RE: (erielack) Re: horn blowing

["Montgomery, Edward T" <Edward.Montgomery_@_fcps.edu>]

In the 70's the engine crew working the Totowa Industrial Spur often
served as a pusher for freights going over "The Notch".  It was kind of
odd to see new power on the front with a GP7 or RS3 pushing.

Ed Montgomery


- -----Original Message-----
From: erielack-owner_@_lists.elhts.org
[mailto:erielack-owner_@_lists.elhts.org] On Behalf Of Len VanderJagt
Sent: Tuesday, September 26, 2006 10:25 AM
To: erielack_@_lists.elhts.org
Subject: (erielack) Re: horn blowing

Shortly after the Erie main was severed in Passaic and the new
connection 
was built in Mountain View, and Port Morris yard was abandoned, the EL
began 
running six through freights daily over the old Greenwood Lake.  NE2 
typically followed the morning rush, and New York 98 would make it up
the 
hill at great notch prior to the evening rush.

Late morning westbound P. burger would run, and the eastbound P. burger
was 
supposed to also precede the evening westbound rush.  There would be an 
afternoon "ordinary", at one point designated X-1, which was a typical
Erie 
junker taking as many empty cars West as possible.

The work assigned to this westbound changed over the years.  For
example, 
empty "water cars" returning to Drew chemical in Boonton might be set
off. 
Pick up/set off at Denville was routine for some time.

What really ticked off the residents in upper Montclair was HS-9. As I 
recall, this job was called somewhere between eight o'clock and 9:30
p.m.. 
The train was made up in Hoboken, the road units having been delivered 
earlier from Croxton.  This train, if long enough, would double into the

hole on track 4, and then pulling, across all the way over and West End,
of 
course.  I remember one night I was on board with a total of 103 cars
and 
three big FMs.

So... late evenings in the tranquil burb of upper Montclair were rocked
by 
the sound of major head and power pulling for all they were worth
anything 
much to make the grade at Montclair Heights, and in addition, blowing
for 
crossings.  In fact, if he were on the other side of the hill at great
notch 
you could listen to this guy approaching for 10 to 15 minutes if the
wind 
was favorable.  When the wind was the other way, you could hear the
engines 
open up after clearing the tight radius connector at Mountain View.  No,

most engineers did not wait for the caboose to clear, if they wanted to
make 
the hill with a heavy train.

Every ex-number of months, the local papers (Patterson evening news,
Newark 
evening news, Newark Star-Ledger) would have the usual articles about 
residents complaining about noise.

Way way back in the day, before my time, there were multiple jobs on the

Greenwood Lake division, not just the Greenwood Lake haul.  But there
were 
never, of course, road freight.  The "other shoe" that dropped following
the 
ultimately disastrous (for both the city and the railroad) abandonment
of 
the Erie main in Passaic and DL&W freight main around Garrett mountain
was 
the noise and traffic on what had forever been a commuter line, and to
our 
delight, the institution of "mountain railroading" via the Greenwood
Lake. 
The "new" signals were installed on the double track east of great
notch, 
and the interlocking control at great notch relocated to the East End 
dispatcher's board, taken out of great notch station.

Finally, a sure fire way to spur this community response was to have a
wreck 
on the Erie side between howell's junction and Binghamton.  At that
time, 
the Erie track was not in good shape, and this was not a terribly
infrequent 
occurrence.  Then, everything came down the DL&W to the Greenwood Lake, 
which would see a parade of eastbounds on their knees running on each 
other's block (G - signal restricted speed) before or after the
westbound 
rush hour, having been held up at Lincoln Park, rainbow Lakes, Dover,
and 
Port Morris. As soon as that power got in and serviced, the westbound
parade 
would then start and run through the night until the eastbound rush tied
up 
the railroad west of great notch.

To my recollection, it seems there were various "agreements" reached at 
various times, some quite informal, with regard to "laying off the
horn." 
Some engineers who were regulars on that side, such as Bob Fuller and
Bob 
Kellogg almost never met anything near the letter of the rule with
regard to 
grade crossing blowing anyway.  You could tell who the engineer was by
the 
whistle use.  I never talked with them about whether they thought they
might 
be protecting their coveted jobs, but it is a plausible notion, in 
retrospect.  Anyway, all the crews who regularly were working the Erie
side 
would come blasting through the Montclair's leaning on those horns and 
blasting the birds out of their night roosts, thunder in the air, ground

shaking.  Community uproar followed.

By the way, during those times in the 60s, pushers were not assigned,
but 
the Greenwood Lake haul would occasionally be used to shove a
particularly 
heavy train from Mountain View to Montclair Heights.  More typical, the 
train either made it or fell down on its own, and would then double the
hill 
using the crossovers just East of Montclair Heights station.

Len VanderJagt



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