Newark Penn Station is a busy place. Two NJT trains on the Northeast Corridor pass the PATH ("Port Authority Trans Hudson") layover yard near the station. The PATH shares the NEC right of way (on separate tracks) a short distance from Newark through Harrison as it makes its way to the Hudson Tubes and lower Manhattan.
	Conrail 7898 & 8121 lead a very late PR-30 onto the Chemical Coast Secondary at CP PN en route back to Port Reading Yard. To the right is the Portside Intermodal Terminal.
	Morriston & Erie's Alco C-430 #19 is seen switching the Bayway Refinery. The M&E provides contract switching services at the refinery and has been given limited trackage rights to access cars interchanged to them by Conrail along the Chemical Coast Secondary.
	Conrail 8121 leads WPPR-13 north through CP PD from Port Reading Yard.
	Train WPPR-13, departing Port Reading Yard, has entered the Chemical Coast Secondary and is crossing over from track 1 to 2 at CP PD.
	The crew of Conrail train YPOI-66 spots two cars at the 301 Building in Port Newark. This seaside terminal is busy and cramped, with roads, buildings, and rails crammed in wherever they will fit.
	Conrail 7869 is working WPSP-2, and spots two covered hoppers at Oakite along the Perth Amboy Secondary Track in Metuchen.
	NYSW 116 working the Rahway Valley interchange tracks. The locomotive will return light to Kenilworth, and the cars will be picked up by Conrail freight OIAL the next morning. Engine 116 was originally purchased by the New York, Ontatrio & Western; where it served until the railroad quit in 1957. The engine was eventually sold to NYS&W, and restored to its original livery.
	A hand-me-down from Amtrak, E60CP #967 awaits departure at South Amboy Station. The E60's were meant to be replacements for the venerable Pennsy GG-1's, but their poor tracking qualities sidelined them to storage for most of the careers on NJT.
	A North Jersey Coast Line commuter train led by NJT 4419 approaches the Raritan River bridge after departing South Amboy Station.
	NJT 4419 leads a commuter run across the Raritan River bridge on the NJCL.
	With HEP generator screaming, NJT F40 #4122 heads up a commuter run as it passes Conrail WPPR-13, which is switching Goldberg's Scrapyard in Perth Amboy.
	Under the shadow of a highway, NJT ALP-44 #4402 is seen passing southbound through WC interlocking. The connection to Conrail's Chemical Coast Secondary is hidden in the trees in the lower left corner of the picture.
	NJT 4176 ready to depart Raritan Station. In the background is the engine house and also layover tracks for storage of commuter and maintenance equipment. Although the U34CH's were normally assigned to the Hoboken Division of NJT, they roam freely here on the Newark Division as well!
	The sun is barely up as a Raritan Line train, led by NJT 4176, arrives at Plainfield Station. The U34CH's were retired in 1994, replaced by F40PH's and GP40PH-2's.
	NJT cab car 5153 leads an early morning commuter run into Plainfield station. Cab cars allow trains to run in either direction, without the need for turning locomotives or a runaround move. The push-pull concept was developed by the Chicago & Northwestern in the mid-1950s, and soon caught on with other operations around the country.

By M. R. Snell/Photos by the Author

In our last installment we took a look at how the freight gets to Newark. Now we'll take a look at some of the other lines compromising the Division so you can see where it goes once it's classified at Oak Island. View the track plan.

The Chemical Coast
The Chemical Coast Secondary Track is a branch track running south from Oak Island Yard and terminating in a connection with NJ Transit's North Jersey Coast Line at WC Tower, in Perth Amboy. Alongside the line are the Bayway Refinery and Port Reading Yard.

The Chemical Coast Secondary Track begins at CP PN. At this junction trains leave the Oak Island Running Track and enter the Chemical Coast for their run south. Traveling south the double track line parallels the Portside Yard and Bayway Refinery, although there is no direct access to either from this line.

At Bayway the Portside Running Track joins the Chemical Coast. This junction is fairly busy as it is used by the Bayway switcher to access cars set out for Bayway along the Chemical Coast, as well as for light engine movements for power returning to Oak Island from Portside Yard. A height restriction along the line prevents routing of double stacks or auto racks over this route, but occasionally an intermodal train will use this junction for a reverse movement into Portside Yard.

Slightly further south is CP PD. This interlocking complex features a crossover and also the entrance to Port Reading Yard. Port Reading Yard is responsible for the freight service along both the Chemical Coast and NJ Transit North Jersey Coast Line. Two local freights operate out of here. Port Reading also receives a weekly coal train for the dumper in the yard.

The WPPR-13 operates along the Chemical Coast south of PD, servicing customers in Perth Amboy and others along the NJ Transit line. The WPPR-30 operates within the yard servicing two customers and operates along the Chemical Coast north of the PD, making a transfer run to Oak Island with the outbound traffic from Port Reading and Bayway.

Prior to arriving at WC is a second crossover. Here the line becomes a single track to NJ Transit and the second track diverges to the right to become the Perth Amboy Industrial Track. Along the Perth Amboy I.T. are PSI and Raritan River Steel, the latter being a major customer for Port Reading Yard.

