Saturday, September 14, 2013

New York City - 2

Hi, This post will feature the Erie, DL&W, and Erie Lackawanna with a few Conrail shots on former Erie routes at the end. The first four photos were taken in the mid 1950s at Hoboken, NJ, then the terminus for the Delaware Lackawanna and Western. At this time the Erie was already using the station for some of its trains here.

First up was the arrival of a long distance train.

After the passengers disembarked a switcher would couple on to the tail of the train and pull the cars to the coach yard thereby releasing the power so it could proceed to the engine facility.

A DL&W Alco S-2 had an Erie business car in tow.

Access to yards in the 1950s was easy.  I walked out to the engine facility where this FM Trainmaster was posed.

On another occasion, this time during the summer of 1956, I was at the station to take a train to Hancock, NY where I was waiting tables in a summer camp.  While waiting for my train I photographed these Alco S-2s awaiting another assignment.

Eventually the power for our train, a pair of Alco PAs backed down from the engine terminal and coupled up.

At about the same time an Erie local arrived behind an Alco RS-3.

I was back at Hoboken shortly after the U34CHs went into service.  Two posed side by side under the Bush train shed.

Even in 1983 one could walk out into the yard.  Note the evolution of paint schemes on the U34CHs.

From Hoboken we'll move west along the former DL&W mainline.  In the mid 1970s, 3 friends and I left my home at 4:00 AM and drove up to New Jersey to photograph the former Erie Lackawanna Electrics.  Here are some images from that trip.  On the second day we visited the Long Island Railroad and those images will appear in a subsequent post.

The train shown below was eastbound at Milburn, NJ.

This train also was eastbound.


We actually started in Summit, NJ about 8:30 AM.  Summit is where the Galdstone Branch takes off from the mainline and where cars going to Gladstone are separated from mainline trains.

A westbound diesel powered train arrived while we were there.  The tower, now long out of service, was built into the retaining wall.

We continued west on the mainline to Denville where this eastbound train is pictured.  Behind the station, which is long gone, the non electrified Boonton Line joins the mainline.

Electric service ends at Dover, NJ.


We ended our day at Gladstone where these two trains were laid up.

In 1971 I was in Suffern, NY and found these commuter sets waiting out the Memorial Day Weekend.  Both trains were made up of former Erie Stilwell coaches.


On a trip in 1980, I believe, we photographed this U34CH as it crossed the Hackensack on its way to Hoboken on former Erie trackage.

An eastbound Conrail Freight crossed the bridge later in the day as seen from the opposite side.

Finally, in the mid 1990s an eastbound Conrail freight passed the tower at Rutherford, NJ again on former Erie trackage.

Thanks for looking.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Great shots! I toured the NJT with Sandy Burton in 1984 and recognize a lot of the spots. Also shot E-L in 1965 and 1972.