30 minutes + 30 minutes = 8 trains

Well, I finally caught some freight trains down here in Northern NJ – all of which were on Conrail’s Shared Assets lines around Bound Brook and Manville, NJ. Oh, yeah, and there were a couple NJ Transit trains thrown in the mix also to round out the first day of spring. Why am I talking about 30 minute segments in the title? Read on…

This morning I decided to head out early and try to catch a little action along Conrails’ ex-Lehigh line in Manville, NJ. So I left the hotel about a half hour before dawn. There were still considerable clouds in the sky, but every so often I could see peeks of sky. Maybe I’d get some of those out trackside.

I decided on a spot behind the VFW in Manville just west of CP-BOUNDBROOK, which also sports a water tower that will be visible in a few shots I was planning. Now the question is – will I get any trains?

I pulled in, parked, grabbed my gear and walked up to the tracks. A quick look east showed me all red signals. Hmmm, maybe nothing was coming this way. But I looked west, and I saw what looked to be a headlight peeking over the grade. A couple minutes later I could see a Norfolk Southern widecab cresting the grade, and making their way towards me.

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A moment later, they were passing by the water tower in front of me.

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Then a shot of them passing by me, heading for Bound Brook

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Looking back west, I could see another headlight below the horizon

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And back east, a shot of the marker heading into the rising sunlight

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A few minutes later, that headlight slowly crested the grade, and I could see ditch lights. Here comes another eastbound!

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But this time, as it came closer, I saw it was a standard cab leader!

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Swapping the telephoto for the wide angle, I got a shot of this train passing the water tower

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And again, a going away shot, with some of the early morning sunlight reflecting off of the NS black

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Back to the telephoto, for a shot of the train heading for CP-BOUNDBROOK. notice the tail end of the last train just clearing the signals.

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But I loved how this one showed the heat plume from the locomotive’s exhausts distorting the high tension towers in the background

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Pretty cool! But a look to the west again revealed yet another headlight coming up the grade at me!

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But as it came closer, it was apparent to me this wasn’t another NS black & white. Nope, as it got closer, it was clear that this was a Canadian Pacific unit on the point!

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Again, the wide angle goes on for the shot at the water tower

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Then the going away shot, this time with a SOO and a St. Lawrence & Hudson unit in the consist

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And finally the marker

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Hey, a pretty good start to the day.

At this point, I checked my watch – I still had time before I had to leave to get up to work on time. So I waited around a bit. A couple minutes later, that familiar twinkling was on the horizon to the west again. Could that be another train heading my way?

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Yep, another NS!

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So another shot at the water tower was in order. But this time, I did it as a black & white

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And the standard going away shot

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Then finally, a telephoto shot of the train heading down the grade towards Bound Brook

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Not too bad! I was there just a hair over 30 minutes, and was able to catch 4 eastbound trains! So I packed up and headed to the office for the day. BTW, on the way out, I saw another westbound while stuck in traffic…

Fast forward to the evening. I got out a bit later than I expected, but still decided to head down to Bound Brook to check out the NJT station, as well as see if I could find the way into CP-BOUNDBROOK. Well, I got both things accomplished (thanks to Dave Horree for the directions into the CP).

I got to Bound Brook station just in time to catch a westbound from NYC pulling into the station

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And a shot into the sun of them pulling out the station after dropping off their passengers

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Checking out the schedule, the next train wasn’t due for another 20 minutes, so I scouted around for a bit. Looking west, from the south side of the station, I could see CP-BOUNDBROOK. OK, so it is pretty close by. So I figured I’d try to find it.

Well, needless to say, I found it, and Mr. Horree’s directions were right on. As soon as I got there, I checked things out, and saw an NS local heading for me

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Just then, another NJT westbound was pulling into the station. So I got a shot of the train, powered by two locomotives, with a large US flag waving in the wind behind it

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A couple minutes later, the local came rolling down the track towards me.

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Don’t ask me why I kept the toilet seat in the shot…it just adds something to it…heh…

After the short train rolled past me, I got a couple shots with that flag in the background

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Then they came to a stop, and sat there. Hmmm, was there another train coming?

A couple minutes later I got my answer – yep, another eastbound was coming through Bound Brook. So I got a pair of telephoto shots of it coming over the bridge west of the CP

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And a wide shot of the train rolling past me, and through the interlocking

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After watching the train roll past me, I decided to head back to the hotel. Not a bad 30 minutes again!

8 Trains in about a collective hour trackside. Not too bad at all…

Well, tomorrow is my last day here. I may try to head out again…we’ll see. Stay tuned…

Thanks for looking!
Tom