ExCon90 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 05, 2021 9:14 pmInteresting. I never had the opportunity to ride a Clocker but I always wondered how those trains could keep schedule as they were routinely 10-14 cars long. I know a fair amount of E60s hauled them along with AEM7s but still, those things were huge! I wonder what it was like heading PHL to NYP. Was it virtually empty until Trenton?NortheastTrainMan wrote: ↑Thu Aug 05, 2021 1:38 pmSimilar to the point raised in the Lackawanna Cutoff thread: it's difficult to imagine New Jersey subsidizing passengers from Pennsylvania traveling through New Jersey to spend money (and earn money -- and pay wage taxes) in New York. As to the comment above about the difference in loadings east and west of Trenton, I often rode an evening clocker from New York to Philadelphia -- the rear half got off the train at Princeton Jct. and the front half at Trenton; the rest of the trip to Philadelphia was practically an equipment move with a few passengers.
Correct me if I'm wrong but here were a few issues why NJT didn't run PHL - NYP:
- Politics, NJT was given a tough time building a train yard in Morrisville, PA which is a mere 2 miles away from Trenton. Imagine running into PHL.
- Lack of demand. In my experience SEPTA's Trenton line trains are typically 2-5 cars, with the exception of a handful of 6-7 car trains during peak times Mon-Fri. NJT's NEC Line trains are typically 8-10 cars, with some 12 car Arrow 3 sets. As convenient & cost effective it would be to take NJT commuter rail PHL to NYP, the stretch from TRE to PHL might not be financially worth it. Even when I took NJT from NYP to TRE to transfer to SEPTA, almost everyone got off at Trenton.
As evidenced by my username, I'm a Man who's a fan of trains in the Northeast US.
Check out my YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@northeasttrainman for various Train Videos, both virtual & real life.
Be good & cheers.
Check out my YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@northeasttrainman for various Train Videos, both virtual & real life.
Be good & cheers.