality" adorned pick-up at Erie, PA CP 8

Last evening, 06/29/07, at exactly 2000 hrs my train passed through Erie, PA on the Lakeshore Subdivision. Just after crossing Pittsburg Ave. I noticed a line-up of various vehicles where the "train watchers" congregate. The last in line (most east) was a pick-up truck which, to me, resembeled a New York State Trooper's car in color: a royal or dark blue with gold markings.

At first I thought "What the heck is a NYS Trooper doing here watching trains? ....in a pick-up truck? No way!"

Then I got a clearer view of the markings: "CONRAIL QUALITY" !!! I don't often think much the foamers do is radically cool, but this time I wanted to stop and take a picture of YOU! Hey, I was there once myself, admittedly. Now that I occupy a seat in the cab I haven't forgotten what it was like to be out there and I often give a wave or a smile. Last night all I could do was shout to my conductor (who was running right then) "Look at that! Look! Wow! Cool!"

So, whoever that was, if it was you, or if you know him, please know I'd like to see your truck firsthand and have a few pictures for myself. I am also a truck fan and post on Ford Truck Enthusiasts as MuddyAxles there as well.

Back at ya, railfan!

MuddyAxles (Truckfan too)

I dont know who it was, but I was standing outsied the bullpen, last Sat, or Sunday, in Walbridge, Oh., talking to a buddy, waiting for our ride to our train, and he came down the street in that same Ford Ranger, and honked and waved. Both of us looked at each other and said, "What was that?"

Well, I'm glad it was a Ford....

It was dark enough and I was distracted enough so that I did not notice what kind of truck it was.

Let's find out who this guy is and track where he shows up!

Hi Everyone! Just a word to let you know that the "Conrail Quality" pick-up truck is very sharp. The person who did this, did so. to pay tribute to the railroads that formed Conrail and to pay tribute to those employees past and present. I ran into him one day railfanning and I can tell you from talking to him for a time that he is definitely NOT a foamer. Unfortunately, I did not have any film in my camera as I had been taking pictures for most of the day. Unfortunately, again, I did not get his name or his location either as he left before I had a chance to ask. I must tell you though that if you see it,get a picture, because it's absolutely a work of art. Being new to railfanning it looks like the Dark Future Engine color scheme from CSX. Have a great day! From what I saw on the tailgate, it is called "The Spirit of the Conrail 7"

We had a guy, on Conrail, who was a foamer "extraordinaire", and he painted his little chevy truck, into the SP Daylight colors, complete with Daylight license plates. He couldn't drive it to work. He did once, and the abuse was enough to last forever, I guess. Maybe if it had a pre-ConRail road, it might have faired better........

I'm thinking pictures of this truck should be submitted to some sort of publication for consideration to be published.

There are a bunch of foamers out west who've got vans painted in the BNSF colors. Unreal how far some of these people take it when it comes to loving their railroad. Colin Cowherd honking the Pac 10 and the Lakers in the 04 NBA Finals thinks that is outta control.

lakeshoredave wrote:There are a bunch of foamers out west who've got vans painted in the BNSF colors. Unreal how far some of these people take it when it comes to loving their railroad. Colin Cowherd honking the Pac 10 and the Lakers in the 04 NBA Finals thinks that is outta control.

Well, if you're gonna have a purty truck you gotta paint it like somepin. It's kinda like a dual fanaticism....double edged sword? Me, I have trouble just stayin' ahead o' the rust! Well, I guess my vehicles ARE decorated like a certain eastern road then (no names mentioned).

Betcha don't see anything painted in the crappy colors CSX chooses !
(There's so much they could have done with the blue and gold with some imagination.)

Then again, there's nothing worse than that silly "DIVERSITY" engine we have.

The irony here is that I finally got tired of the rust spots on my Suburban, which was ordered new as a school bus, but is the same shade of yellow a lot of Conrail and Erie Lackawanna (among other) trucks were painted, until that florescent safety yellow became popular. In fact somewhere I have a shot of a nearly identical Suburban hi-railer on Conrail. Even has the same marker lights on the roof.

Anyhow, after I ground the rust off the lower sides and primed it, I used up the leftover can of paint I had in the basement to paint it.

Dark blue.

Now I left the hood, roof, upper fenders and upper right door yellow.. I figured some of the paint on it should match the color on the registration.

So now depending on what kind of fan you are it's either a CSX Dark Future special, a C&O/B&O truck, or a Dale Earnhardt Wrangler tribute.

It's not a Conrail Quality job, either, it's about par for CSX quality - I did it outside with a roller.

I sometimes see a white Kia Sedona (older version) that has the latest Norfolk Southern corporate logo on it and (I think) some number. I am pretty sure that Norfolk Southern did not buy any Kia Sedonas so it is probably a railfan.
07/07/07

Here is the CR Quality pick-up in question. It belongs to a friend of ours who goes by the handle "SpiritOfTheConrail7" who lives in Erie. The truck is marked with a strong dedication and thanks to all the railroad employees who put up with us railfans, and who so graciously put up with company politics to provide our entertainment...

Even though muddyaxles played this truck up in his original post, I still had my doubts. Now that I have seen pics of it, I fell the opposite way and I say give this guy a set of high rail wheels and some track time. I don't know if I would do that to my truck, and a KNOW my wife would have something to say about it if I did, but it looks awesome.

cool truck!

Someone in Rochester, NY has a minivan with the plates "FAN-BNSF"
I just saw it yesterday..

Scot

Sweet Mazda! That shade of yellow on the rear tailgate looks like it came from a NYSDOT truck. I am wondering why is the Q on the door is backwards and what does the front plate read exactly?

uhaul wrote:Sweet Mazda! That shade of yellow on the rear tailgate looks like it came from a NYSDOT truck. I am wondering why is the Q on the door is backwards and what does the front plate read exactly?

Actually, those are dead on CSX DF colors straight from DuPont. I took these for him in the morning, so the sun was really strong and makes the gold look lighter. The Q is reverse on the drivers door, because as with any logoed locomotive, it is a perfect mirror of the passenger side. The front plate is just a CSX Transportation/Conrail decorative cover.

By the way...in case nobody deciphered it yet, ROV411976 stands for Railfan Observation Vehicle (a take off of Ultimate Railfan Vehicle) and the date of Conrail's creation.