Feature Articles 3 Departments 2 9 Volunteering, Most of us are Volunteers in the Society. Even those few who receive a “Paycheck” for what they do, also Volunteer. From those who work at the O’Susquehanna Mine to those who maintain our equipment. I’ve seen the “Teenagers” who came out years ago to make a few bucks stay on and continue to help giving up their weekends in the process, that says a lot. We each have our own reason for coming out from wanting to play with that big “Lionel Set” to wanting to learn what it takes to run, how to fix or just what makes it tick. Some just like to work on the RofW to keep it open or to help push it further South. I hope each of you reading this, takes some time to think about why you are a Volunteer, who got you started, who nurtured you. Was it a Friend, a Parent or Grand Parent? Was it because you had a Family member who worked for the Railroad? Was it you just wanted to spend time with a loved one or a Spouse? If you are like me it was several things and the memory always make me smile. Volunteering is what makes us the success we are and I thank each and every one of you for being “Part of the Family”. Good things are happening! As always there are a ton of things to do and so little time to do them. Your help will make it happen. Come out and give an hour or a day, it all helps. Ongoing work in 2017 & 2018. Work on the Coaches Work on the M1. Brush/tree cutting along the ROW Work in the Station Area There are a few new things coming in 2018, but more on that in a future issue! As always, my “door” is always open to you, our members. President John Stocker 2 The Blair Trail Robert Kopperhaver President’s Message John Stocker Maintenance of Way Don Chaudruc 10 Bel-Del News in pictures 12 Maywood Station Historical Committee Ed Kaminski 13 18 From The Current Time Table Ralph Bonanno Shop Talk Martin Den Bleyker Covers Front: NYSW #3014 on the SU-99 in Maywood NJ taken on October 28, 2012 Photo: Ed Kaminski Rear Top: Delaware River Railroad Excursions in Carpentersville, New Jersey September of 2017. Photo: Photo: Chris Cotty Rear Bottom: : NYSW Symbol #550 is seen heading east at Shahola, Pennsylvania in October of 1995 with NYSW 3614, Delaware Lackawanna 4740, and NYSW 3612 leading. Joe Geronimo
The N.Y.S.& W. Blairstown station circa 1900– 1910 This article was originally published in the Skylands Visitor Magazine. I would like to thank both the author, Robert Kopperhaver and Tom Drake of Skylands visitor magazine for graciously allowing us to use the article. Considering how important John Blair was to the history of Northern New Jersey and our new York Susquehanna & Western I thought you would enjoy this. I n 1839, the Warren County village known as Gravel Hill renamed itself in honor of its most celebrated citizen, 37year-old John Insley Blair. In 2014, Blairstown's 175th anniversary celebration of that event brought to mind not only the man's profound influence on the development of transportation and industry in America, but also suggests a virtual trail of his life through the places where he learned to make his way. Blair's life, which spanned the entire nineteenth century—more than 40% of America's history—reflects the country's development over those hundred years from a segmented rural society, to a cohesive industrial nation designed in no small part by the railroad and financial networks that he facilitated. Despite his accomplishment as one of the world's wealthiest men, Blair, known to townsfolk as "plain John I.", sustained a simple, unembellished lifestyle in his beloved village. The area's extraordinary heritage is in large part due to the fact that his ambition, 3 and his ideas that flourished throughout America originated here in the New Jersey frontier. Perhaps someday John I. Blair's birthplace will be marked for all to see, but for now its exact location is uncertain. In 1802, he was born in a log cabin near "the big spring", Shippen's spring, located on Foul Rift Road near the railroad culvert two miles south of Belvidere. It was here that his father oversaw shipping of iron products downriver from the Oxford Furnace's company wharf. When John was two, the Blairs moved to a farm near Hope. Along the way, much of their route probably followed that of today's County Route 519. They may have passed by a tiny house, now the White Township Historical Museum at Bridgeville, that two centuries later would hold memorabilia relating to their son's accomplishments. And continuing in their wagon a short distance farther, how awed his parents would have been to imagine that half a century later a huge steam-powered Warren Railroad "iron horse" would cross this road, due mainly to the entrepreneurial genius of their son. Young Blair spent his boyhood on the Beaver Brook farm along present day CR-519, two miles south of the village of Hope, near Swayze's Mill Road. Although he received only a
