7 days in New York and New Jersey

NEW
YORK &
NEW
JERSEY,
TRAINS
AND
BEERS
February
2012
An account of my visit to New York and New
Jersey revolving around trains and brewpubs
By Pete Callaghan.
After awaiting the outcome of some shift swaps I had made at work I found myself with ten days
off at fairly short notice. Normally I wouldn’t consider a trip to America for such a short amount
of time, more likely that I’d do a trip to Czech or Croatia, however the only class of locos in
Czech I have an interest in have been relegated to having a couple of weekend only turns (and
some of the locos are silenced which doesn’t help as I only do “loud”) and having been to
Croatia as recently as only December I didn’t fancy going back so soon, as whilst I enjoy Croatia
a lot it can tend to get monotonous. Both of these countries can wait till the summer when there
is more to go for.
And so I decided to have a quick visit to America instead. A package was booked which
included return flights from London to New York JFK and seven nights in the Hotel
Pennsylvania outside New York Penn station.
My reasons for picking New York as a base for the week were as follows (1) New Jersey Transit (NJT) offer a weekly season ticket (valid from 0001 Saturday to 0600 the
following Saturday) thus giving the convenience and savings of not having to buy singles for
every trip. Better still, by purchasing a season ticket between the two furthest points on the
network (Bay Head and Port Jervis), you therefore have freedom of travelling to equivalent
points on the other lines, so in this case the ticket is valid for the whole network (except the
isolated Atlantic City route). Furthermore, as Port Jervis is in MNRR territory then the ticket is
cross-honoured on the MNRR Hudson route out of NY Grand Central to Poughkeepsie. I
managed to get all this clarified by email prior to leaving the UK.
(2) NJT are taking delivery of a fleet of dual powered locos and this would be a chance for me to
try and get some of my required older locos, prior to them possibly being withdrawn when the
new stuff enters service.
(3) It would give me a chance to do the available NJT diesel track I still need, namely Raritan to
High Bridge, and Newark Broad Street to Dover and onwards to Hackettstown via both the
Montclair route and the Morris & Essex route, annoyingly all are only available on weekdays
and the Monday of my visit fell on a holiday (Presidents Day) which didn’t help.
(4) There are a selection of brewpubs easy to get to on the NJT/MNRR network.
New engines/planes are in bold and underlined (engines marked NJT* are operated by NJT on
behalf of MNRR who own them).
FRIDAY 17th FEBRUARY 2012.
As I needed to be at Heathrow for a midday flight and with it being a Friday there was no way
I’d get a decent price rail fare for this trip, so National Express (not exactly cheap either) was
used to transport me to the airport, and it least it has the advantage of being a direct service.
I was at the airport well early taking no chances on missing the flight and so after heading to
departures I found a place to have a lie down for a couple of hours before going to the assigned
gate for boarding. The flight boarded on time and a first for me was that I was sat upstairs on the
747, which had a small isolated section of economy seats there. There were 36 seats in all and
with just 12 passengers in this section I had a row to myself, and as this part of the plane was
previously designated as super economy it had the added bonus that the seats had slightly more
leg room than normal economy. A good flight ensued and arrival at JFK was a little early, and
with no hold ups at immigration or baggage claim I soon found myself at the LIRR Jamaica
station.
My plan for the afternoon and evening was to cover the diesel hauled LIRR services between
Jamaica and Oyster Bay, and this was done successfully before I headed into New York on an
EMU. On arrival at Penn station my next task was to purchase the weekly Port Jervis to Bay
Head ticket that would cover me for the whole of the NJT network plus the MNRR Hudson line,
and this was easily achieved at the ticket office where I handed over $134 for the piece of paper
that would allow me to roam all over for the next week.
After securing my rail validity I made my way out of the station and over the road to the hotel,
where I had to wait in line for 30 minutes to check in. The hotel claims to be the worlds most
popular, so if this is the case maybe they should employ more people at the check in desk.
Anyway, I found my room and dumped my bag before a quick visit to near by pub Stout NYC
which has a good range of beers available (noting on the way that the queue for check in was
twice as long as it had been when I joined it). The pub was busy and after having just one beer I
left, it was too crowded for comfort and I needed sleep after a long day on the move.
