Just amazing how railroads survived when you look at some of these clips..overgrown mainlines, rough tracks, equipment, etc. It looked as if they were holding on for dear life!.
I like this decrepit period. I remember stumbling upon some of this equipment stored in the closed Ford plant yard at Mahwah in 1983. What a treasure trove that was.
@@thomasdowling6594 I never got to see that either. I was 13 in 1983 and started taking photos that year. 1983 was the year they (newly formed NJT) abandoned the old main for the Graham Line. I do remember seeing the old double track Erie main from the car passing over it on route 17 somewhere near Chester. For years (prior to 1983), it was shiny steel, then rusted track, then it was gone. I also have a memory of passing through Salisbury Mills, NY on Route 94 near Moodna Viaduct sometime around 1982. Passing under the Graham Line bridge which still had "ERIE" proudly displayed, I saw excavation activity as a new road was carved through the woods leading up to the tracks. I asked my father, "what are they doing there" and he replied, "they are building a train station". That was the Salisbury Mills station.
@@1990sRailfan I actually have an old schedule from August 1982 showing the short lived shuttle service between Middletown and Suffern. It’s basically a one page sheet in typeface with Metro North Commuter Rail Division at the top.
@@thomasdowling6594 Ah, that's right. I kept mentioning NJT, but technically this is Metro North operated by NJT crews. That schedule sounds interesting. Blows my mind this is almost 40 years ago.
The second song makes me feel like I'm in England and fourth is like a german polka. The next is like being in an old juke joint and the one that starts at the end just for a couple seconds sounds like the mid sixties. I like the music. It seems to transport me to different places. Or maybe I'm just off my rocker. I don't know which. 🤔 👍Good early footage. Enjoyed this very much!
by the way..... it's Somerville..... I should know. That's where I was born.... parents were living at 212 Altamont Place, and mom's parents were living at 27 Somerset Street. Look on Google Maps, and you'll see. this is where i got my love of trains from -- would hear them at night, working in and out of the yard..... miss that sooooo much.
The train passing by at 3:23 is a SEPTA electric locomotive. This one in particular will most likely go down the RVL to Bound Brook, then merge onto the West Trenton Line bound for Philadelphia.
@@christophermaine4085 until the early 80s there was a couple of peak runs between Newark Penn and Reading Terminal via the old CNJ and West Trenton branch. Back in the day there was direct service to NYC via the PRR Chestnut Hill branch and NEC as well.
Got to reactivate it to Bethlehem at least because the main freeway William Penn Highway lightning division Highway Interstate 78 suffers from heavy traffic now but the disadvantage of the train is that it's going to take an hour 40 to Midtown Manhattan unlike the bus which will win by 10 minutes 1h30.
The biggest problem is that the area of the track that cuts through Phillipsburg, Bloomsbury, all the way up to the west end of High Bridge is so overgrown with vegetation and in horrible shape. It's also siding track owned by Norfolk Southern.
