Visiting the Northeast Corridor in New Jersey

I'm hoping to visit the Northeast Corridor in New Jersey while I'm home in New York over Christmas/New Year's, etc. I've always thought Princeton Junction would be the place to go to spend a few hours, but I'm concerned about parking, and

The question is:

Where can I go in New Jersey to see the highest volume/highest speed trains, where parking won't be too much of a problem? Can the locals suggest some excellent places to catch the high-speed parade?

I'm hoping to be trackside for the morning rush during one of the weekdays just after Christmas, hoping for some MARC extras up from Maryland.

Thank you very much

depending on what time you arrive, you may be able to find spots at Princeton Junction. The other option would be to park in downtown Princeton, and take the Dinky to Princeton Junction, it's only a few bucks and they run pretty often in the morning. It's a great place to spend a few hours taking pictures in my experience.

If you want to see the fastest trains on the NEC, then Princeton Junction is your best bet. The station is surrounded by parking lots and not much else. From what I've head, daily parking is extremely difficult, as this local State Assemblyman found out.

If you're looking for train frequency, spots between Rahway and NY Penn Station see more NJT trains because the North Jersey Coast Line meets up with the NEC a few hundred yards south of the Rahway platform.

For this stretch, the Elizabeth station can get you some decent photos as the trains slow down to navigate the nearby curve and you can visit the restored CNJ terminal, which is decorated for Christmas.

Rahway has some daily parking in the adjacent parking garage and just to the west of the station on West Milton Ave. & Broad St. You have 6 tracks of action in front of you if you stand on the station platform and there are some decent places to eat a block or two east of the station.

I've always enjoyed seeing trains enter and exit Newark Penn Station, which was beautifully restored to its 1935 appearance in the 1990s.

If you plan on shooting trains from the station platform, make sure you get the OK from NJT first.

No, no photos for this trip. Just a few hours of fast trains and hopefully, no parking woes!

If anything, a little-used station that sees mostly thru traffic would be ideal. Could possibly get away with parking at somewhere like that too.

Hudson Terminus wrote:No, no photos for this trip. Just a few hours of fast trains and hopefully, no parking woes!

If anything, a little-used station that sees mostly thru traffic would be ideal. Could possibly get away with parking at somewhere like that too.

North Elizabeth, a NJT stop on the Northeast Corridor Line, only sees about a dozen trains a day out of hundreds stop there. You may want to spend some time there. I don't know about parking, although I do notice an adjacent parking lot as my train speeds by.

The daily parking lots at Princeton Junction may not fill up as quickly as normal during Christmas week. During regular weekdays, daily parking is full by 6:15 AM.
However, a part of the lot is designated for registered carpool vehicles until 10 AM, then daily parking is allowed. If you arrive shortly after 10 you should have no difficulty finding a spot.

Jersey Jeff wrote:If you want to see the fastestIf you plan on shooting trains from the station platform, make sure you get the OK from NJT first.

You wouldn't need to. NJT has rescinded their photo policy. Just act casual, don't be in the way of passengers, crews (or trains obviously), be freindly and you should be fine.

If you like watching trains from your car, you might as well try parking on Livingston Ave, next to the tracks about a mile west of the Jersey Ave station

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&c ... &encType=1

As I recall there are no-parking signs, but there's lots of room and I suspect you could stay there for an hour or two without anybody objecting. The track is right next to the road and it's not fenced.

Hit the submit button 3 times thanks to my slow internet.

Princeton Jct is the best one to go to IF you really want to watch Acelas going 125+ and not go to Rhode Island. You could do what I do with my kids. I get some sandwatches at the WAWA (which is about 100ft from the Princeton campus station,) hop on the "dinky" (the sandwitch will set you back more than the ride.) and watch Trains on the NEC. It's that simple.
(Just a bit of cautionary advice...even though the enterance to the wooden Low-Levels aren't blocked of, or have NO ENTRY signs on it, you still get "talked to" if you go down there.)

Princeton Jct would be the place to watch fast trains. I used to just park a little way from the station and walk a bit.

Then again, I also have been known to just sit next to the tracks in the Plainsboro area which averts the parking nonsense in Princeton Jct.

Drive to NJT's Jersey Avenue station in New Brunswick and walk over to the Jersey ave westbound main platform. IIRC it is still low level if you want to really get up close and personal to high speed traffic.

Jersey Avenue sounds like a possibility. Is that still 135 territory for Acela? If not, what is the max speed thru that area?

Also,

This may be a bit naive, but is JA a SAFE place to spend a few hours? I would imagine that PJ is, but I'm so unfamiliar with New Jersey, that I'm not sure which areas are (or are not) places to be.

Jersey Ave. is fairly safe. It is on the edge of New Brunswick, a city of 40,000 and Rutgers University in central NJ. If you go during the week, the parking lot will be full, but the station will be pretty desolete for the most part (except rush hour). On the weekends, the parking lot will be mostly empty, and the station empty. It's patroled reguarly.

We were thinking of trying to be on site, wherever that is, by 7:30am.

Would Jersey Ave. be a good place to catch any freight at the station? RP.net had pictures of NS power there?

Also,

Is anyone aware of extra equipment being used by Amtrak during that holiday period?

Thanks again