TRAINSPOTTING ON THE MORRISTOWN & ERIE, 2006

As first mentioned by my friend Al Holleuffer back on 2/1/06, M&E #22, the Sulzer GP9 ( aka John K. Fiorilla ), is to receive an EMD prime mover sometime this Summer.

Last Friday, an M&E flat car was outside the Morristown shops with both the recently acquired 2nd-hand EMD prime mover as well as a spare 2nd-hand Alco prime mover also acquired as a back-up. The latter will be shrink-wrapped and put into storage.

Also, I'm told the 2 ex-Amtrak switchers may be next in the paint shop....to be put into a variation of the M&E red, black and yellow trim scheme.

Tri-State Tom wrote:As first mentioned by my friend Al Holleuffer back on 2/1/06, M&E #22, the Sulzer GP9 ( aka John K. Fiorilla ), is to receive an EMD prime mover sometime this Summer.

Can we assume this will also be going to Maine? or is it too early to guess?

Tri-State Tom wrote:Also, I'm told the 2 ex-Amtrak switchers may be next in the paint shop....to be put into a variation of the M&E red, black and yellow trim scheme.

Can't wait to se that.

THANKS!

emd engines to maine eastern,alcos based in morristown
prime movers might have come from amtk,The M&E has
alot of motive power,I would think the m&e fl-9s form temp
service

cnj -

" emd engines to maine eastern,alcos based in morristown "

Correct....the thinking could change and we might see a 'MAINE EASTERN' paint scheme on the 2 Amtrak 1200's.

" prime movers might have come from amtk "

The EMD prime mover could have come from anywhere....including a scrap dealer. I doubt the Alco prime mover came from Amtrak.

" I would think the m&e fl-9s form temp
service "

I'm pretty sure their sole function up north is to power the seasonal 'lobster train' excursion service.

Also Maine Eastern 265 was outside running this afternoon..I also saw the other F40 was tucked in the back with some sort of acceptance or other kind of sticker on the nose....

The sticker on the nose of F40PH 291 is something about the National Guard. I think someone at the M&E was just having some fun.

Sandy

NS Dover Drill Geeps ( one Conrail liveried ) left Morristown headed west thru BAKER around 11:30 am .

And just now #20 heading west thru BAKER lugging the 2 ex-ERIE LACKAWANNA hoppers and 3 ore jennies which were spotted arriving here full of stone ballast late last week. Today all 5 units are empty.

I had the opportunity to chat briefly with M&E's President, Wesley R. Weiss, over the week end. They have made arrangment with County Concrete Corp. in Kenvil to buy stone from them and all cars are being loaded there including the big NJT train seen last week. This is why people are seeing empty cars going west and loads coming east. They did not get any of their ballast from NJT's supplier. They only rented the train for a large ballasting project on the Whippany Line.

Makes sence, if your gonna buy stone, might as well get it from a company right on one of your lines!! I'd like to catch one of those trains crossing Rt. 46.

Makes sense. M&E 20 and the 5 cars - loaded - went east past S. Jefferson road around 8:45 this morning returning west about 12:45. I got to chase them a bit though they stopped somewhere along the way as I went to Morristown and they didn't show - only to hear them crossing Hanover Ave as I headed back to work. I think they might have had to stop for a truck blocking the crossing going into Std Roofing.

The tamper brought in last week is on the Morristown Lumber siding and the track crew was doing repairs to switches in the shop area so they've apparently not started tamping any of the stone they've dropped.

Today at Morristown 18 (running) & 19 were outside along with both F-40's. 22 is inside the shop as, apparently, are both the ex-Amtrak switchers and a passenger car of some variety. The Alexander Hamilton was also outside.

The ballast train was back in action today - with a twist. It went east late morning with #20 leading and one of the ex-Amtrak switchers (763? getting really hard to see with the trees coming out) trailing. The switcher is in M&E Red & Black (basically 18/19's paint scheme adopted to a switcher body) and is not yet fully lettered.

They came west mid-afternoon with the ballast cars and it seemed like a couple of extras so perhaps they switched B&G while on the east end. 20 then returned alone awhile later and went into the Jefferson Road run-around and went west with the whole mess that's been sitting there for months (flat car with track equipment on it, 2 ex-LIRR coaches and an ex-Southern (I think haven't looked lately) passenger car. Don't know the reason for this move but would speculate that either a) they intend to ballast the runaround as well or b) were creating a convenient place to tie up the large tamper and another piece of track equipment that was working east of Jefferson Road between trains.

Hopefully get out to explore a bit at lunch time tomorrow.

A

so is the MNCR paint dry yet on those M&E F40's ??

Al Holleuffer wrote: They used the 5355 to retrieve sleeper MOUNT VERNON from the MMC Thursday as it had returned from a recent move on Amtrak. I passed them on 854 east of Summit. As posted on the New Jersey Forum 5355 towed 18, 20 and three cars back to Morristown late this afternoon.

Bedroom-lounge MOUNT VERNON returned from a New York - Chicago - Washington - Boston - Albany - Rutland - New York trip on April 5th, but the car had been sitting at NJ Transit's MMC for about 2 weeks awaiting pickup ... M&E weighed the car on it's circuitious trip back to Whippany.

OHIO RIVER + MOUNT VERNON are scheduled to operate a charter from New York to Washington and return in mid-May on behalf of a client from Oregon ... the two cars should be traveling south on Amtrak # 91 of May 18th and north on Amtrak # 80 of May 22nd.

Monday 4/24 at lunch time I went down to Whippany and the Maine Eastern Geep was on display and the chair car Morris County on the house track. When I stopped by Morristown after work the Geep was there along with the Morris County 18/20/563 and the F40s. The long hood of 22 is on the coaling dock and the engine itself is back inside (saw them shoving it back in last Thursday so the prime mover change out is a go). Also on the shop lead RS-11 7214 which I think is the one that's been sitting on the Ridgedale passing siding for the past few months.

The 5 car ballast train was loaded sitting on the hill so I presume they'll resume ballast spreading tomorrow. The tamper and (I think it's a) ballast regulator were tied up on opposite ends of the S Jefferson road passign track today from the weekend - given the weather forecast the track crew didn't appear to work today.