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  • Harlem Freight

  • Discussion relating to the NYC and subsidiaries, up to 1968. Visit the NYCS Historical Society for more information.
Discussion relating to the NYC and subsidiaries, up to 1968. Visit the NYCS Historical Society for more information.

Moderator: Otto Vondrak

 #819361  by Tom Curtin
 
What was the schedule in the 60s of Harlem Division freight JNDO and its other direction (which I presume was symboled DOJN? The book Gone but Not Forgotten shows photos of it making up to depart Put Junction yard at 4 PM on a Sunday; however I assume this was not the weekday schedule since that timing would have it threading through New trackage in the rush hour!!
 #819427  by shlustig
 
IIRC, both sides of the job were late evening start times. Crews worked JNDO (Put. Jct. / W. 72nd St.) one-way and returned on the next evening's DOJN.

However, depending on traffic, it was not unusual for the Sunday JNDO to be made up and ready to go in the late afternoon. Crew would report early and make the trip early in order to DH back home from GCT.
 #819454  by Tom Curtin
 
You sort of imply it was an every-other-day job. Did I read that right? Or were there two crews that alternated days?
 #819903  by Noel Weaver
 
Attention SHL, Is this the job that was nicknamed "The Dog"? I remember years ago the night operator at MO calling a
freight job on the Harlem by this name.
Noel Weaver
 #820016  by Jeff Smith
 
Curious; what would the initials stand for? And I'm guessing this came down to MO and ran back up past SD to cross the river at that point to head down to the old Riverside yard. That would mean the wye above SD was still in place as late as the 60's? When did it come out? What would this freight have carried?
 #820087  by shlustig
 
Hi Noel,

Yup, that was the "DOG".

JN= Putnam Jct.

DO = Dock (W. 72nd St. Yard)

DV = Spuyten Duyvil

AFAIK, the train handled all Harlem Div. freight out of DO. Cars for MO to NWP (Claremont Park, Fordham yard, S. Woodlawn, Mt. Vernon) were set off at either Mt. Vernon or NWP for the White Plains Switcher to handle.
 #820187  by Noel Weaver
 
This reminds me of my days on the New Haven Extra List at Oak Point. We had a job out of Selkirk to Cedar Hill via MO
and for the first few trips it ran through the Port Morris Connection to Oak Point where it changed crews to continue on to
Cedar Hill. After the first few trips, the railroad got wise and decided to run it right up the Harlem to Woodlawn and on to
the New Haven at Woodlawn, this was a very smart move, it saved hours and got rid of the crime infested Port Morris and
Oak Point areas as well.
I covered it a few times and it felt really strange running a tonnage freight train up the Harlem from MO and on to the New
Haven at Woodlawn after for many years of nothing but passenger trains on this trackage. I didn't mind the Harlem part of
the trip but I was uneasy about the low wires and low bridges on the New Haven section through Mount Vernont. Today
Metro-North has put third rail through that area in Mount Vernon but in the 70's we still had lots of wire problems in that
area for one reason or another. There was a lot of electricity not too much above the engines and the train.
Noel Weaver
 #820414  by shlustig
 
Noel,

IIRC, that was CH-3 and CH-4 before they were re-routed. One of the problems with the route was the then very low clearances (15' 6"?) on the Hudson and Harlem as well as on the Pt. Morris Branch in the St. Mary's Tunnel.

At one point, the 127-lb rail in the tunnel was replaced by some welded 105-lb rail in order to gain an extra 1/2" clearance.