Railroaders' Nostalgia > My Dumb Luck: the AFT years 36

36 New Brunswick NJ Aug 24-26/ Bethlehem PA Aug 27-29

My flight from Santa Barbara landed in Newark in the middle of a lightning storm. We got bounced around pretty good, and the lights even went out for a moment (lightning strike?). I'm not a nervous flier, my Dad had a plane and I flew as a teenager, so I found it more interesting the scary. I got in fairly late, and couldn't waste any time getting down to New Brunswick- it was move night. I must have taken an Amtrak train to NB, but I don't remember it. I know I arrived at the site in a cab.

The flats were already loaded, and a Conrail switcher was ready to begin reassembling the train. I ran into Dale and he told me to get rid of my bags quick and follow him, we were leaving New Brunswick behind GG-1's and he'd already worked it out with the crew- cab ride!
There were two motors, and we scrambled aboard the trailing locomotive. The whole thing was rushed, and the ride wasn't long (5-6 miles), but we were thrilled! Big as they are, the cab was a bit tight. Rather submarine like, in a Jules Verne kind of way. The view forward was very steam locomotive-like, a small windshield rather far away and the long nose that limited things the way a boiler does. What really stuck me as odd was that in order for the engineer and “fireman” to make eye contact, both had to lean back in their seats to see around the bulkheads that divided up the cab. THAT must have gotten old fast! The sound when under-way was great! Think “Streetcar from Hell”.
At Hunter Tower (Metuchen, NJ) the G's came off and the T-1 took over. Technically it was all Conrail now, but we left the former PRR, and continued to Bethlehem on the former Lehigh Valley.

Now, GG-1's got the AFT out of New Brunswick, but I've asked around and no one remembers them on the way in. (I wasn't there) This has always been a mystery to me. But I think I've worked it out: I think the train arrived from the north, and backed into the NB site. To get onto the LV line to Bethlehem we needed to back up to Metuchen first. The T-1 must have backed up light, and the G's followed with the main consist, also backwards, and the two joined there.
Does anyone know if this is right? Please write!    Bonus question- anyone know the numbers of those two GG-1's?

Bethlehem was simply a very nice site alongside the Lehigh River. We were set up at the old depot in town under the the Hill-to-Hill Bridge. I suspect this may have been a historic district or park of some sort.

Photos 1&2. An evening in Bethlehem.

A nice town as I remember it.

SR Bush
Dutch Flat



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/25/14 17:20 by BoilingMan.

---

---

Hunter is in Newark, several miles north of Metuchen, just south of the PRR/Amtrak station. That is where the connection to the old LV is located. Metuchen's interlocking is called "Lincoln" and I am not aware of any off-line connections to the NEC there. Lincoln tower got it's name from the nearby Ford/Lincoln assembly plant that is now gone. (Edit: I stand corrected about a LV connection in Metuchen.)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/29/14 11:11 by RRTom.

The source of info I used for this is the original AFT trip synopsis.
There are a few discrepancies, and I tried to sort them out as best I could. It names "Hunter Tower (Metuchen)" as where we left the PRR for the Lehigh Valley, and this is the discrepancy you've pointed out.
But the synopsis also has other info that points to Metuchen:
1. The mileage from New Brunswick to "Hunter Tower (Metuchen)" is given as 5.5mi. My map shows 6mi to Metuchen, 22mi to Newark.
2. The mileage from "Hunter Tower (Metuchen)" to Easton is given as 53.5mi. My map shows 53mi from Metuchen, 64mi to Newark.
So I've shown us leaving the PRR at Metuchen based on the mileage shown in the synopsis, but the mention of Hunter Tower does give me pause.
I also looked at Google earth before posting my story to see if there was even a connection at Metuchen- it appears there was at one. The track is gone now and the RoW is now called the "Middlesex Greenway". My 1948 RR Atlas shows a LV line from South Amboy to Plainfield crossing the PRR at Metuchen. On Google Earth you can see there was a connection on the NE quadrant of this intersection.
This all fits with the T-1 running light, and GG-1's pulling the AFT consist backwards to Metuchen... But why the mention of Hunter Tower?!
SR Bush
Dutch Flat

Also, this is where I got the cab ride in the GG-1. So was that ride 6mi, or 22mi? I remember it as quite brief- that we got up to speed, but barely had time to revel in it, so I'm leaning towards 6mi. I'll call Dale and see it he remembers it differently...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/27/14 11:47 by BoilingMan.

OK I see now, you are correct. There is a former LV connection in Metuchen right at Lincoln interlocking.

