River Subdivision Yesterday... (8/20/06)

I was up in the area on personal business, but had a few free hours in between. So, I decided to head over to the CSXT River Subdivision and get some logging time over there.

Bergenfield, NJ - QR10.92
South - Q16419 - CSXT657/CSXT664 - 19:19
South - Q25418 - CSXT5388/CSXT5383 - 19:37
South - Q43320 - CSXT5299/UP2736/GECX2876 - 19:53
South - K27720 - CSXT5296/CSXT7687 - 20:09
North - Q40220 - CSXT5394/CSXT595/CSXT6249 - 20:19
North - Q41820 - CSXT8721/BNSF4306 - 20:34

At that point I had to get moving to be somewhere. Not bad in all. K27720 had a new NJTransit Comet VI (NJTR7502) on the hind end. As expected it was traveling under BBRX builder marks. Oh well. Back to work...

Wanderer wrote: South - K27720 - CSXT5296/CSXT7687 - 20:09

At that point I had to get moving to be somewhere. Not bad in all. K27720 had a new NJTransit Comet VI (NJTR7502) on the hind end. As expected it was traveling under BBRX builder marks. Oh well. Back to work...

Funny that K277 gets recrewed in North Bergen so it doesnt usually stop in South Karney. Good thing i wasnt there or that Coach would end up down South somewhere.

wolfboy8171981 wrote:Funny that K277 gets recrewed in North Bergen so it doesnt usually stop in South Karney. Good thing i wasnt there or that Coach would end up down South somewhere.

I guess it did. The next morning it was still the hind car on K277 in Philadelphia. That's going to be an interesting trip back. Not sure if it got set-off in Philly or kept going further South.

Wanderer wrote:

wolfboy8171981 wrote:Funny that K277 gets recrewed in North Bergen so it doesnt usually stop in South Karney. Good thing i wasnt there or that Coach would end up down South somewhere.

I guess it did. The next morning it was still the hind car on K277 in Philadelphia. That's going to be an interesting trip back. Not sure if it got set-off in Philly or kept going further South.

Thats going to be one smelly coach. Hopefully someone is smart enough to bring it back up on Q438 or Q410

This afternoon (Sat, Nov 24) at Ridgefield Park, NJ - QR6.59...

16:29 - North - Main 1
CSXT Q41824
CSXT712 [ES44AC]
CSXT722 [ES44AC]
Mainfest - Pavonia, NJ to Selkirk, NY

16:53 - South - Main 1
CSXT Q40924
CSXT5442 [ES44DC]
CEFX3122 [SD40-2]
GCFX3079 [SD40-2]
Manifest - Selkirk, NY to Waycross, GA

16:56 - South - Main 2
CSXT Q43324
CSXT5401 [ES44DC]
CSXT8813 [SD40-2]
CSXT2732 [GP38-2]
CSXT2798 [GP38-2]
Manifest - Selkirk, NY to Oak Island, NJ

17:07 - South - Main 2
CSXT Q11823
CSXT225 [CW44AC]
CSXT289 [CW44AC]
Intermodal - Chicago TOFC, IL to South Kearny, NJ

17:21 - South - Main 1
CSXT Q11221
CSXT5343 [ES44DC]
CSXT8601 [SD50]
Intermodal - Chicago TOFC, IL to Port Newark, NJ

18:29 - South - Main 1
CSXT C91224
CSXT5563 [B30-7]
CSXT6239 [GP38-2S]
Extra Local - Kingston, NY to North Bergen, NJ

19:30 - South - Main 1
CSXT Q43924
CSXT5001 [CW60AC]
CSXT4768 [SD70AC]
Manifest - Selkirk, NY to Hamlet, NC

19:59 - North - Main 2
CSXT L16124
CSXT5377 [ES44DC]
CSXT5312 [ES44DC]
Intermodal - South Kearny, NJ to Chicago 59th, IL

Peace...

