I don't think there's much sadder in railroading, short of a wreck, than seeing older locomotives waiting in a dead line for further parts cannibalization or scrapping, especially while their younger cousins race by on the mainline as you see in the photo below.  Yes, you're looking right through the shell of Conrail B-23-7 # 2814 and seeing a train of auto-rack cars passing by on the Norfolk Southern mainline next to the Juniata Shops, Altoona, PA in October 2003.

Conrail SW-1200 model # 9368, as seen above, sits on the Norfolk Southern dead line with the hulk of Conrail locomotive # 956, truck sets and miscellaneous engine parts like the louver vents in the foreground.

This engine has a long pedigree--built in February 1956, delivered to the New Haven as # 645, absorbed into the Penn Central as # 9185 before ending up on Conrail as # 9368.  The engine next to it, now not much more than a hulk, is Conrail # 1956.  (The black shadow in the picture isn't smoke--it's where I had to shoot the picture around the opening in a cyclone fence!)(Yes, I practice safe railfanning and respect all fences!)

The dead line had more than a few old proud engines down on their luck including Conrail General Electric Model B23-7 locomotives # 1902 and 1956.

As the sun drops into the west, we look to the north end of the dead line and see Conrail locomotive # 2022, another B23-7 keeping company with fellow retired engines # 1902 and # 1956...

...while to the south end of the dead line, Conrail switcher # 9364, her "white lined" number showing

she's off the railroad's books, and Conrail locomotive # 2953, a General Electric U33B, await their fate.

While these proud locomotives who made America hum may not have the brighter museum exhibit future of

Pennsylvania Railroad GG-1 electric locomotive # 4913 as a museum piece....

...at least they're not mounted on the wall like some other anonymous iron horse!