03-07-21 CLASSIC PHOTOS: MFL Frankford Terminal

In 2003 SEPTA was on the verge of closing Frankford Terminal, the last un-rebuilt portion of the Frankford Elevated that now makes up the eastern half of the Market-Frankford El. While I have covered the final day of service in another post, I had ventured out a few days before to visit Frankford Terminal, followed by a trip to the Broad Street Line's Fern Rock terminal. The entire set of these classic photos can be viewed here ( mirror ).

In this first image we are approaching the old Frankford Terminal with what I'll call an Approach Medium indication on the 26L signal, while an outbound train led by M-IV car #1095 pulls out on the opposite track. While the old Frankford elevated alignment followed the street below, SEPTA was able to clear the necessary property to create a straighter alignment into the Frankford layover yard. The operation to swap from the old to new terminal was scheduled over a weekend and involved cranes lifting in pre-fabricated track segments to connect with the 1980's rebuilt El structure, which in the photo ends where the stone ballast begins. 

The old Frankford Terminal east headhouse, seen here, would survive the rebuild and would connect with the new terminal via an elevated skyway.

My inbound train had been led by M-IV car #1172, seen here with red markers illuminated as the operator changed ends and also posing behind the 14L reverse direction dwarf signal. Frankford's closing would also mark the end of traditional block and interlocking signaling on the MFL as the new terminal would also commission the last section of cab signals that had been slowly making their way east from 69th St.

The new terminal as seen from the center platform of the old terminal.

SEPTA M-IV car #1121 pulling into Frankford Terminal's north track.

Departing Frankford Terminal over the curved scissors crossover with its combined diamond turnout. Complex track structures like this were common back in the day, but modern increases in labor costs have forced the transition to infrastructure with less maintenance overhead, which also includes concrete elevated structures instead of painted steel.

Passing an outbound train led by M-IV car #1084 at Church.

After the trip out to Frankford I rode the BSL up to Fern Rock which included a trip around the yard loop. Here we see the ready service equipment still in the orange stripe livery.

There was something about this era of SEPTA that didn't prioritize weed control.

A lot has changed in centre city since 2003 as well. Here we can see Philadelphia City Hall in the midst of of being sand blasted to remove the discoloration caused by 20th century industrial pollutants. Due to the cleaner air of the 21st century economy, the clean look has endured.

Here we can see the fountain in the iconic Love Park, a few years before it was completely demolished and rebuilt in a form that would deter skateboarders. For example the new fountain is flush mounted and lacks a pool. The blue color was due to the use of dyes to officially and unofficially color the fountain for various events or causes.

I might have been traveling to a Phillies game that day because I also have photos from Veterans Stadium while the name on the Spectrum was being changed from First Union to Wachovia.

That's all I have for this blast from the past.

03-07-19 CLASSIC PHOTOS: Port Jervis Trip

Before the age of formal Informal Railfan Trips, trips still happened, they were just fewer in number and not as well organized. Even the old Subtalk was known to get into the action and one such that trip organized in the summer of 2003 had the ambitious plan to go to Port Jervis and back on a weekend.

Port Jervis is always a tempting target for a railfan trip, but with 2_ hour travel times in each direction combined with spotty service frequencies, it is easy to get in over one's head. In this case everything was fine until the return trip where the brakes locked on an old CNJ vintage GP40P, which had to be set out and delayed us by an hour or more. Even returning express via the main line didn't do much to aid in our timelyness and we arrived at Hoboken well past the portal arrival and also well after the sun had set.

Because all of the "adventure" took place after daylight hours and before digital cameras had large memory capacity or native video, this photo set will cover all of the more "typical" railfan stuff that took place earlier that day.

We begin with a pair of Arrow III MU trains headed inbound and outbound at Hamilton, NJ with #1412 and #1377. Remember when NJT used to use MU's on it's electrified services? Crazy right?!

Amtrak left the lights on at MIDWAY interlocking. It also looks like I got lucky with a forward railfan view on an NJT train. Unfortunately with only 96 shots available on each card and a paltry 3x zoom, I couldn't take advantage of it.

Transfer to PATH at Newark and head out across the DOCK drawbridge. This was only 2 years after 9/11, but you can see what I thought of PATH's photo ban. 

SRS Doodlebug #149 was hanging out in Hudson yard. I believe that HUDSON Tower was still open.

