Railfanning with the Bednars, Part 9

Railfanning with the Bednars Volume 9 follows the Conrail transition into the years 1980 through 1982 with the Bednar boys. This Volume extends the time period following Volume 8 with increased main line action in the Lehigh Valley and western Pennsylvania areas and the branch and secondary lines through 1981. But by 1982, the country was in the midst of a recession. Freight movement and rail traffic was down across the nation.

While the downturn in traffic included all railroads, it especially affected the Delaware & Hudson. Their short-lived container business traffic to Philadelphia and Oak Island was disappearing and the famous named trains would be combined into single trains to save money. Equipment maintenance was deferred and overall morale was low. The end was near for the D&H and Guilford control was not far off.