NYSW 142 equipment move to Binghamton for trips 10/16-17

From the New Jersey forum:

Chris wrote:Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2004 8:27 am    Post subject:
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Otto,

This should be on the NY forum...

The equipment was moved west last night, the 142, the two painted Morristown & Erie FL-9's, 5 coaches from the M&E, the LIRR cars and the NYS&W office car.

They got to Binghamton around 9am Thursday.

Chris

The only thing that might keep me away is the weather.

-otto-

I was lucky enough to catch the train on the Southern Division over Rt 23 in Hamburg NJ. It stopped on the bridge and what a view we had. We saw it at 11:40 at night but it was still amazing....even though getting up for school the next morning wasnt. But like i told my dad "it was all worth it."

Is this equipment destined to stay in Binghamton, or is it in the process of being moved elsewhere?

Jack

It's for Binghamton to Syracuse excursions this weekend. See http://www.rrhistorical-2.com/cnynrhs/ for details.

This didnt occur to me earlier, but are they using the M&E FL9's to shove from the other end while the steamer's up front? Is that why all the M&E equipment was moved? (Pardon me if this is painfully obvious to everyone else)

this is the info on the trips this weekend. thought more people knew about this: http://nyswths.org/bing.htm

-otto-

Yeah i think they are using the passenger cars on the train and the FL9's for power on the other end. It will definatley be a nice looking train.

Thanks guys! Like Otto, it became painfully obvious when ChrisJ reminded me. Duh.....information overload!

Personal business kept me home the whole weekend... did anyone get out to enjoy the weather or these trips?

-otto-

I posted this yesterday on the M&E forum

Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:44 pm Post subject:

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I just got home from chasin the train today. Cloudy,cool but sun did break
out a little at Whitney Point on the south bound run. 142lead 4006,2012
488, 489 and 21 nice looking (well maybe not the ConDot pair)cars south
leaving SY about 20 mins late. Runby at Tully, water just north of Cortland station, brief stop at Cortland. Continued south making good time
with another runby at WP. Only diesel crew was in the 4006 that I saw
and the 9,s were online. Since I don't know my way around Bingo that
well I got lost looking for QD where the train terminated. They swapped
the power around on the wye east/north of QD but she did finally show up although it looked strange with the 142 coupled to Walters "Pope-
moble. Had a nice chat with Earl P. who was running the train. Some
one asked him how much the diesels ''helped" with the train and he said
he only needed a push to the grade in Jamesville since the line is pretty
flat following the Tioughnioga River south from Cortland. Earl also said
that the 142 used about 4-41/2 tons of coal and a tank and a half of
water. I also chased the return trip as I wanted to see the 9's on the
point in their M&E paint. (I liked them in their Amtrak scheme better I
think

STEAM ON
/--OOO--:-oo--oo-

Here are a couple of pictures of the train at Chenango Forks on Saturday:

http://gvrooman.home.att.net/nysw142cf.htm

http://gvrooman.home.att.net/TailEnd.htm

Phew! 142 leading two M&E FL9's... probably better I stayed home. However, I like your photos a lot!

-otto-

Thanks. It would have looked even stranger if you could have seen the two NYS&W diesels tucked in behind the FL-9s, but people were enjoying it.

Talking about 142, did anyone go on this tour? Any pictures?
That was quite a train to see! 20 coaches and 5 engines.

I was riding in the 4006 with the NYSW crew, and I have to admit it was different, but I CAN tell you that the 142 did the lions share of the work with the 4006 being asked to help only a few times. Most notably, the 4006 was used to control the trasin downgrade into Syracuse with the Dynamic brakes holding the train back, thus sparing the 142 from wering down the shoes... but it was a mooth ride, and the NYSW engineer on the 4006 did an excellent job when called upon. the work done by the 142 was superb, but that goes without saying!

I rode both the Saturday trip and the Sunday trip onboard bedroom lounge MOUNT VERNON, which was leased for first class service. I also rode the deadhead positioning moves, so I made a total of 3 roundtrips between Binghamton and Syracuse.

It was officially billed as The Sesquicentennial Excursion, commemorating the 150th anniversary of the first train between Binghamton and Syracuse in 1854.

All of the substantial political and media hoopla was on Saturday. Walter Rich seemed pleased with the turn of events.

I noticed a substantial security presence - plenty of NYS&W Police officers on the train - plenty of local police on the ground in the various communities where we stopped.

The train had 3 separate class segments: first class was 7 cars on one end (NYS&W 509, CHESTNUT HILL, MOUNT VERNON, MORRIS COUNTY, ALDER FALLS, ALEXANDER HAMILTON and OHIO RIVER), coach segment was 10 cars in the middle, and Walter Rich's private segment was 2 cars (business car OTTO KUHLER and NYS&W 508) on the other end.

Things seemed rather disorganized, particularly in the area of food and beverage service, on Saturday. Some first class passengers were not served their dining car meal until about 30 minutes before our return to Binghamton. I think there was some improvement in service on Sunday. Sunday's improvement may have been a combination of the service crew learning lessons fron Saturday's experience, combined with a lower ridership on Sunday. In general, first class service was provided by volunteer car hosts/staff, rather than by the paid professional staff usually found crewing private cars.

Jimmy Wilson did a great business, selling hot dogs and adult beverages from behind the bar in his New York and Greenwood Lake business car CHESTNUT HILL, to first class passengers. I think this trip was the furthest his car has ventured from his shortline in New Jersey.

I got to spend a little time in NYS&W 509 ("Pope-mobile") when it was rearmost during our southbound trip from Syracuse to Binghamton on Sunday. I was disappointed to note the dome glazing is in poor condition, limiting visibility from the dome. However, the visibility out the rear end of the car was enjoyable.

Nice fall foliage colors.

Unfortunately, I did not get a single photo. I will have to search for some photos on the net.

I know plenty of NYS&W employees worked hard for many extra hours to make their boss and their company look good that weekend ... I also know many unpaid volunteers added their efforts to make the event enjoyable ... to all of them I say WELL DONE!