USA 2011 The New Show



USA 2011

Bring Me The Head of Osama Bin Laden

Although we had all agreed that the main objective of this years US trip was to visit the Sunshine state of Florida. The two Richards, Bishop and Morrison and I had decided against joining Simon on the first part of the plan (see his report at ), as in our opinion it was too many planes for not enough trains. So, the consensus was that we should have a couple of days in New York before heading south.

(The moves are listed at the end of each day and are my own only, though most of the time we stuck together only occasionally splitting up mostly when we were covering services on NJT in and out of Hoboken. As is standard all winners are underlined. Further, I have only included heavy rail moves made in the US)

Tuesday 26th April New York, New York

In previous years our trips to America have always started with us staying overnight in a hotel, usually the IBIS, at Heathrow, then departing on a morning flight across the pond, arriving in the afternoon US time and then going on the bash for the rest of the day, meaning that we ended up doing a very long day and as both Rich Bishop and I find that we both end up having the day off to travel up to LHR, we had decided that this year rather than stay in a hotel here we would fly out mid afternoon/early evening and have our first night in the US. This would mean that we did not waste a day and also that although we would still have a fairly long day we would at least get to bed at what would feel like a normal time and that we would be reasonably fresh on our first proper day.

A reasonable departure time of 10:45 out of Gloucester gets us to Paddington for 12:37, where we meet up with the other Richard. We then make our way to Heathrow via the Underground stopping at The Plough & Harrow, Wetherspoons, in Hammersmith for some lunch. This also meant that I got the track in to T5 on the Piccadilly line, which I had not done before.

A smooth passage through security, gave us time for some more beer at the Crown Rivers, before making our way over to our departure gate which was at the B satellite terminal. A prompt departure sees us on our way to JFK.

One of the problems of cranking in the US is ticketing and being valid for all journeys, which one might want to make, mainly because most of the commuter railroads don’t have any sort of network or rover ticket, which we are used to in this country and in many parts of Europe. This means that you end up having to find a ticket machine after almost every move to get some new validity and this can get quite stressful, not to mention expensive, especially when you do not know what your next move might be. So over the years we have tried to find ways to: a, simplify and b, reduce the cost of doing things. So having done some investigation before leaving the UK we had determined that we could save ourselves much hassle and hopefully a lot of money if we purchased various weekly tickets for the routes that we wanted to cover. The only problem with this plan was that most US commuter rail operations only sell weekly tickets for the calendar week, running either from Saturday to Friday or from Sunday to Saturday and only available till the mid week of the week in question, which meant that we had until midnight to sort things out. Rich Morrison had tried to get a contact he knew in New York to sort it out for us but circumstances had meant this had not been possible.

A booked arrival time of 21:30 EST would give us 2 and a half hours to get through immigration and then travel from JFK to Penn station, where we would get our weekly for New Jersey Transit. Then having gone via the Hotel Pennslyvania to check in and drop our bags, to walk over to Grand Central Terminal, to buy the Metro North tickets we wanted.

So a late arrival having circled the airport a couple of times before touching down and long slow queues at immigration meant that this plan was looking less and less likely to work. By the time we got to Penn Station via the Airtrain to Jamaica and then Long Island Railroad in from there, we have less than 50 minutes to sort everything out. Getting our NJT tickets is easy, we all purchase a weekly from New York Penn to Roselle Park, on the Raritan line for $63.00, which means we are not only valid out of there to both Newark Penn and Broad Street, via Secaucus, but also from Secaucus to Hoboken and from Hoboken to both the Newark stations direct. (see the map at ). Getting our Metro North tickets now relies on us getting checked into the Penn quickly and racing up to GCT, fortunately when we get to the hotel there is no queue at reception and apart from a slight hiccup we are quickly checked in. Bags dropped in our rooms we make our way to GCT as fast as we can getting there with just 10 minutes to spare. Here we buy, weekly tickets to Peekskill for the exorbitant price of $100.75, Metro North being one of the most expensive commuter rail operations in the whole of North America.

That done we make our way back to Penn, via 42nd Street and 7th Avenue, stopping off at Stout a bar just round the corner from the hotel in 33rd Street () for a night cap, before retiring for the night. Unfortunately Rich B and I have problems getting back into our room and we have to go down to reception to sort it out which takes forever due to the number of people checking in at this time and by the time we have sorted it out and got to bed it is gone 2am.

|L.I.R.R. |EMU |7603 | |Jamaica |New |1727 |22:05 |Huntington |

| | |7604 | | |York | | | |

| | |7759 | | |Penn | | | |

| | |7760 | | | | | | |

| | |7343 | | | | | | |

| | |7344 | | | | | | |

| | |7407 | | | | | | |

| | |7408 | | | | | | |

| | |7007 | | | | | | |

| | |7008 | | | | | | |

|N.J.T. |ALP46A |4651 |Secaucus Junction |New York Penn |6318 |08:03 |Maplewood |New York Penn |

|N.J.T. |ALP46A |4630 |New York Penn |Secaucus Junction |6317 |09:17 |New York Penn |Summit |

|N.J.T. |ALP46 |4615 |Secaucus Junction |New York Penn |3832 |08:26 |Trenton |New York Penn |

