Conrail’s SD40s were hard working locomotives. It inherited 118 of them from the Penn Central (originally from the PRR) and the CNJ. They proved to be more reliable than their bigger brothers, the SD45s, and as such served in much more widespread and longer service.
The second in my collection of Conrail MP15s. This one wears a coat of blue (that Atlas gave it).
Conrail’s aged fleet of roadswitchers underwent a rebuilding program. Modifications included reconfiguring air intakes, removing dynamic brakes and other internal upgrades. When outshopped, these units were classified GP8s (for units that began as GP7s) and GP10s (for units that began as GP9s).
When it was formed, Conrail inherited a mess of unreliable locomotives from it’s predecessors. Some of it’s first purchases were a group of GP40-2s. These were initially purchased to work on the line’s high priority Trailvan trains, however, by the mid 80s they were no longer restricted to this service and were found system wide.
The MP15 was a minority in Conrail’s switcher fleet, but since they’re available as models, I’ve added a couple to my fleet.
Conrail 7894 is also an almost stock Atlas GP38. I have weathered it a little more than #7883, giving it the beginnings of the signature Conrail Rust using a drybrushing and wash technique