Questions on NS 5287/H-02/M&E @ Dover

Can someone please help with a few answers?:

1) Was the M&E 20 on lease to NS the recent day it was teamed with NS 5287? Can I assume this was with a NS crew?

2) The caboose mentioned - what was it: NS, shared asset, M&E? And, why do they use one in your area?

3)Often wondered why NS just doesn't use the M&E as a "switching carrier" arrangement to do their Dover area business. Seems that the shortline would give better service.

4)Why does it take 2 trains to get cars from Allentown to Lake Jct? Couldn't NS H-65 do the Lake Jct. interchange?

All this is from a retired freight traffic guy now living in Vermont.

Thank you.

jmchitvt wrote:Can someone please help with a few answers?:

1) Was the M&E 20 on lease to NS the recent day it was teamed with NS 5287? Can I assume this was with a NS crew?

2) The caboose mentioned - what was it: NS, shared asset, M&E? And, why do they use one in your area?

3)Often wondered why NS just doesn't use the M&E as a "switching carrier" arrangement to do their Dover area business. Seems that the shortline would give better service.

4)Why does it take 2 trains to get cars from Allentown to Lake Jct? Couldn't NS H-65 do the Lake Jct. interchange?

All this is from a retired freight traffic guy now living in Vermont.

Thank you.

1) As to this question, I just don't know. It was an odd sighting. However, the Dover freight crews and the Morristown and Erie crews sometimes work in tandem. MnE sometimes stores the Dover crews stuff at their place and they refuel them too sometimes. And yes, I do believe that was an NS crew. They might have had a MnE guy with them though but I'm guessing not.

2) The caboose is a red Conrail Caboose. A rather nice one at that. It was at the Morristown and Erie shops a few weeks back but it is now currently in Dover Yard. I believe the caboose itself belongs to NS but it might be Shared Assets as well. Someone else will have to help you with this.

3) Well, NS has their customers and MnE has their own customers. The freight crew out of Dover does their own drilling on all of their jobs and they bring the cars in and out themselves. Same with MnE. Seems to work well as it is.

4) Well, it is a long enough trip to Washington for the crews out of Dover.
The relay system just seems to be the best way.

And btw, according to Scott, the H02 ran west again out of Dover on Friday to Washington this time with only MnE 20. Very interesting indeed.

Nick, thank you very much for your excellent replies to all my questions.

Should you have any questions about Vermont Rail I'll try to help.

Joseph , from the Green Mountain foothills...

jmchitvt wrote:Nick, thank you very much for your excellent replies to all my questions.

Should you have any questions about Vermont Rail I'll try to help.

Joseph , from the Green Mountain foothills...

No problem. I just wish I could give you a little more detailed info but that is all I know at the present.

It is intresting to point out that during the DL&W and later the EL days, the local that handled all the washington to phillipsburg traffic only worked the phillipsburg to port morris area. There has always been a dover drill that has handled everything from Dover to Port Morris.

DL&W tended to have several roustabouts on the M&E and Boonton lines. At various times, these jobs included Dover, Morristown, Madison, Chatham, Montclair, etc.

It's very sad to ride the train today and see, literally, dozens of former shippers or their ghosts. Oranges, Montclair line and the section around Delawanna especially. Tens of thousands of jobs in those mills

Just after the merger, trains #71 and #66, the "P'burger , were replaced by symbol freights HP-1 and PH-2. These ran Hoboken to Phillipsburg daytime rather than evening, but did go east about #66 times. The mine at Oxford had closed so this job did all the local work with road power, GP-7's at first and later with F and FA/B mixes and often with an Erie bay window hack.

I was traffic manager at Wyandotte, then BASF, Washington and we got great service 7 days a week and often both directions. I remember putting out an order for a Sunday "switch" and got a jump on a busy Monday ahead of us at the, then, new Washington industry.

Then with that daytime turn coming down from Scranton to Washington we got our cars direct instead of the unpredictable BH-12, 2/HB-9 or yarding at Port Morris off the Cut-Off freights.

In know I'm rambling on Old Road memories but can't help it up here in the cooler (than NJ) foothills of the Green Mountains!

jmchitvt wrote: 1) Was the M&E 20 on lease to NS the recent day it was teamed with NS 5287? Can I assume this was with a NS crew?

NS has on occasion borrowed M&E locomotives for the Dover job. They even used the FL-9's a couple of times.