List of railroads transferred to Conrail
Encyclopedia
The Consolidated Rail Corporation
(Conrail) was formed on April 1, 1976 not by a standard merger, but as a new government corporation that took over only designated lines and other rail-related assets from the existing bankrupt companies. Seven major companies were included:
So were most railroads that had been leased or controlled by them, sometimes jointly.
Conrail maintained existing leases of the small Amsterdam, Chuctanunda and Northern Railroad (PC-NYC) and Central Railroad of Indianapolis
(PC-NYC), as well as the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad (LV), owned by the non-railroad Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company
. In addition, Conrail acquired long-term leases on several Canadian properties (all PC-NYC): the St. Lawrence and Adirondack Railway, the Canada Southern Railway
, and its subsidiaries Detroit River Tunnel Company and Niagara River Bridge Company. All of these Canadian companies but the St. Lawrence and Adirondack were given up in 1985. None of the property of the New York and Harlem Railroad
was transferred to Conrail, but a portion was operated under contract as a light-density line.
Consolidated Rail Corporation
The Consolidated Rail Corporation, commonly known as Conrail , was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeast U.S. between 1976 and 1999. The federal government created it to take over the potentially profitable lines of bankrupt carriers, including the Penn Central Transportation Company and...
(Conrail) was formed on April 1, 1976 not by a standard merger, but as a new government corporation that took over only designated lines and other rail-related assets from the existing bankrupt companies. Seven major companies were included:
- Penn Central Transportation Company (PC), successor to the New York Central RailroadNew York Central RailroadThe New York Central Railroad , known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the Northeastern United States...
(NYC), New York, New Haven and Hartford RailroadNew York, New Haven and Hartford RailroadThe New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , was a railroad that operated in the northeast United States from 1872 to 1968 which served the states of Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts...
(NH), and Pennsylvania RailroadPennsylvania RailroadThe Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
(PRR) - Erie Lackawanna RailwayErie Lackawanna RailwayThe Erie Lackawanna Railway , known as the Erie–Lackawanna Railroad until 1968, was formed from the 1960 merger of the Erie Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad...
(EL), successor to the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western RailroadDelaware, Lackawanna and Western RailroadThe Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company was a railroad connecting Pennsylvania's Lackawanna Valley, rich in anthracite coal, to Hoboken, New Jersey, , Buffalo and Oswego, New York...
(DL&W) and Erie RailroadErie RailroadThe Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in New York State, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, originally connecting New York City with Lake Erie...
(Erie) - Ann Arbor Railroad (AA), controlled by Penn Central
- Central Railroad of New JerseyCentral Railroad of New JerseyThe Central Railroad of New Jersey , commonly known as the Jersey Central Lines or CNJ, was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s, lasting until 1976 when it was absorbed into Conrail with the other bankrupt railroads of the Northeastern United States...
(CNJ) - Lehigh and Hudson River RailwayLehigh and Hudson River RailwayThe Lehigh and Hudson River Railway was the smallest of the six railroads that were merged into Conrail in 1976. It was a bridge line running northeast-southwest across northwestern New Jersey, connecting the line to the Poughkeepsie Bridge at Maybrook, New York with Easton, Pennsylvania, where it...
(L&HR) - Lehigh Valley RailroadLehigh Valley RailroadThe Lehigh Valley Railroad was one of a number of railroads built in the northeastern United States primarily to haul anthracite coal.It was authorized April 21, 1846 in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and incorporated September 20, 1847 as the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railroad...
(LV), controlled by Penn Central - Reading CompanyReading CompanyThe Reading Company , usually called the Reading Railroad, officially the Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road and then the Philadelphia and Reading Railway until 1924, operated in southeast Pennsylvania and neighboring states...
(RDG)
So were most railroads that had been leased or controlled by them, sometimes jointly.
Conrail maintained existing leases of the small Amsterdam, Chuctanunda and Northern Railroad (PC-NYC) and Central Railroad of Indianapolis
Central Railroad of Indianapolis
Central Railroad of Indianapolis is a Class III short-line railroad that operates approximately miles of rail line in north central Indiana....
(PC-NYC), as well as the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad (LV), owned by the non-railroad Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company
Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company
The Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company is an anthracite coal mining company headquartered in Pottsville, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., with operations in the areas of Tamaqua, Coaldale, and Lansford...
