Passing sidings on the Montclair-Booton Line Locations

[Suburbanite]

H02 goes that far East only once a week though, right?

Sometimes twice a week, sometimes once. Tuesdays and Thursdays are historically the more likely days for them to go up there. These days, they only go as far as Mountain View to gain access to the Pompton and Totowa Industrial Tracks.

I often hear mid-day trains on the Mountain Lakes stretch and wonder what they are? I can't see them clearly through the trees two blocks away, so I don't know if they are freight, maintenance of ROW, or shifting of commuter trains to avoid tie-ups on the M&E or to re-position them for service east of the Great Notch yards. Also, a few weeks ago, driving on I-287, I saw an engine (hood type, and neither very old nor brand new, probably GM, but I'm not sure) in McGuinness New Haven black and orange, hauling a short string of freight cars (I zipped underneath too fast to remember exactly what, but I think they were contemporary commodity-shipment bulk carriers) headed westbound on the overpass in or near Montville. My first thought was that it was headed to the rail fans' repair yard in Boonton, but the train it was hauling was a bit long (four - six cars?) and they were too modern for that to make sense. This probably would have been on a Saturday, towards dusk; I wish I'd recorded the date. Anybody know of antique-painted engines being used to haul real revenue cars? Or was I hallucinating? (Something I've never done before).

[CentralValleyRail]

Train 1025 would have been at Lincoln Park at 12:47PM and train 1029 was 2:47PM at Lincoln Park.

Sounds like they replaced 1029 with 1001. 2:46 MSU departure. You have to wonder if some kind of electrification and double tracking project would create a "if you build it, they will come" scenario. Then you also theoretically open the door for something like a 6800 series train out of Penn Station, run it like the Port Jervis expresses, right to Dover, mode change there, then local stops to Hackettstown. Would somethin like that be feasible?

As much as those of us who live in Wayne would love something like that to save time there isn't enough ridership to warrant it unless the Andover Connection opens and then some.

You would need to run something like NYP-BRD-MSU-Rt.23-Dover-Howard Blvd, Hopatcong and Andover. Would definitely shave some time. The odds of that happening is something along the lines of having the Acela Express run NYP-MIA.

Until then Wayne Residents have three options that stay in place:

1. Ride the Bus that takes 90 minutes more times than not.
2. Ride the NJT Train thru Montclair slower than I can walk. And for those defenders (the two express trains that skip 6 stops more often than not find ways to lose time in the Newark area)
3. Take the Benz to work because NJT is unreliable and after driving past 3 or 4 accidents still beat the train or bus.

I happen to use another option sometimes, driving to Radburn. 16 minutes Radburn to Secaucus is quicker than it takes a Montclair train to go Bay Street to MSU. And they wonder why no one rides WORMS.

[nick11a]

H02 goes that far East only once a week though, right?

Sometimes twice a week, sometimes once. Tuesdays and Thursdays are historically the more likely days for them to go up there. These days, they only go as far as Mountain View to gain access to the Pompton and Totowa Industrial Tracks.

I often hear mid-day trains on the Mountain Lakes stretch and wonder what they are? I can't see them clearly through the trees two blocks away, so I don't know if they are freight, maintenance of ROW, or shifting of commuter trains to avoid tie-ups on the M&E or to re-position them for service east of the Great Notch yards. Also, a few weeks ago, driving on I-287, I saw an engine (hood type, and neither very old nor brand new, probably GM, but I'm not sure) in McGuinness New Haven black and orange, hauling a short string of freight cars (I zipped underneath too fast to remember exactly what, but I think they were contemporary commodity-shipment bulk carriers) headed westbound on the overpass in or near Montville. My first thought was that it was headed to the rail fans' repair yard in Boonton, but the train it was hauling was a bit long (four - six cars?) and they were too modern for that to make sense. This probably would have been on a Saturday, towards dusk; I wish I'd recorded the date. Anybody know of antique-painted engines being used to haul real revenue cars? Or was I hallucinating? (Something I've never done before).

Pretty cool sighting. I have no idea what that engine or train was or why it was on there. Anybody know?

[R36 Combine Coach]

NS does not have a New Haven heritage unit (although ConnDOT does).

[CentralValleyRail]

Due to the fatality today on the M&E in South Orange they ran a Non Rev Eastbound thru Wayne around 5:40pm about 15 minutes after a Westbound came through. Guessing it met up with 1079 at the Lincoln Park siding. 1055 appeared to be ontime so the timing was just right. Never seen this done but I'm guessing it wasn't the first time...