Passenger Trains > .

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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/22/21 23:52 by F40PHR231.

In picture 16, the PATCO train has an open control stand?

Thanks for the photos. It's all "in my back yard" since I live in New Jersey just out of Philly.

PATCO decided in 1969 that the operator would be accessible to passengers, so he sits in a curtained-off area with a half-height door. When the train changes ends, the operator locks a cover over the control console and his seat becomes available for passengers.

The River Line is a nice ride, especially from Burlington north. The street running in Burlington is wonderful (it's in a curbed median, not actually in the street), and is followed by a stretch of riverside running along the Delaware and a nice run through Bordentown and across Crosswicks Creek. The former Camden and Amboy can still be seen, branching off just south of Bordentown. It's now the "Robbinsville Industrial Track", but at one time it went through to South Amboy. It's the second-oldest rail line in the US, after the B&O Old Main Line.

Wow. Why is NYP so dead at 4pm?

Thanks for the pictures, Chris. It looks like you had a great trip.

In 41, you're looking at part of the PATH Newark layout within the Amtrak / NJ Transit operation in the concrete supports for an upper track. The Port Authority Trans Hudson network operates third rail powered trains between Newark and Jersey City, and then beyond. In Harrison, the PATH stations are on the outside of four main line tracks. The westbound (toward Newark) track climbs a roller coaster like track and arrives at the upper most level of Newark Penn, about 25 feet above the trains on the middle level. Empty PATH trains leave the upper level and go out onto a tail track, still above the mainline trains.

Once out on the tail track, a switch is thrown, and the now eastward train reverses down to the main level of Newark Penn, alongside the mainline trains. Leaving Newark Penn, it climbs another roller coaster, and jumps over A and 1 track, and comes down the roller coaster into Harrison eastbound.

You must be a terrorist taking all of those train pictures. Nice little photo documentary. Well put together. Did you intentionally want the PATCO line into Philly as opposed to taking the train all the way to Philly? Thanks for sharing.

Tom

Tominde Wrote:
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> Did you intentionally want the
> PATCO line into Philly as opposed to taking the
> train all the way to Philly?

Yes, instead of taking the train straight to 30th St Station and a boring Northeast Corridor train to NYP, I instead took PATCO, River Line, and NJ Transit to add a little variety to the tour.

There is so much to see, I saw what I could between DC and Boston in such a short time frame.

Great shots. Thanks for posting them.

Picture 32 at Trenton is probably a northbound Amtrak train, a push-pull off the Harrisburg Line from Harrisburg through Philadelphia to New York, since it's on Track 1, has five Amfleet cars and the AEM-7 has its markers lit.

The comment about New York being "dead" at 4 pm is interesting. This is the main waiting area for Amtrak passengers; most NJT passengers use the NJT concourse or the lower level of the station, beneath the level where this picture was taken. No Long Island Rail Road passengers use this area. There are lots of Amtrak trains posted on the board, but most of them are ready to depart or have probably already boarded the majority of their passengers. The fascinating thing about the main Amtrak waiting room in Penn Station is how quickly the picture changes. If Chris had taken this picture in another 10 minutes, the room might be packed and then, 5 minutes later, it looks like his picture, and then it's packed again. The station is just incredible in the volume of passengers it handles and the number of trains. I think it's about 120 Amtrak trains each day, but the total number of Amtrak, NJT and LIRR train movements is somewhere around 1,200 each weeekday. The way passengers are handled through the station isn't the most customer-friendly, given the volume of people and the narrow stairs and escalators, but they sure handle an awful lot of people and trains.

Great pics Chris!