Back in NJ again for a couple days. Yesterday I mixed things up a bit – no NJ Transit stuff at all, but I did catch some Norfolk Southern, Morristown & Erie, as well as the elusive Lehigh Valley Rail Management switchers. Yep, for those of you who are paying attention, I did say LVRB, and yes that does mean I went to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania for a change of pace. Hey, it’s only 50 minutes to the west, so why not?
The day started out under crystal clear blue skies in north-central New Jersey. So I figured that after I got my rental car at the Morristown Municipal Airport, I’d take a swing by the Morristown & Erie shops to see what was up.
A few minutes later I got to the parking lot behind Staples, and looked around. Not much different than last week when I dropped by – a pair of Alcos and the Plymouth switcher were outside the shop building. One of the Alcos was running, though. So I got a few shots, and headed to the office.
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Fast forward to 5pm. After a full day of training, I was ready to get out and shoot a bit. The sun was coming in and out of the clouds, so maybe I could get lucky. Over lunch I had been mulling around the idea of heading west to Bethlehem, PA, and Google maps was telling me it would be about a 50 minute trip. I figured what the hell – it was worth the trip west to see what I could get. And maybe the clouds would clear up a bit by the time I got out there.
About 55 minutes later (I stopped at a McD’s for dinner), I pulled into Bethlehem, PA and found a parking lot near the New Street Bridge, fed the meter, and hiked up the sidewalk on the east side of the bridge. As I got to the top, I was greeted by a nice view of the old Bethlehem Steel plant to the east, surrounded by a number of tracks.
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Now the waiting game. The clouds kept coming by and obscuring the sun periodically. Hey, it’s still a nice view, despite the intermittent cloud cover.
A little while later, I heard something that sounded like flange squeal behind me. A look across the bridge showed a NS freight heading over the Lehigh River (either 32A or 36G – didn’t catch the symbol on the scanner).
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Still plenty of clouds, but there were a couple breaks. Maybe I’d get lucky…
Then the freight came through the crossovers at CP-88
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A switch to the wide angle as the power pulled under the bridge, with the steel mill in the distant background.
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Next I put the telephoto back on, and moved out on the bridge over the Lehigh River to get a shot with some of the buildings in the background
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And the shot I wanted, albeit without sun
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But a couple moments later, a spot of sun began to break out over the train!
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And now, in complete sun, I got a shot of the steel mill dwarfing the passing freight
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Now back to wait mode.
During the wait, a PennStar helicopter passed overhead (PA’s version of CT’s LifeStar).
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Not long after that, something caught my eye to the east – a headlight! But it was on something yellow…hmmm, UP?
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Nope, too small for a UP unit, so that meant only one thing – the Lehigh Valley Rail Management was bringing interchange traffic out for NS to pick up. And as a bonus, the sun was in full force! So here’s a trio of shots of the switchers bringing the cars up past the old mill.
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Then the conductor got off to make the cut
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While waiting, I got a shot with the waving US flag in the background
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And moving back for a vertical, including the mill
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Then the power pulled away from the cars
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And switched to the adjacent track
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Then made their way back east
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Back to waiting.
A little while later, I heard horns to the west. Well, this was good – we’re back to mostly clear blue skies, and some pretty sweet sunlight. A couple minutes later, an eastbound NS stack train came rolling under the bridge (my guess is it was 20W). And there was a surprise not only on the point, but also the 2nd engine back. The train was led by an ex-Conrail SD50, and a BNSF warbonnet, and followed by four NS widecabs
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And for the final train shot of the evening, I zoomed all the way in and got a shot of the train heading off in the distance. But not only is this a zoom, but it’s a rather large crop of the original image.
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Still a pretty cool view.
I waited around a bit longer, and got a couple other shots.
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And with the shadows creeping up and over the banks of the Lehigh River, I decided to call it a day. But first, I checked out the CP-88 area, and got a shot of the bridge crossing the Lehigh River
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After that, I packed things up and headed back to the hotel. Well worth the trip west…might have to do it again…
Now to give credit where it’s due. The site parailfan.com was a huge help in getting the shots, specifically the Allentown & Bethlehem Railfan Guide. It was a huge help in planning where to park, where to shoot, etc. Thanks to Nick Anshant and Dave Abeles, who wrote the guide!
Thanks for looking!
Tom
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