...decided to chase after NJT's "Santa Claus Train" on the Raritan Valley Line instead of going trackside along the Lehigh Line on a sunny and cold Saturday morning. With NJT's GP40 seldom seen on the RVL, this was a good time to get some images of the two excursions. The first scene was taken in Raritan after all the passengers were on board. Judging by the size of the crowd, I would speculate that there was a good turnout at Raritan for this first run in comparision to previous years. The second scene was taken as the train approached Whitehouse traveling under a good head of steam on its first run of the day.
Motive power consisted of NJT 4218 and 4219. NJT 4218's history is that it was rebuilt from CR 3199 (GP40) and rebuilt as NJT 4218 (GP40PH-2B). NJT's 4219's hertiage can be traced back to its days as CSX/SBD 6822 and being rebuilt from NJT 4148 (GP40PH-2) and rebuilt as NJT 4219 (GP40PH-2B).
What was nice was getting this opportunity to do some photography when there are not that many chances to do this along the RVL. On weekends, service ceases on NJT's RVL in Raritan and weekdays are definitely out due to my job.