VIRGIN B747-400
LIRR
DE30AC
LIRR
DE30AC
LIRR
DM30AC
LIRR
DE30AC
LIRR
DE30AC
LIRR
DE30AC
LIRR
EMU
G-VROC
406
421
517
406
415
414
EMU
VS045 1200 Heathrow to NY JFK
556 1550 Jamaica to Oyster Bay
555 1620 Oyster Bay to Jamaica
558 1637 Jamaica to Oyster Bay
557 1752 Oyster Bay to Jamaica
560 1719 Jamaica to Oyster Bay
559 1834 Oyster Bay to Jamaica
869 1857 Long Beach to NY Penn
1200 Heathrow to NY JFK
1550 Jamaica Sea Cliff
1638 Sea Cliff to Roslyn
1700 Roslyn to Oyster Bay
1752 Oyster Bay to Roslyn
1828 Roslyn to Sea Cliff
1852 Sea Cliff to Jamaica
1929 Jamaica to NY Penn
Today’s links
Long Island Railroad map http://www.mta.info/lirr/Timetable/lirrmap.htm
Stout NYC, New York http://www.stoutnyc.com/
SATURDAY 18th FEBRUARY 2012.
My plan for today was to spend a few hours on the Hudson route out of Grand Central before
heading over to Secaucus to see what was about out of Hoboken, and then an evening visiting a
couple of brew pubs.
Having got to Grand Central I made my way towards the north end of the line and ended up
staying there for quite a while until I’d had almost everything that was out. The day started off
quite poorly as the first two locos I had were not required, which considering I’d only had four of
the fleet previously wasn’t what I was hoping for, also a problem on the first train occurred with
my ticket as the conductor was totally thrown by it, although he was happy enough when I
showed him the e-mail I had from MNRR explaining it was valid. A couple more conductors
queried the ticket during the day but they were all happy to take my word it was valid when I
explained it was cross-honoured from the Port Jervis line. As I was in the area, a quick visit was
made to the Peekskill Brewing brewpub during the day, which is very conveniently located
outside the station, I ordered the first beer that caught my eye on the chalk board, it was Vanilla
Bourbon Stout and was 8.5% which was a bit stronger than I expected, should have checked
first. By the time I got back to New York there wasn’t really any time to cover anything out of
Hoboken as I was heading to Princeton, and having got on an electric hauled train from Penn
heading that way I was happy to stick with it, as this route uses a mixture of hauled trains and
EMU’s and I’d obviously prefer not doing a unit. At Princeton Junction I changed trains onto
the two-car EMU shuttle for the short trip to Princeton, where I paid a visit to Triumph Brewing,
which is about a ten-minute walk from the station. Back at the station the same two-car EMU
took me back to the junction and another hauled set was taken to New Brunswick for a quick
visit to the Harvest Moon brewpub which is about two minutes walk from the station, once again
I ordered the first thing to catch my eye and this time it turned out to be a 10% job! (Siberian
Express Imperial Stout). I got back to the station with a couple of minutes to spare for my next
train, but the station building was now locked up, so I tried following the signs for disabled
access to get onto the platform but the lift was out of service. I couldn’t see a way onto the
platform until somebody pointed out a stairway across the dark road junction, as I started
climbing the stairs the train rolled in, a close call! After this I made my way back to New York
and called it a night.
MNRR
MNRR
MNRR
MNRR
MNRR
MNRR
MNRR
MNRR
MNRR
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
P32AC-DM
P32AC-DM
P32AC-DM
P32AC-DM
P32AC-DM
P32AC-DM
P32AC-DM
P32AC-DM
P32AC-DM
ALP46A
EMU
EMU
ALP46
ALP46A
ALP46A
226
213
210
217
211
213
205
208
218
4657
EMU
EMU
4616
4654
4642
8807 0747 NY GCT to Poughkeepsie
8818 0928 Poughkeepsie to NY GCT
8820 0940 Poughkeepsie to NY GCT
8815 0952 NY GCT to Poughkeepsie
8828 1140 Poughkeepsie to NY GCT
8825 1145 NY GCT to Poughkeepsie
8836 1340 Poughkeepsie to NY GCT
8829 1245 NY GCT to Poughkeepsie
8840 1440 Poughkeepsie to NY GCT
7859 1654 NY Penn to Trenton
Dinky 1811 Princeton Jcn to Princeton
Dinky 2000 Princeton to Princeton Jcn
7864 1959 Trenton to NY Penn
7868 2059 Trenton to NY Penn
7268 2106 Long Branch to NY Penn
0747 NY GCT to New Hamburg
0938 New Hamburg to Beacon
0957 Beacon to Cordlandt
1043 Cortlandt to Poughkeepsie
1140 Poughkeepsie to Peekskill
1248 Peekskill to Poughkeepsie
1340 Poughkeepsie to Beacon
1410 Beacon to Poughkeepsie
1440 Poughkeepsie to NY GCT
1654 NY Penn to Princeton Jcn
1811 Princeton Jcn to Princeton
2000 Princeton to Princeton Jcn
2012 Princeton Jcn to New Brunswick
2127 New Brunswick to Newark Penn
2222 Newark Penn to NY Penn
MNRR 211 pushing away from Peekskill towards New York
Today’s links
Metro North Railroad map http://www.mta.info/mnr/html/mnrmap.htm
New Jersey Transit map http://www.njtransit.com/pdf/rail/Rail_System_Map.pdf
Peekskill brewing http://thepeekskillbrewery.com/
Triumph Brewing, Princeton http://www.triumphbrewing.com/princeton/
Harvest Moon, New Brunswick http://www.harvestmoonbrewery.com/
SUNDAY 19th FEBRUARY 2012.