PATH was still recovering from a land slide that had taken place the previous June.

PATH Journal Square yard complex.

 Arriving at Hoboken I found NJT and MNRR GP40PH-2's #4137 and 4190 sitting side by side.

The interior of Hoboken Terminal had just been renovated.

Hanging out on one of the outdoor tracks was an Arrow III Gladstone train with #1314.

Under the train shed the aluminum body of Comet I cab car #5128 was showing through the white paint.

#5000 Class car of the currently stored Comet III fleet was also waiting quietly at Hoboken.

Here Comet 1 cab car #5110 sits next to Metro North Comet IA cab car #919. This would be the car that the group would eventually ride to Port Jervis in.

#5000 wasn't the only special car at Hoboken. The lead car of the entire Comet coach family, #5100, was also there posing for photographs. #5100 was built by Pullman in 1970.

03-07-11 CLASSIC PHOTOS: NYC Subway Bronx Trip

In my early years as a railfan I had a somewhat different focus than I do now because I could still find excitement just getting out and riding new lines as opposed to getting out to document something before it is thrown onto the scrap pile. Combined with the limited amount of storage available for camera I wound up riding more and taking fewer photos. Oh, that's the other thing. Without a 9 to 5 job and free time during breaks in school, riding more was something that was still something I could do.

In July, 2003 I decided to take a trip to New York City from Philly in order to catch a (2) train to the end of the line at Wakefield – 241st Street. Since there was no RiverLINE I had to go via SEPTA, which saved a little time, but cost quite a bit more money. To fill the remainder of the day I popped over to Hoboken for a quick ride on the HBLR's surface route through Jersey City before returning via the PATH.

You can find the full set of remastered photos right here.

Starting at 30th St Station an HLCX powered train trundled by on the High Line as Circa Center construction was getting under way. If you are doing the "things that aren't here any more drinking game" take a drink for HHP-8's, Amtrak express cars and SD40-2 led road freights.

SEPTA had closed its interlocking towers a few months before and the communications bugs were still being worked out. This time nobody bothered to call ZOO to tell him that the R7 was running on track 4 instead of track 3 and we wound up being mis-routed down the Harrisburg Line. Fortunately we got stopped at the 64R signal and were treated to a trip over the K-ladder and Berry track after the Train Director at ZOO ran time.

This train was likely the last revenue movement over the #2 Berry track that was taken out of service shortly thereafter and eventually ripped out about 10 years later. The Berry tracks were used by freight trains running over the High Line in the PRR era.

Enemy R142 at the Simpson St curve on the (2) (5).

(7) Signed Redbirds sitting in the E. 180th St yard for some reason.

The 6R signal at E. 180TH ST interlocking. 180TH ST was the last single interlocking tower on the IRT and closed in 2008.

R142 test train at Mosholu Parkway on the (4)

The set included car #1211.

West 4th St tower, with its GRS Model 5 pistol grip type interlocking machine just barely visible through the window, would eventually close in 2019.

NJT Comet III cab car #5010 with Arrow III #1516 sitting behind at Hoboken Terminal.

Pair of Comet I cab cars #5108 and #5128 at Hoboken Terminal.

The new HLBR Hoboken Light Rail station.

03-06-23 CLASSIC PHOTOS: Penn-Jersey Tunnels

The boom bust history of railroading in the Northeast United States has left a plethora of abandoned or disused infrastructure that was built on the wealth generated by industrialization and anthracite coal and then decimated by the decline of both. Early in my rail enthusiasm I was very much into this infrastructure of yesteryear as that was the focus of many of the available books and websites. During the summer of 2003 I had the opportunity to visit a couple of historic tunnel locations in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and took some photos that can be found here ( mirror ) and here ( mirror ). Twenty years later these photos not only capture the distant past, but also how much has changed since then.

North Jersey was much more on my radar in the late 90's and early 2000's due to the frequency of youth oriented activity trips to the Delaware Water Gap region for winter or summer outdoor activities. The two primary North-South routes, NJ Route  31 and US Route 206, intersected with all of the fallen flag main lines, some of which, like the former Central RR of New Jersey main line, retained NJT commuter commuter service. Here is a photo of the station in High Bridge, NJ that serves as the terminus of the Raritan Valley Line that had been cut back from Phillipsburg in 1986.