This triumvirate of stately buildings—the National Bank, Water Works and Old Mill—lends a certain gravitas to the village of Blairstown in keeping with the prominence of its namesake. The Flat Iron building, seen on the right of the photo, was enlarged from a smaller rear section owned by John Blair to serve as the Post Office in 1889. A large, chiseled-out boulder that ran along the street side was filled with water to refresh stage coach horse teams. rudimentary education, attending classes in Hope when farm demands allowed, the boy trapped muskrats and rabbits that he sold on the family's supply trips to Easton. Many years later he shared in a rare interview that never in his life did he ever feel so wealthy as he did when he made his first money selling sixteen pelts for a dollar. About 1813, at the age of eleven, young Blair declared his education complete as he began his first career in the mercantile business, working as a clerk in the store of his cousin, Judge Blair, in Hope. The stone building, still in use today, stands at the northwest corner of High and Walnut Streets. He worked there for about seven years, except for a short time when he went back to the farm to help out upon the death of his father. The building in which he probably attended school remains on the east side of CR 519, south of the blinking light. The Beaver Brook farmhouse, boyhood home of John I. Blair, on the road from Hope to Bridgeville. Photo, 1896. 4
At the age of eleven, young Blair began working at his cousin’s store in Hope, located in this stone building at the corner of High and Walnut Streets, still in use today. Late in his teens, about 1820, John I. Blair moved to the small hamlet of Butts' Bridge, soon to be called Gravel Hill, which at the time contained only four houses and a mill. There he went into partnership as a storekeeper, two years later owning the store outright, a business he would foster for forty years. At age 23, Blair became the postmaster of the local office and, at age 26, he married Anne Locke with whom he established a homestead at Gravel Hill. As his mercantile business grew, Blair set up family members in other stores in Paulina, Marksboro, Huntsville, and Johnsonburg, thereby creating a chain of Blair-operated establishments. He became a wholesale distributor, purchasing local farm produce and carting it by several horse-and-wagon teams to eastern New Jersey and New York. The return trips brought back fresh goods to be sold to other local merchants, as well as for his own stores. In 1830, at 28 years of age, Blair and brother James had accumulated enough capital to open a National Bank in Belvidere, which handled many of the Blair family's transactions in land companies, mining interests, and railroad construction. John I. retained leadership of the bank, noted In 1860, Blair constructed a brick store at 9 Clinton Street in Delaware. The post office has occupied the building since 1884 without interruption, making it the oldest in New Jersey still operating in its original building 5
Blairstown's NYS&W Railroad Station and Yard were located across the Paulinskill River. Dating to 1877, the station was a main line depot until passenger service was halted in 1938. The 2 1/2 story wood frame combination freight and passenger station had a raised platform around the freight portion and a track level passenger platform. In 1958 the NYS&W retired the freight station, and it eventually burned down in 1973. for its stability and solidity, until the end of his life. Although the building is now gone, its site is covered, ironically, by the drive-through lanes for the PNC bank on Mansfield and Front Streets. And a block away on Hardwick Street is another reminder of John I.'s family wealth, the mansion of his son, DeWitt Clinton Blair, which later housed for many years the Warren County Library. Later, John I. became interested in flour and cotton production, eventually operating four flouring mills at one time. One cotton mill was located along the Paulins Kill downstream from Marksboro. His business acumen unmatched, Blair once purchased, at a greatly reduced price, a large batch of cotton that had seemingly spoiled. After culling out the small amount that was ruined, he processed the rest, turning a profit of $15,000, a bonanza in his day. Other transactions brought various amounts of real estate into his hands, and his cumulative local landholdings became substantial. Mr. Blair began to follow other entrepreneurial pursuits that would ensure him a fabled legacy as railroad mogul and land developer. During the 1840s and 50s, Blair joined the Scranton brothers at Slocum Hollow, PA, (the future site of Scranton) in the Lackawanna Coal & Iron Company, one of the earliest suppli6 ers of steel rails to railroad companies. To reach the lucrative eastern markets for their coal and iron products, by the early 1850s the new company had built a rail line of its own— the Delaware, Lackawanna, & Western— as far south as the Delaware Water Gap, but still needed to connect to one of the existing New Jersey railroads in order to reach their intended markets. Blair moved quickly, forming the Warren Railroad Company, of which he was the major stockholder and president, then taking charge to establish its financing, right-of-ways, and construction. By 1857, the Warren Railroad had been completed and leased to the DL&W, linking it with the Jersey Central at Hampton. As the railway came north through Washington and Oxford, then turned west along its final stretch, the tracks found their way roughly parallel and north of what is now State Route 46, across the Beaver Brook, then through the 900 foot-long Manunka Chunk Tunnels. A junction and station were erected at the tunnel's exit, and the WRR continued along the ridge (above the current highway) towards its junction with the DL&W.