My day started with a quick hop to Secaucus from where I covered the routes out of Hoboken,
and despite it being a weekend service there were plenty of trains to cover. Having spent a large
portion of the day covering the Main Line and Bergen County routed services towards Suffern
and Port Jervis I turned my attention to the Spring Valley route, eventually taking a break at
Pearl River where the excellent Defiant Brewing outlet can be found opposite the station. The
place was busy but I managed to secure a stool at the bar for the duration of my visit, and I left
pretty satisfied after having three beers and a basket of spicy chicken wings for less then $15.
Following this I made my way to Newark in order to visit another brewpub, namely Brew 44.
Once at Newark I was distracted by a winning 46 showing up before I left the station so a quick
leap was taken to scratch it in and another winner produced for the return, bonus! Back at
Newark I managed to find Brew 44 but it was well and truly shut down, and looked like it had
been for quite a while, so I made my way back to the station where I found that there were no
NJT trains to anywhere for another 30 minutes, quite a big lull in service. Luckily the station
bar had one reasonable beer on tap, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, so I passed the time in there before
heading to New York, stepping off at Secaucus to cover an extra train which was 4620, the same
loco I had started the day out with over 13 hours earlier. Back in New York a quick nightcap
was taken at Stout NYC which again was very busy but I managed at least to grab a barstool
tonight.
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT*
NJT
NJT*
NJT
NJT*
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
ALP46
GP40PH-2B
PL42AC
GP40FH-2M
PL42AC
GP40FH-2M
GP40PH-2B
GP40FH-2M
F40PH-2CAT
PL42AC
PL42AC
GP40PH-2-0
F40PH-2CAT
F40PH-2CAT
ALP46A
ALP46
ALP46A
ALP46
ALP46
4620
4214
4019
4903
4021
4901
4214
4900
4121
4017
4012
4102
4124
4124
4656
4617
4635
4627
4620
7225 0807 NY Penn to Long Branch
1859 0825 Hoboken to Waldwick
1856 0834 Waldwick to Hoboken
0071 0921 Hoboken to Port Jervis
1711 0925 Hoboken to Suffern
0074 0849 Port Jervis to Hoboken
1715 1125 Hoboken to Suffern
0076 1046 Port Jervis to Hoboken
1719 1323 Hoboken to Suffern
1718 1412 Suffern to Hoboken
2117 1514 Hoboken to Spring Valley
2118 1615 Spring Valley to Hoboken
2119 1620 Hoboken to Spring Valley
2122 1804 Spring Valley to Hoboken
7269 1907 NY Penn to Long Branch
7869 1913 NY Penn to Trenton
7260 1906 Long Branch to NY Penn
7864 1959 Trenton to NY Penn
7264 2006 Long Branch to NY Penn
Today’s link
Defiant Brewing at Pearl River http://defiantbrewing.com/index.php
0807 NY Penn to Secaucus
0835 Secaucus to Garfield
0858 Garfield to Secaucus
0931 Secaucus to Ridgewood (via ML)
1011 Ridgewood to Waldwick
1026 Waldwick to Secaucus (via ML)
1135 Secaucus to Ho-Ho-Kus (via ML)
1229 Ho-Ho-Kus to Hoboken (via ML)
1323 Hoboken to Waldwick (via ML)
1426 Waldwick to Secaucus (via ML)
1524 Secaucus to Spring Valley
1615 Spring Valley to New Bridge Ldg.
1656 New Bridge Ldg to Pearl River
1819 Pearl River to Secaucus
1916 Secaucus to Newark Penn
1932 Newark Penn to Linden
2004 Linden to Newark Penn
2110 Newark Penn to Secaucus
2129 Secaucus to NY Penn
NJT 4102 pushing away from New Bridge Landing towards Hoboken
MONDAY 20th FEBRUARY 2012.
