Lineage recalled of three mainline veteran trains

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In what could be a scene from Altoona or Harrisburg in the 1980’s, these three mainline veterans are actually getting ready to depart small Browns Yard, in Sayreville, NJ, in 2009, enroute back to Oak Island Yard in Newark. Let’s go over the lineage of these great locomotives, shall we?

Still un-repainted NS 3429 started life as Kansas City Southern SD40 612 in 10/66, then came to Conrail, and was rebuilt to SD40-2 standards as #6966. NS 1701 began as Erie Lackawanna SD45-2 3670 in 1972, then became CR 6655, working many years in helper service around Horseshoe Curve, finally being rebuilt to SD40-2 specs before the Conrail split-up in 1999. The far unit is NS 3428, sister to the 3429, also starting out as a Kansas City Southern unit, #608, in 11/66, then also rebuilt to Dash-2 standards as CR 6965.

Together these units comprise 123 years of service among them!! Without doubt, and literally without argument, the ElectroMotive Division of General Motors built the most dependable and longest-lasting diesel electric locomotives in the world from the 1950s through the 1980s.

Image recorded August 16, 2009

Three mainline veterans getting ready to depart small Browns Yard, in Sayreville, NJ, in 2009, enroute back to Oak Island Yard in Newark.

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Norfolk Southern 20G races east on the NS Lehigh Line

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On a hot and steamy August morning, , train 20G races east past CP Bound Brook on the Norfolk Southern Lehigh Line. Led by two General Electric locomotives (NS 9890, a C40-9W blt 11/04, and NS 8776, a C40-9 blt 3/95), she is about to pass the New Jersey Transit Bound Brook passenger station, immediately behind the photographer.

Image recorded August 16, 2009.

NS train 20G races east past CP Bound Brook on the Norfolk Southern Lehigh Line

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Conrail work train YPMA-95 spotted on Southern Secondary

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Under watchful eyes, Conrail work train YPMA-95 crosses Second St. in Lakewood, NJ, on Conrail’s Southern Secondary. What’s so special about a work train in the rain? Well, two things; this work train, picking up old ties lying beside the right of way, originated in Manville Yard in Manville, NJ, some 60 miles to the northwest of Lakewood (quite unusual to get a movement here from that far away), and, this is an SD40-2 on the Southern Secondary, which is nearly unheard of in the Conrail years (post-1976).

The Southern Secondary is a lightly used (3-4 times a month) line running from Red Bank to Lakehurst, NJ, over the former Central Railroad of New Jersey mainline, and Conrail rules dictate that only 4-axle power is to be used on sidings to serve the few customers that remain on the line. Since this train only traversed the ‘main’, if you will, no rules were ‘broken’, and this six-axle unit is a very rare and welcomed sight on this dreary spring day.

Image recorded June 5, 2009.

Conrail work train YPMA-95 spotted on Southern Secondary

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Welcome to RailsEast.com

Hello, and welcome! I appreciate your visit to my small, but slowly growing collection of railroad photographs from the eastern US. My images concentrate on the trains and locomotives of Norfolk Southern, CSX Transportation, and Conrail Shared Assets Operations in the northeast, along with other eastern, mid-Atlantic and southeastern shortline and commuter operations. Although I have the bulk of my work on the big RR archive site, I wanted to showcase my best photos and experiences in a larger viewing format, and thus RailsEast was born.

Feel free to leave a comment and voice your opinion, or just say Hello. Valid questions, criticism and corrections are encouraged, and will be responded to promptly. I hope that you enjoy my compilation, and I thank you again for stopping by.

Chris