02-07-20 CLASSIC PHOTOS: SEPTA Wayne Shoppes

In the summer of 2002 the West Jersey Chapter NRHS organized a former visit to SEPTA's Wayne Junction electric car shops and Roberts yard. This was the primary maintenance facility for the Reading's electric MU fleet and served in that capacity until the center city tunnel was completed at which point cars had their choice of repair facility. Today the Wayne Junction complex consists of the Wayne Electric shops, the Roberts Yard storage yard and the Roberts Yard shop facilities which deals with truck, motor and HVAC systems.

What makes this set of photos so wonderful are the plethora of Silverliner II's and III's that were hanging around both the shoppes and yards. Even in 2002 nobody could even think that the old girls might "only" have another 10 years left in them.

You can browse the entire set of photos right here.

We begin in the Wayne Shoppes backlot where SEPTA BL15 pup switchers #51 and #50 are hanging out.

They are joined by ugly ducking RL-1 #61.

This former LIRR(?) Alco FA cab unit #615 was and is still in service as part of SEPTA's fall leaf busting gel trains.

Also in the Reading backlot were appropriately former Reading Silverliner II's #9017 and 9008. For anyone who likes the Budd "pin and cup" coupler here is a closeup.

Silverliner II 9004 is still shiny with only a few bullet holes.

One of the bays in the 1930's vintage carhouse.

Air brake parts on racks.

Ah SEPTA....

Here is an odd truck that appears to be from some sort of mechanically driven rail vehicle. Can anyone help identify this?

In 2002 you could still catch vintage Reading Blueliner #9125 as the wire train cab car.

Cab of #9125.

02-07-19 CLASSIC PHOTOS: Boonton Line

Notice I didn't title this "Montclair-Boonton Line". Back in the summer of 2002, the word came down that the old Erie RR portion of the NJT Boonton Line would be abandoned in favor of a new routing via the old DL&W Montclair Branch with electrification extended to Great Notch. As a result I set up with once and future Subchatter Spider Pig
to ride the entire "classic" Boonton Line before it passed into history. This was made a bit challenging due to the fact that there was no weekend Boonton Line service and very limited reverse peak service. Pigs and I met in Hoboken for the first afternoon Hackettstown train departing around 2pm, then caught a return train via the M&E.

There were a lot of storms out this day and they overtook us just after we got to Hackettstown so that's why there aren't any pix from the way back. You can view the set of pixs we did get here

To get to Hoboken on a weekday I had to catch a train from Meriden, CT, where I was attending school at the time. The Meriden siding was a scheduled meet and the northbound shuttle arrived on the scene first. Much like today, the Amtrak Springfield Shuttle trains were running with one Metroliner Cab Car, one Amfleet coach and one Genesis. Unlike today the Genesis was a P40 (#820) and still dressed in Phase IV paint.

The northbound shuttle train was also running sandwich style with three Material Handling Cars on the end because unlike the other shuttle trains, this was one #490, connecting to early morning "mail" train #190. Before Amtrak exited the mail and express business in 2005, mail cars would traverse the corridor en route to the USPS sorting facility in Springfield, MA.

Here are my old buddies at the Meriden, CT Station. When Amtrak re-signaled the Springfield Line ~1990 they installed New Haven style small target US&S H-5 searchlight signals on new style aluminum masts. In 2005 the H-5's were re-headed with target type LED color light signals. These are now currently being removed to support Rule 562 operation without fixed automatic signals in conjunction with the double track project and CDOT commuter service.

The unpopular GE B39-8 was predecessor to the equally unpopular B40-8. High horsepower 4-axle road power just never caught on with the major railroads so most of the B39-8's ended up being sold to GE's leading arm. #8565 here ran with the Connecticut Southern short line who had the contract for Springfield Line freight service. It pulled into the Meriden siding with #8579 to wait for the arrival of southbound Shuttle train.

