Arrow II Retirement

They used them on the NEC they ran on the NJCL in the 70s and 80s so they had to be able to handle NEC voltage.

They also got 4900 I believe...

MARC 4902 was on display at either the 1987 or 1988 Hoboken Festival.

This video shows NJT 4131 with MARC push pull cars. Jump to 1:44.

redarrow5591 wrote:Here's the deal with them as it was told to me. After they came back from their time with MARC in the late 80's they all had various problems - floor rot, leaky ceilings, high voltage issues to name a few - and at the time it was being considered to put the AII's through the same overhaul that the AIII's got. The various issues with the cars made them financially nonviable to overhaul. The Comet IV's and the ALP44M's was ordered instead. Those cars then sat almost through the entire decade at the MMC until 2001 when NJT sold them to scrap. Although the cars was in poor shape for SEPTA's needs, one set: 1236/1237 was brought by the TA to be split up and converted for use as work cars. 1237 became 601, the new camp car for the Wire Train replacing the Reading Bluebird 9127; 1236 became 602 and is now on one of the Gel Trains.

So they blamed the whole thing on MARC? and chose to run them into the ground instead of keeping them maintained?

Hard to see what NJT regards as financial nonviability anymore, given their purchases of new-build.

ApproachMedium wrote:They also got 4900 I believe...

Hmmm....I'll have to go through my stash of Railpaces from the early 90s. I only remember seeing 4901, or maybe it was 4900. I'll get it right eventually

4900definatly stands out to me because atlas made the model of it and I was going to purchase it to go with my njt fleet of generations.

They also borrowed a SEPTA AEM7.

NJTArrow2 wrote:They also borrowed a SEPTA AEM7.

The AEM7 was collateral, in conjunction to NJT loaning diesels to SPAX during Railworks.

4900 was definitely used on NJT http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPictur ... id=1841003

transit383 wrote:This video shows NJT 4131 with MARC push pull cars. Jump to 1:44.

Nice find, boy does that look out of place with the Chessie coal train rolling through!

Strictly hearsay here, but I heard that eventually Amtrak banned the arrow ii's which is why they spent their final years confined to the Hoboken Division.

Also, I don't know how much of the lack of maintenance was attributed to NJT's knowing that they were going to be retired soon, but I do remember them being extreme junk. I specifically remember the 1234 having a piece of stainless steel covering everything around the anolog speedometer, where the Cab Signal System displays would have been.

Rail Boy wrote:Strictly hearsay here, but I heard that eventually Amtrak banned the arrow ii's which is why they spent their final years confined to the Hoboken Division.

Also, I don't know how much of the lack of maintenance was attributed to NJT's knowing that they were going to be retired soon, but I do remember them being extreme junk. I specifically remember the 1234 having a piece of stainless steel covering everything around the anolog speedometer, where the Cab Signal System displays would have been.

I remember riding in them at the very end, and they were very depressing cars - very dark, and uncomfortable, and often very leaky. I do remember riding in 1234 and thinking thats a cool number

About the only remains of an Arrow 2 on the property that I can think of is a black and orange seat bottom that is crushed in the dirt along the back fence of the MMC next to the South Kearny yard........

Can I have it!? lol

A recent shot of SEPTA's Wire Train with a former NJT Arrow II on the rear:

SEPTA 601, former NJT 1237