Chasing Conrail Engines in 2023

Hello again everyone! In today's video we'll be looking at a local job on the Ohio Central System utilizing a pair of ex-Conrail "Super 7" locomotives, still sporting the colors of the "Big Blue". These engines started their life as U23Bs built in 1972 for the Western Pacific Railroad, but were rebuilt as B23-7Rs for the Monongahela Railway in the late 1980s. Already controlled by Conrail, the coal-hauling shortline was completely absorbed into Big Blue in 1993, and its engines were subsequently repainted in the "Conrail Quality" paint scheme seen on later Conrail units. When Norfolk Southern and CSX jointly acquired and split up Conrail in 1999, units 2034 and 2035 went to Norfolk Southern and were renumbered as 4095 and 4096. In the mid-2000s these units along with a handful of other "Super 7" rebuilds were acquired by the Ohio Central System, a series of primarily ex-PRR lines acquired from Conrail in the late 1980s. Ohio Central was taken over by Genesee & Wyoming in 2008 and many of the railroad's units have been repainted in the standard orange, black, and yellow GWI paint scheme, but a few units retain their pre-GWI colors and 4095/4096 are among those still wearing Conrail paint. While most of the white lettering has been patched over by Ohio Central, the right side of 4096 still has its "Conrail Quality" logo visible and the lettering/logos on the other sides of each unit are starting to fade through the patched paint. Shot from the right angles, you could easily fool someone into thinking it's the early 2000s again with the patched NS numbers.

This day's train is the ZVL Zanesville-Cambridge turn, which travels between the two towns on the Cambridge Subdivision of B&O heritage, and switches a handful of industries along the way. Super 7s have been a staple on this job for years, but their time on the Ohio Central System will come to an end soon due to a settlement made between Genesee & Wyoming and the Environmental Protection Agency. GWI has agreed to retire 88 of its oldest locomotives across the dozens of shortlines and regional roads they operate in order to comply with EPA standards regarding locomotive emissions. This includes the majority of the Super 7s still used on the Ohio Central System, and it's anticipated that the remaining units won't be retained for much longer. Railfans have been flocking to the Ohio Central ever since the news became public to get a look at these old General Electric engines, which within the next year or two will become a thing of the past. I hope you guys enjoy this chase of some of the last remaining "Big Blue" power still in use, and be sure to be safe when out railfanning.

Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
00:15 Switching Zanesville Yard
05:20 Departing Zanesville
09:22 Switching AMG Vanadium
16:28 Sonora, OH
18:00 Arch Hill Road
20:33 New Concord, OH
21:53 Cambridge Tunnel
24:00 Cambridge Depot
26:40 Byesville, OH
28:49 Shoving to Graham Packaging
31:37 Returning from Graham Packaging
35:10 Departing Byesville
36:29 Larrick Road
37:50 Returning from Cambridge light power
39:45 Sonora, OH
41:12 Returning into Zanesville
42:30 Outro