Conrail 2 - Conrail 19 Test Car
Conrail OCS 2 - Office Car / Conrail Research and Test Car 19 - Amtrak 800322
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UPDATED: New Photos - April 2025
Conrail 2, a heavyweight observation car that was part of the Conrail business train (Conrail Office Car Special), carried the distinction of having two unique purposes on Conrail — more than could be said for any other business car on the fleet. Its first use on Conrail was as an office car and the second as Test Dynamometer car with the number Conrail 19.
Conrail 2 was part of the original business car fleet along with the first Conrail 1 (not the Southern Railway office car), Conrail 3, the first Conrail 4 (also not the former Southern Railway office car), Conrail 10, and Conrail 11. As such, the car was initially painted in Conrail blue and in 1983, at Stanley Crane’s direction, was painted Conrail green.
Conrail office cars 1, 2, 3, and 4 were all similar in that they came from the New York Central and were similar in style, both with clerestory roofs and observation platforms. In Conrail’s office car booklets, the historical description of Conrail 2 (like Conrail 3) is short when compared to the SOU Office Cars.
Here is a consolidated Conrail 2 / Conrail 19 history:
WAMX 800322 Tallgrass - (12/07)
Mid-America Car Refurbish - (6/00)
Conrail 19 - (94)
Conrail 2 - (4/76)
Penn Central 6 - (7/71)
Penn Central 5 - (2/68)
New York Central 5 - (12/31)
Conrail 2 was built in December of 1931 by Pullman for the New York Central as office car 5 (Pullman Lot 6320, NYC Lot 2114). This car replaced the original NYC 5 (which was renumbered that same year to NYC 9 and later went on to become the first Conrail 4). The new car stayed NYC 5 for 37 years until the PRR and NYC merger and the formation of Penn Central in 1968, when it became PC 5. In October of 1970, the car was assigned to Assistant Vice President-Engineering C. T. Popma out of Philadelphia.
On July 25, 1971, Penn Central issued a memo outlining several number changes to their office cars, including Penn Central 5, which was renumbered to Penn Central 6. Conrail acquired the car in the consolidation on April 1, 1976 and numbered it Conrail 2.
There is some ambiguity whether the car was renumbered back to PC 5 before it reached Conrail. Conrail’s business car rosters and their abbreviated histories included with early business car diagrams, indicate that the car was renumbered back to PC 5. There are two documents that may disprove this, however. The first document, a Penn Central Master Register dated December 31, 1975, says the former NYC 5 was still numbered PC 6 at that time. This is significant because if the car had been renumbered back to PC 5, it would have been in the last few months before the formation of Conrail. Another document, this time a Conrail Mechanical
As Conrail 2 was part of the initial business car fleet, it was painted Conrail blue and black by mid- 1976. Besides being painted in Conrail green in 1983, the car also received some updates. The car was upgraded from steam heat to 480-volt power to make it compatible with Amtrak. In addition, the original antenna on the roof car was removed and replaced with two GPS domes in 1986.
Conrail 2 was often used by Donald A. Swanson, Conrail’s Senior Vice President of Operations, until he retired in 1992 and was succeeded by David M. LeVan. It was around this time that the car found itself unused and stored in the Miscellaneous Shop 2. When the Conrail Technical Services Laboratory needed a replacement for their car 20, Conrail 2 found a new purpose on the special equipment fleet. Conrail 20 was in rough shape (just read Don Oltmann’s blog post about riding CR 20). A quick call from the Technical Services Laboratory to Carl Kennedy sealed car CR 2’s fate. Larry Myers, Conrail’s manager of the Technical Services Laboratory, remembers that Carl wasn’t interested in trying to fix Conrail 20, and instead offered up Conrail 2.
In October of 1993, Larry visited Norfolk Southern research cars 31 and 32. NS 32 was a sister to Conrail 2, both sharing a common ancestry from the New York Central. During the visit to NS 32, the team took many photos of the car and eventually used it as their pattern for the rebuild of the next technical services car.
During the conversion of Conrail 2, the Technical Services Laboratory chose the dining room to house the electrical equipment, as it was near the center of the car and provided the smoothest ride. On the wall opposite of the dining room cabinetry was a large mirror. Larry remembers that Carl Kennedy’s team tried unsuccessfully to remove it intact. After the initial break, it was then broken into smaller pieces and removed. Rubber shock absorbers were installed on the dining room floor to house three integrated racks designed by the Technical Services Laboratory team. The equipment from CR 20 was transferred into these new racks.
