Eastern Railroad Discussion > Friday's chase along the DDRV's Washington Secondary

My challenge of looking for good photo locations where there are not many continues along Dover & Delaware River's Washington Secondary . 
Photo 1: The first location was one I had spotted through the trees many times as I traveled Route 57 near Phillipsburg, NJ and wondered how it would be for photography. Today knowing that RP-1 was on its way, having left Washington at 12:23, I estimated it wouldn't be long before it passed my vantage point. Around 1 PM DDRV 5304's headlight appeared in the distance and I would soon have my answer to that question. Motive power for today's run was DDRV 5304 and DDRV 2005 with a consist of seventeen cars - five air flow hoppers, ten tank cars, one reefer and one boxcar. Seeing the milepost "78", my question was now seventy-eight miles from what?
Photo 2: Knowing that DDRV 2005 was trailing, I knew it would lead on RP-1's return trip. Around 1:43 2005's headlight appeared leading its ten car consist east.
Photo 3: It is now around 2:30 as RP-1 approaches the Railroad Avenue grade crossing in Washington and then back to Rockport. The tracks heading off to the left lead into BASF's facility.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/05/22 16:19 by Pattenburg.

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You did well covering this line. I suspect the "78" is 78 miles from Hoboken.

TJY

Nice work along the old DL&W !

Thank you for your comments. With no leaves on the trees, I feel now is the time to get these shots before the line becomes a tree shrouded ROW.

I agree. In the summer most of that line turns into a Tunnel through the Trees !

Very nice!! Once the warmer months are here, it sounds like the line will be even harder to get good photographs given all of the trees. Thankfully a late afternoon/early evening shot on sunny days during the late Spring and summer could probably work.

This is a great series of stories and pictures.

The old Official Guides show DL&W mile marker 1  at Hoboken, I believe "mile" 0 was the Barclay Street ferry terminal in New York City.  For many years the Lackawanna and E-L time tables showed duplicate mileage (via Morristown and via Boonton) for points Denville thru Netcong.

 

Pattenburg,
Thank you for your relentless quest to get shots along this long time obscure line. I was often in that area 1978-1985 and never caught a train! It was just as difficult, maybe wore so, then as it is now. I suspect once the DL&W built the Cut-off across NJ these lines were deemed secondaries and dismissed as less important. Ironically after the Cut-off and the old line were abandoned I drove a portion of the old main but unfortunately chickened-out driving the portion to the tunnel at Manunka Chunk which was passable at the time. The no trespassing signs were just too ominous. What an incredible history that junction offered.
I also frequented the Lehigh and Hudson Railway mainline with the same results, no trains just empty rails. Also the Lehigh and New England escaped my capture. I missed a lot of railroading despite being right there. Argh! I'm so glad others had much more success!
It all seems so far away and gone today.
Gonut

Working the P-burger one weekend in late 1960's, our Hoboken extra board conductor wanted to see how far up the 'Old Road' to the tunnel we could go. Basically within sight of the tunnel portal but that was as far as the engineer would go!
Washington passenger station was still standing and so was the freight office alongside Railroad Avenue then too.

rrcaboose

Lots of great off the beaten track RRing there once upon a time. LNE, CNJ. DLW/EL, PRR, LHR, E&N, LV.
Not a whole lot left.   I guess I'll have to get a slide scanner one of these days.

I still call it the 'washington Line' or the "Old Road" as it was in the EL days.  "Secondary" was a purely PRR term that CR held on to.

 

The entire Washington Secondary is off the beaten path. The right of way isn't known to many people, both railfans and nonrailfans. There aren't many villages close to the tracks. While the Washington Secondary might run between Phillipsburg and Hackettstown(actually feeds into NJT), both large towns, many of the towns in between are probably incorporated. The only large town along the Washington Secondary is Washington.

Don't forget Hacketstown, it's sorta big.
john, who lived in Washington 85-87