The cemetery and Old Academy building. Just before the Warren Railroad made its Delaware River crossing into Pennsylvania, Blair built one more station, this time conceiving an entire town that would originate and mature in tandem with the commerce his railroad would bring. In anticipation, he purchased tracts of farmland that he would subdivide and resell as lots arranged between the hillside and the river. The site sprouted quickly into the village of Delaware Station, (later Delaware) with a hotel and general store, creamery, wood-working factories and a wagon manufacturer. Scant evidence of the village's railroad years remains in the sunken pit of a turntable, an occasional visible bit of railroad tie, well-worn bridge abutments, and the intermittently discernible rail bed through the village, following a bit of road out of town known as Old Route 46. But, although the station and hotel are gone, today's Delaware Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003, consists largely of buildings erected in that era, mostly unaltered and retaining the flavor of that time. In 1859, at age 57, when most men of his day had reached the end of their productive lives, Blair retired from his mercantile business of forty years to focus on building railroads and developing towns along their routes, applying his New Jersey prototype to America's Midwest. With no interest in operating completed railroads, he constructed rail lines that were then leased or sold to other companies. Blair became the major shareholder in more than a dozen railroad companies, and ultimately acquired nearly two million acres from the government for railroad and land development. Under his directorship in six different land companies, over eighty towns were laid out, many named after family and associates, as he often assisted newly 7 organized church congregations within those towns with donations of land and finances. In one interview he proudly proclaimed that he built every railroad for cash, never entered into railroad schemes on mere speculation, and never had to sell stock to finance his projects. ven at age 75, Blair continued to involve himself in railroad development when he constructed the Blairstown Railway in his own backyard. By 1877 the railway began moving freight and passengers from its Blairstown station past a stop at Kalarama, the depots at Vail and Hainesburg—site of the Lackawanna Railroad's massive poured concrete viaduct—past the former hamlet of Warrington and Columbia Junction to its terminus at Delaware Station. There, freight and riders could transfer to DL&W trains heading eastward into New York or to destinations westward. Perhaps to facilitate his personal or family's trips to the outside world, the project was more likely another speculative venture. Sure enough, in the early 1880s, the Blairstown Railway was sold to the New York, Susquehanna & Western Railroad, becoming part of that company's main line as it extended westerly to the Pennsylvania coal fields and eastward toward Newton and beyond. The name most commonly associated with the Blairstown Railway is "the Dinkey", the line's short train usually made up of a small steam locomotive pulling one or two cars. After serving for nearly half a century, the train was replaced in 1924 with a single motor car powered by a gasoline engine which served until 1928, when service was discontinued. Today, the rails are gone and most of the old right-of-way has become the Paulinskill Valley Trail along which the railway's bucolic views may still be enjoyed as well as the awesome Hainesburg, or Paulinskill, viaduct. Access to the rail trail is provided at
Insley Hall set the pattern for Blair Academy’s magnificent architecture. Footbridge Park in Blairstown and at various road crossings from Blairstown to near Columbia. From there to Delaware village, the old Dinkey tracks are covered by Route 46. n 1887, at the age of 85, disenchanted with the construction scheme of the Northwestern Railroad, John Blair cashed in his stock for $2,000,000. To save the exchange rate between Chicago and New York, he carried the cash in two satchels to New York where he personally deposited the money. Yet the great entrepreneur's frugality was matched by his public benevolence. Perhaps spurred by a desire to afford others more than his own meager education as a youth, Blair, at age 46, with other town leaders, fostered the formation of a private school, the Blair Presbyterial Academy in 1848. A sturdy stone schoolhouse was constructed on a knoll at the western edge of the hamlet where classes met until about 1854 and in later years was used as the Music Hall. Often referred to as "the Old Academy", the rugged structure still stands adjacent to the cemetery, which holds the grave of the Academy's greatest benefactor, John I. Blair, as marked by a tall monument. In 1851, Blair donated funds for the construction of a dormitory dubbed "Blair Hall", for which the entire campus was ultimately named. When this building burned down in 1867, Blair proposed to the resident farmers that he would foot the bill for construction