Another modification made to the car was the installation of an MU cable on both ends of the car (unlike CR 20 that only had one). This was significant because it meant that the car could be placed between locomotives and would allow the MU signal to be altered between the lead locomotive and the trailing locomotives. Conrail 19 was planned to be used as a dynamometer test car for the newest AC current locomotives. With traditional DC current locomotives placed in braking, the AC locomotives were going to pull them with all their might. It would have confirmed and verified what the locomotive manufacturers were telling Conrail about the superior performance of AC versus DC. That test unfortunately never happened, but it is a great example of what the car could do.
The car had a better encoder installed, which meant they could collect better data on speed and motion, including the ability to know when the train stopped and went backwards. Conrail 19 also had a GPS system installed on board, and during later coal train tests through Pennsylvania, this allowed the car to run and collect data unmanned.
On the comfort side, the car already had a shower, a major improvement over Conrail 20 which didn’t have one. Showers on business cars had to be somewhat brief. One particular rider found this out after a half-hour shower drained the car of all of its available water, forcing the revenue train to stop in Renovo, Pennsylvania to fill up the tanks. Larry remembers that the dispatcher was furious at the unnecessary delay of the train.
On April 25, 1994, Conrail 2, now converted to Conrail 19, was in Pennsylvania’s Enola Yard on its maiden trip. The first trip was the Keystone Test Chrysler Yard project, initiated to test wheel chocks on finished automobile freight cars. The car left Enola Yard and headed down the Enola and Port Road Branches through Perryville, Maryland and onto Amtrak to get to the Chrysler Yard.
Philadelphia Division Bulletin Order No. 7-490, effective Monday, August 1, 1994, lists a change to the Conrail timetable, noting that research car Conrail 20 was being replaced by the new Conrail 19. The 19’s paint was looking pretty shabby by 1996, since instead of fully repainting the car, they had simply patched over the 2 with 19. It was finally repainted into fresh Conrail Pullman Green paint in December of 1997.
Conrail 19 had instrumentation installed in it to monitor and record train dynamics, including coupler (drawbar) force. The car had a strain-gauged coupler, allowing measurement of the energy required by the locomotive to move and stop a train, using the draft and buff forces of the drawbar.
Conrail 19 didn’t stay inside Miscellaneous Shop 2 most of the time, and it could usually be found next to the lab building at the shops. Conrail 19 was used on fourteen trips in 1996 and 1997 testing new electronically-controlled pneumatic brake systems installed on a set of Conrail’s Coalporter hoppers.
The Technical Services Laboratory team poses on the platform of Conrail 19 in 1997. The car is tied down at the Juniata Locomotive Shop, near the lab. From left to right are Larry Myers, Mark Lutz, Sally Walter, Steve Janshego, and Cameron Lonsdale.
The Conrail 19 saw little use after 1998, as preparations were being made for the upcoming takeover. After the takeover of Conrail by CSX and Norfolk Southern on June 1, 1999, the car was auctioned off by Norfolk Southern at the Juniata Locomotive Shops on June 20, 2000. The car was purchased by Century Rail Enterprises and was sent to Mid-America Car to be refurbished over the next 18-24 months.
In 2007, Century Rail entered negotiations with two Kansas City Terminal executives that wished to purchase the former Conrail 19 for $185,000. The closing date on the purchase was December 21, 2007. Some drama unfolded around its purchase and from where the renovation funds came, ending with the termination of the KCT president. Needless to say, things got a bit messy with the new owners of the car. It was eventually purchased on December 19, 2007 by WATCO Industries and named Tallgrass. The interior was updated in Kansas City, Kansas. The car had been moved to WATCO lines in Oklahoma, but now resides in Carona, Kansas at the Heart of the Heartlands Museum.
For those interested in the heavyweight trucks found on Conrail 2 and many private cars today, here is some technical information found in my copies of the original office car data books.
Truck Class - K11XRNH - 6 wheels - Roller Bearing size 5-1/2” x 10”
Brake Type - Clasp 2-1/2” Comp. Shoes
Brake Cylinder - 7” x 9”
Outside Swing Hangers
Conrail 2, Business Car
As Conrail 19, Technical Services Lab Car
If you are interested in Conrail passenger operations, read about how Conrail operated their OCS train, including stories from those with first hand knowledge. Check back soon for other Conrail Office Car articles by Wes Reminder.
Sources:
Larry Myers, Manager of the Conrail Technical Services Laboratory
Conrail trip booklets
Conrail Diagrams of Office and Research Cars
Special thanks to the photographer contributions on this page:
Charlie Murphy, Jr. • Chip Syme • Frank Rovder • HE Brouse • Joe Jack • Larry Myers • Rich Frey • Steve Sullivan
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