Conrail (CR) 6401 - EMD SD40-2

Lead loco is Conrail SD40 #6269 - EMD, 12/1971 nee-PC 6269 removed from CR roster on 08/94 and became FURX 3031. This is a Conrail conductor Ken Taylor slide.

Pedigree - built by EMD in 8/1977 as CR 6401 - became CSX 8817. No photographer was listed for the photo.

It appears that Conrail SD40-2 #6401 is getting a new paint job. From the scorch marks on the side panels, it makes me think that were was some heat damage along the way. Eventually CR #6401 became CSX 8817. No info was included with this large photo so the date is approximate.

OIEL was usually an early morning job the days it ran, usually past Binghamton between 6 and 8 AM. I was up and out early, catching it rolling past the downtown buildings at Waverly. This train changed crews at Gang Mills, then took the Erie Main Line west at Hornell, serving Olean, Salamanca, and Jamestown. I really should have paid more attention to it on that segment; the problem was, you never knew if a new crew was getting on right away at Gang Mills. Sometimes the train would get there, and sit all day, killing the chase. I did get it a few times, just wish Id done it more.

Taken in what I believe is Rochelle, IL by my father in the late 1980s.

TV 9 rolls past the old NYC signal bridge as it makes its way to Chicago. The ex B&O, now Buffalo & Pittsburgh, bridge is in the distance at left.

SD40-2 6401 adds tractive effort to the rear of the extra 6833 west. SD40's were the most commonly used units in helper service on Washington hill, with occasional stints by SD45's and various 6 axle GE's.

Diesel-electric and straight electric powered freights pass on the Greenville branch at Waverly Yard, as seen from the LV bridge.

The rest of extra 6401 west's power.

Extra 6401 west blasts through Bancroft with a typical, for the time, mixed bag of power.