WPF 1/24 - 1/30

[Green_Elite_Cab]

Nice shots everyone .
GEC I'm surprised that NJT just doesn't do a power change at either Newark or Harrison and let a meatball take the train the rest of the way to NYC. Kind of like the old Perth Amboy engine swap.

Unfortunately, I think the meatballs are all out of commission, unless you count the ALP46, which is more German than Swedish Apparently, the ALP44s are not really missed by anyone but railfans. I'm told they were obsolete to begin with, and their attempts to modernize them only made the locomotives less reliable.


In any event, I think the reason they don't swap the power is because there is such a high density of trains passing through Newark Penn. Its arguably one of the busiest stations, since every train coming from, or heading to New York Penn Stops there, except for maybe SOME Amtrak trains, and then you have all the Raritan Valley Line diesel trains, and diesel expresses to Bay Head (and PATH trains as well, though they don't run on the same tracks as the NEC).

I think the assumption is that if you're trying to get between Newark and New York, you can get on any electric NJ transit train, since they all stop at those destinations.


In fact, when they extended the electrification from South Amboy to Long Branch, they also did away with the engine swap. A diesel shuttle between Bay Head and Long Branch is timed to meet with inbound electric trains at Long Branch. Commuters simply walk from one side of the platform to the other and continue on.

What will be interesting to see, is whether or not the ALP45DP will change these sorts of operations, since it has both diesel and pantograph power. I think only a handful are in service, and my gut tells me they're running on the Hoboken side.