Despite being a Monday, weekend service was the order of the day as today was a holiday, so I
guessed that covering services out of Hoboken again would give me the best variety and also the
biggest chance of new engines. Prior to this I covered a couple of trains on the Raritan Valley
route as they would need at least three locos to cover the services, as luck would have it the one
engine I didn’t have was dud (4013). Arriving at Newark while heading towards Secaucus a pair
of 46s rolled up and as one was new (and I couldn’t resist scoring the class leader) a quick leap
in the wrong direction was taken, unlike the previous day though no new engines to come back
on, just EMU’s and with a gap in services looming I ended up doing one of them on the second
of the two services I covered. Once at Secaucus it became apparent that a few of the train sets in
use today were ones which had also been out yesterday, at least there were are couple of winners
on the circuit as well so better than nothing. Eventually I headed to Newark Broad Street for a
change of scenery before having a final look back at Secaucus, which was to no avail. Time was
by now getting on a bit and so I headed to tonight’s brewpub, JJ Bittings at Woodbridge, the pub
can be found about 2 minutes walk from the station, adjacent to the railway line. A couple of
pleasant hours were spent in the pub, on Mondays they offer one of their beers at $2.50 a pint,
this week it was Scotch Ale but I think they may have been trying to get rid of it as it wasn’t too
good, unlike the other beers I tried and the food which was excellent. Back at Woodbridge
station the same 46 which had brought me in was also the one that ended up taking me to New
York.
NJT
ALP46
4603
7225 0807 NY Penn to Long Branch
0807 NY Penn to Newark Penn
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT*
NJT*
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
PL42AC
PL42AC
ALP46
ALP46
EMU
F40PH-2CAT
GP40FH-2M
PL42AC
PL42AC
PL42AC
GP40PH-2-0
GP40PH-2B
GP40PH-2B
F40PH-2CAT
PL42AC
PL42AC
ALP46A
PL42AC
PL42AC
ALP46A
ALP46A
4023
4014
4610+
4600
EMU
4913
4904
4021
4019
4027
4102
4210
4214
4121
4017
4011
4650
4017
4021
4642
4642
5513 0838 Newark Penn to Raritan
5512 0918 Raritan to Newark Penn
7233 1007 NY Penn to Long Branch
7233 1007 NY Penn to Long Branch
7824 1014 Trenton to NY Penn
0073 1121 Hoboken to Port Jervis
0076 1046 Port Jervis to Hoboken
1717 1225 Hoboken to Suffern
1716 1312 Suffern to Hoboken
1866 1333 Waldwick to Hoboken
2115 1420 Hoboken to Spring Valley
2114 1415 Spring Valley to Hoboken
1723 1525 Hoboken to Suffern
1712 1520 Suffern to Hoboken
1870 1541 Waldwick to Hoboken
1093 1655 Hoboken to Lake Hopatcong
6930 1605 Dover to NY Penn
1727 1725 Hoboken to Suffern
1726 1812 Suffern to Hoboken
7269 1906 NY Penn to Long Branch
7268 2106 Long Branch to NY Penn
0838 Newark Penn to Bound Brook
0928 Bound Brook to Newark Penn
1025 Newark Penn to Elizabeth
1025 Newark Penn to Elizabeth
1101 Elizabeth to Secaucus
1131 Secaucus to Suffern (via ML)
1212 Suffern to Paterson
1258 Paterson to Waldwick
1326 Waldwick to Ridgewood
1339 Ridgewood to Secaucus (via BC)
1430 Secaucus to Anderson St
1455 Anderson St to Secaucus
1535 Secaucus to Delawanna
1554 Delawanna to Secaucus
1619 Secaucus to Hoboken
1655 Hoboken to Newark Broad St
1716 Newark Broad St to Secaucus
1735 Secaucus to Waldwick (via ML)
1826 Waldwick to Secaucus (via ML)
1916 Secaucus to Woodbridge
2152 Woodbridge to NY Penn
MNRR 4904 arriving at Secaucus from Hoboken. The new World Trade Centre building can be
seen under construction above/right of the loco cab
NJT 4121 pushing away from Secaucus Junction towards Hoboken
Today’s link
J.J.Bittings Brewpub, Woodbridge http://njbrewpubs.com/
TUESDAY 21st FEBRUARY 2012.