of a new building if they would assist in transporting local stone for the structure. As construction began they were surprised at the scope and size of the new "Insley Hall", named in honor of Blair's wife's family. Three stories tall, plus attic and basement, it set the pattern for the Academy's magnificent architecture, as it expanded through modern times, supported largely by Blair and his family. Over the years, Blair also provided financial support for Princeton University and Lafayette College. In 1896, Blair presented a new electric plant to the Academy and also provided sixty-seven incandescent lamps "to light the town". His water works, built first to provide his home with water, were extended next to the Academy and finally to portions of Blairstown. Very late in his life, at the age of 88, John I., son, DeWitt Clinton, and grandson, C. Ledyard, extended the family's financial houses by founding the prestigious New York City banking firm of Blair & Company primarily to manage the Gould family's railroad interests. John I. also held mortgage bonds of dozens of companies and the controlling ownership of various large corporations. Near the end of his life, when asked why he did not live the same splendidly luxurious life as his son did, he replied in humor, "Well, I'll tell you. I haven't got a rich father as he does." And upon John I.'s death, one newspaper stated that he had died because "he was simply worn out".
NYS&WTHS Maintenance Of Way Department By Don Chaudruc This article is proof that this Society continues to thrive, moving forward and expanding year after year. In spring of 2017 I went to my fellow board members and asked for the approval of funding for some maintenance of way equipment; this included a Fairmount tie inserter and a RTW tie crane. On the Bel-Del we have had a group of Society volunteers that have continued to take care of the maintenance of way year after year. A few years back this consisted mostly of brush cutting, weed spraying, and general clean-up of the line. Last year the Society entered into a fundraiser in Milford, NJ which I guess you could say led into our forming of a track department. After watching and learning from our track contractor last year a group of our society volunteers including, but not limited to, Rob Fink, Peter Lally, Chris Spiwak, Mike McCann, Don Kinney, Jeff Modica and Dylan Vieytes made Our newly acquired tie inserter at work just North of Milford. into the ownership of a steam locomotive and a complete train set that operates weekly through most of the year. We will be adding a shop facility by the end of the year and now Society members can be proud of the fact that we now have a respectable track department. Our freshly painted tie crane at work North of Milford. The brush cutter hard at work. the choice to move forward with an attempt to form the Societies own real track department. So, in April of 2017 the Board of Directors did approve the purchase of the tie crane and tie inserter, they were moved to the Kinney family farm next to the railroad right of way. The above listed crew spent weeks giving the machines a basic go over, making some wiring upgrades, servicing the engines, replacing hydraulic hoses and repairs as needed. They both received a new paint job in late August and were put to work right away. Between the last week in August and the end of September Society volunteers were responsible for the installation of just over 500 ties on the railroad in multiple locations. (with the assistance and training of two members from Tri-State Track.) I personally feel this is another milestone in the future of the Society. The Society has grown over the years in such a positive manner and this just continues to compliment that. On the operating end of the Society it started with a brokendown M-1 being returned to service. Now it has grown Pete Lally spiking away. Rob Fink hard at work rebuilding our tie inserter. 9
T he best way to show what's going on around the railroad is with pictures! Here are some pictures of the work. Left to right, top to bottom: 1.The corn Maze for 2017! 2. Over the Winter the 531 received a brand new carpet! 3. You never know what the day will bring. One morning this huge tree fell in front of us! 4. Dino Days returned to the railroad this August! 6. A leaky flue being removed from the smokebox of #142 7. After many years of mud we finally got a nicely paved platform! 8. Painting the front of #162 South main Phillipsburg our newly owned offices, neing poainted. 9. Our newest piece of maintenance of way equipment, a tie inserter. 10. Millie at the annual Milford Days Event. 11. Les, Chris, Bob and Pete on duty at Milford Alive. 12. Our new gift shop at the mine, built by Dylan Vieytes 13. Greg Ruch working on the front end of #142 14. Keegan Forke inside of the firebox of #142 working on stay bolt replacement. 15. Don Gardner busy in the shop. 16. In order to handle the very large crows we get in the fall , we built an addition to our platform at the mine, 140 long and 12 feet wide. 17 crows of people gather to board the Easter Bunny train.
