| Posted by xBNSFer on February 10, 2022 | |
MAIL 9 (South Kearny - Chicago) and MAIL 3 (South Kearny - East St. Louis, IL) typically ran with six units out of NJ on each other's heels. I think sometimes the "extra" units became the power for a second "H" section west of Harrisburg, PA, depending on how much traffic they had on a given day. But yes, as NYC was much more of a "consuming" area than a "producing" area by the '90s (and a while before that), there was definitely more eastbound tonnage than westbound, so "power balancing" was certainly part of the Conrail game plan.
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The date was a Monday, typically the day power was excessed west owing to power imbalances this time of the week. Thus you would find an atypical number of units on some westbound trains and often a power move of eight to ten units - headed for Conway or beyond. Eastbound volumes were also historically greater dating back to the nineteenth century. The affects upon power was most pronounced at the end of the weekend in the eastern region.
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