Full Size Dioramas

United Railroad Historical Society; Boonton, N.J., September 21, 2014

The diorama is something often produced by modelers -- a small scene showing what was or what might have been. But dioramas can often be produced in full size, as well. Such was the case at the  open house held by the United Railroad Historical Society of New Jersey at its restoration shop in Boonton.

The URHS was established in the late 1980s to assist in the establishment of a state-funded railroad museum; three decades later, the state has yet to act on funding such a project. But back in the beginning, New Jersey Transit was on the brink of a complete modernization of most of its commuter lines in the northern part of the state. The agency asked the URHS which pieces of equipment were worthy of saving. The URHS identified some 60 pieces of equipment and sent the list to NJT. The transit agency gulped -- but to the amazement of everyone, donated nearly all the items on the list.

United Railroad Historical Society; Boonton, N.J., September 21, 2014

The URHS found itself in possession of a ton of equipment including three GG1 electric locomotives, several E8 passenger diesels, a fleet of passenger cars and some former multiple-unit electric cars that worked for the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western; there was a host of other equipment as well. The collection was put into temporary storage at a variety of locations around the state awaiting the funding for the state museum. A restoration yard of sorts was established at one of the sites in Lebanon, N.J. As the years dragged on, though, and no museum was forthcoming, one by one the owners of the "temporary" storage locations asked URHS to move its equipment. A permanent site needed to be found.

One thing URHS was able to accomplish was getting some of the equipment restored. Various short lines and tourist railroads leased URHS equipment for favorable rates with the understanding they would restore the units. Even Metro North, the New York commuter operator, leased a pair of ex-Chicago & North Western F7s under the condition that they come back to URHS in running condition -- and painted for the Lehigh Valley! The generous rules around various federal transportation funding bills allowed more equipment to be restored.

United Railroad Historical Society; Boonton, N.J.; September 21, 2014

 Finally, a permanent home was found for the collection when NJ Transit donated its unused rail yard in Boonton. The equipment that hadn't been leased out was gathered and moved to the new site. A restoration shop, cleverly built out of storage containers, was constructed. Money from donations and grants was still coming in, and equipment began to enter the shop and come out at least cosmetically restored. A few luxury passenger cars had been put back into service, fully certified to run on Amtrak, to generate additional revenue. The crown jewel of the fleet is the Hickory Creek, an observation car that ran on the New York Central's 20th Century Limited.

All this brings us back to dioramas. The facility at Boonton is a restoration yard, not a museum site. Nonetheless, each year the URHS holds an open house at the facility. The space is limited, but for photographers there are a couple of "dioramas" set up. The effect is especially effective after dark when night photography comes into play.

United Railroad Historical Society; Boonton, N.J.; September 27, 2014

For the open house, one end of the shop complex held a New York Central scene. The Hickory Creek was posed next to E8 passenger diesel No. 4083. No. 4083 wears a love-it-or-hate-it experimental scheme of jade green the NYC tested in the 1960s -- No. 4083 was one of six units to receive the scheme, and is the only survivor. Perhaps this scene could represent the eastbound and westbound 20th Century Limiteds meeting somewhere in the dark, or perhaps the engine change at the Harmon Shops in Croton, N.Y., where electric locomotives that led the train out of Grand Central Terminal were swapped for diesels for the rest of the run to Chicago.

United Railroad Historical Society; Boonton, N.J.; September 27, 2014

The other end of the shop featured units that operated for New Jersey Transit on its New York & Long Branch service from Hoboken and New York City to Bay Head, serving the northern towns of the Jersey shore. In the early 1980s NJT trains left Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan behind GG1 electric locomotives that had served the Pennsylvania Railroad since the 1930s and 1940s. At South Amboy the massive motors were swapped out for E8 passenger diesels, classics in their own right, to continue on to Bay Head.

United Railroad Historical Society; Boonton, N.J.; September 27, 2014

 This scene was a slight mismatch of eras, however. By the time NJT got ahold of GG1s for service, they had lost their attractive Brunswick green paint and gold striping, replaced by solid black from when they worked for Penn Central. Thus, in real life the good-looking blue and silver NJT diesels would not have ever appeared with Pennsy-painted GG1s. Nonetheless, the locomotives did work together at South Amboy at one time.

