I received messages from a number of correspondents that Amtrak’s newest electric locomotive, No. 600, built by Siemens for use on the Northeast Corridor, would go into revenue service on Friday, February 7. It would pull Northeast Regional train 171, which runs from New York’s Pennsylvania Station to Lynchburg, Virginia, as far as Washington, D. C. It was a beautiful day for photos, and so I decided to try catching up with the train at Newark Airport station (EWR), where it was scheduled to stop at 12:57.
No. 600 is the first of 70 ACS-64 units which will replace Amtrak’s entire fleet of electric locomotives in the next few years, so I decided to try to photograph a number of other Amtrak trains at that location, hoping to catch some HHP-8s as well as the ubiquitous Swedish-built AEM-7s. It was a cold but sunny day, with snow glistening on the ground in areas where it did not interfere with motor traffic and pedestrian movement. Other than the cold and some wind, it was a perfect day for fresh air and slide taking.
Having visited Newark Airport station by rail on previous occasions for similar reasons, I would follow the same route as in the past, driving to the Grove Street terminal of Newark’s light rail line (still known to many as the Newark City Subway), where I would leave my car in the parking lot, ride an LRV to Newark Penn Station, and then take a New Jersey Transit local train to the airport station.
Looking at various timetables, I decided I’d like to get there before the Silver Star passed through at about 11:28. If possible I could also photograph the Pennsylvanian about thirteen minutes earlier, and then there would also be
a southbound Acela Express in between. For purposes of this report, I’m going to describe the Corridor as running north-south, even though we know that the “official” directions for the Pennsylvania Railroad and its successors were traditionally east-west. I’m also going to use the departure times from Penn Station, New York to describe the trains I saw and photographed, rather than their numbers, which I’m sure few of you have memorized. Suffice to say that most Amtrak trains would reach Newark Airport station between 20 and 25 minutes later. (Of course it takes at least 25 minutes for New Jersey Transit trains to travel from New York to Newark Airport, mainly because of their Secaucus stop. But except for my personal transportation, I was going to be more interested in Amtrak equipment today, at least that’s what I thought.
It may be desirable to describe the station at this point. It’s owned by the Port Authority and is connected by overhead mezzanine to the airport’s Air Train, which is a monorail that operates between the rail station and the airport’s three terminals and other facilities. The mezzanine has fare gates for collecting a $5.50 surcharge (each way) for those who do not use their automobiles to reach the airport. The magnetic stripe on tickets to and from the airport releases these barriers, plus an agent is stationed in a booth to open the gates for children (free passage) and most Amtrak ticket holders, as well as to deal with any problems. Most of these difficulties come from passengers who are not adept at navigating the turnstiles.
At ground level there are six electrified tracks for passenger trains plus two without catenary, used by CSX freight trains to reach Waverly yard. Working from east to west, and bypassing the freight tracks, the layout is as follows: tracks A and 1 separated by an island platform, then tracks 2 and 3, which have no platform access, and finally tracks 4 and B, also with a platform between them. Generally New Jersey Transit local trains use the outermost tracks, A and B, while Amtrak and express trains use the remaining ones. There are escalators, stairways and elevators connecting the mezzanine with the platforms. The mezzanine is equipped with windows, which allow excellent views of the station layout below. And each of the platforms contain two heated waiting rooms, equipped with lavatories and train information posters, as well as electronic annunciators. The outer ends of the platforms are not protected from the elements. Everything is very clean.
In addition to the turnstile agent, the station has red-coated Port Authority personnel to help passengers as well as private security guards. I’ll call the redcoats “ushers,” the old PRR name for their equivalent of department store floor walkers.