drawings, maps, track diagrams, photos, timetables, documents and records covering the history of the New York, Susquehanna & Western Railroad. UPCOMING EVENTS By Ed Kaminski The Maywood Station Museum is operated and staffed by the volunteer membership of the Maywood Station Historical Committee. The main focus of the museum is concentrated on the history of Maywood Station and the New York, Susquehanna & Western Railroad and the roles they played in the development of the Borough of Maywood and the surrounding area. The museum collection There will be an open house at the station on Sunday November 5 from noon to 3pm and Santa visits the station on Saturday Dec. 16 from 10am to noon. New York, Susquehanna & Western Alco S-2 #206 and Caboose #24542 after the blizzard at the Maywood Station Museum on March 14, 2017. Photo by Ed Kaminski. Leased CSX GP38-2 #2732 at the Maywood Station Museum. Photo by Ed Kaminski. The Maywood Station Museum hosted an "Out of House, House Concert" with House of Hamill, 4/1/2017. at5 Brix City Brewing in Little Ferry, NJ. Photo by Ed Kaminski. contains hundreds of photographs, displays, documents, maps and artifacts covering the histories of Maywood Station, the NYS&W and local railroads, the Borough of Maywood, and the local region, which are changed periodically and designed to entertain and educate visitors of all ages as well as offer a virtual timeline to these subjects. Maywood Station is listed on the National Register of Historical Places and the State of New Jersey Register of Historical Places. In addition, the Maywood Station Museum is listed as a Historical Archive by the State of New Jersey. Maywood Station Museum is also the official site of the New York, Susquehanna & Western Technical & Historical Society's archive, which contains 1000's of NYSW #3014 passing Maywood Station. Photo by Ed Kaminski. 12
progress of any movements on the mainline. These detectors are radio alarm type, and broadcast over the road channel in use, AAR 025, 162.485 MHz. Over the course of the summer, owing to track work on the Middletown & New Jersey’s Hudson Secondary between Warwick and Campbell Hall, NY, NYSW road train SU 100 detoured via NJ Transit between CP Hudson Jct (Where they normally turn onto the Hudson Secondary to Warwick) and Passaic Jct (BT on NJ Transit) on July 20. The train picked up pilots at Campbell Hall, and then traversed the line east under the cover of darkness, arriving at home rails between 530 and 6 AM on the morning of the 20th. Power was 4 SD60’s. there were rumors that the 99 might also operate the same way, but they did not pan out as the trackwork was completed in time and the train went west via its normal routing. I was going to attempt to explain the current OK Folks, it’s that time again; time to try and summarize the goings on at our favorite railroad. It’s been a while since the last column, so relax and read while I attempt to summarize some of what’s been happening in recent months. There’s a fair amount of news this time around, so let’s get going…… OPERATIONS Plenty of news this time around, so let’s see where to begin. There has been plenty of activity in the capital improvements department this year. There have been a multitude of grade crossing upgrades on the Southern Division (and some on the Northern Division, too), as well as the installation in several areas of welded rail, ties, and ballast. On the Southern Division, welded rail was laid out and installed on the North Bergen Industrial track east of the CSX Intermodal yard in Little Ferry. Previously, welded rail was installed only as far east as the 83rd the way to the end of track at the Marion interchange in Jersey City, MP 3.70. RJ Corman was the contractor who did the actual installation. The original stick rail was then removed, and placed into waiting gondolas for final disposition. Also, several other stretches of mainline track had welded rail installed/replaced. This included some spots in Paterson, West Oakland NJ, as well as a few curves between Sparta Jct and Warwick, NY. This year also saw the reopening of the Utica line in its entirety, plus the installation of new ties in many locations. Several light engine moves between Utica and Binghamton were made, as well as a tie train to drop new ties along the line in several locations. As most know, there were several washouts along the line south of Sherburne and north of Greene. The county and state paid for the rehabilitation, with the intent of long term development of new industry in several locations along the line. On the Southern Division, several new defect detectors were installed and made operational earlier this year. These are located on the main line at Maywood (MP 15), Franklin Lakes (MP 29), Smith Mills (MP 39), Stockholm/Hardyston (MP 51), Sparta (MP 62) and Warwick, NY (MP 83). So now, those who follow the railroad by radio can follow the 13 assignments on the Southern Division, but as they are in a constant state of refinement and change, it would be outdated by the