Now that we've had a look at the Chemical Coast, let's move back north and take a look at what Oak Island's local trains service.

Oak Island Locals
Oak Island fields multiple local trains, one of which is the YPOI-66. This train services the Port Newark area. This is a tightly confined area with a small segment of street trackage and multiple warehouses. Making things more complex are several facing point car spots. This daily local freight services three warehouses, Naparano Iron & Metal, Cargill, and the dimensional/export track. A series of 12-foot-long tracks allow for the spotting of long strings of cars for the hidden industries.

The night shift counterpart to OI-66 is OI-23. It also does work in the Port Newark area, handling cars for the Star Ledger, BFI, and Liberty Distribution, all of which are "hidden industries." It also finishes up any work not accomplished by OI-66 and works its way out to the Lehigh Line as required, and NJT's Raritan Line to service one industry.

The third local operating out of Oak Island is the WPOI-5. This local freight works west on the Lehigh Line as far as CP Potter, as well as servicing industries on the Irvington I.T. Two industries along the Irvington I.T. will usually generate seven cars a day for this local to handle, as well as Lehigh Line traffic which is generated by three industries.

Moving further down the Lehigh Line to South Plainfield, the WPSP-2 works the Lehigh Line east to CP Potter, as well as the Perth Amboy Secondary.

The actual Perth Amboy Secondary ran from South Plainfield to Perth Amboy as an independent branch. This was abandoned by Conrail and is now the "Middlesex Greenway" trail from Metuchen to Keasbey. The rail is still in place from South Plainfield to Metuchen. Due to space limitations we've relocated the actual branch to include "trackage rights" over the Lehigh Line to access it and have severed the rail beyond Metuchen just like the prototype.

The SP-2 services three industries along the Lehigh Line before entering the Secondary. Along the Perth Amboy Secondary it works four more industries within the confines of a single track branch with a small siding for runaround movements. Upon completion of its assignments for the day, the SP-2 yards his outbound cars in the siding and yard at South Plainfield for pickup by road freight ALOI, which will leave the next day's freight to be serviced.

The Rahway Valley
Finally, we take a look at the Rahway Valley. A shortline operation dating back to the 1880s, it connects several Union County hamlets, including Roselle Park, Kenilworth, and Summit. By 1986, the line was under the control of Deleware Otsego Corp, and operated by the New York, Susquehanna & Western (NYS&W). Customers dwindled though the 1980s, and the line was abandoned in 1992. On my layout, the operation is based out of a small enginehouse at Kenilworth. A small stretch of track services two industries tri-weekly. Power ranges from 70-tonners to NYS&W GP18's. The crew usually reports for duty around 2:00 pm and will go up to the interchange and pick up cars left by Conrail road freight OIAL. Once they've finished up their switching duties they'll leave their outbound cars at the interchange and head back to the enginehouse and call it a day.

Commuter Operations
Since New Jersey just wouldn't be right without commuter operations, there are also two major lines within the division. Both run from Newark Penn Station, as do the prototype. Both are operated by NJ Transit, a state agency created to take over commuter rail operations from Conrail in 1983. NJT also operates bus and light rail transit throughout the state.

The first commuter line is the North Jersey Coast Line (formerly the New York & Long Branch railroad, a joint CNJ/PRR operation). This line runs from South Amboy north to WC in Perth Amboy across the Raritan Bay drawbridge. At South Amboy is a small engine facility for engine changes. On the prototype, power was changed here from electric to diesel for the run south to Bay Head. In the late eighties, catenary was extended to Long Branch and the engine changes came to an end, and the facilities were razed. As the line on my model railroad terminates at South Amboy, rather than change power for every trip as was prototype practice, we simply change power for anything that is not a push-pull consist, or change power as instructed by the dispatcher.

Traveling north we'll cross Raritan draw and pass WC tower. Here the line becomes single track for its run to the Corridor. Two hidden stations are represented at Perth Amboy and Woodbridge, and then the line enters Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. After a short run up the Corridor, trains terminate at Newark Penn Station. In real life, passengers would transfer to trains across the platform for the final run under the Hudson River and into New York's Penn Station.

The second NJT route is the Raritan Line. Beginning just west of Penn Station this single track line runs west paralleling the Conrail Lehigh Line for a good portion. Two stations are located along this line, Plainfield and Raritan. At Plainfield there is a small controlled siding and the tracks cross the Lehigh Line. From there it's on to Raritan where there is the station and a small yard for NJT equipment layover. Also along the Raritan Line is a spur for equipment to move on and off the railroad to NJT's massive Meadowlands Maintenance Complex (MMC).

Conclusion
In our next installment, we'll start looking at how all these different railroads and divisions operate using NORAC, wayside signals, radio, timetables, and most importantly of all-people.

About the Author
Matt Snell, 35, born and raised in northern New Jersey, the basis for his HO scale Conrail New Jersey Division, is a dockworker currently residing in Milford, Ohio. Matt has been a model railroader and a railfan since age 12 and is currently married, "with goldfish and trains."