The whole story can be found in the book "The Men Who Loved Trains" written by Rush Loving....While the title sounds questionable, it is a very informative tome that details the entire Eastern railroad progression from "The Plan" for northeastern railroad consolidations/mergers as advocated by Alfred Perlman, through the Penn Central/New Haven debacle, through the making of Conrail into a lean, mean, profitable rail machine and the ensuing bidding war between Norfolk Southern and CSX that resulted in Conrail's split between these roads. ("Pennsy" lines to NS, "NYC" lines to CSX; just about what Perlman was advocating fifty years ago..) In the story, various "movers and shakers" in the industry make their appearances; the Claytor brothers, Stuart Saunders, Hays Watkins, N&W's Chairmen, John Snow, the wiley Chairman of Conrail trying to get the best deal for his stockholders, et.al(interesting who the "Black Hats" and the "White Hats" appear to be in this convoluted telling of the remarkable story of the evolution of the railroads east of the Mississippi.