. In addition, Conrail acquired long-term leases on several Canadian properties (all PC-NYC): the St. Lawrence and Adirondack Railway, the Canada Southern Railway
Canada Southern Railway
The Canada Southern Railway was a railway in southern Ontario, Canada, founded on February 28, 1868 as the Erie and Niagara Extension Railway. It adopted the Canada Southern Railway name on December 24, 1869. In 1904 the railway was leased to the Michigan Central Railroad for 99 years; in 1929 it...
, and its subsidiaries Detroit River Tunnel Company and Niagara River Bridge Company. All of these Canadian companies but the St. Lawrence and Adirondack were given up in 1985. None of the property of the New York and Harlem Railroad
New York and Harlem Railroad
The New York and Harlem Railroad was one of the first railroads in the United States, and possibly also the world's first street railway. Designed by John Stephenson, it was opened in stages between 1832 and 1852 between Lower Manhattan to and beyond Harlem...
was transferred to Conrail, but a portion was operated under contract as a light-density line.
| Name | Control | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Allentown Terminal Railroad | CNJ | |
| Ann Arbor Railroad | AA | |
| Baltimore and Eastern Railroad | PC (PRR) | |
| Bay Shore Connecting Railroad | CNJ/LV | |
| Beech Creek Railroad Beech Creek Railroad Beech Creek RailroadIn 1890 the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad took out a long term lease of the Beech Creek Railroad yet the Beech Creek maintained independent operations until July 1899... |
PC (NYC) | |
| Buffalo Creek Railroad | EL (Erie)/LV | Merged on December 31, 1983 |
| Central Indiana Railway | PC (NYC/PRR) | |
| Central Railroad of New Jersey Central Railroad of New Jersey The Central Railroad of New Jersey , commonly known as the Jersey Central Lines or CNJ, was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s, lasting until 1976 when it was absorbed into Conrail with the other bankrupt railroads of the Northeastern United States... |
CNJ | |
| Central Railroad of Pennsylvania Central Railroad of Pennsylvania The Central Railroad of Pennsylvania was an attempt by the Central Railroad of New Jersey to avoid certain New Jersey taxes on their Pennsylvania lines... |
CNJ | No real property conveyed |
| Chicago, Kalamazoo and Saginaw Railway Chicago, Kalamazoo and Saginaw Railway The Chicago, Kalamazoo and Saginaw Railway , known informally as the "Cuss, Kick & Swear" is a defunct railroad which operated in southwest Michigan in the late 19th and early to mid 20th centuries. Despite the name, the line ran entirely within the state of Michigan, with the majority in Kalamazoo... |
PC (NYC) | |
| Chicago River and Indiana Railroad | PC (NYC) | |
| Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad | PC (PRR) | |
| Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway The Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway, also known as the Big Four Railroad and commonly abbreviated CCC&StL, was a railroad company in the Midwestern United States.... |
PC (NYC) | |
| Connecting Railway Connecting Railway The Connecting Railway was a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad, incorporated to build a connection between the Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad and the PRR in the city of Philadelphia.-Connecting railway:... |
PC (PRR) | |
| Dayton Union Railway | PC (NYC/PRR) | |
| Delaware Railroad | PC (PRR) | |
| Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad | RDG | |
| Detroit Manufacturers Railroad | PC (NYC) | |
| Dover and Rockaway Railroad Dover and Rockaway Railroad The Dover and Rockaway Railroad was a section of railroad track completed in 1881 connecting Dover, New Jersey and Rockaway. It formed an important link in the developing American railroad system, connecting major trunks to the New York harbor for freight and provided passenger service to central... |
CNJ | |
| East Pennsylvania Railroad | RDG | |
| Erie and Kalamazoo Railroad | PC (NYC) | |
| Erie Lackawanna Railway Erie Lackawanna Railway The Erie Lackawanna Railway , known as the Erie–Lackawanna Railroad until 1968, was formed from the 1960 merger of the Erie Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad... |
EL (Erie/DL&W) | |
| Erie and Pittsburgh Railroad Erie and Pittsburgh Railroad The Erie and Pittsburgh Railroad was a railroad based in Erie, Pennsylvania incorporated on 1 April 1858. Operations began in March 1860. It operated jointly with Buffalo and State Line Railroad from an indeterminate date until 28 February 1870, in connection with the latter's commitment, along... |
PC (PRR) | |
| Fort Wayne and Jackson Railroad | PC (NYC) | |
| Holyoke and Westfield Railroad | PC (NH) | |
