SD45s on the Morristown Line?

Maybe not in revenue freight service, but did the SD45s ever make an appearance on the M&E? Work train service perhaps or did the GP9's get that work.

sullivan1985 wrote:Maybe not in revenue freight service, but did the SD45s ever make an appearance on the M&E? Work train service perhaps or did the GP9's get that work.

Yes, but i'm pretty sure it was rare. Once in a blue moon the CS-9(Croxton to Scranton train) would traverse the Morristown line in the mid 1970's. There is a picture of said train goign west through East Orange on page 40 of the Morning Sun book, "Erie Lackawanna Trackside with the McCarthy's." I have another softcover EL book that shows a rare shot of SD45 and F unit powering a stone train at Stirling. I guess the catenary clearance wasn't as low back in the day??

And yes, the GP7-9's did most local work in the late 60's, through the 1970's.

Here's proof they did run over the M&E: a photo I took in 1973.

LI -

Terrific shot !

Obviously somewhere between Denville and Dover but I'm curious as to how common it was for a freight to be going West on the Eastbound main....trackwork that day perhaps ?

If ya have more E-L photos, please post'em !

They were doing wire work that day, so only one track was in service. I have other Erie Lackawanna shots on Railpictures.net, but none of the high wire car.

LI -

They were doing wire work that day, so only one track was in service. I have other Erie Lackawanna shots on Railpictures.net, but none of the high wire car

I'll look for them....thanks.

BTW, circa 1973 those 45's and train probably came West on the ex-ERIE Greenwood Lake Branch ( nee-NJT Boonton Line for the youngsters ) thru Montclair, Great Notch and at Mountain View swung over to the ex-LACKAWANNA Boonton Line. I used to catch them, as well as burly U33's, growling mightily up-grade thru Montclair back then.

I think poster sullivan was looking for pics of SD45's running thru freights on the Morristown line between say Newark-Broad and Denville.

You're right, Tom. In all likelihood, the train I photographed was either CS-9 or CB-9, which ran over the Boonton line. It occurred to me after I posted the shot that Sullivan might have been more interested in photographs taken on the M&E between Denville and Hoboken.

As you probably know, in the early 1970s, most E-L through freights ran between Croxton and Binghamton via Port Jervis and the Delaware Division to avoid the heavy grades in and out of Scranton over the former Lackawanna mainline, even though the latter was much shorter. The Boonton line was the preferred route for freight traffic east of Denville on the ex-DL&W, not only because it had a gentler profile than the M&E, but also because it had fewer commuter trains. So, in all likelihood, a heavy freight movement over the M&E, hauled by SD-45s or other big units, would not have occurred unless a train had to be rerouted because of a derailment, construction or other service disruption.

LI -

So, in all likelihood, a heavy freight movement over the M&E, hauled by SD-45s or other big units, would not have occurred unless a train had to be rerouted because of a derailment, construction or other service disruption.

I don't have the book poster 4180 referenced that caught the 45's hauling a long freight thru the Oranges on the Morristown line. Given the steep grade Westbound between Millburn and Summit, I would guess those bruts were screeming like crazy to hold speed and avoid a stall that day !

I do have the book with a b/w pic of a 45 with an F7 on the stone train at the quarry on the Gladstone branch. Obviously the E-L grabbed the nearest free power for such back then....