Historic Photo at Bowie Tower

At Bowie, MD, Penn Central diesel locomotive #7240, with Conrail caboose #23147 pointed north on the Pope’s Creek Secondary just short of where it joins the Northeast Corridor. The location is adjacent to the current Bowie Railroad Museum complex. Bowie Tower is visible on the right in this photo at its original trackside location. PC #7240 was one of 268 GP-9 diesel locomotives built for the Pennsylvania Railroad in the late 1950s. The 43,200 lb. class N-5c “cabin car” as the Pennsy termed their cabooses is much older having been built in 1942. Both the locomotive and caboose were now part of successor railroad, CONRAIL’s equipment roster at the time of this photo taken shortly after the formation of the CONRAIL in 1976. Photo: Richard D. Kehm collection, Washington DC Chapter NRHS.