Yeah Ive seen those cars come through Cranford on the lehigh line The Centennial Ave bridge still bears LV in small <> ... "Dlw1el2_@_aol.com" wrote: > > Due to an NS derailment somewhere in North Carolina my train TV212 was running > four hours late today. As we exited Pattenburg on the main and entered the > first curve to the East, a hind end comes into view on the controlled siding. > The first thought that enters the brain is Oh we are leaping somebody, but a > closer look also reveals that something is different looking. I then jokingly > say, Oh we have a mixed train out here today, since the second hind car is a > coach with a classic clear story roof line. As we pass the eye does a quick > scan and picks up the big SRNJ on the coach, which immediately tells me it > belonged to the Southern Railroad of New Jersey. About this time the engineer > starts saying something, but my eyes and brain go back to scanning the cars > near the coach. > > When passing trains on adjacent tracks I am always cognizant of open plug > doors, metal hanging out of gons, and an assortment of other potential > hazards, but I have always been very keen on looking for odd ball, and in > particular old cars. When it comes to covered hoppers the giveaway is always > the hatches. > > Now from a few random sightings over the years I was aware of Conrail still > having at least one Ex Reading, square hatch hopper in active engine sand > service. Four times a week I roll by part of the Reading Technical and > Historical Societies rolling stock collection at Temple Pa. Always with envy, > I look at the square hatch ex cement hopper they have already saved. I always > then think of the Ex Lackawanna cement hopper that has sat at Enola for years, > defying the scrap metal gods on a daily basis by its sheer existence. > > As I spin in the seat, speed and dirty windows tend to cloud what the eye is > picking up on. To most Railroad enthusiasts the most unimportant, trivial > occurrence has just happened. In what seems like a hundredth of a second > square hatches seem to have appeared and disappeared. It could have been > mirage, but I trust my eye. It could have been one car, but I think it was > more. Is that possible? FM Trainmasters and Alco PAs don't exist, or do they. > The engineer is still asking questions about the coach, but I haven't heard a > thing he has said, and out of the blue I give him an unrequested history > lesson on square hatch hopper cars,and how rare they are. In reality he > probably would have rather heard about the mating habits of a sloth, but he > wasn't in luck. I had seen a shooting star, but as usual didn't get the chance > to make a wish. > > A later check of ALCA01 consist revealed the hind car as RDG 93536 Sq hatches, > coach SRNJ 9936, followed by CR 74228 round hatches, followed by RDG 93532 Sq > hatches. Shooting stars do happen, and in 1998 multiple square hatch covered > hoppers can show up in any train. So regardless of the time of day or night, > be keen of eye, and have a wish ready. > > Regards, > > Bob > > ------------------------------------------------------------ > Visit the erielack photopage at http://el-list.railfan.net ------------------------------------------------------------ Visit the erielack photopage at http://el-list.railfan.net ------------------------------
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