NJCL Summer ridership down ???....other NJCL updates.

Last night's rush-hour observations at Manasquan from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. yielded views of 5 prime arrivals of trains originating from either Hoboken or Newark.

Excluding the standard 3-car Bay Head-Long Branch shuttle, ALL trains had only 5 Comets save for ONE 6-car set. What has happened to the commuter traffic ? It wasn't too long ago that 7-8 coaches were the norm on the Coast Line during the Summer....and 8-9 Comet cars were frequent when the F40's went into service 20 years ago....and before that it was SOP to see 10-12 old/retread coaches headed by 2-3 E8's hauling commuters to/from Bay Head.

FWIW, all power was either GP40PH or FH ( no F40's this weekend ) and one train headed by engine #4131 was a 5-car matched set Comet 11B's. All other trains were a hodgepoge mix of Comet II's, III's and IV's.

* Manasquan station - all new paved parking lot with curbing in the immediate vicinity of the station as well as an area ready for for the planned erection of a new station structure. Also, new parking has been added ( also paved/curbed ) along the southbound ROW. A new extended low-level platform is in the works as concrete footings were observed for light stantions quite a distance south of the immediate station area.

All of the above is on the southbound side of the ROW. At this point, saw no work for a platform on the northbound side of the ROW....although, contrary to my previous opinions, there does seem to be enough room along the property line there to host a platform.

Bay Head - the 3 tank cars are still in place and work continues on the new pedestal track ( albeit slowly ) within the yard with 3 yard tracks OOS pending completion of same. An NJT official with clipboard/radio in hand was on the ground last night making notes and having brief discussions with each engineer for each arriving train....have no idea what that was about.

Yeah Tom, I've seen photos of trains that long. What you described is the norm these days as far as I have seen in the past year. Did you happen to see any C5s on any of the Bay Head trains? They started using Comet Vs on Bay Head trains back in April. Since then, it is perfectly normal now to see the "hodged-podged" 2, 3, 4, 5 set. Just curious if you saw one. They do seem to be decent though with matching sets. Usually, they have at least one set that is a matching 2/4 set. And also, you didn't happen to see any trains in the "wrong direction" (with the engine on the side facing Hoboken/cab on the side facing Bay Head.) When I railfanned down to Bay Head on May 10, they had 1 diesel set in this fashion. Certainly was interesting to see. I plan to ride one of the Bay Head trains from Hoboken to Woodbridge (4:20 out of Hoboken) to help a relative of mine sometime this week so am looking forward to that. Any excuse to ride the train.

And while I am at it, have you or anyone ever seen the newer equipment used on the Bay Head shuttles?

When NJT learns how to run express trains better on the NJCL (using Metro North express train scheduling as an example) - to shorten trip times on the NJCL - then perhaps patronage will increase. Would love to see an express on weekdays between Newark and Long Branch (and even below Long Branch) - like the summer weekend schedule now has for the NJCL.

I continue to drive to Red Bank to catch an "express" train, rather than heading to Manasquan - the closest station to my house. And I am not the only one - many shore commuters will drive to Matawan and Metropark. And what does this do - crowd parking at these stations, when stations down the line have ample parking but takes longer to travel to/from than if travelling by car.

Even with the electrification and other upgrades to the NJCL, schedules from Manasquan (and even Red Bank) to NYP haven't improved too much from the PRR days - some express trains were even faster in PRR days than they are now. But then I am sure the rebuttal is - more traffic going into NYP these days than EVER before. This is true. Also factor in PRR had to switch engines in South Amboy.

On a side note - and also adding to trip times - I am irrate over how many NJCL express trains stop at Secaucus Junction in the evening rush hour. The NJCL locals shoud (and are) doing this job - and perhaps a couple of express trains. All but one NJCL train, originating from NYP in the evening rush hour, (6 between 5:23 p.m. and 8:10 p.m.) stop at Secaucus Junction.

I also think dispatching of locals and express trains needs to be better coordinated on the NJCL - this has lead to many of late trains on the NJCL. Since Secaucus Junction has opened (perhaps a coincidence), I have noticed a steady decline in on-time performance on my rush hour NJCL trains. And I take a variety of them.