United Railroad Historical Society; Boonton, N.J.; September 27, 2014

The URHS has done a remarkable job in the cosmetic restoration of these two GG1s. No. 4877 has received the five-stripe whiskers scheme, while No. 4879 has the single large stripe with a larger Pennsy keystone on the side. Both look really good.

United Railroad Historical Society; Boonton, N.J.; September 27, 2014

So there you have some full-size modeling. Perhaps someday the state will finally establish the transportation museum and the equipment will be more readily available to the public. In the meantime, watch for the URHS open house each September. For more information check out the URHS website.  For more daytime photos of the equipment at Boonton you can click here. For more night photos from Boonton you can click here and scroll to the second page.

Moving a GG1

Amtrak; Harris Tower, Harrisburg, Penn.; April 5, 2014

On January 15, 1938, the city of Harrisburg, Penn., saw the arrival of its first electric-powered passenger train. On the point of the Metropolitan that day was GG1 No. 4859, built by PRR in its Altoona shops just a month earlier. This sleek GG1, designed by Raymond Loewy, would primarily power passenger trains for the Pennsy until 1964, when it was transferred to freight service (although it could be occasionally found pulling passengers on New York-Philadelphia "Clockers" or in commuter service on the New York & Long Branch in New Jersey). No. 4859 went from the PRR to Penn Central in the 1967 merger, then on to Conrail in 1976. Conrail phased out electric freight operations, and No. 4859 powered the last Conrail GG1-powered freight before being retired in November 1979.

Noting the historical significance of the locomotive to its city's history, the Harrisburg Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society purchased No. 4859 and donated it to the Harrisburg Redevelopment Authority. It was cosmetically restored, deeded to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and moved into the Harrisburg Transportation Center (the former Pennsy station) on November 13, 1986. For the next 27 years it would sit on display under the train shed, ultimately being joined by caboose ("cabin car" in PRR terminology) No. 980016. It has the distinction of being listed on the National Register of Historic Places twice (once in 1982 while undergoing restoration in Strasburg, Penn., and again in 2004 in Harrisburg) and was bestowed the title of the official electric locomotive of  the  state of Pennsylvania in 1987. The Harrisburg Chapter once again became owners of the locomotive in 2009 when it was deaccessioned by the Museum Commission.

The Harrisburg Transportation Center is slated to undergo a massive improvement project, including new trackwork, signals and platforms, and No. 4859 was in the way. Amtrak and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation devised a plan to move the GG1 and cabin car 1000 feet west of the station, where they would be "cocooned" for a three-year period; the cocooning will protect the equipment from the elements while still allowing air to circulate.

April 5, 2014, marked the day of the move. The sun was trying to peek through the clouds as rail photographers gathered at Harris Tower (also owned by the Harrisburg Chapter NRHS). On the radio scanner, the crew of Amtrak B32-8 No. 514 could be heard switching to get ready for the move. Amtrak greased the rails on some curves and switches so the long wheelbase of the GG1 could slide on through.

Amtrak; Harris Tower, Harrisburg, Penn.; April 5, 2014

Norfolk Southern's busy main line passes next to the station complex, where freights swing off the former Reading Company main at Capitol Tower (just railroad east of the station) and onto the former PRR to continue west.

Norfolk Southern; Harris Tower, Harrisburg, Penn.; April 5, 2014

First out was the cabin car. The display track is stub-ended, so Amtrak No. 514 had to first pull the equipment east, change tracks, and then push west past Harris Tower to the final storage location. A group of Amtrak and PennDOT employees, as well as members of the media, were documenting the move from the ground and from the back of the caboose.

Amtrak; Harris Tower, Harrisburg, Penn.; April 5, 2014

As the cabin car approached the end of the Market Street Running Track, where it would be uncoupled and left, a Norfolk Southern eastbound freight made an appearance.

