Tag: CSAO Southern Secondary

Train’s mechanical trouble provides great photo op

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It doesn’t happen very often, but today’s edition of Conrail Shared Assets train SA-31 is sitting in Farmingdale, NJ, unable to continue its journey as a result of a mechnical problem with Norfolk Southern GP40-2 3022 (ex-CR 3315, blt 5/78). This short local would sit here under beautiful sunny skies for almost 4 days, before a ‘rescue’ locomotive was sent down from Browns yard, in Sayreville, NJ. Due to its very accessible location, and the great weather during this time, number 3022 must have been the most photographed locomotive in the country in early January, 2010, as railfans from near and far paid a visit to see this wounded warrior.

Image recorded January 9, 2010.  Train's mechanical trouble provides great photo opportunityClick on the image to display it at a larger size. Use your browser’s Back button to return to this page.

In Lakehurst, NJ, rails are quiet for first time in 149 years

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It is the end of an era as Conrail Shared Assets Symbol WPSA-31, with NS 5281 (EMD GP38-2, ex-Conrail 8078, built as Penn Central 8078 in February 1973) in charge, sits on the runaround track in Lakehurst, NJ, for the final time. The railroad was first built into Lakehurst when the Raritan & Delaware Bay RR came to town in 1861, as competition to the already established Camden & Amboy RR. Difficult financial times for the Raritan & Delaware Bay found itself reorganized into the New Jersey Southern Railroad in 1869, and 10 years later, in 1879, the line was acquired by The Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) as their Southern Division Mainline. For the following 97 years, the CNJ moved passengers (until 1957) and freight on the line from northern NJ to extreme southern NJ, until the formation of Conrail in 1976.

Conrail severed the Southern Division in 1978, with the southern terminus now here in Lakehurst, and referred to this line (now Red Bank to Lakehurst) as the Southern Secondary. The line remained in this configuration until December, 2010, when a new runaround track was built in Lakewood, NJ, some 5 miles to the north, to cut travel time and save money for new operator Conrail Shared Assets Operations (so designated after Conrail was split up between CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern RR in 1999). With the new runaround completed just 2 weeks before this photo, it would be put into operation on the following run of SA-31 the very next week.

It is with great sadness that I officially report that, for the first time in 149 years, there will be no trains in Lakehurst, New Jersey.

Image recorded December 3, 2010.

Conrail Shared Assets Symbol WPSA-31 sits on the runaround track in Lakehurst, NJ, for the final time

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Despite age and reduced volume, mainline still operational

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A former Conrail locomotive (ex-CR 3356, blt 3/79), CSX GP40-2 4431 mostly saw mainline service in her younger years. This line, the former CNJ Southern Division mainline, then CR Southern Secondary, now Conrail Shared Assets Southern Secondary, generally hosted smaller units, such as the GP38-2, GP15-1, and B23-7 model locomotives during the Conrail years (1976-1999).

Now that the bigger 4-axle units are getting older, this once proud mainline now sees once proud mainline locomotives, as seen here in Farmingdale, NJ, with CSAO symbol SA31 bringing its small train through town on her way south to Lakewood, NJ. This is a bittersweet moment; this line is not nearly what it once was, but it is operational and does see a once-weekly train where there could easily be rusted, overgrown, and abandoned rail for us all to lament over.

Many thanks to Woodhaven Lumber in Lakewood, NJ, for generating enough inbound traffic to keep the trains rolling on this old and historic line.

Image recorded April 29, 2010.

CSAO symbol SA31 bringing its small train through town on her way south to Lakewood, NJ.

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Sunset scene reveals deer in the headlights

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Unsure of whether to focus their attention on the photographer, or the EMD diesel-electric locomotive bearing down upon them, several deer are startled by the sudden flurry of activity around them in a truly wonderful image of rural railroading.

As you can tell by the snow covered rails, this line, the former Central Railroad of New Jersey Southern Division main line, does not see much activity any more. The line stretches from the NJ Transit North Jersey Coast line in Red Bank, NJ, and makes its way in a southwesterly direction to the current southern terminus in Lakehurst, and was once an important through route for the CNJ, connecting northern and extreme southern New Jersey.

Here, at sunset on a chilly late winter afternoon, Conrail Shared Assets Operations symbol SA-31 brings its dozen or so cars down the Southern Secondary on its weekly mission from Browns Yard in Sayreville, NJ, to the handful of customers in Farmingdale and Lakewood, NJ.  With the slow speeds on this line, CSX GP40-2 4431 (ex-CR 3356, blt 3/79) is no threat to the local wildlife, and these deer will safely disappear into the woods surrounding Farmingdale, NJ, before the crew reaches them.

Image recorded by Anthony Paci on February 19, 2010.

Sunset scene reveals deer in the headlights

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Freight trains dashing through snow to make up time lost

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Dashing through the snow (at the 10mph limit), Conrail Shared Assets train SA-31 does a bit of clearing along the right-of-way as she travels through Eatontown, NJ, on the Conrail Southern Secondary. With sunset approaching, long shadows lie across the rails, warning of impending darkness along the route through Monmouth and Ocean counties. Battling the worst winter on record, freight schedules throughout the northeast have been anything but ‘on-schedule’; no run in the past 10 days for this normally weekly train, hence the 12-car consist instead of the ‘normal’ 5 to 7 cars on any given run.

After a couple days of bright sun and non-frigid temperatures, CSX 4431 and the crew will have no problems traversing the line down to Lakehurst and return. Ex-Conrail GP40-2 3356 (blt 3/79) returns to home rails, 31 years on the job and still going strong for her new owner, CSX Transportation.

Image recorded February 19, 2010.

Freight trains dashing through snow to make up lost timeClick on the image to display it at a larger size. Use your browser’s Back button to return to this page.