Eastern Railroad Discussion > Port Murray (NJ): 1983 versus 2021

    One of the facets of railroad photography that I enjoy is going back to a specific location and trying to recreate the same scene I shot previously. Such was the case for Port Murray, NJ on Dover & Delaware River's Washington Secondary on Sunday. Back on October 6, 1983, I photographed a CR local with CR 2234 (GP30; ex-PC 2234) leading passing by the Port Murray Depot. From what I recall it was a warm day with sufficient sun to illuminate this scene. On this day I was shooting black / white film since that was my preference back then. Oh yeah, photo shop was a place one went to buy film back then. Today that term is used to describe a computer program process used for modifying a digital photo scene. Regarding the depot, it was plainly visible back in '83.   
     Fast forward to the present and an evergreen has grown up over the years obscuring the depot. As one can see, all the leaves have fallen, a slight trace of snow is on the ground and gray skies prevail in this current scene. D&DR 2006 leads its consist of freight cars, with air flo hoppers seen in both scenes, in the same direction with D&DR 2005 being up the rear markers. As Bob Dylan sang "...for the times they are a changing..."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/28/21 09:32 by Pattenburg.

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Really neat.  Thanks for sharing.

Great comparison shots!! That station building at Port Murray probably needs to be repaired. I was there two years ago to photograph the Toys for Tots train and will likely be at that spot this Saturday. Of course, at some point on the trip, I will donate gifts as that's the most important thing, over just going to photograph the train.

Compared to  lot of "now and then" pix, Id say that not much has changed.    The tracks are still there,  Black GP38 instead of a black GP30.
More traffic  (Yay) even if it is a daily local vs. a 3 day a week local that also has up the line interchange traffic.

Probably an ex-EL crew on the CR local....caboose behind the power.   That kept the crew up by the head end for communication (remember, no radios then), and also eliminated having to cut off the caboose, and then re-couple after each siding that had to be switched.

Very nice comparison... Good to see this was one of the routes to survive after Conrail purged it...

Definitely like the comparison photos.
ALLEN

I really enjoy your posts as you cover my local area -  Belle Mead - Pattenburg Tunnel - Port Murray - etc.  Please keep them coming!

Ron

MC6853 Wrote:
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> Very nice comparison... Good to see this was one
> of the routes to survive after Conrail purged
> it...

It's really a shame to see how the old Phillipsburg line, the Boonton Line, etc has diminished as a supply of traffic.  Some huge shippers have closed down, others have moved over to trucks.  Even the spur of the Boonton Line from Mountain view east to Totowa used to be a productive, several times a week switch job.  Lots of warehouses, manufacturing, etc.  Boonton town alone used to have several major shippers.

All gone, now.

Late 1960's to 4-1-1976
EL era Boonton Drill (Dover to Boonton and return/Croxton as needed when CS-9 did not run) worked Mon to Sat  
EL era Totowa Roustabout (Croxton to Totowa via Mountain View and return) worked Mon to Fri
EL era P'Burg Roustabout (P-burg to Port Morris) worked 7 days a week
EL era P'burg Yard drill ( EL to LV to PRR to L&HR to CNJ interchange) worked 7 days a week
All above were former DL&W seniority jobs-prior right

rr caboose

Thanks for the specifics.

The Montclair electric branch, Summit, and Harrison - Kingsland also had dedicated jobs at various points, too.

Lots of work to do.

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Great photos!