Conrail OCS 2 - Office Car / Conrail Test 19 - Amtrak 800322

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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.

From photos that I can track down, Conrail 2 served on Conrail Office Car Special trains until around 1990 (the same time that the Conrail 25 and Conrail 26 coaches were sold). At that time, it disappeared from regular CR OCS service, but Conrail wasn’t done with it yet. Conrail 2 appears on the 1993 official business car roster and disappears on the January 1, 1996 roster. At the same time, Conrail 20 (the test lab car) was also on the 1993 rosters and it also disappeared in the 1996 roster. So what was going on?

Conrail 2 had in fact become Conrail 19 Test Lab Dynamometer car, replacing the existing test bab car Conrail 20. I would estimate the timing for this conversion to be around 1995. Apparently, Conrail 20 was in rough shape (just read Don Oltmann’s blog post about riding CR 20). While Conrail 20 was still owned by Conrail, it sat next to the Miscellaneous Shop 2 until the end of Conrail in 1999.

In the meantime, Conrail 2’s paint was looking pretty rough in 1996 when it entered its new service to Conrail as CR 19. This supports the fact that it wasn’t used much or at all before its new service in 1996. Instead of repainting it, they simply patched over the 2 with 19. Its service to the Chairman of the Board and his visitors on the Conrail OCS was over. No more frequent washes and trips with its former NYC Office Cars. The car was now used by the Mechanical Department like the track geometry car.

Conrail 19 was, however, repainted at least once more before the end of Conrail, giving it an office car appearance. Interior changes to the car during its conversion to the test car are unknown, but the exterior and interior of the car was very similar to the former NYC Norfolk Southern Research Car 32. I’ll post photos of the interior of that car, but NS 32 maintained most of its original interior, and gained a large instrument rack in the observation end. I wonder if Conrail 19 was similar?

Conrail 19 exterior changes seemed to be pretty minor with the addition of flood lights on the underside of the car and MU capabilities for locomotive testing. By July 1996, Conrail 19 was testing electro-pneumatic brakes on Conrail hopper cars, no longer behind streamlined E8As, instead behind Conrail SD60Ms and C40-8Ws. Most photos of the car that I can find are of it sitting outside next to the test lab building at the Conrail Juniata Locomotive Shop. In fact, when I visited the shops, they had a model of the car sitting next to the lab building on their large layout that showed visitors the scale of JLS.

After the takeover of Conrail by CSX and Norfolk Southern in June 1999, it wasn’t used and in fact was auctioned off by Norfolk Southern at the Juniata Locomotive Shops on June 19, 2000. The car was sent to Mid-America Car and was refurbished for at least 18-24 months.

In 2007, negotiations to purchase the car by two Kansas City Terminal executives were starting with the selling price set at $185,000. The closing date on the purchase was December 21, 2007. Some drama unfolded around its purchase and where the renovation funds came from, ending with the termination of the KCT president. Needless to say, things got a bit messy with the new owners of the car.

According to the last reports I have on the car, it was named WAMX “Tallgrass” 800322 and had its interior removed and rebuilt. In 2013 there are photos of it in Kansas City, Kansas and later reports show that the car was in Oklahoma, but tracking it down hasn’t been easy. That could mean it’s sitting on a siding somewhere, but I certainly hope not. If anyone has photos or information about its location, please contact me using the “Ask Anything” button in the header.

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 Original OCS Diagrams

Conrail 2 Office Car Diagram

Conrail 2 Benny, PA 1980

Conrail 2 first trip in OCS green 3/1983

Conrail 2 Fairhope, OH 1985

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: Conrail trip booklets, Penn Central Historical Society (for the Penn Central 10 information), Conrail Diagrams of Office and Research Cars. Special thanks to Doug Nichols and Chip Syme for allowing me to use their photos.

Conrail 2 - Conrail 19 Test Car

Conrail OCS 2 - Office Car / Conrail Test 19 - Amtrak 800322

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