Re Sharknoses on the Broker leaving Exchange Place, JCity

[daveklepper]

When the Broadway was discontinued and its name transferred to what was the General, but with the two-unit diner also moved, the surplus EMD E-units allowed retirement of Baldwins on the PRR NY&LB (Bay Head Junction) trains.

And the Baldwins had replaced the last steam passenger service in the immediate New York City area, K4s on the Broker into Exchange Place, Jersey City.   The Penn Station NY&LB trains exchanged their K4s for GG1s at South Amboy.

Someone else can supply the changeover dates.

[Overmod]

daveklepper

When the Broadway was discontinued and its name transferred to what was the General, but with the two-unit diner also moved, the surplus EMD E-units allowed retirement of Baldwins on the PRR NY&LB (Bay Head Junction) trains ... the Baldwins had replaced the last steam passenger service in the immediate New York City area, K4s on the Broker into Exchange Place, Jersey City.

Someone else can supply the changeover dates.

I think the timing will turn out to be different.  Baldwins persisted as serious power on the Long Branch comparatively late, and the reason I've always heard (since the 1970s) for their retirement was PRR policy on retiring 'minority' units determined in 1963.  Even the 'freight-converted' derated passenger units still had distinctive competence in contemporary commuter operation, but there is little doubt that the growing pool of idle E units would have a positive effect on maintenance 'issues'.

Presumably it would not be difficult to dispatch Baldwins from the engine house at South Amboy for service to Exchange Place, and I suspect it would make sense to use those locomotives (and the maintenance acumen concentrated for them) at the time of 'steam changeover' (thereby keeping the E unit pool available for more disparate or systemwide service).  What I'd find more likely in the original post is that increased availability of E units would lead to retirement of the Baldwins on the Broker (and any other diesel service out of Exchange Place requiring nominal 2000hp passenger power) before -- perhaps long before -- they were retired on actual Long Branch trains.

[daveklepper]

No conflict between your statement and mine.  Between ten and fifteen years ago Trains had an article on the Steel City, the overnight all-Pullman NY - Pittsburgh train, and it discussed both its discontiniuance and that of the Broadway to General change that occured afterward.  There was a comment in the article PRR discusions included that the E-units freed by these train-offs could then replace the Baldwins on the NY&LB for reducing maintenance costs.  And it is not simply the matter of Baldwins requiring more maintenance, but even more the costs of diffent stocks of spare parts.