Amtrak and Norfolk Southern; Harrisburg, Penn.; April ,  2014

No. 514 went back to the station to retrieve No. 4859. Meanwhile, on the other side of the State Street Bridge, an eastbound Norfolk Southern train led by NS's Norfolk & Western heritage locomotive, was getting ready to head out. The photo line on the bridge watched as the nose of No. 4859 poked out from under the station canopy at the same time as the freight started moving. Was there time to run across State Street to shoot the freight and get back across State Street in time to shoot the GG1 passing Harris Tower. Everyone looked south, then north, then south again, then north again. As soon as it became apparent that there would be time for both, about 25 photographers charged across State Street to get the heritage unit.

Norfolk Southern; Harrisburg, Penn.; April 5, 2014

Racing back across State Street, the photographers got a Pennsy electric locomotive passing a Pennsy tower as No. 4859 gingerly stepped through the switches on its way west.

Amtrak; Harris Tower, Harrisburg, Penn.; April 5, 2014

Things stayed busy, as empty intermodal cars at the rear of the train pulled by the N&W unit, a second eastbound freight and the westbound GG1 all passed. In a few more minutes, No. 4859 would be reunited with its companion cabin car and the two would await cocooning. They will emerge from their cocoons sometime in 2017 and once again a GG1 will briefly move along the rails of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Amtrak and Norfolk Southern; Harrisburg, Penn.; April 5, 2014

A complete photo gallery of the day can be found here.

Cool Chromes -- From the Bridge

Cool Chromes is a semi-regular mini-feature looking at some slides that have recently passed through my scanner.

Union Pacific 844 and Frisco 1522; St. Louis, Mo.; June 1990

In this edition of Cool Chromes we'll look at a few shots taken from a bridge. We'll start our selection with a view of Union Pacific 4-8-4 No. 844 (sporting the spiffy Greyhound scheme it wore for a few years) along with Frisco 4-8-2 No. 1522 in St. Louis in June 1990. The pair had been a part of the National Railway Historical Society Convention in the Gateway City, and the 844 had to head back to Cheyenne while the 1522 needed to get back to the National Museum of Transport in the St. Louis suburbs. Since the 844 was heading that way anyhow, the 1522 was tucked in behind the Northern and dropped at the museum grounds. Here the two are getting ready to get on the train for the westward trek.

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Caltrain; San Francisco, Calif.; June 20, 1999

Next we have a shot from the Left Coast. Caltrain operates commuter service between San Francisco and San Jose (with some trains continuing on to Gilroy). Leaving San Francisco on the former Southern Pacific, trains pass through three tunnels in the city limits. The first tunnel's south portal is at Cesar Chavez Street (formerly Army Street) and the third pops out just north of the Bayshore commuter station. This scene is from the middle tunnel, from the Williams Avenue overpass on June 20, 1999. This train is actually pushing north -- the train is going away from the bridge into the tunnel.

Back in 1999 Metro-North Railroad, the commuter operator for trains running north and northeast out of New York City, painted a pair of FL9 locomotives into the paint scheme of the New York Central to celebrate the 150th anniversary of NYC and Metro-North predecessor Hudson River Railroad's arrival in the city of Peekskill. The duo is seen here heading north on the NYC Water Level Route emerging from the tunnel under Breakneck Ridge just north of Cold Spring, N.Y.; the view is from the pedestrian bridge at the Breakneck Ridge station. The pair retained their NYC colors and most often worked separately until they were donated to museums.

Metro-North; Breakneck Ridge, N.Y.; October 2, 1999

Our final view from a bridge is at Port Royal, Penn. Since we just saw a shot above from the former New York Central, we need to give NYC's premier rival, the Pennsylvania Railroad, its due. After going to Penn Central and then Conrail, the ex-Pennsy main line ultimately wound up in the hands of Norfolk Southern. In this scene from October 2000 we see a NS eastbound auto rack train (led by SD40-2 No. 3397 still in Conrail paint) passing a couple of ex-PRR signals in Port Royal, Penn.

Norfolk Southern; Port Royal, Penn.; October 2000