CR on the Southern Secondary

Passing through Farmingdale just before 8:00.

Through Squankum Road 8:39 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BziDY5vDS8Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKMZVDB9fUE&t=10s

Two videos from Monday night's return trip. Did not get anything for today's trip to Woodhaven

Nice shots. I might try to upload some of the pictures I’ve been getting from my new drone and camera. Just gotta figure out how to transfer stuff to google photos on my tablet when I get the chance.

Seeing as how they had two engines tonight I’m hoping that they bring the train back tomorrow. Can’t imagine SA-3 and SA-22 will be thrilled about only having 4405 to do their work lol.

Train is parked at Woodhaven. No crew in sight.

Both engines are running at a very high idle speed. Current engine RPM is about what it would be if both engines were on the Notch 2 throttle setting…

Raising the idle in very cold weather is common practice to keep heat in the engine and also carbody. Diesel fuel turns to jelly at a certain temperature and will not flow properly. Also, if the ambient temperature around the temperature valve for the cooling system lowers to a certain point (I seem to recall in the area of 38 degrees) then the valve will open and the locomotive will "dump the water" as the saying goes. This will render the locomotive inoperable until the valve is reset or replaced and the cooling system is replenished, which I believe is 240 gallons of water for a GP40-2. Better to replenish dumped water than have frozen water in an engine block, which could lead to all kinds of bad things and tens of thousands of dollars to repair.

@RailsEast Conrails policy is to leave engines running whenever the temperature is below freezing. However, not all of the engines do what I described earlier. 4405 wasn’t doing it last week while it sat over the next few days.

I have noticed that all the Ex Chessie engines I’ve personally witnessed in operation do this whenever left to idle for extended periods, regardless of weather conditions.

Edit: Forgot to mention that the engines will run at this high idle speed for anywhere between 5-30 minutes before going to the normal high idle speed for about 5 minutes, and this repeats on end.

No Southern return run today, 31 is on the Dayton Branch with CSXT 6210.

Unknown symbol northbound on the Southern at Sycamore Ave in Shrewsbury at 10:10 in the pm.

Conrail SA-93 ok up to the board at 10:25 in the pm.

I think I just heard its horn in the distance from home in Hazlet, 10:55 pm.

NS 5286, Operation Lifesaver, leading SA31 through Matawan on Oct. 15, 2020.

Crazy to think it’s only been a year since NS engines were forbidden from coming down here. Nice shot.

Nice pic, LV.

My pic (page 776) was from a week before, same engine. Looks like we have the closing days of NS on the Southern. Anyone know when the NS units were officially banned by NJT?

NS engines without ACSES PTC systems are forbidden from leading trains on NJT, therefore we won’t be seeing them anymore. NS has assigned engines equipped with this system in areas that Conrail does not work in. Once in a great while OI-16 might run with an NS engine in between two CSX engines, but that’s about it.

Norfolk Southern power still runs to all other areas where trains come out of Browns though, but it’s not that often anymore.

Speaking of Browns power it’s currently:

CSXT 6160, 6210, and 6228