13-05-03 PHOTOS: Planes, Trains and Ferrymobiles

I had so much fun riding the $2 Far Rockaway Ferry on my last visit that I just had to do it again, this time unencumbered by heavy bags and a travel deadline. On the second go around the weather was gorgeous and with no ancillary LIRR trip I could take full advantage of the temporarily "free" JFK Airtrain, which would save me the normal $10 fare or the hassle/indignity of having to take a Bus to the Federal Circle station.

After Lunch I traveled back to the Rockaways to catch the 4:30 ferry inbound to Manhattan, this time in wonderful sunny weather. I also discovered that the boat contained an outside upper deck from which I could drink my $3 16oz beer and take all the unobstructed photos I wanted. With A Train service set up resume later this week I urge any and all persons to take advantage of this amazing bargain before it goes away.

All of the photos can be found right here so make sure you go nuts after reading the whole post.

I am going to start things off at Chambers St where I caught the trifecta of an R32 departing, an R160 arriving on the adjacent WTC tracks and then an R46 A train arriving. I stopped filming at that point and missed another R46 A arriving from the opposite direction, but so it goes.


Flagging down an oddly clean R32 on the C I got some head end video between Chambers and Hoyt to fill a hole in my collection.


At Hoyt I took this photo of R32 #3929. It's amazing how someone in the NYCTA got it looking almost like it had just rolled out of a factory? Not many 50 year old pieces of rolling stock that could pull that off! A testament to the Budd company.

Video of the same train departing Hoyt St and crossing over to the local track in front of Hoyt tower.


R46 #5936 sits at Howard Beach ready to take the Diverging Approach Restricting signal into the turnback pocket track there.

R46 #5838 returns to the inbound platform past construction workers there to repair the signaling and track damaged by Hurricane Sandy.

A flexible A train shuttle bus sitting outside the Howard Beach Air Train station.

Here is the inside of the Howard Beach station. Because the JFK "AirTran" Air Train is little more than a glorified elevator there wasn't really much to photograph in terms of signaling or infrastructure, so I mostly got video of the entire route and a few other select photos. 

Here is a route video of the AirTran AirTrain as it runs from Howard Beach through Federal Circle and then Anti-Clockwise around the terminal complex back to Federal Circle. The PA was doing a lot of trackwork so the AirTrain was running on a 20 minute headway with several en-route delays. Wonderful for a system that is trying to get people to their flights in a timely manner. This did mean several good shots of wrong railing. Due to a bit of a miscue the first part of the route from Howard Beach to the next station is the last part of the video and is taken in the outbound direction.

BTW Pigs and I were bothered multiple times about taking photos by PA security and attendants, but it was a pretty soft bother due to the whole tourist zone thing and we didn't protest. The good news was the reliance on ZPTO was that nobody was ever around to stop us from taking photos and video on board the trains so every time we were bothered we simply clicked ignore.

Oh, after a while Pigs got tried of being quiet and we began to engage in a running commentary partly about the airport, but mostly about Seinfeld and TV Tropes.


AirTrain car #209 departing the Federal Circle station for the JFK Terminal complex. For those of you who don't know the AirTrain us a fully automated system that uses Bombardier's Advanced Rapid Transit concept. One of the hallmarks is the use of linear induction motor technology that requires an aluminum slab to be run down the center of the track to eliminate the "need" for old fashioned rotational motors. Yeah, this is much simpler.

Well the title promises planes so here you all go. Here we see an Asiana Boeing 777 #HL7791 about to land on Runway 13L.

13-04-21 PHOTOS: Boston Redeye

So now to finally finish my story of trying to get to Boston after a kerfluffle with a terrorist dying in a boat cancelled my existing travel arrangements via Amtrak Train 95 on Friday evening. I had been intent on just cancelling my trip and was in the process of returning to Philadelphia when received word that the trains were running again. Taking action I got off my RiverLINE train in Robeling, NJ and after booking a ticket on my usually blacklisted Train 66 I headed back to Trenton and then New York.

Train 66 arrives at 2am as you saw before I went down to the South Ferry station to grab some photos of the new old station and its gap fillers. Upon returning to Penn Station and grabbing a bite to eat I went to kill 3 hours in the Amtrak waiting room when I noticed that Train 66 was now listed as "Delayed" on the big board. A trip to Amtrak customer service with the question "is Train 66 running" yielded the response "technically yes, but it was hit by a tornado and is stuck south of Washington, DC.

