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)
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