|N.J.T. |ALP46 | |New York Penn |Secaucus Junction |3833 |10:07 |New York Penn |Trenton |

|N.J.T. |ALP46A |4648 |Secaucus Junction |New York Penn |3936 |09:14 |Trenton |New York Penn |

|N.J.T. |ALP46A |4656 |New York Penn |Secaucus Junction |6231 |10:24 |New York Penn |Montclair University |

|N.J.T. |ALP46 |4621 |Secaucus Junction |New York Penn |6222 |10:00 |Montclair University |New York Penn |

|N.J.T. |ALP46A |4640 |New York Penn |Secaucus Junction |3837 |11:07 |New York Penn |Trenton |

|N.J.T. |ALP46 |4607 |Secaucus Junction |New York Penn |3236 |09:54 |Long Branch |New York Penn |

|N.J.T. |ALP46A |4645 |New York Penn |Secaucus Junction |3239 |11:43 |New York Penn |Long Branch |

|N.J.T. |ALP46 |4610 |Secaucus Junction |New York Penn |3838 |10:54 |Trenton |New York Penn |

|N.J.T. |ALP46A |4649 |New York Penn |Secaucus Junction |3243 |12:43 |New York Penn |Long Branch |

|N.J.T. |ALP46A |4635 |Secaucus Junction |New York Penn |6640 |11:39 |Dover |New York Penn |

|N.J.T. |ALP46 |4621 |New York Penn |Secaucus Junction |6241 |13:24 |New York Penn |Montclair University |

|N.J.T. |GP40PH-2 |4103 |Secaucus Junction |Hoboken |62 |11:31 |Port Jervis |Hoboken |

|N.J.T. |PL42AC |4028 |Hoboken |Secaucus Junction |1161 |14:35 |Hoboken |Suffern |

|N.J.T. |PL42AC |4004 |Secaucus Junction |Hoboken |1112 |13:59 |Suffern |Hoboken |

|N.J.T. |PL42AC |4016 |Hoboken |Secaucus Junction |1121 |15:29 |Hoboken |Suffern |

|N.J.T. |GP40PH-2 |4106 |Secaucus Junction |Hoboken |1216 |15:11 |Waldwick |Hoboken |

|N.J.T.* |GP40FH-2 |4903 |Hoboken |Secaucus Junction |51 |16:08 |Hoboken |Port Jervis |

|N.J.T.* |GP40FH-2 |4905 |Secaucus Junction |Hoboken |66 |15:23 |Middletown |Hoboken |

|N.J.T. |GP40PH-2B |4214 |Hoboken |Secaucus Junction |1635 |17:55 |Hoboken |Spring Valley |

|N.J.T.* |F40PH |4193 |Secaucus Junction |Hoboken |1274 |17:46 |Ridgewood |Hoboken |

|N.J.T. |GP40PH-2A |4146 |Hoboken |Secaucus Junction |1125 |18:50 |Hoboken |Suffern |

|N.J.T. |GP40FH-2 |4119 |Secaucus Junction |Hoboken |1276 |18:43 |Ridgewood |Hoboken |

|N.J.T. |PL42AC |4001 |Hoboken |Secaucus Junction |1641 |19:25 |Hoboken |Spring Valley |

|N.J.T. |ALP46 |4631 |Secaucus Junction |Newark Penn |3979 |19:35 |New York Penn |Trenton |

|N.J.T. |ALP46 |4609 |Newark Penn |New York Penn |3894 |22:04 |Newark Penn |New York Penn |

Thursday 28th April Haven't we seen you before?

An early start this morning sees us retracing our steps from Tuesday night back to Grand Central Terminal, to cover the Hudson Line of Metro North.

Metro North is unique amongst US commuter railroads in that their main fleet is GE powered rather than employing EMD units, a position which will change once Boston’s MBTA receives it’s new GE GEVO powered locomotives sometime in 2013.

Having grabbed some breakfast we join winning P32AC-DM 215 on train 805 for the run to Croton Harmon, this was the first move of a planed bash which I had compiled before leaving the UK, which would hopefully cover most if not all the engines out on the line during the day, unfortunately this fell apart almost immediately with us missing our return move back out of GCT off train 836, which lost time all the way in to New York.

So with an hour before the next possible move Rich Morrison and I, managed, between us to re-plan the day over teas and coffee, this would find us leaping between Peekskill and Cortlandt most of the day.

Arriving at Peekskill we thought we might as well check out the location of the Peekskill Brewery as stated earlier we intended to visit on Friday after meeting up with Tim. This was easily found being just across the road from the station; at this time we were not to sure if they were open. But, as we all thought that it was perhaps still a little too early for a beer we did not bother to look too closely and as we would have plenty of opportunities to sample their wares during the day we were non-to bothered at this time.

Returning to Peekskill an hour or so later, after our first of many leaps to Cortlandt, we feel that we might now be ready for some beer, we walk over to the brewery and are warmly welcomed, especially once the girl behind the bar realises that we are from the UK. One swift pint later and we are back out for our next move to Cortlandt and back.

