Railfanning with the Bednars, Volume 18

In Railfanning with the Bednars, Volume 18, we continue the Conrail and D&H action from the Bednar video tape collection between October 1988 and April of 1989.

At this time, Conrail’s traffic in and around Allentown was entering its peak, with trains in and out of Allentown virtually back-to-back. CP Burn was a continuous parade of trains. The train volume was fast becoming an issue for drivers. Vehicle traffic would be backed up on a daily basis all the way to South Mountain due to the sheer amount of rail activity. Funding was sought and granted to build a bypass via grade separation, but it would be another 2 to 3 years before construction would begin.

After the bankruptcy of the D&H on June 20th, 1988, the Susquehanna became the designated operator on June 23rd. We were now 4 months into the new operations and the Suzy Q doing their best to keep trains rolling. They were securing power from anywhere they could to keep the freight moving, including leases and purchases.

Narrated with commentary by Mike Bednar