11/14-

News-

New Jersey Transit- The Hoboken Terminal Restoration Project is now complete! The project finished up last month. This was the reason that the 1999 Hoboken Festival was cancelled. The Lakewood Line debate is heating up in central Jersey. A NJ senator is pushing to get the line passed this month, but residents are opposed because of the noise and numerous grade crossings through the area. NJT concluded several years ago that increased bus service along the Route 9 Corridor would DECREASE traffic, but that failed. The only other solution is this rail line. As the NJT Arrows receive their ditch lights, the J in the N logo is being erased on the front panel of the cars to make room for the lights.

Metro North- F40PH-2CAT's 4191 and 4192 are currently in Altoona receiving the necessary modifications before starting service on the NJ/ MTA pool lines.

Conrail- Farewell Sunshine! The sweet smell that fills the air around Browns Yard is now a distant memory. The Sunshine Biscuits Plant, located on the Gillepsie Branch closed last month. The plant was never a large customer for Conrail, but it did have its own siding.

Updates-

Photo Galleries:

Passenger Railroads:Added photos of NJT at Hoboken.

Freight Railroads:Added photo of Conrail at Browns Yard.

Tourist Railroads: Added photos of CMSL at Cape May, 4H fairgrounds, and the Swing Bridge. Also added photo of Pine Creek Railroad at Allaire.

Light Rail: Moved the diagram of the light rail interior from Passenger Railroads to here.

10/23-

News-

New Jersey Transit- I have been receiving many emails regarding NJT's purchase of 65 new locomotives and some 400 coaches. The original purchase consisted of 63 locomotives and 200 coaches and was increased. Last reported, the locomotives will be of the electric series for use on the Boonton Line into New York. 200 of the coaches will be single level, similar to the Comet series. This will cause the Comet IB conversions to gradually be phased out. The other 200 coaches will be custom double deck for use in the Hudson River Tunnels, and for MidTown Direct Service on the Boonton, Gladstone, and Morristown Lines.

Metro North- As NJT anticipates arrival of the new coaches, older Comet II coaches are being sold to the MTA.

Amtrak- Acela Service on the NEC has been postponed until Spring of 2000. An alignment problem with the trainset's front truck was cause for removal and replacement on all sets. The sets were supposed to be in operation by November 1, 1999, and although the arrival is being pushed back, but will still meet the FRA's requirement to have the sets in operation by the end of 2000.

Norfolk Southern- NS is planning to run a RoadRailer through Browns Yard and over the Amboy Secondary and up the Dayton Branch to reach the Northeast Corridor. This will cause Conrail to upgrade tracks to Jamesburg on the Amboy Secondary, as only the daily local passes over this section.

Updates-

Main Page: Changed the collage banner and incase you haven't noticed yet, with every update, I change the main welcome photo!

Photo Galleries:

Passenger Railroads:Added a diagram of what the interior of NJT's new light rail cars will look like.

Freight Railroads: Added photo of the EMD Lease Unit at Browns Yard and added photos of the South River Bridge on the Sayreville Running Track.

9/19-

News- Hurricane Floyd Floods Jersey, Damages Railroads

New Jersey Transit- Morris and Essex Lines Service was suspended from Dover to Hackettstown with MidTown Direct Service suspended on Thursday and Friday. Service was running with delays for the weekend following Floyd. The Boonton and Pascack Valley Lines were closed Thursday and Friday, and should re open for the morning rush on Monday, 9-21. The Main and Bergen County Lines were closed on Thursday and for the morning commute on Friday. They were operating with extensive delays on Saturday, with the Main Line running with less delays. Raritan Valley Line Service is running between Newark and Dunellen only until Bound Brook dries out. All of Somerset County was declared a disaster area by President Clinton. Flooding in Newark and Trenton caused suspension of service on the Northeast Corridor for both Thursday afternoon and Friday. Problems on the Coast Line were minimal, mostly with flooding south of Manasquan (which occurs with any storm). Service was up an running again on Friday morning. Atlantic City Line trains were running with minimal delays.

Metro North- Port Jervis Line Service is suspended until further notice.

Amtrak- The Clocker is suspended until further notice.

Conrail- Complete flooding closed the Lehigh Line and the Trenton Line throughout the state. Flooding also occurred around Port Reading Jct., so no trains could access the Port Reading Secondary or the Chemical Coast from the south.

Other News- NJT Orders New, Conrail Lives On!

New Jersey Transit- New roadbed is now being installed on the Northeast Corridor, as all the concrete ties have been installed on the NJT tracks. NJT has signed an agreement for new trains to be built. The new trains will consist of 63 new locomotives and over 200 bi-level coaches custom built for NJT. The problem with the bi-level coaches on the market is that they are too tall and will not fit into the Hudson River Tunnels.