During the morning the clouds have been building up and it is obvious we are in for a major downpour at sometime, as we get back to Peekskill it starts so we hurry back over to the pub, our reappearance, causing some confusion. As we enjoy our second pints of the day the heavens open and it starts to rain cats and dogs, with no sign of it letting up soon, we have to make a decision, do we stay in the bar or make a run for the station and keep the bash on track. In the end we decide that if we would rather do the move and make a dash for the station getting fairly wet in the process. Much to our annoyance the move produces duds and we think that we might have been better staying in the bar.

On our first visit, we had pretty much been the only patrons, but now as it was lunchtime the place was much busier, even so we still managed to get the same seats at the bar we had occupied the previous two times. We had earlier inquired to how long it might take for them to rustle up some nachos and if we would be able to get and eat them in the 40 minutes between moves, which they said it should not be a problem. Therefore, as by now we were all feeling a little peckish, we ordered just one between us, expecting the normal US giant portion to arrive. However, with it being lunchtime they took rather longer to arrive than we had hoped leaving us just 15 minutes to eat, drink and settle up. This was made easier as the portion was much smaller than we had expected which, if we had known, we would almost certainly ordered at least 2 rather than the 1, and even perhaps a plate each. At least we know for next time.

After lunch we make one more round trip to Cortlandt picking up winner 202 and visiting the pub for a forth time before taking dud 206 back to Harlem 125th Street.

Returning back along the line to Croton Harmon with dud 212, which we are forced to take to keep the bash on track, we then take similarly dud 223 on back to Peekskill, followed by two more round trips between there and Cortlandt, scoring 226 and 209 out of the 4, before heading back finally to GCT on dud 218, visiting the pub on each occasion.

Back in the city we make our way to the Heartland Brewery () Times Square branch for our evening meal and some more ale.

[pic]

Above: Metro North P32AC-DM 206, in the new MNR livery, departs Harlem 125th Street en route to Grand Central Terminal with train 868 14:40 Poughkeepsie-New York GCT (28/04/2011).

| |M.N.R.R. |P32AC-DM |215 |New York GCT |Croton Harmon |805 |06:41 |New York GCT |Poughkeepsie |

| |M.N.R.R. |P32AC-DM |206 |Croton Harmon |New York GCT |836 |06:55 |Poughkeepsie |New York GCT |

| |M.N.R.R. |P32AC-DM |210 |New York GCT |Peekskill |817 |09:45 |New York GCT |Poughkeepsie |

| |M.N.R.R. |P32AC-DM |220 |Peekskill |Cortlandt |852 |10:40 |Poughkeepsie |New York GCT |

| |M.N.R.R. |P32AC-DM |223 |Cortlandt |Peekskill |821 |10:45 |New York GCT |Poughkeepsie |

| |M.N.R.R. |P32AC-DM |230 |Peekskill |Cortlandt |856 |11:40 |Poughkeepsie |New York GCT |

| |M.N.R.R. |P32AC-DM |206 |Cortlandt |Peekskill |825 |11:45 |New York GCT |Poughkeepsie |

| |M.N.R.R. |P32AC-DM |210 |Peekskill |Cortlandt |860 |12:40 |Poughkeepsie |New York GCT |

| |M.N.R.R. |P32AC-DM |201 |Cortlandt |Peekskill |829 |12:45 |New York GCT |Poughkeepsie |

| |M.N.R.R. |P32AC-DM |223 |Peekskill |Cortlandt |864 |13:40 |Poughkeepsie |New York GCT |

| |M.N.R.R. |P32AC-DM |202 |Cortlandt |Peekskill |833 |13:45 |New York GCT |Poughkeepsie |

| |M.N.R.R. |P32AC-DM |206 |Peekskill |Harlem-125th Street |868 |14:40 |Poughkeepsie |New York GCT |

| |M.N.R.R. |P32AC-DM |212 |Harlem-125th Street |Croton Harmon |847 |16:45 |New York GCT |Poughkeepsie |

| |M.N.R.R. |P32AC-DM |223 |Croton Harmon |Peekskill |851 |17:13 |New York GCT |Beacon |

| |M.N.R.R. |P32AC-DM |226 |Peekskill |Cortlandt |880 |17:40 |Poughkeepsie |New York GCT |

| |M.N.R.R. |P32AC-DM |209 |Cortlandt |Peekskill |857 |17:53 |New York GCT |Poughkeepsie |

| |M.N.R.R. |P32AC-DM |215 |Peekskill |Cortlandt |884 |18:40 |Poughkeepsie |New York GCT |

| |M.N.R.R. |P32AC-DM |202 |Cortlandt |Peekskill |871 |18:45 |New York GCT |Poughkeepsie |

| |M.N.R.R. |P32AC-DM |218 |Peekskill |New York GCT |888 |19:40 |Poughkeepsie |New York GCT |

Friday 29th April We Three Become Four

We start today by returning under the Hudson to New Jersey, for a second bite of the NJT cherry.

The move starts well with a pair of winning ALP46A’s on train 6305, leaping once again at Secaucus Junction, we have time here for a Dunkin Donut breakfast, before going down to the lower level to cover the inbound diesel rush to Hoboken.

