Originally excluded from the Conrail system in 1976, the Branch remained in service under a subsidy agreement by local authorities until 1981.

The companies about to divvy up the huge Conrail system have certainly tried to do their homework.

The formation of Conrail in 1976 saw that company provide rail service in Connersville, however the line was disconnected from the rest of the Conrail system.

Smaller regional railroads, notably the Long Island Rail Road, feed substantial amounts of the waste into the Conrail system for shipment.

Erie Lackawanna became part of the Conrail system on April 1, 1976.

Four years later, on April 24, 1980, the Raritan River Railroad merged into the Conrail system.

The remaining 97 leased fifty-foot box cars were re-numbered and absorbed into the Conrail system.

The PC later went bankrupt and was absored into the government-created Conrail system, who abandoned the line between Milford and Trenton in 1979.

New PRR type position lights continued to be installed up until the 1980s on former Conrail systems.

The two sides failed to reach an agreement then and the discussions riled Conrail management, which had sought to preserve the integrity of the Conrail system.