Well now I was pretty much screwed seeing as there was no way to abort my trip aside from taking Train 67 back down south which involved the same wait, but a disappointing outcome. It was only on another trip back to Amtrak customer service when I heard another traveler being told that the buses were running again and if I was to walk up to the PABT I could catch a 3am departure.

Well desperate times call for desperate measures so so all I had to do was walk the 8 blocks from Penn Station to the Port Authority Bus Terminal. If being forced to ride a Stinkbuggy wasn't bad enough it had started to rain and I must have looked at someone the wrong way because the next thing I knew I was running for my life! I managed to get away, but that's when the CHUDs came after me.

I eventually managed to purchase a ticket on the 2AM departure, which was the first bust departure north since the lockdown. There was a rather long line, but they had enough buses lined to to take everybody and I got on a 1/3 filled brand new 2013 bus that had not yet been thoroughly stinkafied. Departing about 30 minutes late I managed to fall asleep somewhere on the Thurway and woke up as we were pulling into South Station right on time. You know I'm committed to trains, but the Bus service can be reasonably nice so Amtrak had better not slack off in terms of service.

Anyway, in Boston I was scheduled to catch the first northbound Downeaster departing at 8:50, which was still several hours away. To kill the time I hopped an Orange Line train to Oak Grove and later took some pictures at South Station. A few days later I reversed the process and headed home from Exeter.

Anyway enough narritive as I assume you all want some photos. Again you can find the full set here, just scroll down a little.

First off is a video of my Rutgers wrapped RiverLINE train as it heads south from Robeling without me. Thanks to the POP system I didn't have to get a second fare to abort my trip.


In Trenton I got video of HHP-8 #663 arriving with a southbound Regional. The Limited Clear signal at the end of the eastbound platform was for an approaching Keystone. The southbound Regional is greeted by a Medium Approach indication at the end of the westbound platform


And a northbound Keystone departing past the Limited Clear signal at the end of the eastbound platform with AEM-7 #950.



NJT Arrow III set parked on track #4 at Trenton. #1327 has had its original United Knitting Machine twin arm pan replaced by an off-brand Schunk type.

Here is a brand new 2013 Van Hool....HA, just kidding. Of course I didn't take any pictures of the Bus or PA Bus Terminal. Instead here is an interior view of 1200 series Boston Orange Line car #1230. It's a shame we're going to loose that fine wood paneling when the cars are retired. They just don't make things like they used to any more. :-(

#1230 facing the Stop signal at Oak Grove.

#1220 preparing to head back south at Oak Grove.

MTBA F40PH #1001 seen hanging out at North Station. #1001 was part of one of the first F40PH orders by a commuter railroad back in 1978. #1031 in the background might look the same, but is actually an F40PHM-2C built by Morrison Knudsen in 1992.

Amtrak P42DC #72 at the head of the early morning Downeaster. Due to trackwork I would be treated to a rare millage trip over the Reading line instead of the more usual Lowell Line via the Anderson RTC.

Two routes had been cleared out of North Station through the former Tower A interlocking plant.

My Downeaster set that day was also sporting a rare twin P42 configuration with #204 on the rear shown here as the train departs Exeter.

13-04-20 PHOTOS and VIDEOS: (1) South Ferry (1)

Due to my whiplash trip to Boston during the lockdown weekend I am really having to break my photoset up simply because I took such a wide variety of pictures as my plans careened back and forth from cancelling my trip and pressing on to Boston. If you remember the last set of Photos I was left on the Sandy Ferry with no hope of completing my trip and my sights set on an Amtrak train from Philly to Baltimore departing at 9:30pm. Well I got as far as Robeling, NJ when I got word and Train 66 was un-cancelled and after booking a ticket I headed back to NYC and found myself in Penn Station with about 4 hours to burn before the 2AM scheduled arrival.

Luckily there was one major sight I had wanted to see that would not be affected by the darkness and that was the brand new old loop at the South Ferry terminal on the (1). I had previously gotten photos and video of the loop operations with my old camera, but the video was low def and I had lamented never being able to capture the squealing wheels and gap fillers in HD. Well just like with the Rockaway Ferry is was Sandy to the rescue once again, destroying the new station and pressing the 1905 technology back into service.