After a successful morning we decide that as we are valid we might as well go and see what is available out of Newark Penn on the Raritan line, but this turns into a fools errand with nothing needed, and to add insult to injury we then get stuck there as every train back either has a dud loco on, or even worse is formed of one of the few sets of karts which still work through there. Fortunately there is a convenient bar located within the station in which to have a beer between arrivals. Eventually a winner turns up and we head back, we leap off at Secaucus as there is a further move available right behind the train we are on from here, but this turns out to be another mouldy old crate.

Back in New York, we once again walk over to Grand Central, in order to cover the evenings rush out of there.

Now one of the difficulties in doing most of the US commuter railroads is that in the majority of cases the loco is normally located at the open end of the station with the cab car (DVT) at the blocks of the main terminal served, and this can mean much walking up and down platforms to view what is on what train, fortunately GCT has a tunnel which is located approximately three quarters along the main platforms, making life a lot easier.

The first departure we view is not required so as we have 40 minutes to spare we retire to a local bar for a beer, back at the station it is just a matter of watching the screen to determine where each departure will leave from and the leaping up the stairs, to the platform, to view the loco.

At this point Rich M sees one of his winners and leaps with it to Harlem 125th Street, he makes it back easily to rejoin us on train 851. Most pleased to see 229 on this, as it is the last of the 4 P32’s operated by Metro North but owned by the Connecticut Department of Transportation I need.

We do this to Peekskill for yet another spin to Cortlandt, which is another dud out and back. Once back in Peekskill we retire back to the Peekskill brewery, for dinner and to await the arrival of Mr. Howlett who is on a following train coming up from New York.

[pic]

Above: NJT PL42AC number 4000 arrives at Secaucus Junction with a train from Hoboken. (29/04/2011)

|N.J.T. |ALP46A |4632 |New York Penn |Secaucus Junction |6305 |06:07 |New York Penn |Summit |

| | |4663 | | | | | | |

|N.J.T. |GP40FH-2 |4901 |Secaucus Junction |Hoboken |41 |04:34 |Port Jervis |Hoboken |

|N.J.T. |GP40FH-2 |4902 |Hoboken |Secaucus Junction |1145 |06:54 |Hoboken |Suffern |

|N.J.T. |F40PH-2CAT |4129 |Secaucus Junction |Hoboken |1606 |06:23 |Spring Valley |Hoboken |

|N.J.T. |GP40PH-2 |4109 |Hoboken |Secaucus Junction |1147 |07:56 |Hoboken |Suffern |

|N.J.T. |GP40PH-2 |4108 |Secaucus Junction |Hoboken |1614 |07:25 |Spring Valley |Hoboken |

|N.J.T. |PL42AC |4008 |Hoboken |Secaucus Junction |1151 |08:43 |Hoboken |Suffern |

|N.J.T. |GP40PH-2B |4218 |Secaucus Junction |Hoboken |1104 |08:48 |Suffern |Hoboken |

|N.J.T. |F40PH-2CAT |4126 |Hoboken |Secaucus Junction |1253 |10:35 |Hoboken |Ridgewood |

|N.J.T. |PL42AC |4000 |Secaucus Junction |Hoboken |1266 |10:43 |Waldwick |Hoboken |

|N.J.T. |PL42AC |4027 |Hoboken |Secaucus Junction |1113 |11:38 |Hoboken |Suffern |

|N.J.T. |ALP46A |4653 |Secaucus Junction |Newark Penn |3841 |12:07 |New York Penn |Trenton |

|N.J.T. |ALP46A |4629 |Newark Penn |Secaucus Junction |3248 |12:54 |Long Branch |New York Penn |

|N.J.T. |ALP46A |4640 |Secaucus Junction |New York Penn |6238 |13:54 |Montclair University |New York Penn |

|M.N.R.R. |P32AC-DM |229 |New York GCT |Peekskill |851 |17:13 |New York GCT |Beacon |

|M.N.R.R. |P32AC-DM |227 |Peekskill |Cortlandt |880 |17:40 |Poughkeepsie |New York GCT |

|M.N.R.R. |P32AC-DM |211 |Cortlandt |Peekskill |857 |17:53 |New York GCT |Poughkeepsie |

|M.N.R.R. |P32AC-DM |217 |Peekskill |New York GCT |890 |20:40 |Poughkeepsie |New York GCT |

Saturday 30th April Richard Morrison, is the, “Beerfinder General”

Today we start the long journey south to Florida.

When Simon did the arranging for today, I had told him that we would do whatever Tim was doing, assuming that he would just head south by stepping down on various Amtrak services, it was only when Rich B, Rich M and I received our Amtrak tickets, the first of which was from Trenton, by which time it was to late to change anything, did we find out that was not the case and that Tim intended to go down on NJT in order to do the branch from Princeton Junction to Princeton.

Not being too worried about doing the branch as it was only a unit, and having had a late finish the previous night, plus the prospect of the 20 hour marathon in the seats on train 97 to look forward to, the three of us decided that a lie in was in order.

Any thoughts of perhaps doing an Amtrak to Trenton were dashed when we found out that they wanted an eye watering $78 for the 45mile trip, we all agreed that this was theft and no new engine was worth that much money, unless it was your last.

