Mixed Freight to Bowne Station!

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Ride a mixed freight train all the way from Flemington to Bowne Station!

Ride the Mixed Freight to Bowne Station! One Weekend Only! On July 22-23, come ride a genuine mixed-freight train all the way from Flemington to Bowne Station! Your journey will include a brief stop at Ringoes, a unique photo opportunity at Bowne Station, and a short lecture about the history of mixed freight trains and Bowne Station. Historic freight equipment provided by Pennsy Railcar Restorations. Click here for details and tickets! Every Saturday & Sunday: Summer Excursions & Bowne Station Local! Our Summer Excursions and the NEW " Bowne Station Local" are now operating most Saturdays and Sundays! On the Bowne Station Local, ride our newly rehabilitated railroad 2.5 miles from Ringoes towards Lambertville to our new stop at Bowne Station! Details and tickets available on our website! These trains run most Saturdays & Sundays through Labor Day!

From the Archives: CR's 7883 switching Tropicana reefers

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The date is November 23, 1987 as CR's 7883 goes about its task of positioning Tropicana's fifty-seven foot reefers at their distribution facility in South Kearny (NJ). "OJT", its moniker for Orange Juice Train, started operations on June 8, 1970. Those orange cars had a hula girl named "Tropic-Ana" painted on the side. Back then OJT was the food industry's first and only unit train. It still is running today via CSX lines but has been combined  with other freight and not strictly as a unit train of Tropicana products. As for CR 7883, it started out as PC 7883 and still is active today as NS 714, a RP-E4C Slug, according to the NSDASH9 website.

Notice of upcoming changes to Empire Service

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Select trains will use Grand Central Terminal this summer. Learn more. View as a web page SPECIAL MESSAGE  In our efforts to continue providing you with a safe and reliable travel experience, Amtrak® is accelerating already scheduled work to strengthen and improve operations at New York Penn Station during the summer. The Infrastructure Renewal program will advance several years of already planned work to improve conditions of tracks, switches, and other infrastructure at Penn Station into less than two months. Along with the previously announced service adjustments, the work will require three northbound and three southbound Empire Service® trains to/from Albany to use Grand Central Terminal [NYG] instead of New York Penn Station [NYP]. This change will affect schedules on weekdays from July 10 through September 1, 2017. If you are traveling on Empire Service trains via Grand Central Terminal this summer, here are a few things to keep in mind: • Schedules are now up to date for checking departure and arrival times or booking travel. Anyone with an impacted existing reservation has been contacted with new travel information. • Taxis and local transit are available for transferring between New York Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal. We encourage allowing for extra time if transferring between stations. • If you need assistance, Amtrak conductors will be available to help during boarding and detraining. • If you need additional assistance from an Amtrak ticket agent or other station employee, we recommend booking Empire Service trains that use New York Penn Station. There are many ways to stay informed about the Infrastructure Renewal at New York Penn Station project: • Learn more at Amtrak.com/NYPrenewal • Subscribe to email or text alerts at Amtrak.com/DelayAlerts or when booking your trip • Check your train status on Amtrak.com or the Amtrak mobile app • Follow @AmtrakNEC on Twitter for timely updates • Provide feedback at Amtrak.com/Contact We appreciate your patience and thank you for riding Amtrak. Amtrak.com Contact Us Terms and conditions apply. Amtrak, Amtrak Guest Rewards, and Empire Service are registered service marks of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation. Our mailing address is: Amtrak, Marketing Department 10 G Street NE Washington, DC 20002 Unsubscribe | Privacy Policy STAY CONNECTED

For this Independence Day!

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A glimpse back at the American Freedom Train on this July 4th holiday! Most of the images displayed show the American Freedom Train traveling around the country. However here it is on a cold winter's day at the Lebanon (NJ) station on what is now NJT's Raritan Valley Line. The lack of quality images in these undated photos that I took could be attributed to photographing this with an instamatic camera! However as the old adage states "A bad photo is better than no photo at all!"

