23-11-22 PHOTOS: Croydington

Amtrak's Thanksgiving Programme ain't what it used to be. Despite ridership recovering to pre-COVID highs, Amtrak is no longer in the business of adding trains and renting extra equipment. To some extent Amtrak has already added capacity to its regular schedule with more and longer Regional trains, thus leaving little ability to "surge" for the holiday, however the lack of rented commuter trainsets does question if they are truly doing all they can. I was told the manager who made the Thanksgiving push possible retired and nobody else stepped up to make it happen, but Amtrak's lean in to dynamic pricing can provide another part of the explanation in that its far more profitable to raise prices than jump through hoops surging capacity. Regardless I am not about to break a multi-decade long tradition of going out on Thanksgiving Wednesday to take photos along the NEC between Trenton and Philadelphia. Like some previous years my preferred target was Croydon SEPTA station, due to an adjacent lunch location, however I also includes stops to photograph the signals at CROY interlocking and my first ever visit to the seldom used Eddington SEPTA station. You can find the full set of 2023 Thanksgiving Wednesday photos here ( mirror ).

CROY interlocking is directly adjacent to US Route 13, although its location on the far track #1 made some of the photos a bit challenging. CROY allows local freight trains to access an industrial park without having to obtain a Form D to move against the current of traffic west of GRUNDY interlocking in Bristol. The first train to pass was a westbound Keystone service train with ACS-86 #643 pulling ahead of a 9600 series Metroliner cab car and #636 on the rear. The push-pull configuration wasn't because the 5 car train needed 17200hp, but because of some of equipment failure on the increasingly unreliable Metroliner cab.

Next up was a 4-car Silverliner V Trenton-bound SEPTA R7.

Next to appear was a westbound Acela with ultimate power car #2039 seen here passing in front of the eastbound track #1 mast signal at CROY.

At the Croydon Station, a couple of Eagles dressed railfans were out with a tripod and ready to catch an eastbound Keystone train with ACS-603 and functioning Metroliner Cab Car #9649.

The previous Keystone met an inbound R7 local with Silverliner V #845 leading, which in turn met an outbound R7 led by Silverliner IV #168.

This was followed by a pair of Acelas, the first was a southbound with power car #2011 leading and the second a northbound with power cars #2038 leading and #2016 trailing. The southbound also passed an outbound SEPTA R7 local with Silverliner IVs #138, #137, #370 and #369 that happened to be stopped at the station.

The final action was a meet between two Amtrak Regional trains just east of Croydon station. The northbound Regional is being hauled by ACS-86 #651 and the southbound #620. The speed of the northbound Regional is evident from the track #2 694 automatic signal progressing from Stop and Proceed, to Approach to Clear all within a minute after passing.



Currently designated as a flag stop, Eddington has some of the lowest ridership on the entire Regional Rail Division and is perennially targeted for closure.

As my third Keystone of the day passed by in the westbound direction with ACS-86 #652 and Metroliner cab car #9641, I noticed that CSX GP40-2 #4450 was approaching on the Eddington Industrial Track running lite.

From what I could find this industrial track is served by Conrail local freight FJ-2 running out of Frankford Jct yard. The Oaks Model RR Guy would frequently video at Eddington so seeing the Conrail crew enter the NEC at the hand-throw switch and then trundle back to Frankford Jct brought back some pre-YouTube nostalgia.

Before it could re-enter NEC track #1, it had to wait for the hourly R7 local to pass by. The outbound R7 had Silverliners IV #160 and #425 on the ends. While running time on the hand throw switch, the inbound train also passed by on the far track with the #138, #137, #370 and #369 Silverliner IV train that I had previously seen getting passed by Acela power car #2011 at Croydon.

In this video we see #4450 drift through the station before waiting at the hand throw switch while passed by both R7 Trenton Locals in addition to a southbound Amtrak Regional powered by ACS-86 #628

After waiting the required 8 or so minutes for the SL-25 switch locks to release, the crew re-entered main track #1 and proceeded in the reverse direction back to HOLMES interlocking and/or Frankford Jct yard.

All in all I can see the appeal of railfanning the NEC at Eddington, especially if one can predict the schedule of FJ-2. Tune in next time as I head back to the NEN on Black Sunday.