So NJT it was and a lot cheaper as well at $12.50 each. Not surprisingly we got dud in the form of 4651 on the Trenton, fortunately we had split the move up, by doing train 6917 to Secaucus with required 4623.

Tim joined us again at Princeton Junction for the final part of the move to Trenton. After a short wait we join Amtrak 143 for the run to Philadelphia 30th Street. Here we had quite a long fester before our next move, we had considered covering a move on the NJT Atlantic City branch but this was not available due to engineering work taking place, so the line was shut. Our next thought was just to cover a couple of electrics on the North East Corridor, then someone realised that we could get a couple of P42 Genesis in the book by doing train 43 to Paoli for 42 back. Having checked that 43 was on time and that the fare was reasonable we agreed that that would be the move, so we retired to the excellent bar which is located on 30th Street station to await the departure of train 43.

Wining P42 No. 85 was provided for the run to Paoli. Arriving there we had just under an hour to kill, so went looking for somewhere to have a drink. We left the station and just made a guess as to the best direction to go, we ended up walking around a quarter of a mile down the road where we came to a mid size shopping mall, having seen nothing of interest so far, whilst the other three of us are trying to decide whether to carry on a bit further or return to the station, Rich M wanders off a few minutes later he reappears and waves to us, he has found the bar, at this point he is dubbed the Beer Finder General.

Train 42 turns up about 10 late, also producing a winning P42 in the shape of No. 92, but is pretty much right time arriving back at 30th Street. With more time to kill here again, it’s back to the station bar, before taking train 161 south to Baltimore where we meet up with Simon.

As I cannot add a lot more to what Simon has put in his report, I will break off at this point and will pick up the story after we have alighted from train 92 at Raleigh. I will however include the moves for completeness.

[pic]

Above: Amtrak DASH9-P42B's 132 and 14 stand at Orlando with Train 97 "The Silver Meteor" (01/05/2011).

|N.J.T. |ALP46 |4623 |New York Penn |Secaucus Junction |6917 |09:11 |New York Penn |Dover |

|N.J.T. |ALP46A |4651 |Secaucus Junction |Newark Penn |7829 |09:14 |New York Penn |Trenton |

|A.M.T.K. |AEM7 |932 |Trenton |Philadelphia 30th Street |143 |06:30 |Springfield |Washington Union |

|A.M.T.K. |DASH9-P42B |85 |Philadelphia 30th Street |Paoli |43 |10:50 |New York Penn |Pittsburgh |

|A.M.T.K. |DASH9-P42B |92 |Paoli |Philadelphia 30th Street |42 |07:20 |Pittsburgh |New York Penn |

|A.M.T.K. |AEM7 |929 |Philadelphia 30th Street |Baltimore Penn |161 |09:40 |Boston South |Washington Union |

|A.M.T.K. |AEM7 |908 |Baltimore Penn |Washington Union |97 |15:15 |New York Penn |Miami |

|A.M.T.K. |DASH9-P42B |132 | | | | | | |

| | |14 | | | | | | |

|A.M.T.K. |DASH9-P42B | |Washington Union |West Palm Beach |97 |15:15 |New York Penn |Miami |

Monday 2nd May

|T.R.C.X. |GP49PH |814 |West Palm Beach |Boynton Beach |P601 |04:00 |Mangonia Park |Miami Airport |

|T.R.C.X. |GP49PH |815 |Boynton Beach |Delray Beach |P603 |04:40 |Mangonia Park |Miami Airport |

|T.R.C.X. |F40 |810 |Delray Beach |Boca Raton |P605 |05:20 |Mangonia Park |Miami Airport |

|T.R.C.X. |F40 |802 |Boca Raton |Deerfield Beach |P607 |06:00 |Mangonia Park |Miami Airport |

|T.R.C.X. |F40 |805 |Deerfield Beach |Pompano Beach |P609 |06:20 |Mangonia Park |Miami Airport |

|T.R.C.X. |GP49PH |817 |Pompano Beach |Fort Lauderdale |P611 |06:40 |Mangonia Park |Miami Airport |

|T.R.C.X. |F40 |807 |Fort Lauderdale |Sheridan Street |P615 |07:30 |Mangonia Park |Miami Airport |

|T.R.C.X. |F40 |809 |Sheridan Street |Miami Airport |P617 |08:00 |Mangonia Park |Miami Airport |

|T.R.C.X. |F40 |807 |Miami Airport |Tri Rail-Metro Rail Transfer |P620 |10:30 |Miami Airport |Mangonia Park |

|T.R.C.X. |F40 |811 |Tri Rail-Metro Rail Transfer |Miami Airport |P619 |09:00 |Mangonia Park |Miami Airport |

|T.R.C.X. |F40 |809 |Miami Airport |Tri Rail-Metro Rail Transfer |P622 |11:00 |Miami Airport |Mangonia Park |

|T.R.C.X. |GP49PH |815 |Tri Rail-Metro Rail Transfer |West Palm Beach |P638 |17:20 |Miami Airport |Mangonia Park |

[pic]

Above: Tri Rail F40 807 at Miami Airport (01/05/2011)

[pic]

