Your favorite Railroad in New Jersey?

My favorite is New Jersey Transit because thats the only one I have really seen. My favorite LINE is the ac line.

I too would say New Jersey Transit due to its commitment to speed of operation; ability to always run on schedule; impecable maintenance & cleanliness of equipment; friendly, cheerful & well trained staff; and frequency of service on all lines. An all around class operation!

Before you brand me a total nut please consider the following from the Webster's On-line dictionary: IRONIC implies an attempt to be amusing or provocative by saying usually the opposite of what is meant

Hay NJ Vike, your avatar, is that a picture of a train crossing RT72 in Chatsworth? I've been there many a times, although you guys hate them, I was on my quad. The tracks in that area are still not too too bad really.
My favorite RR would definitly be the CNJ.

dave76 wrote:I've been there many a times, although you guys hate them, I was on my quad. The tracks in that area are still not too too bad really.
My favorite RR would definitly be the CNJ.

I don't hate quads - Im dying to get one!!! I wanna get one and ride the cutoff and the Southern Sec !!!! Instead I just ride over the crossings on my streetbike!

I guess my favorite railroad, other than NJT, well, I guess I have to like them by default - or they might fire me, would be the CNJ - even though they were gone before I was born, that was my local hometown RR, the Seashore Branch, and sometimes I wish it was still there. I wish I was able to make an announcement like

"You must be in the last 4 cars if you are going down the Seashore Branch to Atlantic Highlands.......once again you must be in teh last four cars for Keyport, Hazlet, Union Beach, Keansburg, Port Monmouth, Belford, Leonardo, and Atlantic Highlands!!!!!"

dave76 wrote:Hay NJ Vike, your avatar, is that a picture of a train crossing RT72 in Chatsworth? I've been there many a times, although you guys hate them, I was on my quad. The tracks in that area are still not too too bad really.
My favorite RR would definitly be the CNJ.

Hello Dav76,

Yes, that's the place. I was just there this weekend on my way to Chatsworth. I not only enjoy trains but exploring the Pine Barrens as well.

Yes, those tracks still look pretty good but I think they disappear somewhere where the old Harris Station once stood.

Also, the tracks were removed from Chatsworth by some ex NJ Transit employees. At least that is what I was told.

I notice that the tracks still run through Wharton State Forest at the Atsion station and beyond.

I don't hate ATVs as not all riders are not responsbile for the action of a few.

Four Wheelers also get a bad rap for the same reasons but there are many of us that are responsbile.

If you're interested in exploring the Pines go to http://njpinebarrens.com

Have you explored in the area lately?

Jtgshu wrote:

dave76 wrote:I've been there many a times, although you guys hate them, I was on my quad. The tracks in that area are still not too too bad really.
My favorite RR would definitly be the CNJ.

I don't hate quads - Im dying to get one!!! I wanna get one and ride the cutoff and the Southern Sec !!!! Instead I just ride over the crossings on my streetbike!

I guess my favorite railroad, other than NJT, well, I guess I have to like them by default - or they might fire me, would be the CNJ - even though they were gone before I was born, that was my local hometown RR, the Seashore Branch, and sometimes I wish it was still there. I wish I was able to make an announcement like

"You must be in the last 4 cars if you are going down the Seashore Branch to Atlantic Highlands.......once again you must be in teh last four cars for Keyport, Hazlet, Union Beach, Keansburg, Port Monmouth, Belford, Leonardo, and Atlantic Highlands!!!!!"

I also like the CNJ but I wasn't into trains in my teens and by the time I did get into it, CNJ was now Conrail.

I'm always hoping that there will be a need from some of the existing business, or new ones, that will require service in that area.

ATV or a dirt bike would be great since it can take me to places that I can't get to in an Expedition

Mark Schweber wrote:I too would say New Jersey Transit due to its commitment to speed of operation; ability to always run on schedule; impecable maintenance & cleanliness of equipment; friendly, cheerful & well trained staff; and frequency of service on all lines. An all around class operation!

Before you brand me a total nut please consider the following from the Webster's On-line dictionary: IRONIC implies an attempt to be amusing or provocative by saying usually the opposite of what is meant

Whew! I was going to say that even though I haven't been on a NJT in quote sometime, there appears to be some very negative press on the NJ boards at http://nj.com/forums/transit

Definitely the North Jersey Coast Line! I grew up just a few minutes away from the Allenhurst Station. Although I live in Virginia now, I am sure to stop and see trains any time I come up to visit the Shore. I try to get to the Allenhurst, Elberon, Bradley Beach, and Little Silver Stations each visit.