23-11-19 PHOTOS: Lehigh Summit

The Reading and Northern continues to be the only bright spot when it comes to interesting signaling with its deployment of CTC and use of both searchlights an recovered Reading vintage hardware like bracket masts. Over the last few years I have been making regular incursions into Reading country to document this signaling, but with all of the low hanging fruit now harvested I have been having to travel a bit further onto the former Lehigh Valley portion of their "Main Line" between North Reading and Pittston. In the winter of 2023 I used a trip to see my vintage radio/TV and railfan friend Phil, to access the former Conrail Lehigh Line passing point around Mountain Top, PA with its associated interlockings, block signals and RBMN passenger operations. You can find the full gallery of these photos here ( mirror ).

On my way up to the East Branch Susquehanna valley I stopped off at CP-ROCKVILLE north of Harrisburg to catch the late running eastbound Amtrak Pennsylvanian Train 42 as it came off the famed Rockville Bridge with P42DC #104 leading.

I stopped off in Sunbury, PA to hike out and photograph the surviving D&H bracket mast on what is now the NS Sunbury Line. Previously serving as the southbound signal for a CTC siding, the old signal was converted into a fixed distant for CP-KASE on the NS Buffalo Line when D&H successor Canadian Pacific downgraded this part of the line to TWC. More recently NS removed the bracket and fixed searchlight from service to be replaced by one of its own standard cabinet masts.

The next morning I drive directly to CP-SOLOMON at Mountain Top, PA where I was greeted by a former New Haven RR cabin car #C566 which had been acquired by a local preservation group and set up to honor the various coal region railroads. Members of the group were on hand to set up an extensive holiday display, which seemed to be the justification for the ample parking facilities.

A Clear signal indication was displaying on the 2E searchlight mast at CP-SOLOMON for the morning run of the Reading Northern's weekend Pittston to Mach Chunk tourist train via the Lehigh Gorge. Historic Mach Chunk has emerged as a significant food and shopping destination as well as a gateway to the Pocono outdoor recreation scene and the RBMN now serves the community with weekend/holiday passenger services from both the north and south. The name CP-SOLOMON is in reference to Solomon's Gap, the geologic feature that both the Lehigh Valley and Central RR of NJ took advantage of to access the Wyoming Valley coal fields and the Scranton metropolitan area.

The three car train of Budd lightweight stock was being easily handled up the stiff grade by R&N GP38-2 #2023. When Conrail came on the scene it used the best parts of the former CNJ and LVRR main lines to create its new Lehigh Line. The alignment changes from CNJ to LVRR just north of the rock cut seen in the photo.

R&N #3023 and the southbound train to Mach Chunk passing through CP-SOLOMON.

23-11-04 PHOTOS: Grand Central Madison

In 2023 the opening of East Side Access, partly rebranded as the name of its new terminus Grand Central Madison, was all the rage. While the excitement would soon turn to disappointment as the LIRR completely botched the resulting service changes, the new GCM remained a must see, so myself and a friend arranged a day trip to NYC with plans to visit PORT interlocking and tower in Freeport, Long Island, traveling into GCM and getting some clean up photos at the M Cabin drawbridge in Long Island City. On the day of the trip I even achieved an unanticipated bonus goal of getting an extended amount of rear facing NEC photos from the back of my NJT train into Penn Station. You can see the full set of photos here ( mirror ).

First up we have an NJT NEC line train comprised of single level stock and a leading Comet V cab car, stopped at MENLO interlocking to wait for my train to pass by and platform at Metropark while a southbound Amtrak Regional train led by ACS-86 #637 pulls away on track #4..

Westbound signals at UNION interlocking with an NJT ALP-46 just visible at the Rahway platform on Track #B.

The DOCK drawbridges, tower and PATH ramps.

Amtrak MoW MP15D at Manhattan Transfer.

PORTAL bridge with the new bridge construction to the right.

NJT ALP-45 #4516 at ALLIED interlocking.

Video from the rear window of the entire North River tunnel from BERGEN interlocking to Penn Station.



Arriving New York Penn Station.

Heritage painted Amtrak P32AC-DM #713 waiting to depart with an Empire corridor train.

LIRR M7's #7692 and #7448 adjacent to Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal Railroad milepost zero.

LIRR Babylon Branch M7 #7565 passing the 2E position light mast signal at PORT interlocking. PORT was re-signaled around 2005, just before the LIRR stopped installing new position light type signals.

An inbound Babylon Branch train bracketed by M7's #7739 and #7188 arrives at Freeport.