time you are reading this. One interesting note in this regard, is that there is (at press time) a 5 AM job at Ridgefield Park symbolled WS-0 (as in zero). It’s believed this is the result of an inside joke by someone. And speaking of inside jokes, as I mentioned above, the NYS&W detoured via NJ Transit in July. During this period, with the 100/99 crew in the hotel, there was still the need to move freight. So, an extra was run between Ridgefield Park/Bogota and Warwick NY and return with hot cars to drop and pick up at Sparta as well as interchange with the M&NJ in Warwick. The road crew was called from the hotel and made this “Warwick turn” with the normal road train power. However, owing to a prankster on the railroad (and you know who you are), they got “creative”, and the train operated as an extra (unscheduled) road train, using the symbol SU-X. Yep, you read that right; SU-X. After the round trip was completed, the road crew went back into the hotel, took rest, and then eventually went home on the SU 99 as normally done. As for traffic in general, the SU 100 and 99 still street crossing in North Bergen. This year saw welded rail installed east of 83rd street, all interchange with the M&NJ, but no longer in Warwick by Jones Chemical as had been done in the past. Instead, a new runaround siding track was installed near Hudson Jct, just below the connection to the Hudson Secondary at CP Hudson Jct. Its located adjacent to the Sarah Wells Trail road crossing and is approx. 3000’ in length and has been in use for some time. Speaking of the M&NJ, and this ties into the NYS&W, a new propane transload facility has been opened up near Montgomery NY on the M&NJ line north of Campbell Hall, towards Walden, NY. They have two tracks and are now receiving cars on a daily basis. Some of this new traffic comes in via the NS from Croxton, whose train H70 drops in Campbell hall. Other traffic is handled by the NYS&W, and in order to have cars in position for the opening day of the facility in September of this year, the NYSW ran an SU 100 east on Labor Day evening, an exception to the normal holiday train annulment. The move and delivery of the cars was made without incident. This should provide some additional traffic for the NYSW over the long term, even though some cars come via NS. As for the road trains themselves, they are running as usual on their well established schedule of Sun-Tues-Thurs for the SU-100 and Mon-Wed-Fri for the SU-99. The departure time for the 99 from Bogota NJ is contingent on when the inbound SU-100 crew goes off duty. Most times they are back on duty at about 4 PM, but owing to a variety (Continued on page 14)
Westbound SU 99 crossing under NJ Transit at Saddle Brook NJ May 2017 of circumstances, this may not always be the case. The crew is entitled to 10 hours undisturbed rest before going back on duty to go home. As noted, times shown are for information only and do not constitute a guarantee of service. The departure time for the SU 100 is usually anytime after 6 pm from Binghamton, but again, as with the SU-99, times tend to vary on occasion. As for local operations on the Southern Division, they are busy as always, and though while the actual car loadings handled over the summer haven’t broken records, the railroad HAS in fact maintained respectable traffic levels over all, considering some of the significant operational changes this summer at interchange partner CSX, under the direction of new CEO Hunter Harrison. As in the past, there are usually two morning jobs, and the rest of the crews are usually “second trick” assignments, that is they go on duty mid to late afternoon. The Sparta crew, the SJ-1, still goes on duty in the late afternoon, and occasionally comes east over the mountain to pick up (or drop) cars or grab ballast cars from the Tilcon quarry in Pompton Lakes, NJ. There is still the afternoon crew that goes east of Ridgefield Park to North Bergen and Jersey City; The local that goes west to Butler and return, one yard job that handles the intermodal switching at the CSX yard in Little Ferry, plus another local crew that pretty much goes only as far west as Passaic Jct. As for the Northern Division, there is the steady Utica crew, the UT-1. There is also the CL-1 and 2 both based out of Cortland NY on the Syracuse side, as well as the normal BH assignments out of Binghamton, whose start times escape me. (If anyone can fill me in on these Northern Division 14 assignments and start times, please email me at: blet601@gmail.com and I’ll ensure they get added to the next column). As usual, this summer saw the annual movement of the James Strates carnival train over the Southern Tier from Middletown NY to Buffalo via NJT and the CNYK (Southern Tier to Binghamton) and the NS to Buffalo. This year’s train operated west on Aug 2nd in mid-afternoon. The train operated with light power to assemble the train, as NS H-08 from Croxton, then to Port Jervis NY where it was handed off to the NYSW BH-2 crew to take to Binghamton. Power was a pair