Conrail 9 Theater Car

Conrail 9Conrail OCSRailroad Office Cars
Written By Wes Reminder

Conrail OCS 9 - Amtrak 800364 - Theater Inspection Car

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UPDATED: New Photos - March 2023

As the Conrail business train came speeding down the rails, cameras snapped the approaching Conrail E8As and quickly turned to catch Conrail 9 (the theater inspection car) disappear into the distance. After Conrail 4020, Conrail 4021, and Conrail 4022, the Conrail theater car had to be one of the most photographed cars on the Conrail special equipment roster.

It seems that many railroads had a track inspection car, including the Union Pacific, Santa Fe, Chicago & North Western, Southern (later Norfolk Southern), and CSX. Their purpose was all the same: a way for railroad officials to see the physical railroad as the train toured the region. Before we get into the Conrail theater car, let’s take a quick look at some of the other railroad inspection cars. As you read through, keep in mind that many of the cars have essentially the same setup.

Union Pacific “Idaho”

  • Built in 1949 as sleeper “Western Mountain”

  • Rebuilt as a UP inspection car “Idaho”

  • Features end picture window, tiered theater seats, dining area, kitchen, restrooms

Union Pacific “Fox River”

  • Built in 1954 as a buffet-lounge-sleeper for Canadian National Railway

  • Purchased by Milwaukee Rail Car and converted to an inspection car

  • Purchased by Chicago & North Western in 1985 and acquired by UP in 1995

  • Features end picture window, tiered theater seats, dining area, kitchen, restrooms

Santa Fe “Track Inspection Car” ATSF 89

  • Built in 1940 as a Club-Lounge

  • Rebuilt as Track Inspection Car ATSF 89 in 1975

  • Acquired by BNSF in the merger and is now BNSF 32 “William B. Strong”

  • Features end picture window, tiered theater seats, lounge area, small kitchen area, restroom

Southern “Buena Vista” SOU 19

  • Built in 1918 as sleeper lounge “Cuyama”

  • Southern rebuilt it into inspection car “Buena Vista” SOU 19 in 1973

  • Norfolk Southern numbered it NS 23 in 1985

  • Features end picture window, tiered theater seats, dining area, kitchen, restroom

CSX “Georgia” CSX 994318

  • Built in 1953 as a 58-seat coach

  • Rebuilt in 1993 as inspection car “Georgia” CSXT 994318

  • Features end picture window, tiered theater seats, dining area, kitchen, restroom

The common layout of the inspection car was a large picture window, tiered seats, an area to eat or lounge, a kitchen, and restrooms. Conrail 9 was no exception to the theater car rule and features the same general layout.

Lets take a look at Conrail 9’s history:

CSX 994009 “W Thomas Rice” (2020)

CSX 994009 “Alabama”

CSX 994009 “Massachusetts” - (6/1/99)

Conrail 9 - (3/31/85)

Conrail 23 - (12/20/82)

VIA 428 - (77)

Canadian National 428 - (54)

Conrail 9, like the Union Pacific “Fox River”, started its career in 1954 and was built Pullman-Standard for the Canadian National Railway. According to Conrail documentation “the car was originally built as dinette car 428, class DLC-82-A. No. 428 served primarily as a supplement to full dining cars on trains like the “The Super Continental”, “Ocean Limited”, and “Scotian” as well as the meal service car on secondary trains like the “Maple Leaf”. Conveyed to VIA Railway in 1977 and renumbered VIA 428 where it was used as a versatile food service car well into the 1980s.” 

Conrail documentation also states that “Conrail bought the car in 1982 and renumbered it CR 23 for purposes of clearing U.S. Customs.” The talented Conrail Reading passenger car shops converted the car to a theater track inspection car numbered Conrail 9 and released it for service in March 1985 (painted in dark green - roof to rails). The Conrail 9 officially joined the Office Car Special fleet and its fame was secured, bringing up the markers on Conrail business car movements until the Conrail takeover in 1999.

Conrail 9 featured two large engines on the underbody simply labelled “Engine No. I” and “Engine No. II” that powered not only the Conrail 9, but also another car connected to it. It was most commonly coupled to Conrail Conference Car 12, but could also be found coupled to other Conrail office cars, like Conrail 8 and Conrail 10. With two large engines capable of powering itself and another car, this required two fuel tanks located directly behind the engines, followed by battery boxes. Other underbody equipment included air compressors, engine refrigeration, water fill, propane tanks for the kitchen, treatment tanks, and the air conditioner.