Above: Tri Rail F40 811 approaches Miami Tri Rail-Metro Rail Transfer with P619 09:00 Mangonia Park Miami Airport (01/05/2011)

[pic]

Above: Tri Rail F40 807 departs Miami Tri Rail-Metro Rail Transfer for Miami Airport (01/05/2011)

Tuesday 3rd May

|T.R.C.X. |F40 |811 |West Palm Beach |Tri Rail-Metro Rail Transfer |P617 |08:00 |Mangonia Park |Miami Airport |

|A.M.T.K. |DASH9-P42B |195 | | | | | | |

|A.M.T.K. |DASH9-P42B |205 |Miami |Raleigh |92 |11:50 |Miami |New York Penn |

Wednesday 4th May The Secret Skip Fan

We alight from 92 at Raleigh in the pouring rain, spot on time. We now have under 3hrs to wait before our next move, but with the weather being like it is can do nothing but sit in the station which doesn’t even have a café, so we can’t even get a second morning tea or coffee.

By mid morning the rain starts to ease off and soon stops, we decide to walk up to our booked hotel, which is visible up the hill from the station, although we suspect we will not be able to check in at this time we are hopeful that they have a baggage room available in order that we can stow our overnight traps, this turns out to be he case.

We get back to the station in time to photograph the northbound “Carolinian” train 80, a train we will be on tomorrow.

[pic]

Above: Amtrak DASH9-P42B number 24 departs Raleigh with the northbound "Carolinian" train #80 07:30 Charlotte- New York Penn (04/05/2011)

The main reason for coming here is to cover the North Carolina Department of Transportation funded “Piedmont” service between Raleigh and Charlotte, hoping to get both F59PHI that they own, so we had been a little disappointed to learn from Bob, when we spoke to him on 92 that one of the trains was not only a P42 but a dud one at that. Therefore it was a relief when train 75 backed in to the station with both F59PHI’s on the point.

The refurbished stock on these trains is excellent, and we bag the only two bays of 4 in the front coach, between us.

[pic]

Above: NCDot F59PHI's 1797 and 1755 at Greensboro with train 75 11:50 Raleigh-Charlotte (04/05/2011)

Our hope, to find somewhere near to Greensboro station to pass the time before our return, is dashed, as there is nothing outside the station. However unlike Raleigh there is at least a café in the station.

The station here still retains most of its former glory, from the golden era of American railroads.

As expected Amtrak P42 No. 155 provides the power for the return journey back to Raleigh.

Once back, it ‘s the end of the bashing for the day there being nothing else to cover, we decide not to go straight to the hotel to finish checking in, but to check out the two brewpubs in the town, both of which are an easy walk from both the hotel and the station. Our first port of call is the Boylan Bridge, () entering we notice that on of the beers on offer is called “Trainspotter Sottish”, but we fail to get Rich M. to sample a pint. Then we see a poster for there “Pullman Porter” which features what looks to be a UK class 67 hauling a rake of stock, it even has the correct lights and jumper cables on the front of the loco, as the pictures below show.

[pic][pic]

By now the weather has improved considerably from this morning and it is now quite sunny, although there is a strong breeze, which at least keeps things cool, so we sit outside to enjoy our first beers of the day. The beer is excellent and with the food looking good as well we all agree that we should return here this evening to eat.

We now head for the second brewpub, Natty Green's Pub and Brewing, () this is a much larger operation than Boylan Bridge, and as such feels more impersonal, but the beer is still pretty good here.

Back to the hotel to check in properly, with this done we all retire to our rooms for an hour or so, to relax and freshen up before returning to Boylan Bridge for dinner, which is excellent, and some more beer to wash it down with.

|N.C.D.T. |F59PHI |1797 | | | | | | |

|N.C.D.T. |F59PHI |1755 |Raleigh |Greensboro |75 |11:50 |Raleigh |Charlotte |

|A.M.T.K. |DASH9-P42B |155 |Greensboro |Raleigh |74 |12:30 |Charlotte |Raleigh |

Thursday 5th May Back to the Big Apple

Today we make the long journey north back to New York, which will again be our base for the final couple of days in the US.

So, we find ourselves back on train 92 just 24 hours later. This we will take to Washington D.C. then as long as we are on time we should be able to cover a couple of moves on Virginia Rail Express to get back to Alexandria to pick up Amtrak train 80, however if 92 runs late, we will have to bail off it there as although train 80 does stop at Washington it does so to set down only (discharge in US parlance) and change power from diesel to electric for the run up the North East Corridor.

Everything goes to plan even though we are about 25 late on 92 at one point, but with plenty of recovery time between Alexandria and Washington Union we are only slightly late arriving.

Our next problem is that we have to get tickets for our move back to Alexandria on VRE, unfortunately unlike most VRE’s ticket machines do not accept cash, and will only take US and Canadian credit cards and the fine for not having a ticket is $200, so you have to find the ticket agent at Union station, who is hidden away in the bus station above the rail station.

Scored two of VRE’s new MP36’s down to Alexandria, only to find that the “Carolinian” is running 40 minutes late, which means that we will not be in New York till 21:30, but we are hopeful that we may make up sometime en route.