That soon appeared with Metroliner Cab Car #9640 on the end.

Arriving at New Haven Station I encountered some of the FL-9's that were still in service back in 2002. Still, by that time they were being assigned to lesser tasks like shuttle service and, in the case of #2014 and #2024, hauling the wire train.

AEM-7 #920 is one of another class of locomotives that have since vanished from the NEC.

Well at least this hasn't changed...recent accidents aside.

Comet V? What's a Comet V?? In this pic the V's were still some years distant. The first Comet cab car I of the entire class, #5100, sits at Hoboken next to Arrow III #1321 ready to follow up a train.

There was still a strong commitment to MU operations on the Hoboken Division before everything was converted to push-pull and funneled into Penn Station behind. Arrow III's #1528 and #1330.

Comet I Cab Car #5130 had had grade crossing protection stripes applied, while #5133 was unmodified.

02-07-05 CLASSIC PHOTOS: SEPTA R3 R5 Trip

In the summer of 2002 I went on a very interesting SEPTA trip with fellow local rail enthusiast Chuchubob. We traveled on SEPTA Regional Rail's R3 to the system's second most eastern station at West Trenton. From there we traveled, via Center City, to SEPTA Regional Rail's westernmost station, the somewhat new Thorndale station on the R5 line. While it is technically possible to get a through train, at the time almost all R3's and R5's would stay on their respective routings requiring a transfer at one of the downtown stations. Anyway, after waiting a headway we returned from Thorndale back to Center City. The result of all this was not only a very fun day of railfanning, but also a good number of photos on my first digital camera that I had only purchased about 6 months before. The full set of photos ( mirror ) has the distinction of having been remastered twice, first in the 2005 time period and then again in 2020 as in 2005 I was still facing photo size and editing skill constraints.

Starting things off outbound to West Trenton we pass SEPTA Silverliners IV #413 and #284 at the Roberts yard HVAC plant just prior to the doublerslip ladder at WAYNE JCT. In 2002 WAYNE tower was still open with its 1960's vintage NX-panels that controlled all of the Reading side of the Regional Rail system.

 

Passing the Wayne Jct electric shoppes I managed to catch SEPTA end-cab switchers #50 and $52 in the same shot. Both were END SW1200's that were rebuilt to varying degrees with #50 getting a entirely new engine at Brookville Equipment.

The Logan Regional Rail station was still standing after having been closed in the mid-1990's. It was subsequently demolished and the tracks re-aligned.

SEPTA's NEWTOWN JCT, wher the R8 Fox Chase splits off, seen here in its penultimate configuration with an interlocked connection to the former Conrail Trenton Line. This connection would be removed around 2008 with SEPTA's first SEPTAration project that would remove the need to dispatch CSX freight trains at the cost of decreased SEPTA capacity.

At JENNKIN interlocking the former Reading New York Branch (current SEPTA Neshaminy Line) splits off the former Reading Bethlehem Branch (current SEPTA Main Line). Note the signal is displaying a "straight" clear through the fairly slow curving track to the right. This would allow premier Philly to NYC trains like The Crusader, the fastest possible route through the junction.

At the time most of the Reading half of the SEPTA RRD was running under ABS Rule 251 without cab signals. Here my outbound R3 meets its inbound counterpart led by Silverliner IV #183 near Neshaminy Falls station.

SEPTA Silverliner IV #180 at the tail end of my outbound R3 before it heads into the small yard at West Trenton. Units #101 to #188 were delivered as married pairs in 1976 for service on the former Reading Railroad territory.

After lunch at Freddie's restaurant, I went over to TRENT tower, which had closed in the mid-1990's but continued to serve as the West Trenton crew base.

At this point in time it was not uncommon to catch Silverliners II and III, then starting their last decade of service, as they made up about a quarter of SEPTA's active fleet of MU's. Walking over to the small West Trenton yard I found former Reading car #9011 leading a III and PRR II.