CSX Q156 detour at Newfoundland, NJ Sept 2, 2012 . Ralph Bonnano or 6). However, the past several months saw a new 4 axle visitor to the property, in the form of GMTX GP15-2 # 499. This locomotive, built originally for Conrail in 1979, is a prototype locomotive owned by GMTX, the same people who held title to the former Oakway SD60’s. This locomotive was rebuilt from the frame up, had dynamic brakes added (which the Conrail GP15-1s never had, and had upgraded electronics added, thus the “-2” designation. While only possessing 1500 HP, it was used in a variety of tasks on the NYS&W for a few months. It has since left the property, departing on an SU-99 on January 3rd, bound for its next home, the New England Central Railroad for testing there. OPERATIONS UPDATE This time around, the heading “operations update” will cover a wide variety of news and events. Going back a few months, I’ll start with the last round of detours. In late August 2012, CSX announced that they would be replacing a bridge just west of Selkirk that would necessitate closing their main line for approx. 36 hours. The upshot was that CSX informed the NYS&W that they planned to use their route from Syracuse to Binghamton to Little Ferry/North Bergen for two trains Q004 and Q156, both stack trains that terminate in South Kearny, NJ. Suffice to say news of these two detours garnered significant interest by the railfan community. It had been a couple of years since the last detour (owing to a wreck just south of Selkirk, NY), and the Labor Day holiday also coincid15 ed with the detours, ensuring a good amount of people would be out for these, as it was a holiday. The first detour, Q004, departed Buffalo, NY at 8 AM on Sept 2nd, and while it ran south from Syracuse in a good chunk of daylight, the second detour, Q156 was the one to watch as that would hit the Southern Division after daybreak. While both trains ran without incident, It was the Q156 that had the crowds out, as it passed Campbell Hall, NY about 830 am, and got to Ridgefield Park with about 15 minutes to spare before the road crew hit the 12 hour limit at 130 PM. What slowed it down enroute (aside from following an NJ Transit train east from Port Jervis, NY) was a 10 MPH order between MP 60 and 59 on the Southern Division. This was due to the overnight destruction by fire of the original NYS&W Sparta NJ station, built in the 1870’s. The fire department and arson investigators on the scene required the train’s slow passage. Interestingly, the Q004, the first detour had passed the area several hours earlier, about 3:15 am, and didn’t notice anything unusual. This led to the rumor mill that the fire may have been started by sparks from the first train, but a subsequent investigation revealed this not to be the case. This was truly a significant historical loss for the areas and the railroad itself. But these were the only detours to operate via the NYS&W in the past several months, and at press time, no other re routes were planned. In other news, track work has been the big story of the past several months. Over the summer three welded rail trains were received in interchange from the NS at Marion yard (Jersey
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