NJ Day 4 – NS in Phillipsburg, NJ and Bethlehem, PA

Yesterday was another less than stellar weather day.  But like usual, that doesn’t stop me from going out to shoot when I can.  After work I decided to head west to a new spot for me – Phillipsburg, NJ, which is home to the Phillipsburg Railroad Historians‘ museum near the former CNJ PU Tower.  From there, I wasn’t sure what would happen.  I guess it would depend on what happened at Phillipsburg.  Luckily things were pretty good there, so I ended up continuing west to Bethlehem.  After leaving Bethlehem, I came away with more than just pictures.

So I left work yesterday under cloudy skies, trying to decide where I was going to go.  Bound Brook crossed my mind, but I’ve got a bunch of shots there – and plain old overcast skies didn’t appeal to me there.  Either nice and sunny days, or downpours work best for me there.  So I started running the maps through my head.  Phillipsburg came to mind.  It wasn’t all that far from Peapack, and if I wanted, I could continue about 20 minutes further west and hit Bethlehem.  So I checked the GPS for directions, and made my way to downtown Phillipsburg.

I got there, and not much was going on.  Two other railfans were there talking with each other.  While they chatted, I took a stroll through the museum there to pass the time before hopefully a train showed up, and got a couple detail shots of their former Ingersol-Rand 44 tonner

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With that done, I headed back to the car to listen to the scanner.  After a bit of sitting around (and watching a local chase his dog), we started chatting.  Turns out they were members of the PRRH, so we started talking about their preservation efforts, and I gave them a Cliff’s Notes version of the CERM.  While chewing the fat, we heard a westbound calling signals to the east – finally something to shoot other than the shit! (not that the conversation wasn’t interesting – quite the contrary!)

As they got closer to us, we found out it was 69Q, an empty unit ethanol train.  Not much longer, and 69Q came into view with something interesting – not only was there a standard cab locomotive on the point (an SD60 no less), but trailing was a BNSF unit!  The first foreign power I’ve seen in NJ!  First shot was of them approaching the equipment on display at the museum

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Then just the ethanol job passing by us

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And for ha-has, a couple going away shots of the BSNF widecab as they approached PU tower

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Recently NS put in a bunch of No Trespassing signs in the area, so I got a couple shots of the sign as the ethanol tanks rolled by

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With them heading west over the river, it was back to the BSing for a bit.  Hopefully there would be another train.

After another bout of discussion, it sounded like 33K was in the picture.  And a few minutes later, they appeared within our viewfinders

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Then something interesting – on the tail end of the train was an empty rail train!

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Not bad!  With 33K now west of us, it was time to split up.  With the scanner silent, I decided I’d head west to Bethlehem despite the fading light, and see what I could catch.

When I got there, not much was going on – scanner was silent, and nothing was in the yard area.  So I decided to check out the inside of the new Sands casino.

Well, it was nice, but it wasn’t really a “true” casino – everything inside was slots and video poker/roulette.  No table games at all.  Must be some Pennsylvania law.  Or I’m spoiled by having two Indian casinos quite literally in my back yard.  Either way, I played a little, and ended up walking out of there with all my money, as well as $150 of theirs!  I guess I like the Sands – that never happens to me at Foxwoods of Mohegan Sun…

Once I left the Sands it was dark, so I figured I’d check things out in the yard.  As I got down by CP-Bethlehem, I found NS train 25V sitting at the signals waiting for something.  So I got a few shots from an adjacent parking lot.

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On a whim, I figured I’d try a shot from up on the bridge.  Traffic didn’t seem to be too heavy, so vibration from the bridge moving shouldn’t be that big of an issue.  Just as I got up there and set up, I saw a pair of Lehigh Valley Rail management switchers pulling a string of doublestacks up alongside 25V.  So I quickly set up and got a shot of LVRM cutting off their cars and starting to move forward (along with the conductor’s lantern signals).  Of course the sillhouette of the Bethlehem Steel furnaces looms in the background.

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Then I moved out a bit on the bridge and got a shot of just 25V and the other cut of cars

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And finally a shot of 25Vs power pulling away from their cars so they can pick up what LVRM left for them.

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I called it a night at that point.  Four trains and an extra $150 in my pocket.  Couldn’t ask for much more!

Thanks for looking!
Tom