OK.. Time to add a couple of notes here. The K277 is now the Q703 these days(The K276 is now the 702). Second, that NJT bilevel on the rear of the train is listed in the wheel report and consist, and apparently the relieving crew either forgot about it, or simply didnt check the inbound paperwork, or the wheel report they generated for themselves at sign up. But when those bilevels are on the train(and they have been moved to NJT from Selkirk for the most part on the Q703 on a fairly regular basis), its listed as a special handling car and as an excessive dimension car, thus generating its own documentation within the train consist report/tonnage graph, etc. What I find most interesting is that this car acually moved under wire south of West Trenton and didnt arc the catenary. Imagine the fun from THAT!!!(and the questions posed to the crew)
The C912 power, the 5563nd 6239 tuirned that night as supplemental power for Q10925. The original power(CSXT 8707 and 7763) had issues(namely the guage lights on the lead unit, 8707 not working at all), and the 109 went north Saturday night with: CSXT 6239, CSXT 5563, CSXT 8707 and CSXT 7763, and a whopping THREE cars(Two Syracuse, and one Chicago)!!! So much for peak season. The power was cut of in Selkirk, new power added with the new crew, and the Q10925 was abolished at Syracuse and its one Chicago car added to a different train.
The 5563 and 6239 were returning south as trailing units on Q41715, but it wasnt known if these two units would be returned to North bergen or go to Pavonia with the train. the 8707 and 7763 went west from Selkirk on Q27925. Just another day at the funny farm.....

rcbsd45 wrote:Second, that NJT bilevel on the rear of the train is listed in the wheel report and consist, and apparently the relieving crew either forgot about it, or simply didnt check the inbound paperwork, or the wheel report they generated for themselves at sign up. But when those bilevels are on the train(and they have been moved to NJT from Selkirk for the most part on the Q703 on a fairly regular basis), its listed as a special handling car and as an excessive dimension car, thus generating its own documentation within the train consist report/tonnage graph, etc.

This is prolly asked in another forum, but I'm too lazy to look, where those bilevs come from again, Vermont?

rcbsd45 wrote:The C912 power, the 5563nd 6239 tuirned that night as supplemental power for Q10925. The original power(CSXT 8707 and 7763) had issues(namely the guage lights on the lead unit, 8707 not working at all)

Get a flashlight, you're delaying a UPS train, no wonder why it was only three cars!

The bilevel movement on K27720 [Aug 20 2006] continued West intentionally we found out later on. Being it was more than a year ago, I forget the reason, and it isn't listed in my notes. I remember it had something to do with the physical condition of the car however.

rcbsd45 wrote:The 5563 and 6239 were returning south as trailing units on Q41715, but it wasnt known if these two units would be returned to North bergen or go to Pavonia with the train.

Looks like both are going continue to Pavonia on Q41725.

njt5140 wrote:This is prolly asked in another forum, but I'm too lazy to look, where those bilevs come from again, Vermont?

Plattsburgh, New York.

Anyway...the River was mostly dead today. Typical Sunday, with a few fun factors thrown in to make traffic worse. As I was headed up, I heard the morning consisting of nothing else but Q11024, K68325, and X40925. Here's what DTB and I did catch moving...

Ridgefield Park, NJ - QR6.59
25-Nov-2007
---------------------------------
18:21 - South - Main 2
CSXT Q15624
CSXT5347 [ES44DC]
CSXT5115 [CW44AC]
Intermodal - Chicago-59, IL to South Kearny, NJ

19:33 - South - Main 1
CSXT Q25424
CSXT8336 [SD40-2]
CSXT8827 [SD40-2]
Automotive - Cleveland, OH to Doremus Avenue, NJ

21:10 - North - Main 2
CSXT Q16125
CSXT7852 [CW40-8]
CSXT5237 [ES44DC]
Intermodal - South Kearny, NJ to Chicago-59, IL

21:22 - North - Main 1
CSXT X27325
CSXT8435 [SD40-2]
CSXT664 [CW60AC]
CSXT5415 [ES44DC]
Automotive - North Bergen, NJ to Selkirk, NY

I hung around for a bit longer, but with all parties being tired, we called it quits at 22:06. As I was heading home, I heard Q11223 finally moving at 22:34, after sitting at the CC Boards since before sunrise, and X40925 was just making his move on the main. All in all the day could have been worse.

Plenty more to reports from CSX in the weeks to come...

njt5140 wrote:

rcbsd45 wrote:Second, that NJT bilevel on the rear of the train is listed in the wheel report and consist, and apparently the relieving crew either forgot about it, or simply didnt check the inbound paperwork, or the wheel report they generated for themselves at sign up. But when those bilevels are on the train(and they have been moved to NJT from Selkirk for the most part on the Q703 on a fairly regular basis), its listed as a special handling car and as an excessive dimension car, thus generating its own documentation within the train consist report/tonnage graph, etc.

This is prolly asked in another forum, but I'm too lazy to look, where those bilevs come from again, Vermont?

rcbsd45 wrote:The C912 power, the 5563nd 6239 tuirned that night as supplemental power for Q10925. The original power(CSXT 8707 and 7763) had issues(namely the guage lights on the lead unit, 8707 not working at all)

Get a flashlight, you're delaying a UPS train, no wonder why it was only three cars!