Conrail- Conrail's Last Stand- The Jersey Shared Asset Area drillers are slowly arriving and are appearing in the major yards throughout the state. They can be seen coming into New Jersey pulling long distance trains. Five of them (3 GP38-2s, 1 GP38, and 1 GP15-1) pulled into Browns Yard with SESA last Sunday. One GP38-2 was CSX sublettered, but the rest remained in Conrail lettering and numbering.

Updates-

Photo Galleries:

Passenger Railroads: Added photos of NJT at Kingsland.

Freight Railroads: Added photos GP38-2 #8116 on the Gillepsie Branch.

Stations: Added photo of Kingsland Station.

Links:

Dead or missing links corrected or removed, new links added!

8/21-

News-

New Jersey Transit- Super Steel of Newark is producing new trolley cars for the Hudson/Bergen LRT. The cars have the disco stripes at each end, but lack the black windowband common to all NJT coaches. In addition, they are also articulated and are transported from the factory by way of truck. The Montclair Connection has finally started construction. Trees that lie on the future right of way are being cleared. The Boonton Line from Walnut Street to Great Notch will be electrified, and 3 MidTown direct trains in each direction will be on the new schedule. In addition, the Boonton Line will be closed from Benson Street south. The stations at Benson Street, Rowe Street, and Arlington will be abandoned as all Boonton Line trains will travel over the Montclair Branch to reach NYC/ Hoboken. The project will take 2 years to complete.

Conrail- Browns Yard Driller B36-7 #5031 is currently working at Bayway Yard. GP40-2 #3327 has taken it's place, for the time being. Shared Asset Area Driller #7738 has been repainted, but not into NS or CSX colors. The unit was repainted into a Conrail Quality scheme. EMD lease units are on the move in Central Jersey. The units are blue with the words ELECTRO- MOTIVE stenciled across the side. Two units were pulled into Browns on 8-9, and another was at Browns on 8-14.

Updates-

Photo Galleries:

Freight Railroads: Added photo of Replacement Driller GP40-2 #3327

Tourist Railroads: Added odd photo of an abandoned train in Bayville.

Maps:

Newark Industrial Track: New Map Online!

8/7-

News- The Monmouth Jct. transfer is in the final planning stages. Trackwork was taking place on 8-3-99. The Lakewood Line is slowly becoming a reality. The abandoned portion of the Freehold Secondary between Freehold and Farmindale is looking good! Trackwork is being done and the line is developing nicely. In addition, the Amboy Secondary is seeing a huge increase in traffic. Seven trains rolled through East Brunswick between 4 and 8PM on Tuesday, 8-3-99. NS/CSX long haul trains have been causing major delays systemwide. These trains have been idling on major arteries, some for as long as 20 hours on the Lehigh Line, and ultimately causing shipment problems.

Updates-

Photo Galleries:

Passenger Railroads: Added photo of an NJT Comet IV at Hoboken and added a photo of the MMC.

Freight Railroads: Added photo of Browns Yard Driller SD40-2 #6977.

Out of State Railroads: Added photo of MARC AEM-7 #4902 at the 1988 Hoboken Festival.

Maps:

Cape May Seashore Lines: Added more detail.

7/24-

News- The beginning of the end... CSX has made their grand arrival into Browns Yard on Monday, 7-19-99, with the arrival of CSX #8164 and an unidentified CSX SD40-2. Both units were painted in the CSX paint scheme. Conrail GP38-2 #8124 has become the major Browns Yard Driller, working all lines served by the yard. Trackwork is now taking place at Jamesburg and portions of the Amboy Secondary. NJT is currently installing pantographs on their PCC streetcars during the City Subway Upgrade Project. The line will get overhead wires and new LRV cars for use on the upgraded line. No track work has begun yet, just stations and cars. NJT has also placed the Lakewood Line on their top priority list. The line is desperately needed in central NJ and will most likely start service in early 2001.

Updates-

Photo Galleries: Always striving for quality, increased photo sizes on many photos.

Passenger Railroads: Added NJT and Amtrak at New Brunswick and added NJT at Upper Montclair.

Freight Railroads: Added Conrail twilight photo.

Maps:

Atlantic Highlands Branch: Added more detail.

Chemical Coast: New map online!

Cape May Seashore Lines: New map online!

7/11-

News- Welcome Aboard 3374! Conrail GP40-2 #3374 is now a Browns Yard driller until it is time for it to go to Enola, PA to be sublettered for PRR. The unit works the Gillepsie Branch and the Sayreville Running Track. Trackwork is nearing completion on the extension of the Freehold Secondary. In addition, groundbreaking has begun at Red Bank Yard for trains to layover there after running the Farmingdale- Red Bank section of the Southern Secondary. The new schedule should take effect before January 2000. NS has leased more locomotives from Union Pacific, bringing their grand total to 161. These locomotives can be found all over New Jersey. The numbers of the ex- Amtrak F40s that Metro North bought were 370 and 382. No word yet on the Metro North numbering. New Jersey Transit is installing concrete ties on the Northeast Corridor. They are currently being installed on the New York- bound tracks. As of 7/5, they extended from Trenton to across the Raritan River Viaduct in New Brunswick. The viaduct is also undergoing repairs, including, for the first time ever, railings along each side of the span.