Eastern Shore Railway Museum; Parksley, VA

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Was passing through Parksley, VA last Friday on our way down to Virginia Beach and saw a sign on Route 13 for the Eastern Shore Railway Museum. Having time to stop I saw this Wabash caboose on display and would later learn it was built in 1949 by the Wabash in its Decatur, IL shops. That cupola certainly has a distinctive shape! Driving down Parksley's Greenbush Road, I also came across these two covered hoppers still sporting their previous railroads on a siding at Associated Grain's facilities. The Delaware & Hudson hopper was number 12359 and had ATGX for reporting marks. Regarding the former Penn Central hopper that was labelled as RFMX 464822. Perhaps those two hoppers should also have been a part of the museum's collection of rolling stock. For a small town railroad museum the guided tour of their collection, especially the Pullman car, was very informative and interesting.

18N at Stanton Station

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With the Ringling Brothers Circus Train and Air Products heat exchanger moves now a distant memory going trackside, especially on a hot and humid day like this Sunday, is when I need some motivation. That motivation was provided when I read that NS's Interstate heritage unit was leading 18N east. I decided to head to Stanton Station (LEHL MP 53) where at least there was some shade to stay fairly cool while waiting for this train's arrival. Around 4 o'clock on Sunday afternoon was when it passed by my location. That trailing unit was NS 7660.

This Sat. Special Tour Added to NMRA GSD Summer Meet

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GSD Summer Event Reminder: This  coming  Saturday, July 1,  in Staten Island Special Tour Added - Details Below  Greetings! Special Attraction : Visit to OLD Gypsum Plant The existing plant, what is left of it, was built in 1926 and replaced two older buildings which burned down on this very same spot. Three buildings have already been torn down with raze dates of the rest, this summer and next summer. This will remove any trace of the plant and where it stood. The location is unique as it is one of the very few industries where the main line of a railroad, the Staten Island Railroad (a B&O subsidy) ran through the working plant. Not around it or near it, but through the plant. Built with conveyer belts running underneath the tracks to handle materials between buildings. By the way, all the tracks have been covered over during recent years since rail service was terminated in the area. It was discovered that 5 feet under the present track layer, is another set of tracks with a much smaller rail size. It is believed that when the line was electrified for passenger service, they leveled out the main line by simply covering over the old main line tracks. The old smoke stack from the steam power plant may remain as it is being used for by number of microwave companies. This plant produced not only products like sheet rock, but also joint compound used with it and a product called Pyroblock which was a fireproof block used in early construction. While we are not allowed in the buildings themselves, enough of the outside walls have been removed to see inside. Add to it, that the buildings are all of different construction methods, from brick to cement block to poured concrete to corrugated steel on steel frame. The remains of wooden bunkers are also visible. When looking at the main building from the street, you are actually looking at the second floor of the plant.  Gypsum ore was brought in by ships, which docked right at the plant. The railroad provided coal to the plant, as well as all the other materials needed in processing its products. At the end of processing, it also took away the finished product for rail delivery throughout the nation. Tom Wortmann, GSD  +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The GSD's summer event will be held on July 1 at the VFW hall at 49 The Boulevard on Staten Island.  The meet will feature two clinics:  Learning about the structures that comprise an anthracite mine and modeling trash for your layout.  The event will also feature Bring 'n Brag in the morning.   After a quick lunch on your own at one of the many local eateries, the afternoon will feature tours of several layouts  and the Gypsum Plant.   As always directions and maps will be provided at the meet. Donuts and coffee will also be served in the morning.  Maps for the local restaurants will be available at the end of the morning session. Please join us at 9 AM at the the VFW hall!  NOTE: New Location  This is not the Marine Corps League Hall where we have had prior GSD Meets. To closely view the location on Google Maps and get directions, click on the map or the button. Did you forget to read the latest issue of the Whistle Post?  This issue contains more information about the upcoming GSD event in Staten Island.  It also contains articles on the last GSD event in Bridgewater, the Achievement Program, making changes to a finished layout, and more.   To get your copy, just click here! Feel free to pass this information on to others by clicking on the image to the left OR you can just click your forward key and send it on. Please do so.  This e-mail is our Number One tool for spreading the word. STAY CONNECTED

NMRA Garden State Division, 537 Malcolm Road, Union, NJ 07083