Are there any great places in northern/central jersey to go watch some trains? If you know of any, please let me know.
My Model Railroad: Tri State RailMy Photos on Flickr: FlickrMy Videos on Youtube: YoutubeMy Photos on RRPA: RR Picture Archives
A few off the top of my head:
Bound Brook NJ - CSX, NS and NJT all within a few hundred feet of each other.
Any station on the NEC - lots of Amtrak and NJT action. Princeton Jct is nice because it also has the branch to Princeton.
The park along the Raritan River in New Brunswick - a good view of the NEC bridge over the river.
The Navesink River bridge on the NJT Coast Line.
-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
I'd second all of these locations from Don.
I grew up in North Jersey and never get tired of seeing the volume and variety of rail action. Given train speeds and traffic, you won't really be able to chase anything effectively, so the first question becomes what you want to see, then where should you go to see it.
On the passenger side, the North Jersey Coast Line has a lot of fantastic bridges--at South Amboy, Red Bank, Belmar, and Point Pleasant. But train volumes are relatively low, especially on the weekends.
The Northeast Corridor is by far the busiest line in North Jersey, and that park in New Brunswick is great, as are a lot of the stations.
On the freight side, Bound Brook is probably your best bet for variety and volume. The CSX River Sub (ex-West Shore) has around 30 trains a day and good places to watch in Ridgefield Park, Teaneck, and Haworth.
Some of my favorite rail activities involve riding the rapid transit lines. They're steeped in history and you'll see a lot. The PATH train between Newark and the World Trade Center takes you across two drawbridges, inside CSX's South Kearny intermodal, through the first rail cut in the Palisades, and is anchored by art-deco Newark Penn Station at one end and Ground Zero in Manhattan at the other end.
The Hudson-Bergen light rail line's north end is next to a CSX intermodal yard, and the route goes through the old 1880s West Shore tunnel, stops at NJT's fantastic Hoboken Terminal, then paces a Conrail freight line through Jersey City to Bayonne.
The Newark City Subway (now it's the Newark Light Rail) links Newark's two historic train stations, plus runs through the bed of the old Morris Canal.
And the RiverLINE between Camden and Trenton not only uses part of the first railroad in New Jersey (thd old Camden & Amboy) but runs right by Pavonia Yard, Conrail's freight hub for the South Jersey/Philpadehia area.
PATCO leaves Philadelphia for a run over the Ben Franklin suspension bridge, and some fast running through South Jersey's suburbs.
All great stuff!
Matt Van Hattem
Senior Editor
In New Jersey, you just have to remember that few lines have real freight runs anymore and they are concentrated on two or three lines really. Just be sure to be at a safe area from the tracks as they still do ask questions occasionally.
I should also note (my parents live on the NJ Transit line in Netcong) that any tracks shared my NJT will be patrolled.
I was taking pictures of an NJT Maintainence train from their front porch, and NJT Police asked me what I was doing.
Yeah, im from around there so im familiar with the area. I didnt know that they were that tight on security.
NJTtransit can be very bad with people taking pictures I've heard. Be careful if you do so.
OK thanks for the tip!
I probably should write a seperate and new post, but here goes: define "railfanning". There are so many aspects and definitions here. To see? To see what? To take pictures? To take pictures of what? To delve into history? To be contemporary? To just sit someplace an watch? Freight? Passenger? Both? Commuter rail or rapid transit? Long haul passenger trains or lumbering freight? To ride? Just to see trains pass by or to see and understand the operation(s)? Going back or coming for the first time? To answer the general question about where to "railfan" depends on what you want as a railfan. All the above or none of the above? Each of us has a different take on what we call "railfanning". The most fun, I find, is combining it all as often as possible.
RIDEWITHMEHENRY is the name for our almost monthly day of riding trains and transit in either the NYCity or Philadelphia areas including all commuter lines, Amtrak, subways, light rail and trolleys, bus and ferries when warranted. No fees, just let us know you want to join the ride and pay your fares. Ask to be on our email list or find us on FB as RIDEWITHMEHENRY (all caps) to get descriptions of each outing.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.