Bit disappointed, though intrigued, when train 80 finally rolls into the station, to find North Carolina DoT 1797 inside of dud P42 #85, which we have had earlier in the week, but new HHP8 664 forward from DC makes up for it.

Having checked back into The Pennsylvania we head to Stout for beers and food.

|A.M.T.K. |DASH9-P42B |56 | | | | | | |

|A.M.T.K. |DASH9-P42B |65 |Raleigh |Washington Union |92 |11:50( |Miami |New York Penn |

|V.R.E.X. |MP36PH-3C |V54 |Washington Union |L'Enfant |303 |15:35 |Washington Union |Fredricksburg |

|V.R.E.X. |MP36PH-3C |V55 |L'Enfant |Alexandria |327 |15:45 |Washington Union |Broad Run |

|A.M.T.K. |DASH9-P42B |85 |Alexandria |Washington Union |80 |07:30 |Charlotte |New York Penn |

|N.C.D.T. |F59PHI |1797 |Alexandria |Washington Union |80 |07:30 |Charlotte |New York Penn |

|A.M.T.K. |HHp8 |664 |Washington Union |New York Penn |80 |07:30 |Charlotte |New York Penn |

Friday 6th May New Jersey isn’t only about the Sopranos.

Our last full day in the US sees us back over in the Garden State hoping to mop up yet more NJT power.

Myself, and the two Richards make an early start to the day heading back over to New Jersey, for some more NJT bashing, whilst Tim Heads for Long Island to do the line to Greenport.

After a successful morning we then do 4017 to Newark Broad Street, which is a route we have not done before. The conductor on this train is very friendly especially when he finds out that we are all rail fans from the UK, giving us lots of info about what is happening on NJT.

From Broad Street we head back to Secaucus and spend some more time covering the electrics in and out of NY Penn, before returning to Hoboken for the evening rush for the few winners we missed during the morning and for any swaps that might have taken place during the day.

Once the evening rush is over we head back to Penn station in order to meet back up with Tim and also Bob Hannaford, although this proves to be a bit of a challenge because Penn station is such a labyrinth each party is in a different part of the station and it take us a while to co-ordinate for us all to get to the same place and meet up. When we finally manage to do so Bob takes us to a bar in Manhattan about 6 blocks from Penn, which has about 50 beers on its list, unfortunately I have forgotten the name of it. After an excellent evening we retire back to the Pennsylvania, whilst Bob catches the train back to his hotel in Newark NJ.

|N.J.T. |ALP46 |4643 |New York Penn |Secaucus Junction |3503 |05:51 |New York Penn |South Amboy |

|N.J.T. |GP40PH-2 |4102 |Secaucus Junction |Hoboken |1146 |05:34 |Suffern |Hoboken |

|N.J.T. |GP40FH-2 |4901 |Hoboken |Secaucus Junction |1145 |06:54 |Hoboken |Suffern |

|N.J.T. |GP40PH-2B |4211 |Secaucus Junction |Hoboken |1150 |06:24 |Suffern |Hoboken |

|N.J.T. |GP40PH-2 |4112 |Hoboken |Secaucus Junction |1203 |07:37 |Hoboken |Waldwick |

|N.J.T. |PL42AC |4023 |Secaucus Junction |Hoboken |1252 |07:14 |Waldwick |Hoboken |

|N.J.T. |GP40FH-2 |4905 |Hoboken |Secaucus Junction |43 |08:21 |Hoboken |Port Jervis |

|N.J.T. |GP40PH-2 |4100 |Secaucus Junction |Hoboken |1156 |07:45 |Suffern |Hoboken |

|N.J.T. |GP40PH-2 |4111 |Hoboken |Secaucus Junction |1605 |08:55 |Hoboken |Spring Valley |

|N.J.T. |F40PH |4194 |Secaucus Junction |Hoboken |56 |07:46 |Port Jervis |Hoboken |

|N.J.T. |PL42AC |4017 |Hoboken |Newark Broad Street |851 |10:13 |Hoboken |Hackkettstown |

|N.J.T. |ALP46 |4618 |Newark Broad Street |Secaucus Junction |6632 |10:06 |Dover |New York Penn |

|N.J.T. |ALP46 |4663 |Secaucus Junction |New York Penn |3236 |09:54 |Long Branch |New York Penn |

|N.J.T. |ALP46 |4647 |Secaucus Junction |New York Penn |3236 |09:54 |Long Branch |New York Penn |

|N.J.T. |ALP46 |4642 |New York Penn |Secaucus Junction |3239 |11:43 |New York Penn |Long Branch |

|N.J.T. |ALP46 |4634 |Secaucus Junction |New York Penn |6636 |11:02 |Dover |New York Penn |

|N.J.T. |ALP46 |4613 |New York Penn |Secaucus Junction |6627 |12:47 |New York Penn |Dover |

|N.J.T. |ALP46 |4627 |Secaucus Junction |New York Penn |6640 |11:39 |Dover |New York Penn |

|N.J.T. |ALP46 |4628 |New York Penn |Secaucus Junction |6241 |13:24 |New York Penn |Montclair University |

