Conrail 25 and 26 are former heavyweight Southern Railway cars that were purchased at a time when the Conrail OCS was rapidly changing under the direction of Stanley Crane. In fact, Conrail purchased three former Southern coaches on August 24, 1983.

Conrail 8 was the second oldest car in the Conrail Office Car Special fleet having been built in 1917. Conrail purchased three coaches from the Southern Railway: Conrail 24, Conrail 25 and Conrail 26. Conrail 24 was rebuilt by the Reading Passenger Shops into an 8 bedroom sleeping car numbered Conrail 8.

Conrail 9 ( the theater inspection car) was built in 1954 as a Canadian National dinette, was purchased in 1982, and officially joined the Conrail Office Car Special fleet in March 1985. It became one of the most photographed pieces of Conrail’s special equipment fleet. Get an inside look at the massive picture window of Conrail 9.

Conrail 4, like Conrail 1, was a heavyweight office car and was purchased in 1983 from the Southern Railway. Conrail 4, while keeping its number 4 since 1953, has seen its share of changes. This car went from sleeper to office car, back to sleeper and is still working hard for Norfolk Southern as NS 4 "Michigan."

Conrail 12, the Conrail Office Car Special Conference Car, was built in 1952 for the Pennsylvania Railroad and was rebuilt by Conrail's Reading Passenger Car Shops in 1980. This Conrail OCS car was versatile with a rich history, being the only car to have three unique paint schemes and perhaps the only car to have made a brief flight.

Conrail 27, the 1947 coach built by Budd, was rebuilt at the Reading car shops for use on the Conrail Office Car Special. It was one of three cars that featured fluting in the business car fleet. Conrail 27 could be seen on all types of Conrail business trains, including Conrail Operation Lifesaver and Board of Director trips.

While the Conrail OCS train operated on a fairly tight and well defined schedule, many times the engineers who would operate the train were often in for a surprise when the train rolled into the station. In this story below by Douglas Kydd, he shares his experience of the Conrail Executive Train surprise assignment in 1998.