Conrail 9 also had two small service doors for loading food and supplies. On the hallway side, the service door can be seen in front of the gold Conrail logo and across from the kitchen door. On the kitchen side, the service door was in the kitchen between the charbroil and freezer. As Conrail 9 was often used by the chefs, I’m sure this made loading the food much easier. To read all about where the food on the train came from and how incredible the chefs were, check out my article on the Conrail Office Car Special operations.

The large picture window on the end was tinted at some point in its time on Conrail (maybe to provide some privacy for the Conrail executives and hide their puzzled or annoyed faces when viewing the railfans). Normal operation was for the large picture window to face the rear of the train. When Conrail 9’s large window was coupled facing forward near one of the E8s, a large roll down metal gate was lowered to protect the glass from any debris that might be kicked up. On the inside theater seating area near the large window, there was a control panel on the kitchen side of the car that featured a radio for talking to the head end, an emergency brake valve, light controls for the three sets of exterior lights (2 red FRA approved translite markers, 2 upper flood lights, and 2 lower headlights with 2 bulbs each), and a button to blow the horn. That’s right, the Conrail 9 has a horn. It sounded more like the horns used on MOW equipment than the melody of a Leslie RSL-3L-R horn like the E8As had.

Conrail 9’s theater seats also featured fold down trays for the riders to place their trip booklets and other various things. Above the picture window, and like many of the other office cars, there were gauges for the outside temperature, a beautiful Boston clock, speedometer, brake pipe pressure gauge, and inside temperature gauge. These were illuminated from hanging lights. Remember, we are talking the 1990s here, so no digital displays like those that can be found on updated business cars.

Other interior features included arrangeable dining tables, cabinetry with a constant flow of coffee and juice, and a small sink. Conrail 9 had a full service stainless kitchen and a restroom. The decor when I visited Conrail 9 was very 1990s (it didn’t look dated then!) and I am sure CSX has updated it by this point. Conrail photographs of the Conrail OCS train adorned the wall separating the kitchen from the dining room. A small serving window that opened and closed was also on that wall allowing quick service of food. Don Oltmann has a fantastic blog post discussing the springs and ventilation fans in Conrail 9. I think I’ve read it, I don’t know, many a hundred times! Love those kinds of stories.

After Conrail was split up by CSX and Norfolk Southern, the Conrail 9 went to CSX Transportation and was quickly painted in CSX YN2 colors and given the name “Massachusetts”. After the CSX business cars were repainted into YN3 colors, the car lost its Northeastern name and was renamed “Alabama”. It reminded me of when CSX ditched the city of Philadelphia and the former Conrail 3, CSX “Philadelphia”.

Since being on CSX, the former Conrail 9 often plays second fiddle to the CSX theater car “Georgia” 994318 and only occasionally is seen touring the rails. CSX made some updates to the roll up door and roof around 2008-2009. CSX also seems to have updated the interior in the last few years. For a while, I was wondering if the former Conrail 9 had been sold along with former Conrail 12 and former Conrail 8, but then some photos and video of it popped up as late as 2019. The CSX business train is pretty elusive with no equipment diagrams available (that I have seen) and very few photos of the interior of the cars, unlike Norfolk Southern that has posted photos and videos of the interior of its train. CSX used to store their business cars and special equipment outside, but have moved the equipment to an indoor location at their Waycross shops.

In 2020, the entire CSX business train underwent a transformation, sporting a paint scheme inspired by the iconic colors of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O). By September 2020, the former Conrail 9 was repainted and renamed as "W. Thomas Rice," in honor of W. Thomas Rice, a pivotal railroad executive in the formation of CSX in 1980. Since then, this car has consistently been featured at the rear of CSX business trains.

I hope Conrail 9 continues to be used in its intended service for years to come. I have my doubts that it will stay on the CSX business train roster for long, but time will tell. In the meantime, enjoy some technical data from its days on Conrail.

  • Truck Class - 2F2P3 - 4 wheels - Roller Bearing size 6-1/2” x 12”

  • Brake Type - Clasp 2-1/2” Comp. Shoes

  • Brake Cylinder - 6” x 9”

  • Outside Swing Hangers

Conrail kept documentation about the rebuilding of some of their business and research cars. Below are two pages from a document that outlined all of the updates Conrail made when creating the theater car 9.

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 Official Equipment Diagrams, Conrail trip booklets, Union Pacific Heritage Fleet website, Santa Fe Railway Passenger Car Reference Series - Volume Four Business & Special Purpose Cars, and a CSX Santa Train press release.

All images are © copyright Wes Reminder, Chip Syme, Charlie Murphy, Jr., and Rob Palmer, and may not be used in print, web or any other use without permission.

Wes Reminder

https://www.the-boring-the-adoring.com/
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