of NS GE’s, 8392 (ex Conrail unit) and 9440. The train was followed by quite the contingent of fans west of Port Jervis along the Delaware, some going all the way to Binghamton. MOTIVE POWER SUMMARY There has been some activity to report in this area as well, though probably not as significant as it has been in the past. The SD60’s are earning their keep on the SU 100/99 trains as well as work trains and local assignments on the Northern Division. The Utica job has, as been the case for some time, the lone GP40 on the roster, the 3040. This has been supplemented by power already leased/assigned to the NYSW, but usually when the 3040 is due for its 92-day inspection or if there is some other mechanical issue. The SD33 ECO units are still around, though at press time the 3016 was sidelined for a mechanical issue, with the 3012 working out of Ridgefield Park, NJ, most (but not all) times on the crew that goes east to North Bergen and Jersey City. The 3018 and 3022 have been pretty much captive on the Northern Division, being assigned (Continued on page 15)
Westbound SU 99 at Oak Ridge NJ May 2017 at either Binghamton or Cortland. Other power on the property includes the normal contingent of power: CSX units 2700, 2732, and 2782; plus the NS 5291, 5294, and the 5146 (the high hood GP38-2). These units are rotated between divisions as needs require and generally only leave the property when they are due for their respective 92-day inspections. Earlier this summer, CSX found it short of a 4-axle locomotive when their normally assigned one went north for its usual inspection and reassignment. CSX requires a 4-axle unit to serve the ex- Erie-E-L-Conrail Northern Branch industrial with its Mon-Fri local, C777. However, Selkirk didn’t send a replacement unit, so CSX simply “borrowed” the CSX 2782, which had just returned from inspection and was awaiting delivery to the NYSW. In return, CSX “lent” the NYSW SD40-3 4072, a “spongebob square cab” SD40 rebuild with a new, redesigned cab. This went on for a couple of weeks, with the 4072 even making a few round trips on the SU-99/100 trains to and from Binghamton and Syracuse. Something a little different, to be sure. IN CLOSING As you know, it’s been a while since this column last appeared, so forgive me if I omitted anything. I try to keep a running list of items to report on for the following column, but sometimes things escape me, and I’m sure some things have escaped me here as well. That said, as I always note, this column, the REFLECTOR, and the THS as a whole are 15 Bottom left :Westbound SU 99 passing the L&HR station, Warwick NY July 2017 Bottom right: A rare Daylight SU 99 westbound at Campbell Hall, NY July 2017 only as good as its members. So, we cannot do it without you. Whether its contributing to this publication, submitting images for the following year’s calendar, volunteering in any of the numerous capacities of the THS, we need you! Plain and simple. No you, no us. There are plenty of ways to contribute to the success of the society. You can find the society on the web, attend a meeting and ask an officer about getting involved, or email me with any news items of interest. My email address is: blet601@gmail.com. Any emails will be acknowledged and replied as best as my schedule allows. Until next time……. Photographs on next page.. All photographs by the author. Top left :A rare Daylight SU 99 westbound at Campbell Hall, NY July 2017 Top right : Westbound SU 99 led by SD40 3018 at Excelsior Mills June 2017
der. A 1,472-day inspection requires a much more substantial facility than that and brings me to our new “luxury” engine house. This is not a new concept for us. We have already constructed such a building, only to have its location become a detriment and we sold it. While the dimensions will not be quite the same, our new structure will be rather similar in that it can house four coaches on two interior tracks with room for shop functions and storage. The idea of it being “luxury” comes in having electricity without listening to a generator, water without trucking it in, sewerage without a porta-privy (or the nearest bush) and heat without someone stoking a wood stove. Where it will be better than the old building will be a concrete floor and a pit and both of these are vital to the heavy inspection that will be required when 142 is retired for We entered 2017 as a year of great expectation but, as is the custom, accomplishment didn’t keep up to the expectation, at least, not in how long it took, trying the patience of all involved. Winter was quite mild and the regular maintenance on 142 went smoothly enough, until one of the arch tubes was found to be leaking during the annual inspection. The problem here is that we wanted to hold off a replacement of this nature until the next annual inspection. The arch tube was replaced and the engine spent one entire weekend in service before a second arch tube leaked and had to be likewise replaced. In September, the engine reached the end of cycle known as a fifteen-year