In 2003 I had finished with one stage of schooling and was looking at relocating to Baltimore, MD. Part of this involved one remaining trip down the NEC from Connecticut to New Jersey followed by a summer of casual railfanning. These sets of classic photos cover the NEC trip ( mirror ) and a subsequent visit ( mirror ) to Norristown, Elm St on SEPTA's R6.
Starting off from Meriden, CT my Springfield Shuttle train was being hauled by Amtrak Phase IV Heritage P40DC #827.
After passing Amtrak's Cedar Hill rail welding facility I got this shot of the old New Haven RR coaling tower along with a gray Amtrak GP38 MoW unit. Also note the rather impressive amount of lumber.
The new New Haven State Street station had recently opened for business.
Amtrak HHP-8 #658 at New Haven station.
I'm not sure if they are still in service now, but at the time Metro North's wire repair or wire inspection train made use of old Budd coaches. In this case one such coach is attached to caboose #406.
New Haven tower SS3 OAK in the Broax was still sporting its PC Green station signs. These would soon be stolen.
Photo of NJT's Meadowlands Maintenance Complex from the NEC with 4 ALP-46's and 1 ALP-44 visible.
At 30th St Amtrak GP7 #770 in MOW orange was hanging out in the Penn Coach Yard coupled to some roadrailers likely headed west on the Pennsylvanian or Three Rivers. A pair of new Acela Express sets can be seen in the background probably undergoing acceptance testing.
The Race St engine terminal has another heritage painted 800-series P40DC along with NJT ALP-46 #4613. ALP-46's like #4613 were on hand in Philly to pull Amtrak's Clocker trains. The retirement of the E60 fleet had created a capability gap in terms of hauling long, heavy trains so Amtrak reached out to NJT to provide some of their new 8000hp locomotives. NJT would ultimately take over the Clocker slots, converting them into additional Trenton express runs due to the rather limited ridership below Trenton.
SEPTA Route 100 N-5 cars #143 and #146 at the Norristown Transportation Centre.
I walked to Elm St to get photos of the old Reading substation and BRIDGE interlocking.
At Elm St the next inbound R6 with Silverliner IV #422 was waiting.
Departing, a Slow Clear was encountered at ELM followed by a Medium Clear at KALB.
That's it for these two sets of 2003 photos. Less capacity for photos was a big reason I wasn't so far behind back then!
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