| Hudson River Bridge Company at Albany | PC (NYC) | |
| Indianapolis Union Railway Indianapolis Union Railway The Indianapolis Union Railway Company , is a terminal railroad operating in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was organized on May 31, 1850, as the Union Track Railway Company by the presidents of the Madison and Indianapolis Railroad Company , the Terre Haute and Richmond Railroad Company , and the... |
PC (NYC/PRR) | |
| Ironton Railroad Ironton Railroad The Ironton Railroad was a shortline railroad in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. Originally built in 1861 to haul iron ore and limestone to blast furnaces along the Lehigh River, traffic later shifted to carrying Portland cement when local iron mining declined in the early 20th century... |
LV | |
| Joliet and Northern Indiana Railroad | PC (NYC) | |
| Kalamazoo, Allegan and Grand Rapids Railroad | PC (NYC) | |
| Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley Railway | EL (DL&W) | |
| Lehigh and Hudson River Railway Lehigh and Hudson River Railway The Lehigh and Hudson River Railway was the smallest of the six railroads that were merged into Conrail in 1976. It was a bridge line running northeast-southwest across northwestern New Jersey, connecting the line to the Poughkeepsie Bridge at Maybrook, New York with Easton, Pennsylvania, where it... |
L&HR | |
| Lehigh and New England Railway | CNJ | |
| Lehigh Valley Railroad Lehigh Valley Railroad The Lehigh Valley Railroad was one of a number of railroads built in the northeastern United States primarily to haul anthracite coal.It was authorized April 21, 1846 in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and incorporated September 20, 1847 as the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railroad... |
LV | |
| Little Miami Railroad Little Miami Railroad The Little Miami Railroad, now defunct, was a railway of southwestern Ohio, running from the eastern side of Cincinnati to Springfield, Ohio. By merging with the Columbus and Xenia Railroad it created the first through rail route from the important manufacturing city of Cincinnati to the state... |
PC (PRR) | |
| Mahoning Coal Railroad | PC (NYC) | |
| Mahoning and Shenango Valley Company | PC (NYC) | |
| Michigan Central Railroad Michigan Central Railroad The Michigan Central Railroad was originally incorporated in 1846 to establish rail service between Detroit, Michigan and St. Joseph, Michigan. The railroad later operated in the states of Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois in the United States, and the province of Ontario in Canada... |
PC (NYC) | |
| Mount Hope Mineral Railroad | CNJ | |
| New York Connecting Railroad New York Connecting Railroad The New York Connecting Railroad or NYCR is a rail line in the borough of Queens in New York City. It links New York City and Long Island by rail directly to the North American mainland. Amtrak, CSX, Canadian Pacific Railway, Providence and Worcester Railroad and New York and Atlantic Railway... |
PC (NH/PRR) | |
| New York and Long Branch Railroad New York and Long Branch Railroad The New York and Long Branch Railroad was a railroad in central New Jersey, running from Bay Head Junction in Bay Head to Perth Amboy, where it connected to the Central Railroad of New Jersey's Perth Amboy and Elizabethport Railroad. The railroad was jointly owned and operated by the Pennsylvania... |
PC (PRR)/CNJ | |
| Niagara Junction Railway | EL (Erie)/LV/PC (NYC) | |
| North Brookfield Railroad | PC (NH) | |
| North Pennsylvania Railroad North Pennsylvania Railroad North Pennsylvania Railroad was a railroad company formed in 1855, and served Philadelphia, Montgomery County, Bucks County and Northampton County, Pennsylvania.-History:... |
RDG | |
| Northern Central Railway Northern Central Railway The Northern Central Railway was a Class I Railroad connecting Baltimore, Maryland with Sunbury, Pennsylvania. Completed in 1858, the line came under the control of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1861, when the PRR acquired a controlling interest in the Northern Central's stock to compete with the... |
PC (PRR) | |
| Norwich and Worcester Railroad | PC (NH) | |
| Penn Central Transportation Company | PC (NYC/PRR/NH) | |
| Penndel Company | PC (NYC/PRR) | Successor to a number of non-operating subsidiaries |
| Pennsylvania and Atlantic Railroad | PC (PRR) | |
| Pennsylvania–Reading Seashore Lines | PC (PRR)/RDG | |
| Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal Railroad Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal Railroad The New York Tunnel Extension , was a major project of the Pennsylvania Railroad at the beginning of the 20th century, to improve railroad access throughout the greater New York City area... |
