THE 80'S PT6

A look back at Hillsdale in the 80's...

Amtrak's Steel City Express passes through Hillsdale Yard on the way to Pittsburgh, passing a string of cars from Johnson Foods.

A pair of Amtrak's ubiquitous F40's lead the train, the lead unit having been upgraded with rooftop air conditioning.

The head end is heavy with MCH cars leaded with mail and packages.

Only four Amfleet cars trail the MCH's, as the train enters its twilight years. The Steel City would be gone by the end of 1988, the latest in a line of blows for the newly formed AP&W along its Pittsburgh to Washington D.C. line.

A yard full of boxcars and reefers sit in Hillsdale. A closer look next week.

THE 80'S, PT5

The pastor's then-new Cadillac Seville sits outside the church, as a Camaro drives past. Today, his son leads the church, and drives a Benz.

This view of County Lane is actually from the late 70's, including the new GMC motorhome, owned by one of the guys employed by the railroad.

Another view from farther down the block shows more classic vehicles, such as the Firebird, and some not-so-classics, such as the AMC Pacer!

A Greyhound Scenicruiser bus leaves town. Note the USPS box truck heading into town; there was once a mail distribution center in Hillsdale. It was closed in 2005, as the Post Office consolidated centers to save money.

The bus crosses the bridge. The Scenicruiser enjoyed a long career -from the 50's into the early 80's before being replaced by newer buses. While Hillsdale Bus Lines took people to Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, if you wanted to go further, you took Greyhound.

THE 80'S; PT4

Hillsdale, "back in the day"...

A old Ford F800 grain truck crosses the bridge out of town. While southwestern Pennsylvania doesn't produce a lot of grain, it does produce apples, peaches and maple syrup, as well as tobacco. There are also a few dairy farms in the area.

A Mayflower moving van rolls in. Is a family moving in or out of town?

An ambulance heads out of town. The nearest hospital is in Uniontown, 30 min. away; in a life-or-death situation, an airlift is required.

The Country Club truck crosses the bridge into town to make its deliveries.

The first stop, of course, is at The Pub. It will also stop at Sully's Tavern on Main Street, as well as the supermarket before leaving town.

THE 80'S, PT3

More of Hillsdale in the 80's...

County Lane in the 80's.

The shop is empty, but traffic is rolling into and out of town.

The Hillsdale Bus Lines shuttle to Philadelphia heads out. Since I-76, the main route between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, doesn't run this far south, it will be a 90 min ride to the Interstate, then another four hours to Philly.

The fire engine returns to town, after fighting a house fire. The occupants made it out safely, but the home was a total loss.

The 80's were still the heyday of the COE, Cab Over Engine. One of the most popular COE tractors was made by Freightliner, such as this one pulling a then-new 45' trailer. With the relaxing of length limits in the 90's, operators turned to conventional tractors, for both more comfort (no engine hump taking up all the space between the seats) and for better aerodynamics ( no more big, flat front end!).

THE 80'S, PT2

A look back at Hillsdale in the 80's...

Looking more like the 70's, the shop parking lot is full of work trucks.

Another old work truck sits outside the shop, this one with a crane for installing signals and other small structures.

Several company tractors sit in the lot, along with trailers.

Another semi tractor and trailer sit off to the side. Like the other two van trailers, it is 45' in length.

A close-up of one of the trailers shows the 5' extension added on to the end, where the stacked "45" logos advertise the new length. After the federal government began allowing 45' trailers on interstate highways in 1983, many 40' intermodal trailers received this treatment until the late 80's, when the length limit was stretched to 48'. Even then, many railroads continued to invest in 45' trailers into the early 90's, as many customers didn't need bigger trailers. Plus overall length limits on semis kept initial acceptance of 48' trailers low. Today, of course, most box trailers are 53' long -and so are domestic containers.
 Availco was one of many trailer leasing companies from the 80's; they gave railroads the ability to offer trailer service without having to actually purchase (and maintain) the trailers themselves.