(erielack) SJ Groves and track

["Tupaczewski, Paul R (Paul)" <paultup_@_lucent.com>]

> I'm curious how far east the tracks were laid on I-280?  I 
> remember seeing
> the track under the bridge at Mt. Prospect Avenue during 
> construction.

The tracks ran from right about where the M&E is all the way down the hill into Orange.

> I
> imagine the main purpose was to cart fill from the massive 
> cut east of Mt.
> Prospect Avenue and through East Orange??

Yes, they took the blasted rock and dumped it out into the swamps in Roseland as fill. They'd never be able to get away with this today!


>  The westbound 
> grade, however,
> would have been AT LEAST 5% (maybe 6%).

I heard the grade in both directions at West Orange was 6% (!!!)



> How many loads could these
> workhorses have taken at one time?

All photos seem to show about 6-7 loaded side-dump cars behind the U33C's. From the films Walt Appel was showing, they were working HARD. Exhaust was shooting out like a geyser.

Of course, I was also told by several people that the engineers were SJ Groves dump truck drivers who received minimal training on operating railroad locomotives, and they really were throttle jockeys - hammering the units into Notch 8 to start, and exceeding safe speed limits on what was mediocre track.

	- Paul

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