My first checkbox item was to use the railfanable window in the R62 to get front end video all the way around the loop. I had to split the video between two trains of course, but you can watch the whole thing here as I go from Rector to South Ferry and back again all without changing perspective.



Here we see R62 #1841 waiting for the few passengers that might arrive at 11pm.

The 102 gap filler signal illuminates when the fillers have extended.

The #103 gap filler. The South Ferry fillers are pneumatically operated using standard US&S pneumatic switch hardware. If you look closely you can spot the pneumatic piston.

Noisy 5 train squeals by on the inner loop while #1841 waits patiently for its departure time.



1905 station art. Much nicer than what was installed 100 years later and a lot more cost effective.

Gap filler control panel inside the dispatcher's office. While interlocked and signaled like any other appliances on the NYCS, the SF gap fillers stand apart from the regular signaling system. There are 5 distinct "fillers", one for each of the first 5 cars on an arriving train. Each of these in turn has three filler units that extend to meet the doors on an IRT dimension subway car. The filler panel has a unit lever for each of the per-car fillers, and each of the per-car fillers is connected to its own track circuit. Normal position is retracted and reverse is extended. Normally operation is fully automatic, but the dispatch staff can take manual control. I suspect the fillers automatically engage when the first five cars fill their track circuits and then disengage when the train edges forward over the insulated joint in front of the 102 signal.

Click for a larger version.

Dispatch office and exit to the Ferry terminal. The TA had done a remarkable job cleaning the station up for service.

Mind the Gap? Not here!

13-04-19 PHOTOS: Put it In H!

On April 19th I had an ambitious plan to Amtrak into New York City, take the LIRR out to Hicksville for some photos, swoop down and ride the H train and then catch an M-2 set on Metro North for a trip to New Haven before continuing on to Boston. Well due to a wannabe terrorist bleeding to death in a boat the Boston and New Haven part of the trip was thrown into a cocked hat, but those segments that began with H seemed to work out so this week's first set of photos is hereby brought to you by the letter H in the form of Hicksville, Howard Beach and the H Train.

You can find all these photos here and don't worry I'll cover the Boston stuff shortly.

We begin in Baltimore Penn Station where the southbound Train 67 was hanging out with a poor man's dual mode consisting of AEM-7 #927 and P42DC #104. Amtrak does this when there is overnight work on the shore line that requires the overhead catenary to be de-energized. Here we see Train 67 depart toward Washington as northbound Regional train 180 arrives with AEM-7 #926


And a photo of the pair before departure.

Fast forward to the LIRR's Jamaica terminal where we fine M-3 #9801 sitting in the yard there framed by the A09 automatic signals.

After arriving at Hicksville around 10am I caught a westbound train of M-7's lead by 7031 passing through DIVIDE interlocking.

The Port Jefferson shuttle was powered by DM-30 #521 and departed after the westbound M-7 train platformed.

 Here is a video of the PJ shuttle taking the Medium Clear signal at DIVIDE.


M-7 #7405 with another westbound train this time on track #2.

7405 et al departing Hicksville and taking the Clear signal on the PRR position light mast at the west end of DIVIDE.



The DIVIDE 3-2W signal displaying Restricting after the M-7 train's departure. The LIRR continues to use the pre-1956 PRR set of signal rules which do not include the Medium Approach indication. Prior to Medium Approach ( --- over */* ) train diverging to stop would get Approach Medium and then diverge over Approach. This leaves many LIRR position lights without a slow speed route option as they are lacking the / position on the lower head.

13-03-22 GUEST PHOTOS: Train 170

About 2 years ago a friend of mine was able to take advantage of a rear vestibule ride on early morning Amtrak Regional Train 170 and provided me with a set of photos to process and upload. Well it took me a while, but I finally got them. The set covers the NEC from Philly to Boston and dates from March of 2013 so it's a bit of a step back in time. Unfortunately, the early morning time slot resulted in a lot of the pictures being dark or blurry.

Still, with an 6 hour running time the morning darkness had lifted as the train pulled out of New York so the second half of the run has better coverage. You can find the whole set right here

We begin with a rather dark and grainy photo of an inbound SEPTA R7 train as it approaches the North Philadelphia station on an early weekday morning.

