Bye Bye, Big Blue - 3 Trains, 1 Curve

After learning the date of the Conrail breakup between Norfolk Southern and CSX, I vowed to be trackside on Conrail's last day to mark the occasion. So here we are at Horseshoe Curve on May 31, 1999, to pay our respects. CR would live on as the terminal road in the Shared Assets areas, but it would never be the same.

And talk about going out with a bang - as if they had planned a finale, the first action I saw that day was 3 trains on the curve simultaneously! A patched C36-7 leads an SD70 and an unpatched SD40-2 west with general merchandise, joined shortly after by two SD40-2s on an eastbound TV train - maybe the old SDs had a last wish to lead a hot train again? To complete the scene, an SD50/SD60I pair lead another eastbound TV between the first two trains. I could have filmed nothing else at The Curve that day and I still would have been happy.