I’d been looking forward to today as it would be a chance to enjoy a full weekday service with a
decent commuter peak service. I spent a little time covering the morning peak into Hoboken
with mixed fortune (including a pair of MNRR F40s) before taking the long journey to
Hackettstown via Morristown, which was new track for me. At Hackettstown I had a 40 minute
layover and was hoping to get some supplies for the return journey, I had a quick look around the
residential area near the station but couldn’t find any shops at all, the only thing going on in town
was a cattle market. At least the train stops in a position near a road crossing, which means
decent pictures can be obtained. On the return journey I noticed former Amtrak loco 487, an
FL9, parked in some sidings at Morristown, I hadn’t noticed it on the outward journey. After
bailing off the train at Newark Broad St I made my way to Secaucus where during the afternoon
and evening I scored four diesels, and added onto the two I’d scored in the morning meant a
good day. One thing that did put a sour note on the day was the conductor of train 1213 having a
go at me for taking pictures of “his” train at Hoboken. He approached me and told me in no
uncertain terms that I couldn’t photograph his trains or crew, and when I replied that I thought
that photography on NJT was OK he told me it was a breach of homeland security. I wasn’t
going to stand for such an exaggerated statement and produced a copy of a document I found on
railway forum railroad.net which states the NJT photography policy, he had a read of it and
handed it back having changed his tune a bit, telling me it didn’t apply at Hoboken and that
because I had walked past the front of the train I’d been trespassing, but he was going to do me a
favour and let me off. I told him that I respect railway rules and if that was the case then there
should be notices clearly stating that, before we then parted company on good terms. After I
had finished covering the diesel turns at Secaucus low level I made my way upstairs. I decided to
head to JJ Bittings again tonight, and eventually a train turned up heading in the correct direction
that wasn’t an EMU, all the while a load of winner 46’s had either stormed through non stop or
had gone towards New York so I was pleased that another winner was on the train I eventually
boarded. Another pleasant night was spent at JJ Bittings, and tonight the full range of their own
beers were $2.50 a pint. Once suitably refreshed I headed back to New York and bed.
4622
NJT
ALP46
4119
NJT F40PH-2CAT
NJT F40PH-2CAT
4121
NJT
PL42AC
4017
NJT* F40PH-2CAT 4912+
NJT* F40PH-2CAT 4914~
NJT* GP40FH-2M
4901
NJT
PL42AC
4011
NJT
PL42AC
4011
NJT
ALP46A
4631
NJT
PL42AC
4027
NJT GP40PH-2-0
4103
4122
NJT F40PH-2CAT
NJT
PL42AC
4023
4006
NJT
PL42AC
NJT GP40PH-2-0
4103
NJT F40PH-2CAT
4122
4031
NJT
PL42AC
NJT
PL42AC
4021
4200
NJT
GP40PH-2B
4651
NJT
ALP46A
NJT
ALP46A
4642
NJT
ALP46A
4635
4660
NJT
ALP46A
NJT
ALP46A
4634
~4914 scored for renumbering
3505 0650 NY Penn to South Amboy
0650 NY Penn to Secaucus
1202 0626 Waldwick to Hoboken
0709 Secaucus to Hoboken
1203 0735 Hoboken to Waldwick
0735 Hoboken to Secaucus
1252 0714 Waldwick to Hoboken
0756 Secaucus to Hoboken
0074 0821 Hoboken to Port Jervis
0821 Hoboken to Secaucus
0074 0821 Hoboken to Port Jervis
0821 Hoboken to Secaucus
0054 0655 Port Jervis to Hoboken
0852 Secaucus to Hoboken
851 0912 Hoboken to Hackettstown
0912 Hoboken to H'town (via M'town)
854 1159 Hackettstown to Hoboken
1159 H'town to Nwk Brd St (via M'town)
6644 1252 Dover to NY Penn
1359 Newark Broad St to Secaucus
1626 1335 Spring Valley to Hoboken
1427 Secaucus to Hoboken
1653 1451 Hoboken to New Bridge Landing 1451 Hoboken to Secaucus
1119 1454 Hoboken to Suffern
1504 Secaucus to Hawthorne
1114 1524 Suffern to Hoboken
1546 Hawthorne to Secaucus
1630 1545 Spring Valley to Hoboken
1649 Secaucus to Hoboken
1213 1713 Hoboken to Waldwick
1713 Hoboken to Secaucus
1118 1627 Suffern to Hoboken
1725 Secaucus to Hoboken
1169 1745 Hoboken to Suffern
1745 Hoboken to Secaucus
1120 1659 Suffern to Hoboken
1759 Secaucus to Hoboken
0059 1811 Hoboken to Port Jervis
1811 Hoboken to Secaucus
3441 1852 NY Penn to Aberdeen Matawan 1902 Secaucus to South Amboy
3276 1919 Long Branch to NY Penn
1957 South Amboy to Perth Amboy
3516 2005 South Amboy to NY Penn
2009 Perth Amboy to Woodbridge
3284 2112 Long Branch to NY Penn
2158 Woodbridge to Secaucus
6676 2137 Dover to NY Penn
2245 Secaucus to NY Penn
NJT 4011 between trains at Hackettstown, should be renamed Shackettstown
WEDNESDAY 22nd FEBRUARY 2012.
