22-04-01 PHOTOS: Florence

Over the past 20 years the NJT RiverLINE has been far more useful than I assumed when it first opened. In addition to serving as a cheaper substitute to the SEPTA R7 for connecting to NJT at Trenton and the occasional access to the Camden waterfront, the RiverLINE has also served me as a Park N Ride alternative to Hamilton and, more recently, created a second NJ loop option for my SEPTA winter fan trips. In the Spring of 2022 I discovered a new use when driving down from North Jersey with a friend. They needed to stop near Doylestown, PA while I was looking to continue down to South Jersey. The solution was to drop me off at the turnpike adjacent Florence Park Ride station where I would then continue to my destination. Of course I am going to do a post based on the resulting photos that you can find here ( mirror ).

The Florence station is located at the northern end of a double track segment that runs adjacent to the Conrail Burlington yard. Although freight use of the RiverLINE track is time restricted to overnight, the Burlington Yard is seperate from the RiverLINE with direct access to many local industries and can operate during daylight hours.

The RiverLINE uses a system of timed meets to get a 15 minute headway on a line with a good amount of single track operation. On this day northbound LRV #3508 was the first to arrive and wait for the southbound.

This arrived in the form of LRV #3510.

Heading south past the freight yard, CSX GP38-1 #2531 was waiting its next call to duty.

While riding I tried taking some cab view videos with mixed results. The first one covers the arrival into Burlington and Beverly stations and the second one portions in Pennsauken and Pavonia.





Juniata Terminal SW1500 #9625 and associated PRR caboose was sitting at the Pavonia Yard RiverLINE facility where it handles various work and rescue duties.

21-11-24 PHOTOS: Croydon Return

After a year off due to COVID I was able to rejoin Chuchubob for our annual Thanksgiving Wednesday NEC carpool. This year, after the traditional south jersey stops at Cove Road and Pennsauken, we traveled to catch the increased Amtrak traffic at the Croydon SEPTA station due to its proximity to a really nice brewpub. Unfortunately over the intervening period, Amtrak had responded to the change in travel patterns and tight labor market by raising prices instead of adding capacity. As a result there were no Thanksgiving Wednesday extra trains, just some extra cars. Still, it was an excuse to get out and take some NEC photos on a really nice fall day. The full set of photos can be found here ( mirror ).

Starting off at the Pennsauken transportation center where we arrived in time to catch an inbound NJT Atlantic City Line train seen here heading over the Delair Bridge before a stop at the station.

NJT RiverLINE trans also tend to pass just north of the Pennsauken transfer station so when you encounter a northbound, a southbound will soon follow. Today #3511 was heading north and #3506 south.

At Cove Road NS SD70ACe #1177 and C40-10W #7516 were in the process of building their train at Pavonia Yard. The train's length was such that the lead units were spraying sand and needed to get routes pulled up at CP-HATCH.

On a hunch Bob drove down to the RiverLINE's 36th St station where we found SD70ACe #1025 in a DPU position ahead of a cut of coal hoppers.

We also caught the next southbound RiverLINE train with #3513.

At Croydon, an outbound SEPTA R7 was first to arrive with Silverliner IV #293.

This was followed by a northbound Amtrak Regional with ACS-86 #625. A major feature of the Croydon station is the proximity to a PRR style intermediate signal location.

A inbound R7 train with Silverliners IV #372, #373, #277 and #296 then arrived. In years past these Thanksgiving adjacent train could be seen with up to 6 cars.

An eastbound Amtrak Keystone was next with ACS-86 #628 and Metroliner Cab Car #9645.

21-05-08 PHOTOS: Airport Run

Since visitors who why in tend to fly back out, a week after picking up someone from JFK airport I was involved with dropping the same individual off at JFK airport for their return flight to the west coast. With three people on hand, paying the AirTrain penalty was not particularly appealing so I suggested taking Uber to the Rockaway ferry terminal to take the scenic route to Manhattan. After dinner I proceeded back south via NJT, RiverLINE, PATCO and Amtrak. The full set of photos can be found here ( mirror ).

The Rockaway Ferry was started in 2012 as a way to connect the peninsula to downtown after Hurricane Sandy took out the A Train causeway over Jamaica Bay. With subsidized fares, a scenic route and $3 beers, the Rockaway Ferry quickly became one of the best deals in the city and since my friend had never been to New York City before I figured it would be a fun tourist activity.

Unfortunately the weather was a bit cold and grey and they weren't selling any beer on board, but we still had a great time.

Although our destination was Central Park we decided to connect with the A train at Chambers by walking down to the Battery and then up past Wall St.

The expensive PATH headhouse and Fulton TC oculus were both still a thing.

Catching an R46 A-train at Chambers with #6070 in the lead and then a video of it leaving 59th St.

21-05-01 PHOTOS: Moynihan Train Hall and TWA Hotel

A lot of people were talking about that new Moynihan train hall so when presented with a need to pick someone up from JFK Airport I decided to make a side trip one block to the west to see what all the fuss was about. Once I was in the mood for retro travel experiences I also killed some time in the new TWA Hotel built in the old TWA Flight Center structure. The full set of photos can be found here ( mirror ).

Starting off at BWI Airport Rail Station with Amtrak ACS-86 #654 leading Train 20, the northbound Crescent at speed on the center track through the BWI Airport Rail Station. The lack of LD service to BWI is a bit of an annoyance after I moved out of the city.



This was followed by my northbound Regional arriving with Amtrak ACS-86 #610 in the lead.

SEPTA Silverliners IV #433 and #440 at 30th St Station.

Here we have east and westbound PATCO trains arriving simultaneously at 8th and MARKET.



PATCO Rebuild #1071 at Haddonfield.

RiverLINE LRV #3518 southbound at Bordentown.

Amtrak ACS-86 #656 pushing a Keystone set out of Trenton.

SEPTA Push-pull set at Trenton with cab car #2408 and ACS-86 #906.

The east facade of the Farley Post Office building was still under renovation, but branding for the Moynihan Train Hall had been applied.

Inside, the Moynihan Train Hall was very nice, but still pretty empty as COVID was still holding back travel.

20-11-25 PHOTOS: NEC Mashup

Every year on the day before Thanksgiving I head out with Chuchubob for some pre-holiday railfanning along Amtrak's NEC. This year due to COVID not only was sharing a car and a meal not considered a good idea, but Amtrak's schedule had been drastically cut back due to the collapse in ridership. Not to be deterred Bob and I realized that there was nothing stopping us from taking separate cars to an outdoor NEC location to continue the tradition. North Philadelphia station was chosen due to R7 and R8 SEPTA trains filling in for missing Amtrak Regionals. Since Bob had a number of other things to do we split up early leaving me to continue on to Holmesburg Junction and then Croydon where I did some outdoor dining in view of the tracks. The photos from the entire day can be found here ( mirror ).

We began at the NJT RiverLINE's 36th St station in Camden where sibling units #3513 and #3512 passed eachother.

In Pavonia Yard NS AC44C6M #4035 was performing some flat switching.

Due to track work in Amtrak's LEHIGH interlocking, inbound R7 trains on Track #4 were getting Stop and Proceed signals. (Thack 3's signal wasn't even lit!). SEPTA Silverliner IV #317 was the first to navigate the work area.

 


NORTH PHILADELPHIA tower is still standing, but has been boarded up.

A northbound Acela Express trainset with power car #2034 was the first Amtrak train on the scene.