JP: You said "using Metro-North express scheduling as an example" but you provided no examples. Now IIRC, Metro-North has quadruple-tracking on the segments of the New Haven, Harlem and Hudson Lines that you have express running on. The NJCL has a mere two tracks, excepting a few passing loops that are not for commuter service. Care to elaborate? Not to mention that there are express NJCL trains during the weekday.

Metro North does a good job with their express trains between Secaucus and Suffern. Every train between 6am and noon inbound and 4pm to 10pm outbound run express. It is a real time saver

I would say that the MN PJ trains have the advantage of the third track north of Ridgewood Junction, plus there's quite a bit of unidirectional running on Main-Bergen during rush-hour.

Check out the MN Harlem Line schedules here:
http://mta.info/mnr/html/planning/sched ... edules.htm
They run a much better schedule of expresses than anywhere on NJT. In rush hour they run trains that serve a few stations and pass the rest. Most of the Harlem Line (North of Mt Vernon West) is double-tracked, although a third track from Mt Vernon to Crestwood is under construction.
I don't get NJT's allergy to expresses. On the M&E, seems like all Dover trains make every station west of Summit, except some pass Mt Tabor. The NJCL looks like a nice railroad, but its so slow! The Gladstone Branch runs slower than the lackawanna ran it with steam in 1900. M&E Dover trains that run express from Summit run slower than Lackawanna electric locals that made every stop.
As far as PJ expresses go, they are pretty good, but NJT screws them up in unexpected ways. For instance I've had to take the new, 5:29 AM PJ express from Suffern to Secaucus twice recently. Both times it was delayed by signals. Once it missed its Secaucus connection. Even if there are some deadhead moves not on the public timetable, this early in the morning the railroad isn't exactly clogged with trains, but NJT can't manage to keep the ones they run out of each other's way.

Can we expect NJT to finish the electrification from Long Branch to Bay Head in the near future?

If so...when?

If not...why not?????

I don't get NJT's allergy to expresses

Less fare revenue...or let's say less potential fare revenue what with fewer stops. They seem to work OK on the Northeast Corridor however. (Remember those trains used to be mostly Amtrak?)

" Did you happen to see any C5s on any of the Bay Head trains? "

Yes, as indicated above in 'hodgepoge'....no V cabs though.

" Usually, they have at least one set that is a matching 2/4 set. "

Only matched set I saw was the 5-car set of IIB's pulled by #4131....who's 5-horn chime seemed reduced to 1 working bell....sounded like an old bicycle horn !!!

" And also, you didn't happen to see any trains in the "wrong direction" (with the engine on the side facing Hoboken/cab on the side facing Bay Head.) When I railfanned down to Bay Head on May 10, they had 1 diesel set in this fashion. Certainly was interesting to see. "

Yes, one southbound train was running 'backwards' with a Comet II cab car 'leading' ( I'll never get used to push-pull operations....or like it )

" And while I am at it, have you or anyone ever seen the newer equipment used on the Bay Head shuttles? "

The shuttle Friday nite was the usual 3-car Comet II/III consist.

Tri-State Tom wrote:Yes, one southbound train was running 'backwards' with a Comet II cab car 'leading' ( I'll never get used to push-pull operations....or like it )

Nope, that's not what you saw. There are no II cabs any longer, since the rebuild.

Could it be a Comet I cab?

7 Train wrote:Could it be a Comet I cab?

Not on the NJCL most likely. The only time these days you'll see a C1 is for the Pony Express.

One of my first train fan experiences alone was when I was ten years old and spent a few hours on a Friday rush hour talking to the Asbury Park station agent. It was summer. He pointed out to me the Pennsy steam pulled train consists. Some included cafe/parlor cars (half diner and half parlor). There were two or three trains with them in the summer coming out of Penn Station to Bay Head. I don't remember the statistics, but he talked of the great increase in summer traffic. The cafe/parlors would be on inbound commuter trains in the mornings as well.

I am not familiar with the coast line and I was wondering if Comet I's are ever used on the Bay Head Shuttle... and if not, was there a time when they were used regularly on this line?