Situated on the approach to New Jersey's drainage divide, the CNJ main line traverses an impressive earthen fill through which the Raritan river and an adjacent road bore through in side-by-side tunnels. NJT's ARCH interlocking, located directly above the runnels at the end of the commuter line, is likely named for these structures.

A short distance to the west, the Lehigh Valley Railroad passes through the same line of hills via the 3000+ foot long Pattenburg Tunnel. In 2003 the tunnel had recently been single tracked for double stack clearance purposes with the entire length falling within the limits of the new interlocking, CP-64.

The interlocking was new enough that the CorTen steel of the relay huts had not yet fully weathered. On the east side of the tunnel, CP-64 was occupied the former location of the LVRR's BELLEWOOD tower that had enabled passenger services to a nearby amusement park. The property was later converted into a quarry that itself was then abandoned.

The "New" Pattenburg Tunnel replaced an older bore in 1927. The remains of the previous 2-track configuration could still be seen. I would visit this location again in the winter of 2020.

Here is the western portal of the LVRR Pattenburg Tunnel. Interstate 78 passes over the railroad on the ridgeline.

A little ways to the northwest is the Manunka Chunk tunnel, located on what used to be the original DL&W Main Line between Washington, NJ and Shateford, PA known as the Lackawanna Old Road. The curvy route to the Scranton coal fields via the Delaware Water Gap was ultimately replaced by the more famous Lackawanna Cutoff, serving as a backup route until 1970 when it was completely abandoned. The twin bore Manunka Chunk tunnel allows the Old Road to transition between the Peaquest River valley and the Delaware River Valley.

Lined with rubble type rock, the Manunka Chunk tunnels have seen significant deterioration over the decades and are completely flooded in parts, making traversing them difficult without wading. Still, the rails are still present in at least one of the bores.

03-06-13 CLASSIC PHOTOS: Boston Acela Trip

In June 2003 I set out on a rather complex Amtrak journey from my base in South Jersey that would take me back to central Connecticut to wrap up some loose ends from my college days before continuing on to Boston via New Haven to participate in a transit planning conference organized to benefit students in San Juan, PR who would be helping to manage their new Urban Train rapid transit line. After that I would return from Boston using an Acela Express, transferring at New York to NJT for a ride to my pickup point at Hamilton, NJ. You can find the full set of photos here ( mirror ).

We begin on the way to 30th St Station via the NJT Atlantic City Line. Here is the former main line double slip switch on track #1 in SHORE interlocking where the Delair Bridge Branch meets the NEC. Once fairly common at main line junctions along the old PRR Main Line, this was the last one and was replaced by less maintenance intensive turnouts a few years later. SHORE tower, which was built to support the new Delair Bridge in 1896, still stands.

Another casualty of "progress" was the 1911 vintage F interlocking tower in Sunnyside, NY. Although having been closed since the mid-80's when HAROLD was re-built, the structure was completely demolished around 2005.

At New Haven I spotted a seemingly rehabbed M2 #8746 Coupled to a somewhat dingy #8413.

A Metro North EMU train led by an 8800 series M2 sitting on the New Haven Station through track.

I was traveling on Amtrak Vermonter train 56 which still comes with a power change at New Haven. For whatever reason the diesels were not in place so I was ab le to catch Phase IV heritage P42DC #102 trundle past MNRR M2 #8412.

Amtrak P42DC #102 backing in from the helper pocket to couple up to Amfleet #24834.

My Vermonter may have been running late because at Meriden we had to board passengers across the main track via the small holdout platform all while a southbound Springfield Shuttle held short of the station. Note the 1980's vintage US&S H-5 searchlight signals that were installed as part of the 1980's Springfield Line CTC and single tracking project. The siding track signal is displaying Approach Medium for a return to the single track at QUARRY interlocking. The searchlights would be replaced by color light LED target type signals within 2 years.

The Vermonter had previously been run with a Metroliner cab car to support the change in direction at Palmer, MA when transferring to the New England Central RR. However due to equipment availability and a surplus of new P42DC locomotives, it had become standard to run the Vermonter with two engines. Here a second Phase IV heritage unit, #106, brings up the rear before the Springfield Shuttle led by Metroliner Cab Car #9640 pulls into the station.

After completing my tasks in Connecticut, I found myself back at Meriden where a seemingly overstaffed signal crew was working and welding bond wires.