Methinks the lack of UPS traffic has more to do with CSX's lack of ability to keep their trains on the tracks and not using NORAC rule 135. (Cant risk having those unqualified contractors getting hit by a train due to their own stupidity doncha know.) Its such things like shutting down rail lines from sunup to sundown for months at a time and wrecks every other month that delay trains far more than an engineer swapping out defective locomotives. BTW love the new avatar and signature!! Hilarious!!

rcbsd45 wrote:What I find most interesting is that this car actually moved under wire south of West Trenton and didn't arc the catenary. Imagine the fun from THAT!!!(and the questions posed to the crew)

They were just doing NJT a favor and checking the clearances for the (maybe someday) West Trenton service...

Wanderer wrote:...new NJTransit Comet VI...

For clarification, the new 7XXX series cars are officially designated Multi-Levels (not bi-levels at the insistence of Bombradier as they claim the cars have 3 levels because the door area is the height of a normal car). There are no Comet series cars higher than the Comet V.

Sirsonic wrote:

Wanderer wrote:...new NJTransit Comet VI...

For clarification, the new 7XXX series cars are officially designated Multi-Levels (not bi-levels at the insistence of Bombradier as they claim the cars have 3 levels because the door area is the height of a normal car). There are no Comet series cars higher than the Comet V.

Multi-Level?? I thought that was a Conrail trademark like Trailvan! Of course we all know why Trainset and Bombardier dont want to use the term Bi-Level!! Heh Heh Heh.

n01jd1 wrote:Methinks the lack of UPS traffic has more to do with CSX's lack of ability to keep their trains on the tracks and not using NORAC rule 135. (Cant risk having those unqualified contractors getting hit by a train due to their own stupidity doncha know.) Its such things like shutting down rail lines from sunup to sundown for months at a time and wrecks every other month that delay trains far more than an engineer swapping out defective locomotives.

I'm not sure about CSX, but UPS is just starting on peak shipping right now anyway. November is what UPS refers to as "the rut". This is the period when everyone is traveling, and therefore is either not sending holiday shipments, or are bringing them with them when they travel for Thanksgiving.

UPS on their calendar has two peak periods. May 30 to November 1, the "primary retail peak", and November 23 to January 1, the "holday peak". With it just being the first working day after Black Friday, all the traffic should be finally filtering through the annexes and should be on their way to a intermodal facility near you! I know the Somerville S&RC was mobbed with outbounds for the railroad this morning.

As for CSX performance..."CSX: Delivering tomorrow...yeah, because they wrecked it today."

rcbsd45 wrote: What I find most interesting is that this car acually moved under wire south of West Trenton and didnt arc the catenary. Imagine the fun from THAT!!!(and the questions posed to the crew)

NJT Multilevel height is 14'6" (lower than a piggyback trailer on flat car).

Double stack freights (Q190/Q191) operate under wire between West Trenton and CP Wood. When loaded these cars are around 20' above top of rail.

Wanderer wrote:

n01jd1 wrote:Methinks the lack of UPS traffic has more to do with CSX's lack of ability to keep their trains on the tracks and not using NORAC rule 135. (Cant risk having those unqualified contractors getting hit by a train due to their own stupidity doncha know.) Its such things like shutting down rail lines from sunup to sundown for months at a time and wrecks every other month that delay trains far more than an engineer swapping out defective locomotives.

I'm not sure about CSX, but UPS is just starting on peak shipping right now anyway. November is what UPS refers to as "the rut". This is the period when everyone is traveling, and therefore is either not sending holiday shipments, or are bringing them with them when they travel for Thanksgiving.

UPS on their calendar has two peak periods. May 30 to November 1, the "primary retail peak", and November 23 to January 1, the "holday peak". With it just being the first working day after Black Friday, all the traffic should be finally filtering through the annexes and should be on their way to a intermodal facility near you! I know the Somerville S&RC was mobbed with outbounds for the railroad this morning.

As for CSX performance..."CSX: Delivering tomorrow...yeah, because they wrecked it today."

The lack of westbound UPS traffic out of New Jersey over Thanksgiving weekend is because the Twilight sorts (the shifts which build most of the outgoing loads) have been shut down since Wednesday night. Inbound loads on trains such as the 110 and 108 haven't dropped off as much because they were already created before the holiday weekend and were on the road already. Traffic will definitely be picking back up tonight.