PC (PRR) | |
| Peoria and Eastern Railway Peoria and Eastern Railway The Peoria and Eastern Railway was incorporated on February 21, 1890, for the purpose of constructing or acquiring a railway between Pekin, Illinois, and Indianapolis, Indiana. The following day, the company acquired such a railroad from Charles H... |
PC (NYC) | |
| Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad The Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad was a railroad that operated in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and the District of Columbia in the 20th century was a key component of the Pennsylvania Railroad system. Its 131 mile main line ran from Philadelphia to Washington... |
PC (PRR) | |
| Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad | RDG | |
| Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad The Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad was a railroad from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Trenton, New Jersey that became part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system. The majority of it is now part of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.-History:... |
PC (PRR) | |
| Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway The Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway was a major part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system, extending the PRR west from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania via Fort Wayne, Indiana to Chicago, Illinois... |
PC (PRR) | |
| Pittsburgh, Youngstown and Ashtabula Railway | PC (PRR) | |
| Plymouth Railroad | RDG | |
| Port Reading Railroad Port Reading Railroad The Port Reading Railroad was a railroad chartered in 1890 and opened in 1892 by the Reading Railroad.-Origins:The Port Reading Railroad started at a junction in Bound Brook, New Jersey with the Lehigh Valley Railroad and Central Railroad of New Jersey and headed eastward across northern Middlesex... |
RDG | |
| Raritan River Railroad Raritan River Railroad The Raritan River Rail Road was a twelve-mile shortline railroad founded in 1888 and based in South Amboy, New Jersey, U.S., which ran as far as New Brunswick, New Jersey. It served both passengers and freight in its heyday and operated profitably throughout much of its existence... |
PC (PRR)/CNJ | Merged in April 1980 |
| Reading Company Reading Company The Reading Company , usually called the Reading Railroad, officially the Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road and then the Philadelphia and Reading Railway until 1924, operated in southeast Pennsylvania and neighboring states... |
RDG | |
| Rochester and Genesee Valley Railroad | EL (Erie) | |
| Shamokin Valley and Pottsville Railroad | PC (PRR) | |
| South Manchester Railroad | PC (NH) | |
| Trenton–Princeton Traction Company | RDG | |
| Troy and Greenbush Railroad | PC (NYC) | |
| Union Depot Company (Columbus, Ohio) | PC (NYC/PRR) | |
| Union Railroad of Baltimore | PC (PRR) | |
| United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company The United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company was part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system in New Jersey, including their main line to New York City... |
PC (PRR) | |
| Waynesburg Southern Railroad | PC (PRR) | |
| Waynesburg and Washington Railroad Waynesburg and Washington Railroad The Waynesburg and Washington was a narrow gauge line between Washington and Waynesburg, Pennsylvania. It was converted to standard gauge in 1944 and renamed the Waynesburg Secondary. It had steep grades and sharp curves. It had few online industries and was used as an interurban passenger... |
PC (PRR) | |
| West Jersey and Seashore Railroad West Jersey and Seashore Railroad The West Jersey and Seashore Railroad was a Pennsylvania Railroad subsidiary that became part of Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines in 1933.-History:... |
PC (PRR)/RDG | |
| Wharton and Northern Railroad | CNJ | |
| Wilmington and Northern Railroad | RDG | |
| American Contract Company | PC | No real property conveyed |
| Communipaw Central Land Company | CNJ | |
| Consolidated Real Estate Company | LV | |
| Despatch Shops, Inc. | PC | |
| Eastern Real Estate Company | RDG | |
| Erie Land and Improvement Company | EL (Erie) | |
| Erie Land and Improvement Company of Pennsylvania | EL (Erie) | |
| Hoboken Ferry Company | EL (DL&W) | |
| Hudson Realty Company | EL | |
| Lawroy Land Company | EL | |
| Manor Real Estate Company | PC | |
| New York Central Development Corporation | PC | |
| Penndiana Improvement Corporation | PC | |
| Providence Produce Warehouse Company | PC | |
| United Real Estate Company | LV |