Shared Assets Lehigh Line

Is there a preferred spot around Bound Brook to watch freight and NJT? We'll be treking from Maine on the weekend of the 26th-27th and have a room in Raritan for two nights.

I decided to take a vacation day today because the weather was perfect. Conrail Shared Assets at South Plainfield was quite active:

11:55 AM – arrived at Metuchen Road

12:05 PM – three pieces of MOW equipment WB

12:50 PM – Nine diesel consist (2 NS & 7 CSX) EB with long mixed freight
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... x?id=90614

1:05 PM – NS long intermodal EB
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... x?id=90615

1:30 PM – NS with autoracks WB
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... x?id=90616

2:10 PM – CSX with TOFC EB
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... x?id=90617

2:30 PM – Six diesel consist with a blue NS (Conrail) and BNSF mixed freight EB
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... x?id=90624

3:30 PM – Departed after seeing CSX local tie up the line and begin to work the big plants on New Market Avenue in Samptown

Kim,

Some award winning shots there! Nice

Steve

Im sure it didnt make it east to you guys, but the Allentown - Manville turn was using LMX B39-8 8501 Thursday. They worked the BR&W interchange for well over an hour with it on the east end (facing east) and a blue GP40-2 ont he west end (facing east).

Nice shots!!!!

If you want train numbers they are:

12:50 PM - Probably CSX Q300
1:05 PM - NS 24V
1:30 PM - NS 11J
2:10 PM - CSX Q172
2:30 PM - NS 18G
3:30 PM - That local is MA-1

Nice shots. Can't wait to see some more!!!

Mike
http://CR80MAC.rrpicturearchives.net

No, sorry, I'm not much on locals even though it did have New Market Avenue tied up for 5 minutes and I clearly saw the number but failed to write it down, and I'm terrible on model ID. I thought about getting out of my car and photographing it, but I decided to just keep going home. I haven’t kept up with the newer stuff over the past 20 years or so; I used to know the difference between a Geep, SD, Alco & U-boat, but just plain lost track. I guess they don't even make some of those anymore.

Did you see any foreign power today?

Got a fairly decent cloudy day shot of Amtrak train #145 at the Hamilton Transit Complex today - this is the train that goes non-stop from Newark to Philadelphia in 63 minutes:

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... x?id=90839

High-Hood GP38-2 #5040 (ex-Southern) working BRW transfer today:

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... x?id=91286

kpiersol wrote:Did you see any foreign power today?

I did see some foreign/lease power yesterday.

NS 21M had a BNSF D9-44CW.
NS 24V had a Union Pacific SD70M.
NS 212 has two Union Pacific engines.
CSX K206 had a FURX unit leading.
CSX Q300 had a BNSF SD70AC.
Two other CSX mixed freights had lease units and one had two UP engines.

So there was some foreign power yesterday morning.

OCtrainguy wrote:

kpiersol wrote:Did you see any foreign power today?

I did see some foreign/lease power yesterday.

NS 21M had a BNSF D9-44CW.
NS 24V had a Union Pacific SD70M.
NS 212 has two Union Pacific engines.
CSX K206 had a FURX unit leading.
CSX Q300 had a BNSF SD70AC.
Two other CSX mixed freights had lease units and one had two UP engines.

So there was some foreign power yesterday morning.

Did my first Lehigh Railfanning today at Union Station from 10:00 to 12:00 PM.

Saw 1746 leased power (one of those green engines) with CSX 238 on a westbound mixed freight.

Other things I spotted (all eastbound):

An autotrain with NS C40-9W 9742 leading.

A Union Pacific SD70M (3930) with a BNSF unit with mixed freight.

And a pair of NS C40-8Ws with an intermodal train. (9235 leading with 8423.)

4 trains in two hours- not bad (not including NJT).

How were the transit sets. They seem to do well with the sets on the RVL. I have to get to Union one of these days, might not be soon. It is nice to see all those freights. Where I am in Ardsley, we do fairly well, but most of the freight traffic is nocturnal. When the days start getting longer I will photograph that CP freight that passes on the tail end of the MN rush. Back to jersey, I have to get to Perth Amboy one of these days. How often does the freight pass through there?

njt/mnrrbuff wrote:How were the transit sets. They seem to do well with the sets on the RVL. I have to get to Union one of these days, might not be soon. It is nice to see all those freights. Where I am in Ardsley, we do fairly well, but most of the freight traffic is nocturnal. When the days start getting longer I will photograph that CP freight that passes on the tail end of the MN rush. Back to jersey, I have to get to Perth Amboy one of these days. How often does the freight pass through there?

Not as often as I would like. Catching it is can be something of luck sometimes. On Saturday and Sunday, sometimes you'll see one freight train. On weekdays, you can see 1, 2 or 3 or maybe more long trains (approximately.) Plus, they also have a Geep working at the Steel Plant daily.

The transit sets seem to work pretty well. Saw a lot more Comet Vs today on the RVL than I usually see. There was one set that had all Comet Vs except for a Comet III in the middle. And btw, it is about the one year anniversary since the Comet Vs entered service on the RVL.

Catching freight on the NEC in NJ can be very precarious. Luck is a big part of that. Somedays I see a lot of trains while other days, I can't seem to catch them.

One of your best bets for freight is on the Lehigh line in this section (central) of NJ.

Also, was anyone else railfanning today? I couldn't catch the number of the BNSF unit behind the UP SD70M 3930 engine and am not sure what model of locomotive it is. Could be a Dash 9.

The BNSF engine was #4197 - C44-9W. The train was NS 212. He held at CP Bound Brook for NS 35G, NS 11J and CSX Q41712.

CR80MAC
http://cr80mac.rrpicturearchives.net