A bit of a well-deserved lie in was taken before I headed out for the day, heading to Newark for
the Raritan Valley line which today I would do beyond Raritan to High Bridge which was new
track for me. High Bridge turned out to be a very quiet town indeed, but unlike Hackettstown a
couple of days ago at least it had a little bit of life in it, and so I found myself having a look
around the beer shop which had a fine range of microbrews on sale, before then heading to the
bar adjacent to the station and enjoying a pint of Sierra Nevada. There was also a Mexican
restaurant in town as well. I eventually ended up at Secaucus after covering a few more trains on
the Raritan Valley line, with tonight’s Secaucus shuffle producing two new diesels for me.
Tonight’s brewpub was Gaslight Brewing in South Orange to which I travelled on a direct train
from Hoboken. The brewpub is outside the station and once inside I ordered a sample tray of
beers before sticking with the porter for the rest of my visit, I seem to recall last time I came here
the porter tasted a bit iffy but it was OK tonight and the food not too bad either. Once back in
New York I was going to have a quick beer in Stout NYC but it was packed, so I went to the
Irish place next door instead and ended up on the usual fallback of Sierra Nevada until about
midnight.
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
ALP46A
PL42AC
PL42AC
PL42AC
4663
4014
4013
4004
3827 0825 NY Penn to Trenton
5415 0906 Newark Penn to Raritan
5730 0920 High Bridge to Newark Penn
5719 1006 Newark Penn to High Bridge
0825 NY Penn to Newark Penn
0906 Newark Penn to Bound Brook
0959 Bound Brook to Westfield
1029 Westfield to High Bridge
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT*
NJT
NJT
PL42AC
PL42AC
PL42AC
PL42AC
PL42AC
ALP46A
PL42AC
PL42AC
GP40PH-2-0
GP40PH-2-0
PL42AC
GP40FH-2M
ALP46A
ALP46A
4004
4014
4020
4013
4030
4637
4017
4025
4110
4103
4012
4902
4632
4658
5736 1220 High Bridge to Newark Penn
5725 1306 Newark Penn to High Bridge
5438 1349 Raritan to Newark Penn
5427 1406 Newark Penn to Raritan
5440 1449 Raritan to Newark Penn
3154 1517 New Brunswick to NY Penn
1114 1524 Suffern to Hoboken
1625 1639 Hoboken to Spring Valley
1165 1652 Hoboken to Suffern
1274 1746 Ridgewood to Hoboken
1271 1802 Secaucus to Waldwick
1276 1846 Ridgewood to Hoboken
665 1944 Hoboken to Dover
6674 2027 Dover to NY Penn
1220 High Bridge to Fanwood
1331 Fanwood to Bound Brook
1359 Bound Brook to Fanwood
1433 Fanwood to Bound Brook
1459 Bound Brook to Newark Penn
1557 Newark Penn to Secaucus
1616 Secaucus to Hoboken
1639 Hoboken to Secaucus
1702 Secaucus to Ridgewood (via ML)
1746 Ridgewood to Rutherford
1820 Rutherford to Glen Rock B.Hall
1850 Glen Rock B.Hall to Hoboken
1944 Hoboken to South Orange
2117 South Orange to NY Penn
CSX 4845 & 8745 on the freight route that runs past the NJT station at Bound Brook
Today’s link
Gaslight Brewing, South Orange http://www.gaslightbrewery.net/
THURSDAY 23rd FEBRUARY 2012.
I got up early and headed off to cover the morning rush into Hoboken where I eventually found
myself with a bit of a layover during a gap in outbound services. With a bit of time to spare I got
a breakfast from the station deli and it was a bargain at $4 for a cheese omelette with hash
browns and toast. I then headed back to New York and over to Grand Central (with a Union
Jack liveried subway from 42nd street doing the honours) to see what MNRR had out today,
netting four out of the six locos I had, and having to show my proof of validity email twice while
doing so. It was then time to head back to Hoboken again (via Newark Airport to cover the
afternoon diesel turn from Bay Head) as I needed to get on a diesel hauled train that would take
me over my required track from Newark Broad Street to Dover via Montclair. The 1629 train ex
Hoboken would have been a good choice with F40 4119 on the sharp end but I had to let it go as
winner 4219 had to take preference, sods law saw me have 4219 the following day and I ended
up having a couple of PL42-AC locos on my winning track when I would have preferred to have
done it on something older, oh well!
