| ARHS Digital Archive - Home | Photographer: Rich Taylor( more ) |
Equipment Data |
Image Data |
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Lehigh Valley ( more ) |
March 22, 1975 ( more ) |
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ALCO C628 ( more ) |
Lehighton, PA ( more ) |
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LV 629 ( more ) |
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| Lehigh Valley train JB-3 is led by ALCO C628s #629, #634, #632 and #627 at Packerton Yard in Lehighton, PA.
Comments from retired railroader Perry Billington posted with his permission: In the last year of the Lehigh Valley the C628s were banned from the LV - Delaware and Hudson run-through freights account derailments and mechanical problems with the LV units. This resulted in LV using GP9s and GP18s, C420s and DLs for the run-through freights. The U23Bs and GP38s were used on the priority Buffalo trains, Apollo and Mercury. Believe the C628s were not supposed to be used west of Sayre due to track. This left the C628s to east of Sayre. Had 2 of them for pushers at Coxton. By the end of the LV on some days they would run an ASA-1 and ASA-3 from Allentown to Sayre to deliver box cars to P&G Charmin (Pampers) at Mehoopany, Pa. These trains would have three C628s and each train would have 100+ box cars. Now out of the 200+ box cars many would be rejected account not-suitable for loading. Commodity was low rated, suitable to claims. P&G (Charmin) did inquire if they could get (Hi-Cubes) to ship at some point. Conrail did try a contract rate with a guarantee of a set number of cars in the early 1980s that did not work our. Again at certain times this resulted in 2 trains a day to Sayre with 100+ box cars. Was told at the best the LV only had 40% of the business out of Mehoopany (P&G Charmin). Rest was truck. Basically all of this traffic was east of the Mississippi River and subject to divisions. Also P&G Charmin had a plant in Missouri to handle the west and maybe southeast. |
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