CNJ and PRR

I grew up two blocks from the tracks in Cranford and have many fond memories of walking around the E'Port Shops with my camera, and not a cop in sight.

As for the Pennsy, what's not to like about the thundering magnificence of the Standard Railroad of the World?

Well, being a former emplyee of the P-RSL, I would have to say my favorite is the P-RSL (imagine that!!). I also like the Southern Division CNJ as both were right in my stopming grounds here in South Jersey. Winslow Jct. was an interesting place to watch trains in the late 50's and the 60's. You could see locomotives of four railroads at any one time ,such as P-RSL Baldwins on a freight,maybe some PRR E-units or RDG RS-3's on a race track special. Or CNJ Alcos and F-M Trainmasters doing thier work. And of course there was always the CNJ plywood hacks with the friendly conductor that would give you a short ride when drilling the Winslow area.

I grew up two blocks from the tracks in Cranford and have many fond memories of walking around the E'Port Shops with my camera, and not a cop in sight.

I did get chased out of E'port once... I think the railroad was on strike and they had heavy security in the yard area... I wanted to go in and shoot but they chased me off the property... Maybe that was VERY early 80's? I can't remember. It was post-CNJ...

Ahhh...... CNJ........
Sigh....

BigDell

BigDell wrote:

I grew up two blocks from the tracks in Cranford and have many fond memories of walking around the E'Port Shops with my camera, and not a cop in sight.

I did get chased out of E'port once... I think the railroad was on strike and they had heavy security in the yard area... I wanted to go in and shoot but they chased me off the property... Maybe that was VERY early 80's? I can't remember. It was post-CNJ...

Ahhh...... CNJ........
Sigh....

BigDell

I got turned away once, by a CNJ cop in the guard shack off of Schiller Street, but other than that, I never had a problem. In fact, on most days I hardly saw ANYONE. It was as if the place was empty except for me.....

Long live the CNJ!

As a 10 year old in 1958, getting helped up the steps of NYS&W RS-1 230 on arriving train 929 at my hometown of Butler, to ride with the engineer as he ran around the train sealed the deal for me. Those rides became a twice a week ritual when after dinner my Dad would say "Think we should ride down to the station and watch the trains come in?" He never had to ask twice! My grandfather had worked for the NYS&W during the 30's and again during WW2 when there was a shortage of personel, so we were welcomed into the station office by the evening agent, Eddie Post, and I would sit in the bay window watching for the gates to go down at Park Place knowing the yellow headlight and the sound of the one note air horn would shortly be coming around the curve. If it was a Friday night in the winter, a crew would deadhead to Butler on the last train, and MU the 3 passenger engines together to take them to Little Ferry for use on freight trains over the weekend, and I would get to ride with them to Pompton Lakes where my Dad would pick me up. What a special feeling for a 10 year old to have those three engines stop in front of the Pompton Lakes station just to let me off the train.
Watching the NYS&W over the years has been like watching a cat with 9 lives.....just when you thought it was finished, it would come back to life. For such a reatively small railroad to have had such a varied history is nothing shory of amazing. From a 19th century coal hauler, to bankruptcy under Erie ownership, to a very early on desielized independent railroad, to being an innovator in commuter passenger service, to a dying shortline, to a piece of a transcontinental route to the present day complete with a working fleet of Alcos......it's been quite a journey. It's hard to think of another NJ railroad that has been thru as many changes, yet still survives with it's original name and a good portion of its original route intact. I've been watching the Susquehanna for 50 + years, and it's STILL HERE!!

Good question, let's see.

PAST - Erie Lackawanna but mostly the ex-ERIE side.

PRESENT - NYS&W.

Note: Some honorable mention should go to the the M&E and MCCRR too.

Where I was born and raised the EL and/or NYS&W served the localities.

The Reading Company's Port Reading Branch. Grew up in Metuchen, about 50 yards off the main track. Remember trains in the 1950's, but became very active during the early 1960's. When the unit trains began, traffic picked up. In 1964 you could expect to see a daily BM8/BM430 and MB9/MB1130 in addition to four to eight coal trains...that includes east and west. The unit trains would sometimes layover for eight hours which was good if the consist was special. Power was every thing the Reading owned. Even Baldwin AS16s came in. There was also a daily switcher, the Bakelite Shifter, that left Port Reading to go to Bakelite to work a full shift. As a Metuchenite, you could also witness the PRR and the Lehigh Valley's Perth Amboy Branch. Great days.......