Conrail 24 Track Geometry Train Support Car

Railroad Office CarsConrail OCSConrail 27
Written By Wes Reminder

Conrail 24 behind B23-7 1933 at Blandon, Pennsylvania, in 1992. Note the green roof, which only lasted about a year.

Conrail 24 - Track Geometry Train Support Car

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Conrail 24 was built by the St. Louis Car Company in 1952 as hospital car USAX 89512, designed to transport wounded soldiers arriving by ship at U.S. ports to military hospitals. The car was built under job 1771 contracted on 2/12/51 by the US Army Transportation Corps. The order was for 63 cars numbered 89506–89568 and the cars were shipped between 9/18/52 and 6/2/53.

While I was not able to confirm the history of the car before Brock Kerchner and I released our book, we have been able to track down some more information since then. While the puzzle is not complete (at least before its arrival on Conrail), here are some speculations based on my research.

In 1973, a handful of US Army hospital cars in the 895XX series were sold to Amtrak and became baggage and baggage dormitory cars in the 1400–1429 and 1450–1455 series. In the same year, several US Army cars in the 896XX were sold to Amtrak and became baggage cars in the 1300 series as well. From my digging, USAX 89512 was NOT one of those cars.

After purchasing several photos of the USAX 89512 in Elkins, West Virginia, between 1982 and 1985, what seems more likely is that the car was purchased by the Western Maryland Railroad after the war when they purchased other US Army cars (Troop Sleepers). Those cars were renumbered in the 3000s series and were used in maintenance-of-way service. In the 1980s, Maryland Midland took over parts of the former Western Maryland.

Below is a brief history of Conrail 24. If you are able to fill in any missing data, please reach out:

Atom Rail 37 - (10/12/23)

Everett Railroad (as NS 37) - (6/23)

Norfolk Southern 37 - (6/1/99)

Conrail 24 - (12/91)

Conrail (unknown number) - (circa 88)

Pittsburgh Transportation Museum Society 100 - (unknown)

Western Maryland 89512 - (unknown)

U.S. Army 89512 - (52)

When the car arrived on Conrail, it was in the exact same state as the 1982 and 1985 photos, with painted-over military markings, meaning at no point after its sale by the military did the car get refurbished or repainted. Conrail documentation lists the car’s previous owner as “PTMS” with the #100.

According to Eric Levin, “There was a group in Pittsburgh that operated out of the old B&O Grant Street Station that had a bunch of passenger cars. They were in various states of repair, and some were Amtrak certified. I believe the PTMS reporting mark was theirs and was used as a shop reporting mark for COT&S work on their equipment. The group was called Pittsburgh Transportation Museum Society.”

What is certain is that Conrail purchased the car for the special equipment fleet, and it was photographed by Steve Sullivan as early as 1988 at the Reading Shops. Carl Kennedy confirmed that while the car was originally purchased for use on the Office Car Special, two other departments wanted the car: the Engineering Department for the Track Measurement Train, and the Technical Services Lab as a replacement for Conrail 20. The Technical Services Lab didn’t have the funds to remove the asbestos. The Engineering Department could use the car as-is, so they ended up with it.

In December of 1991, the Juniata Miscellaneous Shop 2 workers modified the car into a Support Car, replacing the damaged Conrail 23 baggage car. The original car included roomettes and a kitchen, but the kitchen appliances were removed, leaving the existing metal cabinets in place. The roomettes at the other end of the car were left intact. The largely hollow center of the car (where the patient bunks had been) was used for storage and supplies. The 480-volt power for the 110,000 pound car was supplied from either Conrail 21 or Conrail 22, depending on what car was coupled to it. Jim Beyerl, Engineer - Track Analysis on the Track Measurement Train, remembers how helpful Conrail 24 was after being added to the fleet. The car stored extra water, feeler gauges, oil, spare parts, and paint for marking defects. The Track Geometry Car Conrail 21 could go through as many as five gallons of paint in two days of testing. Conrail 24 also housed exercise equipment for the crew.

While interior photos of the car have been hard to come by, some Polaroid photographs taken by Conrail showed that the car was vandalized while laying over in Pavonia Yard on January 17, 1995. The fire, set in a locker, luckily extinguished itself, but not before melting the overhead lights in the car. Unlike the Conrail business train passenger equipment, the Track Geometry train did not have sleeping quarters and at the end of the shift, the train was left unattended. Photos of the windows of Conrail 21 and Conrail 22 often show shattered windows from vandalism.

Fortunately, the car’s history during its period on Conrail has been well documented. After the Conrail split, Conrail 24 went to Norfolk Southern where it was numbered Norfolk Southern 37. The car continued to be used with the former Conrail Track Geometry Car, Conrail 21, for a few years and there were rumors that the car would be converted for use on the Norfolk Southern business car fleet (its second time almost becoming an business car), but with the retirement of Wick Moorman in 2015, that never happened. Perhaps the closest the car got to a business car was the “Office Car” decal Norfolk Southern added to the end door, but don’t let that fool you as the car was definitely not up to that standard. Instead, it was placed in the deadline at the Norfolk Southern Juniata Locomotive Shops and sat for about 10 years before being sold to the Everett Railroad in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania in June 2023.

A few months later In October of 2023 the car was sold to Atom Rail. Atom Rail LLC, based in Liberty Hill, South Carolina, offers a variety of railway services and they have posted a video on YouTube showing off the interior and exterior of the car. At the time of this writing it is unknown what the new number and paint scheme will be, but they have indicated that “long term plans for this car are to turn it into a First Class open door ‘observation room’ car with kitchen for excursion or shoreline service.”

If you have any further information about USAX 89512, I would love to hear from you!

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

  • “From Horsecars to Streamliners: An Illustrated history of the St. Louis Car Company” by Alan R. Lind

Special thanks to the photographer contributions on this page:

Charlie Murphy, Jr.

All images are © copyright Wes Reminder and each photographer listed on the image. Usage of these images requires explicit permission for reproduction, distribution, or any other use. For inquiries, please use the contact button.

© Wes Reminder 2026. All rights reserved. No part of this text may be copied, reproduced, distributed, or used in any form without explicit written permission from Wes Reminder. This includes, but is not limited to, use in AI models, digital databases, and electronic formats.

Wes Reminder

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