It's kind of funny, how back then we had old GG1 electric locomotives pulling new Amfleet cars. Now we have new ACS-64 electric locomotives pulling old Amfleet cars! (though to be fair, they have refurbished them over the years)

Conrail didn't have much of a choice discontinuing the electric freight operation as they had earlier sold the entire northeast corridor to Amtrak who severely restricted freight operations Conrail. Routinely operated on it when Conrail owned it. A 100 car freight entering or leaving the NEC took to long crossing over and delayed too many passenger trains for Amtraks liking so when Amtrak took ownership of the corridor about the only freight they would allow was local freight services and they ran when Amtrak allowed them them to run. Conrail after Amtraks decision had one of two choices left as what was left of the old PRR electrified freight was too small and broken up with the sale of the NEC too efficiently operate electric freight. The only other option Conrail had was electrify the the freight main line from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh to effectively operate electric freight. That would have required another 150 new electric locomotives in addition to electrifying a multiple track mainline which would have been like Amtraks electrifying the old New Haven Shore Lines which was done at 25 KV 60 cycle commercial power versus the original 11 KV 25 cycle power the NEC still uses today. Amtrak had plans to convert the old PRR electrification from 11KV to 25 KV 60 cycle commercial power to " improve efficiency " until they discovered over a thousand bridges would have to be replaced or raised. And the trains would have to coast through phase breaks losing all power HEP included as they went from one utility to the next supplying power to the NEC. The Amtrak electrification engineers most right out of college which had the skills and knowledge but were determined to replace the " old fashioned system presently in use " discovered belatedly that the old fashioned system maybe wasn't so bad after all. It seemed that GE who sold and installed the original system knew what they were doing. PRR takes commercial power from 4 different utility companies at 14 different locations each of which are identically equipped with 2 massive 60,000 kilowatt motor alternators. These motor alternators take in I'm not sure of the operating voltage of the motor side running on commercial power but let's say for the sake of expediency their operating voltage is equal to the output of the generator/alternator side of 11 KV at 25 cycles single phase power. This 11 KV power is fed into a transformer out side the substation's building and raised to 88 KV and are fed to their own high power grid which are then highest wires you see on the railroad electrification from Washinton DC to NYC and west to Harrisburg, PA. At various points along the railroad as additional power is needed by the locomotive's or MU cars GE simply added smaller transformers that reduced the power to that used by the locomotive's of 11 KV. Very simple in design and execution. Most utility companies while all run at 60 cycles don't quite match up with an adjacent utilities phase exactly so they essentially ignore the phase match from one utility to the neighbors utility until they need extra power from a neighbors utility then in order to get power from another power source you have to match exactly the phase precisely or no power transfer can occur.

Did anyone see "Test Dirt" written on the 1975 GM6 Unit? Great videos of these electric beasts, certainly hope there are more to come!

I enjoy seeing all the old roadnames and freight cars as much as seeing the old locomotives. Brings back a lot of train watching memories along the NEC in Baltimore back in the '60s and '70s.

So Conrail discontinued its electric freight service in 1981, right in the middle of an oil crisis. That made alot of sense.

God, the SOUND of those diesels at the beginning! Deep and rich and serious! Big bonus points for the U-Boats!

6:25

Fantastic video. Looking at the NEC today, one would never think that this is what it used to be like.

Although we lost some icon electric trains then just for diesel, Amtrak made the electric era return with ALC42s and the chargers. Great footage from VA

Takes me back to my college days at Rutgers. I used to see a lot of those trains at New Brunswick. Little did we know there would only be 2 years of major freight traffic left on the NEC

Thank you for uploading these with the sound and picture quality done properly. These videos are real historical treasures (especially the original sound) and it was a shame seeing them with that blown-out sound. I’m sure it is not cheap to get these converted properly, so myself and I’m sure many others really do appreciate it.

The quality may not be the best, but the patina of old film is synonymous with nostalgia and is perfect for these wonderful and beautiful old trains! Thank you for sharing. :) I simply cannot get enough of vintage train videos, they bring me happiness!

I went to college in Lancaster, PA during the '70s. Until I bought a car, I took Amtrak to school from Hartford. CT, near my home. I remember the GG1s vividly. I also remember watching trains - PC freights and Amtrak varnish, especially the Broadway Limited - in and around Lancaster, including the Port Road line along the Susquehanna. So these videos truly bring back fond memories. Thank you for shooting them, and sharing them! They're a terrific record of the times.

I just absolutely love the the E60's😍❤!!!!!!

Amazing captures all around. Back in the days of 196 Class I railroads. Conrail was the beginning of the end--yet ironically, no longer around.

AWESOME GRRRRRREEEAATT FOOTAGE AN REAL SOUNDS👍👍THANKYOU FOR THE MEMORIES... THANKYOU ✌

I forgot to thank you for the GG-1 footage. I used to see them blast by my father's office in Devon, CT, back in the seventies. The other electrics you show here are almost as cool.

Thanks Jack, more nice work. I am always happy to see G's and E-33's -E44's I spent a lot of time in G's while with Amtrak, I miss them. Wish I could go back to those times....

Man, this brings back memories of my childhood ! THANK YOU SO MUCH !

Wow! Like going through a museum of my adolescence. Thanks for the memories. The GM6 was pure icing!