|N.J.T. |ALP46 |4637 |Secaucus Junction |New York Penn |3844 |12:19 |Trenton |New York Penn |

|N.J.T. |ALP46 |4639 |New York Penn |Secaucus Junction |3849 |14:07 |New York Penn |Trenton |

|N.J.T. |GP40PH-2 |4103 |Secaucus Junction |Hoboken |1626 |13:34 |Spring Valley |Hoboken |

|N.J.T. |PL42AC |4018 |Hoboken |Secaucus Junction |1121 |15:29 |Hoboken |Suffern |

|N.J.T. |GP40FH-2 |4900 |Secaucus Junction |Hoboken |1216 |15:11 |Waldwick |Hoboken |

|N.J.T. |PL42AC |4003 |Hoboken |Secaucus Junction |1625 |16:39 |Hoboken |Spring Valley |

|N.J.T. |F40PH-2CAT |4129 |Secaucus Junction |Hoboken |53 |15:44 |Spring Valley |Hoboken |

|N.J.T. |GP40PH-2 |4104 |Hoboken |Secaucus Junction |1171 |18:23 |Hoboken |Suffern |

|N.J.T. |ALP46 |4619 |Secaucus Junction |New York Penn |6264 |19:08 |Montclair University |New York Penn |

Saturday 7th May The Island

Today is our last day and the three of us decide that as our flight is out of JFK that we would head to Long Island, whilst Tim who is also flying back this evening, but from Newark, heads for the delights of NJT.

We all meet for coffee and muffins at Starbucks in Penn station, where I am able to get on line and check the three of us in for our BA flight home later.

Having said goodbye to Tim we catch the unit over to Jamaica, there being no loco hauled option as it is a Saturday.

Long Island RR has a fleet of 23 straight diesels and a further 22 dual mode machines for working those trains which go beyond the normal third rail system.

Loco hauled trains run over the following routes:

▪ The Main Line, to Greenport. (Diesel from Ronkonkoma)

▪ The Montauk branch. (Diesel from Babylon)

▪ The Oyster Bay Branch. (Diesel from East Williston)

▪ Port Jefferson Branch. (Diesel from Huntingdon)

(Trains are only hauled if they run beyond the limit of the third rail, all others are units).

Our first move takes us to Bay Shore with 419 for 406 back to Babylon. Here we have time for a beer at The Argyle Grill and Tavern () before our next move.

We then do 405 to Speonk on 8710. Here we get a bonus of a pair on 8739 which we do to Sayville for 8764 to Patchogue. We now have just over 2 hours before our train back to Jamaica so we retire to The Brickhouse Brewery which is about 10 minutes walk from the Station () for beers and a late lunch.

Following some excellent beer and food we head back to Jamaica on 8705, slightly disappointed to get 419, which we had out on 8706.

Back at Jamaica we decide that we have time for just one more leap before catching the AirTrain to JFK, though it means having a unit back we do train 6656, which produces the only DM of the day.

At the airport, once we have negotiated our way through security to air side we have a final beer before boarding our BA 747 for the journey home.

[pic]

Above: LIRR DE30AC 415 waits for its next turn of duty at Jamaica (07/05/2011).

| | |7546 | | | | | | |

| | |7545 | | | | | | |

| | |7368 | | | | | | |

| | |7367 | | | | | | |

| | |7728 | | | | | | |

| | |7727 | | | | | | |

| | |7656 | | | | | | |

| | |7655 | | | | | | |

| | |7608 | | | | | | |

|L.I.R.R. |EMU |7607 |New York Penn |Jamaica |7822 |09:25 |New York Penn |Huntington |

|L.I.R.R. |DE30AC |419 |Jamaica |Bay Shore |8706 |10:10 |Jamaica |Montauk |

|L.I.R.R. |DE30AC |406 |Bay Shore |Babylon |8735 |10:05 |Speonk |Babylon |

|L.I.R.R. |DE30AC |405 |Babylon |Speonk |8710 |12:10 |Jamaica |Montauk |

|L.I.R.R. |DE30AC |412 |Speonk |Sayville |8739 |14:05 |Speonk |Babylon |

|L.I.R.R. |DE30AC |418 |Speonk |Sayville |8739 |14:05 |Speonk |Babylon |

|L.I.R.R. |DE30AC |416 |Sayville |Patchogue |8764 |14:32 |Babylon |Patchogue |

|L.I.R.R. |DE30AC |419 |Patchogue |Jamaica |8705 |15:35 |Montauk |Jamaica |

|L.I.R.R. |DM30AC |508 |Jamaica |Mineola |6556 |18:52 |Jamaica |Oyster Bay |

| | |7681 | | | | | | |

| | |7682 | | | | | | |

| | |7053 | | | | | | |

| | |7054 | | | | | | |

| | |7509 | | | | | | |

| | |7510 | | | | | | |

| | |7831 | | | | | | |

| | |7832 | | | | | | |

| | |7311 | | | | | | |

| | |7312 | | | | | | |

| | |7263 | | | | | | |

|L.I.R.R. |EMU |7264 |Mineola |Jamaica |7729 |19:03 |Huntington |New York Penn |

* Owned by Metro North, but operated and maintained by NJT.

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