Farmingdale NJ Archives - RailsEast.com

Train’s mechanical trouble provides great photo op

Conrail

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. Click on the image to display it at a larger size. Use your browser’s Back button to return to this page.

Despite age and reduced volume, mainline still operational

Conrail

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.

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Sunset scene reveals deer in the headlights

Conrail, Guest Images

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.

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Conrail local freight train trundles through central NJ farmland

Conrail

No horses in the field today, but plenty of horses on the rails, as a 3,000hp EMD GP40-2 easily handles its short train on the Conrail Southern Secondary. Scenes like this are hard to find in central Monmouth County, NJ, these days, but there are still a few undisturbed parcels to be found among the housing developments of this popular area. Through the fence slats we find Conrail Shared Assets Operations local freight WPSA-31 trundling through the farmland just north of downtown Farmingdale on its way back north to Browns Yard in Sayreville, NJ, with CSX 4423 (ex-Conrail 3338, blt 6/78) in control.

Image recorded October 30, 2009. Click on the image to view at a larger size