What I have posted here was found back in 1999 buried among the ruins of my
teenage darkroom at Mother's house. I did what I could to make them viewable when
scanning, but some of the negatives were just too far gone to revive even
digitally. Oh for the chance to go back to 1975 and beat some sense into
myself......
I used to ride my bicycle around town to some of the interesting railfan spots
and occasionally I would take my camera along with me. More often than not I
would leave it at home as riding with the Petri slung around my neck wasn't
very comfortable and I was always worried the strap would break and send my
prized SLR tumbling on the street at 25mph. Those fears were justified as
that's exactly how that old warrior met its demise in 1977! I wish I had had
the money to replace it back then, I'd have a lot more of the early days of
Conrail on film today and probably better quality shots than most of those
shown here.
I dedicate this site to my father, Henry Sr, my railfan partner from the
time I was born until he dropped his fire in July of '97.
For what it's worth, enjoy :)
- Henry
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to J. Henry Priebe Jr.'s WNY 1970's Page
All photos © J. Henry Priebe Jr. unless otherwise noted.
[Previous (1 to 20)] Photos 21 through 40 of 55 total [Next (41 to 55)]
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Westbound CR train with 3 PC U33C's on the head end on the old NYC just west of Exchange St. The third bridge in the distance is the ex-EL, Ex DL&W passenger main to the yet to be ripped down DL&W Buffalo passenger terminal. Of course the bridge is now gone and this section is now CSX' 3 Main or "Compromise" as the double track main is now the ex-Buffalo Creek through what used to be FW interlocking and the CP DRAW bottleneck over the Buffalo river. Grab shot on bicycle as a teenager with a beat up old Petri, Tri-X and processed at home image/jpeg, 800x530 (256c) compro1.jpg 123529 bytes |
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CP's daily Budd car train from Toronto to Buffalo has just come off the International Bridge onto Bird Island near 1 PM in the summer of 1975 I would frequently hop on my bicycle and pedal the mile and a half to the bridge from my summer job in the hopes of catching the Budds and Amtrak's Empire State Express from Detroit Shot as a teenager with a cheap Petri SLR, Kodak Tri-X 400 speed B&W and processed in my attic bathroom image/jpeg, 800x393 (256c) cp-budd1.jpg 90229 bytes |
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CP's daily Budd car train from Toronto to Buffalo has just come off the International Bridge onto Bird Island near 1 PM in the summer of 1975 I would frequently hop on my bicycle and pedal the mile and a half to the bridge from my summer job in the hopes of catching the Budds and Amtrak's Empire State Express from Detroit Shot as a teenager with a cheap Petri SLR, Kodak Tri-X 400 speed B&W and processed in my attic bathroom image/jpeg, 800x366 (256c) cp-budd2.jpg 51615 bytes |
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Looking TT west at Tower 48 and Central Terminal in Buffalo in 1976 or '77 Tower 48 is of course long gone and Central Terminal is a disaster in the year 2000. Terrible exposure with an old Petri and Kodak Tri-X image/jpeg, 800x530 (256c) cp48-1.jpg 96552 bytes |
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NYC/PC/CR Tower 48 just east of Central Terminal in Buffalo in 1976 or '77 The substantial Tower 48 controlled the east end trackage at Central Terminal where the main line, belt line, Frontier Yard leads and Stock Yard leads joined together. Tower 48 is of course long gone and Central Terminal is a disaster in the year 2000. A teenager shot done with an old Petri and Kodak Tri-X image/jpeg, 800x530 (256c) cp48-2.jpg 105195 bytes |
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Southbound (TT east) CR/PC U33B 2912 passed CR/LV RS-3 216 on the ex-PC, ex-NYC Niagara Branch in Buffalo, NY in the summer of 1976 In the background ex-PC Burro crane CB3087 is dismantling the connection from the EL's Black Rock Yard to the PC's Wonalancet Runner near Kenmore Yard and Tower H / CP 8. Shot as a teenager with a cheap Petri SLR, Kodak Tri-X 400 speed B&W and processed in my attic bathroom image/jpeg, 800x533 (256c) cr2912-1.jpg 96389 bytes |
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Southbound (TT east) CR/PC U33B 2912 passed CR/LV RS-3 216 on the ex-PC, ex-NYC Niagara Branch in Buffalo, NY in the summer of 1976 In the background ex-PC Burro crane CB3087 is dismantling the connection from the EL's Black Rock Yard to the PC's Wonalancet Runner to Kenmore Yard Shot as a teenager with a cheap Petri SLR, Kodak Tri-X 400 speed B&W and processed in my attic bathroom The damage to this negative just breaks my heart ;-( image/jpeg, 800x459 (256c) cr2912-2.jpg 75891 bytes |
