Conrail OCS 11 - Amtrak 800388 - Staff Sleeper

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Conrail 11 was one of the cars that lasted on Conrail from day one on April 1, 1976 until the end in 1999. An abbreviated history is below:

CSX 994011 “Michael J. Ward” - (2/2020)

CSX 994011 “Pennsylvania” - (2016)

CSX 994011 “Youngstown” - (6/1/99)

Conrail 11 - (4/1/76)

Erie Lackawanna “Spirit of Youngstown” - (10/60)

Erie “Spirit of Youngstown” - (6/54)

Conrail 11, the staff sleeper, was among the first cars in the Conrail business car fleet and as such, started its life on Conrail in blue paint with a black underbody. The photo from Chip Syme below highlights the fact that it still had steam heat in 1981. Shortly after Conrail purchased the former Southern Railway office cars 1 and 4 in 1982/83, the car was repainted in Conrail green paint. From what I have read, Stanley Crane, as a former Southern railroader, had a hand in the green paint scheme. I’m glad he made those changes to the Conrail OCS fleet. Personally, I was never a fan of the blue office cars, but I digress. After the head end powered (HEP) E8As entered the scene, the steam heat days and the importance of the Conrail E8A 4022 were numbered. Not that Conrail 4022 didn’t play a role in the office car specials until the end, it just wasn’t the main power, and in fact, didn’t have HEP installed.

Back to Conrail 11, it was built by Pullman-Standard in June 1954 for the Erie Railroad and was named the “Spirit of Youngstown”. This sleeping car had a 10-5 configuration (5 double bedroom/10 roomette). The lightweight car went into service with sister “Pride of Youngstown” between Chicago and Youngstown. These two cars were the last in regular sleeper service on the Erie-Lackawanna. Their final assignments on The Lake Cities’ train between New York City and Youngstown ended in 1970. The car was then renumbered by Erie-Lackawanna as Staff Sleeper 11.

Conrail acquired the car in the merger and kept the number 11 and continued to use it as the office car staff sleeping car. Conrail had a few guys to manage the office car special. Jim Smith, Operations, made sleeping arrangements for the cars and oversaw the cook staff. Carl Kennedy, General Foreman, was in charge of the mechanical aspect of the OCS. Carl didn’t sleep in Conrail 11, instead preferring to stay in the bedroom of Conrail 55, the full length dome car.

According to Steve Timko, the car had one of the rooms set up with workout equipment for the Conrail employees using the train. I don’t have too many photos of the inside of Conrail 11, but from what I can tell it was pretty simplistic. Conrail 11 was certainly not as elegant as the Norfolk Southern NS 13 “Georgia” executive sleeper with workout area installed for Wick Moorman, but that isn’t a fair comparison either.

In 1999, CSX acquired the Conrail 11, which is when I saw the car. CSX numbered the car 994011 with the name “Youngstown”. Since being in CSX ownership, it has had three different paint schemes on CSX, the latest being the “Michael J Ward” in a B&O style scheme. It was one of the first CSX business cars to receive this paint scheme and was sporting it by February 2020. After CSX sold the former Conrail 12 conference and Conrail 8 executive sleeper, I was sure that Conrail 11 was next, but not yet. It is great to see it still being used in business train service.

For those that like the technical details, here is some technical information for Conrail 11 found in my copies of the original car data books.

Truck Class -41HR - 4 wheels - Roller Bearing size 6” x 11”
Brake Type - Clasp 2-1/2” Comp. Shoes
Brake Cylinder - 10” x 10”
Outside Swing Hangers

*Portions of this articles are excerpts from my book “Conrail Business & Research Trains: The Special Equipment Fleet”. Additional details about Conrail 11 are provided in the book.

Conrail 11 at 30th Street Philly 1981

Conrail 11 Reading, PA 1983

Conrail 11 Reading, PA 1985

Conrail 11 Reading, PA 1988

Conrail 11 Reading, PA 1990

Conrail 11 in Erie, PA 1998

Conrail 11 Staff Sleeper on CSX

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, Steve Timko, Conrail Diagrams of Office and Research Cars. Special thanks to Charles Murphy, Jr. and Chip Syme for allowing me to use their photos.

Conrail 11 Sleeper

Conrail OCS 11 - Amtrak 800388 - Staff Sleeper

Conrail 4021 EMD E8A

Conrail 12 Conference Car