Updates-

Main Page: Consolidated categories to group photos together, maps together, and histories together.

Photo Galleries:

Passenger Railroads: Added NJT at Cape May and on the Atlantic City Line.

Freight Railroads: Added photo of a drilling operation at Browns Yard.

Tourist Railroads: Added CMSL at Cape May, on the swing bridge, and at 4-H Fairgrounds.

Light Rail: New gallery online!

Maps:

Atlantic Highlands Branch: New map online!

7/2-

News- NS and CSX are having trouble running their portions of Conrail. CSX is experiencing delays around Buffalo, while NS is experiencing delays and equipment shortage systemwide. As a result, NS was forced to lease 92 locomotives from Union Pacific. Metro North Railroad has bought 2 ex- Amtrak F40 locomotives for service on the Pascack Valley an Main/ Bergen/ Port Jervis Lines. The units are currently at Juniata, where they are being converted to F40PH-2CATs, to match NJT's units. The units will most likely be used in pool service west of the Hudson River. Cape May Seashore Lines is currently displaying RDC-1 M-409 and GP-9 7000 at Cape May City. The original NJT reporting marks are still visible on M-409. In addition, CMSL has terminated service to S. Cape May Court House in favor of the extension to Cape May over the Cape May Canal swing bridge. Restoration of the bridge was funded by NJT/ NJDOT. The bridge takes 42 seconds to open and 42 seconds to close. The new goal is to restore the line to Tuckahoe, then from Cape May to Cape May Point.

Updates- Conrail Acquisition Update. Revised FREIGHT YARDS OF NEW JERSEY to contain train symbols for NS/CSX.

6/19-

News- Only two weeks after "Day One", changes are already occurring on the Conrail System. The Amboy Secondary schedule has been totally mixed up. Trains now run late in the evening and during the night. There is not service daily, as there was with Conrail, but rather 3 to 4 trains each day 4 days a week. The Sayreville Running Track (ex-RRRR mainline) sees only one train per day 3 days a week. Browns Yard has been filled with an overflow of locomotives and cars. Track work has begun on the abandoned segment of the Freehold Secondary between Freehold and Farmingdale. NS and CSX plan to re-open the segment as an alternate route to Lakehurst. NS/CSX will no longer use the NJCL between S. Amboy and Red Bank. NS has signed an agreement with Amtrak to run RoadRailers over the NEC. The NEC will once again become a through freight route, for the first time in more than a decade. Cape May Seashore Lines started their Cape May Service last Saturday. Under the new schedule, the first train is a southbound train and the last train is a northbound train. The last train leaves Cape May at 7:30PM. CMSL is getting closer to becoming a commuter hauler as opposed to a tourist railroad.

Updates- Added photos of NJT at New Brunswick to Passenger Railroads. Added Conrail and Norfolk Southern at Browns Yard to Freight Railroads. Removed captions from CMSL photos and enlarged them to 5x7 size. Changed site welcome title, changed welcome photo. Added more news to What's New Page.

6/5-

News- NS (PRR) GP38 #2920 (ex- Conrail 7746) has been working at Browns Yard for the past several days. It was working the Gillepsie Branch and working yard duties. The first NS/CSX owned local on the Amboy Secondary rolled through East Brunswick at 9:29PM on June 1. Full NS power invaded Browns Yard on June 4, not even a week after NS and CSX are able to run their portions of the Conrail System, with the arrival of NS 8487 on the point and 5408 (ex-Conrail) trailing. The engines were idling and preparing to lead a northbound train as another northbound was preparing to depart. They were in the reverse order (8487 trailing, 5408 leading) as they were awaiting their departure. GP38 #2920 was trailing Conrail GP40-2 #3374 on the other northbound train. Conrail GP38 #7898 was re-assigned to the Chemical Coast and is currently laying over in Bayway Yard. Cape May Seashore Lines has officialized their summer schedule which includes Cape May (finally!). The price is now $8.00 round trip (between Cape May and County 4-H Fairgrounds), as opposed to $7.00 last year (Cold Spring to County 4-H Fairgrounds). Service into Cape May will start on June 12. PRR GP9 #7000 will be running on the line this year as well. The owner hopes to operate trains to Tuckahoe within the next 2 years.

Updates- I expanded the What's New Page to include rail related news for the state of New Jersey. Added NEW map of the Amboy Secondary. Former owners are no longer listed on the map, but all lines are now labeled. Added photos of Amtrak and NJT at New Brunswick to Passenger Railroads. Added photos of Conrail and NS at Browns Yard and on the Amboy Secondary to Freight Railroads. All new photos to site will be 5x7 size as opposed to the old 4x6 size.