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The sun popped out briefly for this grab shot of an ex-PRR N8 cabin passing under the I-190 in the summer of 1976. Note the fresh paint job This cabin was trailing the train seen in this photo on the ex-NYC main Compromise Track. Shot as a teenager with a cheap Petri SLR, Kodak Tri-X 400 speed B&W and processed in my attic bathroom image/jpeg, 800x533 (256c) crhack.jpg 66242 bytes |
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The east end trackage at Central Terminal was prodigious in this shot from 1976 or '77 The negative had terrible contrast so scanning didn't work well. Same old mechanical Petri with Tri-X image/jpeg, 800x481 (256c) cterm77-1.jpg 87805 bytes |
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Another shot of the east end at aging Central Terminal from 1976 or '77 The negative had terrible contrast so scanning didn't work well. Same old mechanical Petri with Tri-X image/jpeg, 800x530 (256c) cterm77-2.jpg 70793 bytes |
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Conrail "EL" GP7's 1209 and 1223 switching Black Rock Yard in Buffalo, NY in the summer of 1976 Note the PC style numbers applied to the 1209 shortly after the creation of Conrail. The last of Black Rock Yard's rails were ripped up in the summer of '99 Shot as a teenager with a cheap Petri SLR, Kodak Tri-X 400 speed B&W and processed in my attic bathroom image/jpeg, 800x533 (256c) el1209.jpg 93919 bytes |
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CR/EL "torpedo tube" passenger GP7 1408 switches Black Rock Yard in the summer of 1976 That's the American Standard plant in the background on the other side of Hertel Ave. Just visible to the far left is the Erie RR Riverside spur which crossed the DL&W to reach the A.S. plant and other area industries. Although short, the grade far exceeded the Southern's famous Saluda grade and no doubt caused problems on rainy days! Shot as a teenager with a cheap Petri SLR, Kodak Tri-X 400 speed B&W and processed in my attic bathroom image/jpeg, 800x202 (256c) el1408-2.jpg 42612 bytes |
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Full frame of CR/EL "torpedo tube" passenger GP7 1408 switching Black Rock Yard in the summer of 1976 It is approaching the north ladder of the west end of the yard. The Hertel Ave. overpass necked the yard down to 4 tracks, effectively cutting it into two halves Shot as a teenager with a cheap Petri SLR, Kodak Tri-X 400 speed B&W and processed in my attic bathroom image/jpeg, 800x838 (256c) el1408-3.jpg 153876 bytes |
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Broadside of CR/EL "torpedo tube" passenger GP7 1408 switching Black Rock Yard near Hertel Ave. in the summer of 1976 Note that the steam generator passenger equipment appears to be intact under the short hood in this first year of Conrail operation Shot as a teenager with a cheap Petri SLR, Kodak Tri-X 400 speed B&W and processed in my attic bathroom image/jpeg, 800x218 (256c) el1408p.jpg 39876 bytes |
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CR ex-EL, ex-Erie NW2 426 switching in Buffalo, NY in Conrail's first summer. CR lettering has not yet "polluted" this classic EL yard goat Shot as a teenager with a cheap Petri SLR, Kodak Tri-X 400 speed B&W and processed in my attic bathroom image/jpeg, 800x529 (256c) el426.jpg 79018 bytes |
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Amtrak's Empire State Express from Detroit led by an E8 comes off the International Bridge in the Black Rock section of Buffalo in 1976 Another badly damaged negative image/jpeg, 946x570 (256c) ese-1.jpg 136378 bytes |
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Amtrak's Empire State Express from Detroit led by an E8 comes off the International Bridge in the Black Rock section of Buffalo in 1976 Another badly damaged negative image/jpeg, 800x533 (256c) ese-2.jpg 86037 bytes |
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Amtrak's Empire State Express from Detroit led by an E8 crosses Black Rock Canal coming off the International Bridge from Canada in Buffalo in 1976 Another heartbreakingly damaged teenager's negative image/jpeg, 800x444 (256c) ese01.jpg 83852 bytes |
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Amtrak's Empire State Express from Detroit led by an E8 crosses Black Rock Canal coming off the International Bridge from Canada in Buffalo in 1976 Another heartbreakingly damaged teenager's negative image/jpeg, 800x444 (256c) ese02.jpg 81364 bytes |
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E8 and baggage car of Amtrak's Empire State Express from Detroit passes the Wabash's Black Rock freight house coming off the International Bridge from Canada in Buffalo in 1976 Another scratchy old negative shot as a teenager on a dull day image/jpeg, 800x530 (256c) ese03.jpg 81000 bytes |
