The Raritan Valley Line Thread…

[ACeInTheHole]

3235 just went by with an ALP45. I'm surprised. I thought they'd all be on the Raritan Valley starting today.

They only need 5 for the current schedule, unless they establish a protect in Raritan. They will not establish a protect in NYP. I'm getting into the pool to see how long it takes for someone to manipulate the consist incorrectly and attempts to send an ALP-46 to Raritan by mistake. Tehre's also a pool to see how long it takes the crew to catch on!

Thatd be hilarious if the crew somehow doesnt realize it until it shoots out past the end of the overhead wire. Many heads would roll for that one.

[Patrick Boylan]

3235 just went by with an ALP45. I'm surprised. I thought they'd all be on the Raritan Valley starting today.

They only need 5 for the current schedule, unless they establish a protect in Raritan. They will not establish a protect in NYP. I'm getting into the pool to see how long it takes for someone to manipulate the consist incorrectly and attempts to send an ALP-46 to Raritan by mistake. Tehre's also a pool to see how long it takes the crew to catch on!

Thatd be hilarious if the crew somehow doesnt realize it until it shoots out past the end of the overhead wire. Many heads would roll for that one.

sounds likely to me

[Patrick Boylan]

3235 just went by with an ALP45. I'm surprised. I thought they'd all be on the Raritan Valley starting today.

They only need 5 for the current schedule, unless they establish a protect in Raritan. They will not establish a protect in NYP. I'm getting into the pool to see how long it takes for someone to manipulate the consist incorrectly and attempts to send an ALP-46 to Raritan by mistake. Tehre's also a pool to see how long it takes the crew to catch on!

Thatd be hilarious if the crew somehow doesnt realize it until it shoots out past the end of the overhead wire. Many heads would roll for that one.

sounds likely to me

A Metro-North crew told me sometimes they mistakenly send regular 3rd rail trains onto New Haven runs and need to get rescued. Were they pulling my leg?

[Tommy Meehan]

Finally happened. Quite a momentous occasion, especially for those of us who remember the ferry at Jersey City, the 'PATH to Plainfield' plan and the talk of electrifying the old Jersey Central.

Train 5126 was first.

It arrived 15 years late, but just in time for train passengers in Hunterdon, Somerset, Middlesex and Union counties. The historic first “one-seat ride” to New York, a dream of Raritan Valley Line passengers since at least 1999, left Raritan Station at 8:43 a.m. today. It was the first direct ride to the city without requiring the usual transfer at Newark Penn Station for Raritan Valley Line riders.

Before arriving at New York Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan at 10:15 a.m., the locomotive carrying seven double-decker cars made stops in Somerville, Bridgewater, Bound Brook, Dunellen, Plainfield, Netherwood, Fanwood, Westfield, Garwood, Cranford, Roselle Park, Union Station, Newark Penn Station and Secaucus Junction. Along the way, people on the platforms recorded the moment with their cameras and smartphones. News link with photos

[Ken W2KB]

Finally happened. Quite a momentous occasion, especially for those of us who remember the ferry at Jersey City, the 'PATH to Plainfield' plan and the talk of electrifying the old Jersey Central.

Train 5126 was first.

It arrived 15 years late, but just in time for train passengers in Hunterdon, Somerset, Middlesex and Union counties. The historic first “one-seat ride” to New York, a dream of Raritan Valley Line passengers since at least 1999, left Raritan Station at 8:43 a.m. today. It was the first direct ride to the city without requiring the usual transfer at Newark Penn Station for Raritan Valley Line riders.

Before arriving at New York Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan at 10:15 a.m., the locomotive carrying seven double-decker cars made stops in Somerville, Bridgewater, Bound Brook, Dunellen, Plainfield, Netherwood, Fanwood, Westfield, Garwood, Cranford, Roselle Park, Union Station, Newark Penn Station and Secaucus Junction. Along the way, people on the platforms recorded the moment with their cameras and smartphones. News link with photos

I rode the very last CNJ ferry and thence train to Bayonne West 8th in 1967, remember well the NYPA (its name then) proposal to extend PATH to Plainfield with the choice of Plainfield said to have been determined as "very few passengers west of Plainfield" (but if one looked at the Port Authority's statutory jurisdiction it was a 25 mile radius surrounding Columbus Circle, NY which meant Plainfield was as far west as it could go as a PANY project, thus the real reason for the choice), and NJT's proposed electrification some 12 or so years ago having seen then the PSE&G transmission availability study done for a proposed NJT substation at Bound Brook; there was sufficient capacity (the CNJ electrification proposal was around 1930 and the round roof coaches it ordered were specified to be compatible for electric overhead service so I've read.)

I did not see today's train, but sooner or later I will likely ride it. Definitely a positive development.