Passing an outbound train if SL-V at Cornwells Heights.

SEPTA AEM-7 #2304 departing Trenton.

Two NJT Arrow III trainsets passing at New Brunswick.

More NJT action just east of Metropark with an eastbound Arrow III local passing a westbound push-pull express.

Outbound Arrow III trainset about to take the diverging signal at ELMORA.

Passing outbound NJT ALP-46 #4647 at SWIFT while an inbound Mid-town direct waits on the ramp.

Rounding the curve into the North River tunnels T170 passed outbound AX power car #2037.

Passing through HAROLD interlocking we see an inbound DM30 train and a Restricting indication on one of the PRR PLs.

Eastbound Amtrak AX power car #2019 on the curve at GATE.

Early morning Hell Gate Bridge.

13-03-10 PHOTOS: Baltimore Light Rail and Martin Airport

Have a double feature today due to two rather short photo sets taken in the Baltimore area. The first contains a number of Light Rail photos taken around the Mt Royal Station and Camden Station areas. The second features the increasingly popular Martin State Airport station which allows one to get rather up close and personal with high speed Amtrak trains north of the city as well as various aircraft operated by the Maryland Air Guard.

We begin with the Penn Station shuttle pulling in to the Mt Royal station en-route to Penn Station with LRV #5048.

Hunt Valley train with LRV #5047 heads north through the flat junction north of the station after punching in the route following the Penn Station train which headed right.

Southbound Cromwell train arriving at Mt Royal.

Two car Light Rail train flying over Bailey's Wye.

LRV #5029 also flying over the north leg of the wye.

Penn Station shuttle laying over on the center track at Camden Yards while it is passed by a BWI train heading southbound.

Hunt valley train also being throw into the mix for a three-way-meet.

13-01-13 PHOTOS: Princeton Junction Nighttime

Back in January I drove up to Princeton with a friend to catch an ECAC Hockey game between the Princeton Tigers and the Engineers of RPI. I'm not going to talk much about the game because the action at Princeton Junction station proved to be much more exciting. I was able to stop off briefly in the afternoon and then again for a longer stretch at night after the game. In my short two there I caught three NJT light equipment movements on the NEC, one in daylight and two at night, which I later found out are due to the wheel mill at Morrisville yard being the only one left in operation after Hurricane Sandy so NJT was being forced to run any equipment needing wheel work light down the NEC.

The daylight move was headed westbound and consisted of GP40PH-2A 4147 running long hood forward with ALP-45 #4504 behind it and PL42 #4006 in the rear. The second move went by in the eastbound direction at 8:13 PM and consisted of 3 or 4 single level cars with a C5 in cab car in the lead and at least 1 or 2 more in the consist. Providing power were 2 or 3(!) Geeps. I can't be sure of the exact number as I mistook it for a Regional and opted to get a 4 second timed exposure instead of video. The final train was also headed east at 8:29 and consisted of a C5 cab, 2 C2M;s, a C4, 2 more C2M's, 1 more C4, one more C2M, an ALP-46, 2 Split levels, a PL42 and finally a Metro North F40PH in the new livery. Due to the darkness I was unable to get any numbers in the video of that last train.

Anyway, aside from the cool equipment moves was the usual parade of NJT commuter trains and Amtrak Regionals/Keystones/Acelas. I also made sure to stop by the Princeton dinky station and take some pictures before the town relocates the station and turns the building into a student centre (although this won't be the first time the line has been cut back). If you are interested in the whole set of photos you can find them all right here.

I am going to start things off with the first equipment move consisting of GP40PH-2A #4147, ALP-45 #4504 and PL42 #4006 in the rear. After they passed I kept rolling and caught a eastbound train of NJT Arrow III MU cars with 1380 on point departing Princeton Jct.


At Princeton a pair of consecutive Arrow III singles were laying over at the short station platform. Here is #1315.

And #1314. 

With NJT starting to install single arm pantographs I got a few chose-up shots of the current twin-arm pans manufactured by the United Knitting Machine company.

Closeup of the pantograph grounding handle and grounding hook.

Video of 1314 and 1315 departing Princeton.



Switching day for night we find an NJT push-pull set with split level cab car #7033 in the rear position on a westbound train.