Yeah, but the mention of Hunter Tower still nags at me. I truly appreciate help on figuring these things out, the East coast is far from my home turf and these place names are all quite foreign to me.
I suppose it's unlikely any one will ever attempt a history of the AFT tour like I'm trying to do here, so I (we) had best get it right!
Right?
SR Bush
Dutch Flat

Steve

I know the train was facing south (RR west) at the display site in New Brunswick.Hunter tower was just RR west of Newark Penn Station,which is north,RR east,of there. The LV crossed over the top of the ex PRR,now NEC just south,RR west,of Hunter tower.If the train took the LV to get to Bethlemhem,which would be the logical way to go,it would have been towed backwards from New Brunswick over the NEC north,RR east,to Hunter tower where there was a trailing point connection to allow commuter trains coming from Newark Penn Staion to access the LV. While moving over the NEC the train would have passed through Metuchen,which is about 5 miles north,RR east,of New Brunswick.The NEC is electrified,so the use of GG1s is probable. When the train arrived at Hunter,the Gs probably cut away from the rear and the T1 took the train west up the connection to the LV main and on to Bethlehem.

Tom

The LV track you speak of at Metuchen is the original LV main to Perth Amboy. At the time of Conrail it had already been downgraded to nothing more than an industrial running track. I am not sure if the connection between it and the ex PRR/NEC still exited at that time or not. If it did,and there was no issue with running over that line,which could not have been in very good condition,then that would have been the shortest,by mileage,option available.If that was the route chosen then you would have come nowhere near Hunter tower.While the option I discussed in my prior post may not have been the one used,it would have the most logical is it was an all mainline routing without the chance of derailing if using the industrial trackage.

Yes, this is exactly how the move was done (backwards behind GG-1's, etc).
The mystery is: did we enter the LV at Hunter Tower or at Metuchen? The original move synopsis from '76 names Hunter Tower as the connection used, but misplaces it's location as being in Metuchen. And all the mileages given in this synopsis line up perfectly with Metuchen, so I'm leaning towards that as being the correct location but with an asterisk.
I talked to Dale yesterday afternoon (he & I rode the G's that night), and he agrees the ride was quite short. But neither of us can remember if it was 6mi or 22mi- it was nearly 40yrs ago and we're just not sure!
SR

Hey- does anyone know where the display site was in New Brunswick? I was only there for about a half hour in the middle of the night...




towazy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Steve
>
> I know the train was facing south (RR west) at
> the display site in New Brunswick.Hunter tower was
> just RR west of Newark Penn Station,which is
> north,RR east,of there. The LV crossed over the
> top of the ex PRR,now NEC just south,RR west,of
> Hunter tower.If the train took the LV to get to
> Bethlemhem,which would be the logical way to go,it
> would have been towed backwards from New Brunswick
> over the NEC north,RR east,to Hunter tower where
> there was a trailing point connection to allow
> commuter trains coming from Newark Penn Staion to
> access the LV. While moving over the NEC the train
> would have passed through Metuchen,which is about
> 5 miles north,RR east,of New Brunswick.The NEC is
> electrified,so the use of GG1s is probable. When
> the train arrived at Hunter,the Gs probably cut
> away from the rear and the T1 took the train west
> up the connection to the LV main and on to
> Bethlehem.
>
> Tom

If the AFT was pulled out by two GG1s then there must have been wires at least partly over the spot where the train was parked in New Brunswick? So my guess is they put the AFT on the Millstone Branch just south of downtown New Brunswick. This is where New Jersey Transit's Jersey Avenue station is located.
Another option would have been in NJT's County Yard just north of Jersey Avenue, but then where would the commuter trains have been parked that the AFT displaced?
The final option I can see is on Conrail's unelectrified Delco Lead, which runs south from the Millstone Branch along the west side of the NEC. But I'm not sure public access would have been good.

the site was south,RR east of downtown New Brunswick and north/east of Jersey ave yard on an industrial siding.

---

another...

---

These are great! Thank you!
A little Google Earth time and I'll nail it down!

The site didn't necessarily have to have wire. The T-1 probably pulled the train out onto the main and cut off. The G's made the joint and were off, with the T-1 following light.
SR

Again- thank you for the photos!

Posted from iPhone

Well the photos give the answer all right. By matching the transmission arms on top of the catenary poles to an oblique aerial photo: AFT was on the west side of the NEC mains between Handy and Powers Streets. Tracks are no longer there.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/29/14 11:12 by RRTom.