[Tommy Meehan]

The plan to extend PATH to Plainfield was mostly an NJDOT plan. The plan was announced by Gov. William Cahill on Nov. 15, 1972. It was part of a package of rail projects in New York and New Jersey to be financed with $650 million in Port Authority funds. This was reported in newspapers on Nov. 16, 1972 throughout the Metropolitan Area. In addition to extending PATH to Plainfield, money was also supposed to go to getting EL into Penn Station.

However, PA financing would've required bi-state legislation amending the 1962 PA bond covenant and was certain to trigger bondholders' suits. Critics saw no chance of the bondholders losing those suits. By the following year, 1973, the PA was seeking $150 million in US funds to cover two-thirds the cost of the extension. However, US DOT said no.

When Brendan Byrne was elected Governor there was a renewed effort to get the PATH extension. Byrne actively lobbied to get US DOT to reconsider. I think it was at this point, with Conrail looming on the horizon and agreeing to takeover the CNJ service, that NJ DOT began to feel it was no longer a pressing matter.

[philipmartin]

Thatd be hilarious if the crew somehow doesnt realize it until it shoots out past the end of the overhead wire. Many heads would roll for that one.

The operator at the PRR's Bay tower occasionally misrouted westbound freights out of Greenville into Oak Island yard in the days when our freights were electrified. If the engineer was fast he could get the pantographs down before they ripped down the overhead wire. If the pantograph goes off the wire, it shoots up and rips the wire down. The Lehigh Valley was good about getting a drill right out and pushing the train back under the wire.

[philipmartin]

[quote="Tommy Meehan"]Finally happened. Quite a momentous occasion

Thanks for telling us how the first day went. I was wondering. I didn't hear anything on the scanner.
That NJ.Com link makes me wonder if I was optimistic about the ridership. In those photos there are just as many passengers as crew. Of course people who ride the RV trains know that there are a lot more people than that.

[CLamb]

In addition to extending PATH to Plainfield, money was also supposed to go to getting EL into Penn

...and a worse addition to the plan was to convert the CNJ from Plainfield westward into a busway.

[Tommy Meehan]

Maybe the worst addition to the plan was from the CNJ trustee: discontinue all service.

[BigDell]

Had wanted to do the first run yesterday but work realities demanded I been in the city MUCH earlier. I'll ride it later this week, though. Anxious to do a one-seat ride from Fanwood.
Again my Metropark train was very light on passengers. Really odd.

[Regardie]

I took the first ride into and out of the city yesterday. I can report that the locomotive was 4516, we got held up crossing the NEC south of Newark, arrived in Newark on track A a little late. The mode change happened at Newark. Lights flickered a little during the changeover. We were held leaving Newark waiting for the train on track 1 to clear. We arrived on track 2 at NYP about 9 minutes late.

The consist sat on track 2 for the return trip. We passed train 5170 with 4510 pushing at Secaucus. We arrived in Newark on track 5 and I didn't notice any flickering during this mode change.

They really scrubbed up the MLVs in the consist for this trip. A guy I got on the train with commented on it. As an aside, all the consists now have 7 MLVs due to the impending closure of the inbound Pulaski Skyway. I saw a NJT official with a clicker doing a passenger count during the inbound trip. The feeling is they had a bunch of officials and coalition members crammed into the front of the train, and an increase in riders of a certain amount but I won't speculate on the numbers. I think the storm warnings where it was announced that it might not happen until Tuesday and just lower ridership because of the storm might have affected turnout.

[Tommy Meehan]

I took the first ride into and out of the city yesterday...

That was interesting to read, thanks.

One question I wondered about was inbound passengers detraining or outbound passengers boarding at Newark. Were there many? You would think there would be some, that there would be people bound for Lower Manhattan who would still find it faster to take PATH from Newark.

[Regardie]

I took the first ride into and out of the city yesterday...

That was interesting to read, thanks.

One question I wondered about was inbound passengers detraining or outbound passengers boarding at Newark. Were there many? You would think there would be some, that there would be people bound for Lower Manhattan who would still find it faster to take PATH from Newark.

As the conductor (I can't say that it was the actual conductor or another member of the train crew) said repeatedly "Stay on the train in Newark, this is a New York train" , the crew was doing their best to keep riders from being confused. Some passengers did get off at Newark, and we took on some NY bound passengers, but not many as a train was pulling into track 1 right after the RVL train arrived on track A.

Along those lines, it was nice to see the orange of the Raritan Valley Line on the departure boards at NYP.

[Tommy Meehan]

Thanks. If I was heading for Lower Manhattan (or Brooklyn) I would still get off at Newark and take PATH. But probably the vast majority of passengers are heading for Midtown Manhattan.