Having got to Dover I was delighted to find my return train via the Morristown route was at least
a GP40, and a winner to boot. I bailed out at South Orange for another visit to Gaslight Brewing
before heading towards New York. While waiting at South Orange for the New York bound train
GP40 #4206 presented an unusual sight as it stormed through light loco. I broke my journey at
Newark Broad Street, which proved to be a good move as I scooped the onward loco.
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT*
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
MNRR
MNRR
MNRR
MNRR
MNRR
MNRR
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
NJT
ALP46A
GP40PH-2-0
PL42AC
F40PH-2CAT
GP40PH-2B
PL42AC
GP40PH-2B
GP40PH-2-0
PL42AC
ALP46A
P32AC-DM
P32AC-DM
P32AC-DM
P32AC-DM
P32AC-DM
P32AC-DM
ALP46
EMU
PL42AC
GP40PH-2B
PL42AC
PL42AC
ALP46A
PL42AC
GP40PH-2B
ALP46A
4664
4101
4017
4914
4212
4010
4200
4104
4010
4629
220
202
205
212
223
227
4601
EMU
4001
4219
4006
4027
4632
4029
4205
4650
6213 0653 NY Penn to Montclair SU
1105 0702 Hoboken to Suffern
1204 0648 Waldwick to Hoboken
0048 0537 Port Jervis to Hoboken
1147 0756 Hoboken to Suffern
1612 0712 Spring Valley to Hoboken
1205 0830 Hoboken to Waldwick
1158 0758 Suffern to Hoboken
1651 0940 Hoboken to Anderson St
3508 0902 South Amboy to NY Penn
821 1045 NY GCT to Poughkeepsie
852 1040 Poughkeepsie to NY GCT
825 1145 NY GCT to Poughkeepsie
856 1140 Poughkeepsie to NY GCT
829 1245 NY GCT to Poughkeepsie
860 1240 Poughkeepsie to NY GCT
6251 1449 NY Penn to Montclair SU
3853 1507 NY Penn to Trenton
2312 1406 Bay Head to Hoboken
1625 1639 Hoboken to Spring Valley
1630 1545 Spring Valley to Hoboken
1009 1711 Hoboken to Lake Hopatcong
254 1755 Montclair SU to Hoboken
1081 1743 Hoboken to Hackettstown
882 1848 Hackettstown to Hoboken
6674 2027 Dover to NY Penn
0653 NY Penn to Secaucus
0712 Secaucus to Kingsland
0727 Kingsland to Secaucus
0733 Secaucus to Hoboken
0756 Hoboken to Secaucus
0807 Secaucus to Hoboken
0830 Hoboken to Secaucus
0853 Secaucus to Hoboken
0940 Hoboken to Secaucus
0951 Secaucus to NY Penn
1045 NY GCT to Ossining
1138 Ossining to Yonkers
1211 Yonkers to Ossining
1238 Ossining to Yonkers
1311 Yonkers to Ossining
1338 Ossining to NY GCT
1449 NY Penn to Secaucus
1516 Secaucus to Newark Airport
1542 Newark Airport to Hoboken
1639 Hoboken to Secaucus
1649 Secaucus to Hoboken
1711 Hoboken to Montclair State Uni
1755 Montclair State Uni to Walnut St
1812 Walnut St to Dover
1920 Dover to South Orange
2117 South Orange to Newark Broad St
NJT
ALP46A
4659
6274 2105 Montclair SU to NY Penn
2137 Newark Broad St to NY Penn
NJT 4219 awaiting the RA at Secaucus
FRIDAY 24th FEBRUARY 2012.
My final day and today’s grand plan was to head down to see what was on the Bay Head shuttles
from Long Branch before a visit to the brewpub at Red Bank, followed by the afternoon diesel
turn from Bay Head forward from Red Bank to Hoboken.
Before doing all this I had to check out of the hotel, and whilst doing so I left my big bag at the
left luggage room ($4 charge for doing so). Once down at Long Branch I found 4022 was on one
turn with 4001 on the other. I was hoping for a couple of GPs (I don’t think the F40s come down
here for some reason?) but with none about I decided to not bother hanging about to do the
through diesel to Hoboken later (would have been 4022) and so found myself at Red Bank earlier
than expected. It didn’t take me long to find Basil T’s, the brewpub I wanted to visit, but there
was a problem as it didn’t open till 1130. Luckily a member of staff opened the doors to me and
when I explained what I was up to she invited me in and introduced me to the head brewer who
summoned the barman to pour me some samples. After drinking the samples I ordered a pint of
stout and drank it while having a good chat with the head brewer. Before long I had to go, and
as I proceeded to take my wallet out to pay he told me that the beers were on him and hoped that
I would visit again another time, which I will try to do.
