Nostalgia & History > Penn Central E8 and black and white gates South Amboy NJ 1978

March 30, 1978, I was in South Amboy, NJ and grabbied this shot of power moving down to be in position for the engine change. There is so much wrong with this photo... but I love it. I love the PC E8, I love the black and white manual gates. I love the piece of the old railroad building in the background. Photo by Charles Freericks

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That engine change was a time warp.  Watch a depression-era streamlined electric pulled off of a train to be replaced by a slightly younger, but still streamlined diesel.  All while being watched over by watchmen using hand-cranked crossing gates.

Christmas season of 1979, I was on a Delta red eye flight from Denver to Newark, got into Newark about 0530, and decided to go out and watch this for the second time (I'd been there before, several years earlier).  After several days of 12 hour year-end shifts at work and a long overnight flight, I was barely conscious, but this woke me right up.  By then the E7s had been retired and several of the newer Es were either in NJT or Southern paint.  But still, where else could you watch something like that.

"Jurassic Park" hadn't been made yet, but who needed a movie about re-created dinosaurs?  The real thing was here for the viewing and riding.

And yes, I slept all the way into NYP.  Groggy transfer to NYG, and then slept all the way up to Albany.

Looks like a winner to me. Shows the often cluttered railroad atmosphere.

Love the photo, Charles Freericks as well as your story; then another great one by March_Hare. Thanks, gentlemen!

I looked at Google sky view. The only grade level street crossing is John Street.

That whole area has been drastically reworked in the last 40 years. There were other crossings back then and this one was north of the old Station house and is probably pretty much obliterated by the new station.

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I still recall driving down to Asbury Park back around 1980 maybe? I had business concerning my racing program at the time. Or it may have been an earlier Sunday rail exploration drive. Memories of such details concerning where I was or why back then are getting fuzzier as I approach 80. On that specific trip I recall the crossing bells and flashers started and I pulled to a stop. Along came a Southern painted E unit pulling a rag-tag train of passenger cars. I had seen Southern green Es in magazines but was totally amazed to see one in the flesh. Knowing full well that Amtrak had gone into business years earlier and lots of excess passenger locos and cars were shuffled everywhere, it was still exciting to see a green ex-Southern E Unit flash past. 
It wasn't as exciting as seeing a PRR K4-S when I was much younger. That Pennsy Pacific was pulling a train north through several coastal beach towns.We first saw it while sitting at a traffic light, probably in Asbury Park. It was steaming north, we saw it several more times in the family's 1950 or 1953 Ford while playing tag with traffic lights and the train making a station stop or two. Crisp memories that would make a fantastic video today. My best memory of revenue steam!
But then again in the very early Sixties, sometime before I graduated High School in 1964, my Dad's Boss would invite Dad and I to join him and his two sons to go "deep sea fishing" on a party boat. It was a tough experience as it required rising at 5 AM and driving to Dad's place of employment followed by a 2 hour drive from there to Brielle, NJ. Arriving not much after sunrise, we would spend maybe an hour on the dock taking care of whatever business, payment, ice and whatever else needed before heading out onto the Atlantic for the day of fishing (I still love bobbing around out there and catching whatever takes the bait!). The highlight of these trips was watching numerous PRR E Units pulling pasenger trains north and south across the Brielle Draw, after each time it dropped to allow a train to pass. Funny as there was zero boat traffic, but Coast Guard protocal is the bridge is open, boat traffic has priority. 
I'd like to go back and experience these moments with a camera today but sigh! Thankfully we have these great postings to relive those days of Glory or Despair.
Thank you!
Gonut



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/23 19:32 by Gonut1.