Saturday, August 27th (1994) was a rare event on the calendar of many railfans; the farewell trip of the U34CH's on the NJ TRANSIT system. The weather was perfect for the occasion, sunny and mild. As you read in last month's Bergen-Rockland newsletter, the thirty-two U34CH's served first Erie Lackawanna, then Conrail, and finally NJ TRANSIT long and well from 1970 to 1994 in commuter service. For Saturday's trip, NJT U34CH #4172 was repainted in its original dark blue and silver livery. NJT U34CH #4176 in its present platinum mist/disco-stripe and #4172, the two remaining engines that were still operating that day were placed on opposite ends of our train (for photo run-bys and operating flexibility). The 5450 Lounge Car was added and we boarded all our passengers in Hoboken at 8:00 AM.

We left Hoboken at 8:15 and proceeded to cover the better part of NJ TRANSIT's Northern rail system, including some unadvertised pleasant additions (Netcong, Morristown, and Suffern). There was plenty of room for seating as approximately 20% of all seats were left vacant to allow passengers to spread out and occupy choice locations. I had not been on some of the lines covered, so it was an added treat to observe the scenery between my car host duties while I scanned the extensive route narrative provided by John Kilbride and Carl Perelman of the URHS.

The Boonton line was the first taken, towards Denville with a photo stop in Mountain Lakes. A dumpster was awkwardly positioned in the photo line and ten assistants promptly moved it to the opposite side of the parking lot. I wonder what the reaction of the driver was when he went to pick it up the next day! We moved on the Morristown Line at Denville and proceeded to Netcong for our second photo stop. Unfortunately, the Netcong station is only two car lengths long, and traffic was tied up for about 20 minutes while passengers were let off and reboarded. We then reversed direction and headed back to West End Interlocking by way of Morristown. It was especially poignant when we passed the Meadows facility and observed the long line of U34CH's stored in the yard, awaiting their eventual fate.

We traveled across rare footage when we turned from the Morristown Line directly onto the Main Line at West End [using the wye.] The train stopped at Ridgewood for a one hour lunch break. Apparently some of the local restaurants had been warned of our arrival as several individuals were on the platform handing out restaraunt advertisements. Ridgewood is fairly large and 500 of us had no trouble quickly melting into the town only to reappear in an hour at the sound of [4176's] horn. This also proved to be a much needed bathroom stop, since of the four available bathrooms promised us by NJ TRANSIT, only two were delivered, and only one was working by this time. A single NJ TRANSIT [GP40PH-2] also appeared, and it turned out that it had been shadowing us all day as our protection. Apparently NJ TRANSIT wasn't taking any chances with our being stranded by a breakdown by the venerable U34CH's.

The train departed on schedule and no one was left behind. We were, however, prepared to stop on our return from Suffern if we did leave anyone behind. A New York and Greenwood Lake painted RS3 was supposedly waiting at Suffern for our photo stop. However, when we arrived it was found to be spotted too far from the station to be conveniently photographed. Instead, another U34CH photo stop was conducted and we then headed for Pascack Junction via the Bergen County Line. At Pascack Junction the train reversed direction and headed up the Pascack Valley Line, the final lef of our trip before our return to Hoboken.

With the exception of occasional equipment moves, there is no weekend service on the Pascack Valley Line. Many onlookers gazed with surprised expressions as we moved up the line towards Spring Valley, NY at a track speed of 55 to 65 MPH. A photo stop was held at Oradell, one of NJT's most attractive stations. We really tied up traffic here. A police officer briefly observed the commotion, shook his head, and left. Apparently our train never completely cleared the gap controlling the gates while we boarded, and several of our group had to physically hold up the gates to allow traffic to pass.

We moved up the line towards Spring Valley, then reversed direction to return to Hoboken, with a final photo stop at Harmon Cove. Harmon Cove was reached ahead of schedule, but the sun went in and the light faded considerably. Finally Hoboken, and a few final shots of the U34CH's for posterity.