or a 1,472 (operating day) inspection. This was, of course, a major inconvenience of a date as our operating season extended until October 29th, and a waiver had to be requested from the F.R.A. to postpone the inspection date. This all focuses on the major priority of the Society for 2017. Up until now, maintenance work on 142 has been in what I’ve described as an overgrown tent – a canvas covered Quonset hut, about one foot longer than the engine and its tenDylan Vieytes working on the societies office in downtown Phillipsburg. Keith Cadigan and CMO Matthews discuss work on steam locomotive #142 in our current “tent” shop.. 18 2017. Obviously, this will facilitate all the other work that gets put off far too often. For example, while plans are not finalized for the layout, one coach bay would be more or less dedicated to a paint shop. Painting is not practical in winter and the coaches get used all summer; a tough combination even without considering the dust flying all about the old location. Once it was decided where the new shop would go, it was a matter of obtaining the property, which was to be donated to us. The problem arose in the owner having to get approval for a new site plan to include sub-dividing the property for us and that was delayed to the point of severe angst, to say the least. In a classic case of worth-the -wait, its location is so convenient, it brings radical change to the operational routine on the railroad. On another real estate front, two major events, Thomas and Polar, are heavy merchandising situations, as well as requiring a great
maze attractions. In September, we enlarged the station to handle an additional coach stair plus a bi-level entry or, a car and a half extension to one side. Further improvements will be forthcoming to upgrade and extend the station and our engineers can breathe a little easier making that critical stop. Finally, this was the year we expected to arrive in Riegelsville, our goal for the regular trips since we began operations in 2004. Early in the year, we removed the tree root problem that stopped the active track at mile 42.67 and the track needs minimal work to be put in service down to 42.3 at the crossing. Our schedule, however, only accounts for mile 43 and that’s where the trains stop. Riegelsville station is between the next crossing at 41.9 and mile 42. Because the station is up against a cliff, the runaround was north of the station between the 42 milepost and the crossing at 42.3. So there are three elements involved. First, we want Our new platform at Lehigh Junction, freshly paved . deal of decoration and other accessories that, when unused, need storage. For years we have been renting a storefront on South Main Street in order to use the garage attached to the property as our warehouse. As there was concern about losing the facility, a move was made to acquire the property to insure its retention and to provide lodging, replacing two rents we pay with a mortgage. There is also the potential to rent out a store front for further income. The station was not without improvement. On August 16th, the platform was finally paved. This eliminated large puddles and erosion from the hill, rocks and uneven footing and allows a permanent safety strip to be painted. Electric conduit was laid in the ground for power and lighting before the paving. In the future, we hope to raise the platform to eight inches over the rail to eliminate the use of step boxes but, this is an intermediate step we can well live with for some time. At Snyders station, formally Mine station, we had only two boxes a coach –length apart so that both ends of one car could be opened. Engineers had only about a four-foot margin to accurately stop the train. This became a real detriment in the busiest month of October when the station is used, well over the original intended capacity, for the mine and corn to get over the crossing at 42.3 and place a station in the area of the north end of the runaround to unload for the winery, just above us there. Second, is to create the runaround, so that the engine leads the train north and not pushes it, which delays it. Third, is to get into the station proper so we can unload people there who wish to walk across the bridge to the Riegelsville in PA and enjoy the restaurant in the inn there. Ultimately, we want to reconstruct the station building that burned down in 1969. So, 2017 will see a great deal of improvement by year’s end and bring us that much closer to our goals. With increased activity and ridership, the “Help Wanted” sign is always out. We are in need of many different skills that can also be learned along the way. With the advent of a new shop and lots of room to work, many different projects can proceed simultaneously. Contact Mechanical@nyswths.org for information on how to help. The new platform at “Snyder” station . Serving the Mine and Corn Maze. 19 CMO Gary Matthews busy doing prep work to replace stay bolts on locomotive #142.
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