And so it was back to Secaucus/Hoboken for a final shuffle and hopefully a couple of winners to
finish the trip, however despite covering as many trains as possible none produced and I headed
back to New York to collect my bag and then head onwards to the airport. The flight was about
an hour late departing, this time I had a row of two to myself at the back which I was happy with.
A severe bout of turbulence ensued for about 30 minutes which caused meal service to be
suspended and the plane to bounce around a lot, in fact a very big lot, and as I had got my meal
and drink already it was great fun trying to consume them to say the least. Arrival in Heathrow
was on time.
NJT
ALP46A
4652
NJT
ALP46A
4663
4022
NJT
PL42AC
NJT
PL42AC
4001
4655
NJT
ALP46A
NJT
ALP46A
4647
NJT*
GP40FH-2M
4904
NJT
PL42AC
4017
NJT
F40PH-2CAT
4124
NJT*
GP40FH-2M
4901
NJT
GP40PH-2B
4219
NJT
PL42AC
4007
NJT
GP40PH-2A
4147
NJT
ALP46A
4645
NJT
PL42AC
4017
NJT
PL42AC
4015
NJT
ALP46
4603
LIRR
EMU
EMU
G-VSHY
VIRGIN
A340-600
3711 0736 NY Penn to Jersey Avenue
3223 0746 NY Penn to Long Branch
4323 0926 Long Branch to Bay Head
4340 1010 Bay Head to Long Branch
3240 1054 Long Branch to NY Penn
3244 1154 Long Branch to NY Penn
1259 1335 Hoboken to Waldwick
1272 1344 Waldwick to Hoboken
1119 1454 Hoboken to Suffern
0064 1328 Port Jervis to Hoboken
1623 1557 Hoboken to Spring Valley
1114 1524 Suffern to Hoboken
2307 1655 Hoboken to Bay Head
3860 1603 Trenton to NY Penn
1120 1659 Suffern to Hoboken
1171 1823 Hoboken to Suffern
3270 1735 Long Branch to NY Penn
172 1930 NY Penn to Babylon
VS010 2215 NY JFK to Heathrow
0736 NY Penn to Rahway
0822 Rahway to Long Branch
0926 Long Branch to Bay Head
1010 Bay Head to Long Branch
1054 Long Branch to Red Bank
1206 Red Bank to Secaucus
1345 Secaucus to Garfield
1408 Garfield to Hoboken
1454 Hoboken to Secaucus
1530 Secaucus to Hoboken
1557 Hoboken to Secaucus
1616 Secaucus to Hoboken
1655 Hoboken to Newark Penn
1712 Newark Penn to Secaucus
1759 Secaucus to Hoboken
1823 Hoboken to Secaucus
1857 Secaucus to NY Penn
1930 NY Penn to Jamaica
2215 NY JFK to Heathrow
NJT 4652 at Red Bank with a NY Penn to Long Branch service
Today’s link
Basil T’s brewpub, Red Bank http://www.basilt.com/
SATURDAY 25th FEBRUARY 2012.
With no delays encountered after landing I found myself on an earlier than expected coach back
home, I was totally knackered but couldn’t get comfy to have a sleep. Once back at home the
bag was dumped before I made my way to my local pub to watch Wales beat England at rugby, a
fine way to finish my time off before returning to work the next day.
CONCLUSION:
An excellent trip with all the things I set out to do achieved. I was pleased with the amount of
PL42s and ALP46s I scored even though they were not my priority. I was on the other hand a bit
disappointed not to score as many GP/F40s as I’d wanted, but in fairness there was only one
winner I saw out in service that I didn’t manage to have, although saying that I found it
impossible to view everything working out of Hoboken, there are just too many trains passing
by, coming out of the sidings, and not visible in platforms when arriving there during rush hours
etc…. My ticket raised a few eyebrows, especially on the Hudson route, but also when heading
away from the Bay Head and Port Jervis routes as well, causing a few strange looks from the
conductors who seemed impressed by such a piece of mammoth validity. The new dual mode
locos are well and truly on the way, during a run past the MMC (Meadowlands Maintenance
Complex) I noticed four of them on site, numbers 4500 to 4503. The Hotel Pennsylvania that I
used seemed to be in need of refurbishment but my room was clean and functional enough for
my needs, not that I spent much time in it anyway. There are better places to stay but for the
price I had no complaints. Looking forward to the next trip, which will feature Chicago and
Dallas/Fort Worth.
PETE CALLAGHAN
MARCH 2012.