Teach me about the D&H in the 80s

[645diesel]

the 2922 is a former Conrail (nee PC) U33B that was picked up by Guilford in 1984.  at the time Guilford was buying anything that was cheap and running and that accounts for their very interesting power lineup thru 1988

[Tristan Ashcroft]

Okay, so I got an old photo album from my parents' house.  It has some faded old prints from a cheap camera.  We're at the north end of Conklin Yard (south Binghamton - old DL&W) in winter (circa Jan/Feb/Mar) 1985.  Three trains, in order: 

- A southbound general freight, almost entirely 50 ft boxcars, including a circle logo (no idea what it's actually called) smoothside Mopac car and a Santa Fe car with a really big logo.  Motive power: three units: The leader is a barely patched ex-LV 4 axle Alco # 414 - Cornel red, big white nose stripes, flag on the side of the nose, the second unit is a 4-axle Alco in full D&H lightning stripe paint.  3rd unit is a 4-axle U-boat in full D&H lightning stripe paint.

- A southbound, a short general freight - a 40/40 mix of tank cars and boxcars with a few "others" (a local?) led by a single D&H 4-axle Alco in full lightning stripe paint.  #5016? (I'm not sure about the 5)  One freight car was a full blue Boston & Maine 50 ft ribside boxcar (the door isn't visible).

- A northbound general freight, first car out: SOU single door smoothside 50' boxcar.  Motive power: three units: the leader is a full Guilford repaint MEC U-boat 225.  Second unit is a black EMD unit (maybe 4-axle?) with dynamic brakes and no discernible markings, and I can't make out the number (Did Guilford have ex-N&W SD35's?).  3rd unit is a 4-axle EMD With no dynamic brakes and a paper air filter in full Boston & Maine blue, I think number 205.

And that's what I got.  The next picture in the album is summer, of a Nickel Plate Berkshire under steam in Corning, New York.

[EL3632]

We're at the north end of Conklin Yard (south Binghamton - old DL&W) in winter (circa Jan/Feb/Mar) 1985.   

- The leader is a barely patched ex-LV 4 axle Alco # 414 - Cornel red, big white nose stripes, flag on the side of the nose, the second unit is a 4-axle Alco in full D&H lightning stripe paint.  3rd unit is a 4-axle U-boat in full D&H lightning stripe paint.

- A  single D&H 4-axle Alco in full lightning stripe paint.  #5016? (I'm not sure about the 5)

Since I model pre-Guilford, I cannot help with the last train, but I can shed some light on these two:

Second first, as it is easier, 5016 is an RS36, looking at pictures, it got repainted to large logo lightning stripe (from small logo lightning stripe-the pre-CR scheme) by 1983. There was not a D&H loco with 6xxx as the number series at this time, or ever (maybe in steam days, but that is irrelevant to this post). Unfortunately the RS36 is an unlikely candidate for RTR in N (though I would personally love that), the Briggs Models kits seem pretty good.

For the first train, ex-Lehigh Valley C420 414 (and 409) never got repainted into D&H colors, staying Cornell Red its entire time on the D&H, leading into 1987 when it was acquired by the Anthracite Railroad Historical Society. 409 is more recognizable, and why it was mentioned. Unfortunately, Atlas has not released either 414 or 409 in Cornell Red (but both in Yellowjacket) for the easy patchout. The second unit is likely a C420, an RS11, or an RS36. Both had numerous examples of their class in both small and large logo lightning stripe. C420 has had both schemes released in N, and the RS11 has only had small logo lightning stripe released in N. The U boat is a U23B, the only 4 axle U boats D&H rostered (also rostered U33Cs at this time). Only 2304 & 2307 received large logo lightning stripe, others had blue dip or the original small logo lightning stripe, along with the one-off, "Gray Ghost" unit 2311. Blue dip is forthcoming in the lastest Atlas release, and both Small and Large Logo Lightning Stripe have been released by Atlas already in N Scale. The Gray Ghost was also made in N, but good luck finding it (I speak from experience on that front...).

[sirenwerks]

i believe the Columbia referenced is Columbia PA on the Port Road.

as for why MARC did not build to Columbia/Guilford... why have a 3 mile spur that would require a massive headache in operations and dealing with the auto ramp lead track at Jessup yard?   far easier to build the station at Savage (named to prevent confusion thinking a connection to Annapolis possible) right off MD 32.  if you are coming from anywhere in Howard County, what is 4 more miles to Dorsey Run Road?

Duh to me on the PA reference for Columbia.  As for 4 more miles to Dorsey Road, I haven't lived in Maryland in 5 years, but last time I travelled that route, it equated to about an hour, stuck in traffic.  That hour, psychologically, is a killer to commuting, and no MARC in Columbia keeps not only 32 busy in both directions, but keeps 29 and all of its PG County arteries choked.  Columbia (all of HoCo) needs to be weened from the automobile.  Most houses there, before I left had cars spilling out of their garages and car dealerships and auto mechanic shops choke the area.  I remember moving to Columbia when I was nine (46 years ago) and thinking how fantastic the bike trails were, I could traverse the entire city, mostly under tree cover.  That gets lost somewhere along the way in Columbia's consumerist culture...