With this schedule in mind, I decided I would try to ride the 10:22 light rail departure from Grove Street, where I would park. This would get me to Penn Station at 10:42, in time for the 10:54 NJ Transit Trenton train. My back up would be the 11:00 Long Branch train. It did not occur to me that I would have a problem at NJT’s lot, but when I arrived there at about 10:15, I could not find any unoccupied spaces in the Daily portion. In fact the clearing of the lot of snow appeared to be rather haphazard, with a small portion of that area still having about 3 inches of the white stuff on the ground, with an automobile parked perpendicular to the white lines using up three or four spaces. I hadn’t expected this so didn’t have a Plan B prepared, but in cruising the Permit area, I found a single open space. I took a chance and parked there. Although I was
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Fw: 4 - Newark Airport Photos - Part 1
hhdeutch@juno.com
On Friday, February 14, I travelled to Newark Airport to see the first of Amtrak’s ACS-64 locomotives, on its maiden day of revenue service on the Northeast Corridor. When the fleet of 70 Siemens-built engines is totally delivered, these locomotives will replace the mix of AEM-7s and HHP-8s now running between Boston and Washington.
It was a beautiful day with lots of snow on the ground, and I wrote a trip report about my journey, which is attached after these six photos (of a total of 12). You may have read the report already, but it is there for your reference.
12: AEM-7 No. 939 on the point of the Pennsylvanian, which runs from New York to Pittsburgh.
13: The 11:00 a.m. Acela Express for Washington came through at about 11:22, on schedule.
15: HHP-8 locomotive 659 pulling the Silver Star, en route to Tampa and Miami, zipped by at 11:28. Note the Viewliner cars on the rear.
19: The 12 Noon Acela Express as seen from the station’s mezzanine at about 12:22.
25 and 26: Finally train 171, the Northeast Regional for Lynchburg arrived on time for it 12:57 stop. Spanking new No. 600 is all bright and shiny.
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From: Jack May [mailto:jackmay135@gmail.com] Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2014 6:18 PM To: 'Al Holtz'; Subject: Trip to Newark Airport to see the new Amtrak Locomotive
To the Circuit:
Looking at various timetables, I decided I’d like to get there before the Silver Star passed through at about 11:28. If possible I could also photograph the Pennsylvanian about thirteen minutes earlier, and then there would also be a southbound Acela Express in between. For purposes of this report, I’m going to describe the Corridor as running north-south, even though we know that the “official” directions for the Pennsylvania Railroad and its successors were traditionally east-west. I’m also going to use the departure times from Penn Station, New York to describe the trains I saw and photographed, rather than their numbers, which I’m sure few of you have memorized. Suffice to say that most Amtrak trains would reach Newark Airport station between 20 and 25 minutes later. (Of course it takes at least 25 minutes for New Jersey Transit trains to travel from New York to Newark Airport, mainly because of their Secaucus stop. But except for my personal transportation, I was going to be more interested in Amtrak equipment today, at least that’s what I thought.
With this schedule in mind, I decided I would try to ride the 10:22 light rail departure from Grove Street, where I would park. This would get me to Penn Station at 10:42, in time for the 10:54 NJ Transit Trenton train. My back up would be the 11:00 Long Branch train. It did not occur to me that I would have a problem at NJT’s lot, but when I arrived there at about 10:15, I could not find any unoccupied spaces in the Daily portion. In fact the clearing of the lot of snow appeared to be rather haphazard, with a small portion of that area still having about 3 inches of the white stuff on the ground, with an automobile parked perpendicular to the white lines using up three or four spaces. I hadn’t expected this so didn’t have a Plan B prepared, but in cruising the Permit area, I found a single open space. I took a chance and parked there. Although I was in suspense for the remainder of my journey, I’ll let you know now that when I returned I did not have a parking ticket on my windshield.
There were passengers waiting and no LRV in the station as I purchased two Senior Citizen tickets, but as soon as I boinked one a car moved in. It was now 10:20 and I boarded. It left as soon as the operator finished changing cabs, which was at 10:21, one minute early. Of course this could have been the previous car running 9 minutes late, as we passed an outbound even before we reached the first stop, Silver Lake. The ride was uneventful and the car was crowded, with lots of ons and offs. Not all seats were taken, but some passengers preferred to stand.
I’ve often thought that the replacement of PCC-type cars with longer articulated units (such as what occurred on the Newark City Subway in 2002) would lead to longer headways, and despite denials by many of the agencies, I think this has happened--certainly on the City Subway. In rush hours it probably hasn’t been that important because cars still come very quickly, but off-peak and Saturday headways of 10 and 20 minutes result in longer average trip times than the previous 6/7 and 8/9, respectively. Anyway, it wasn’t clear to me whether the LRV was carrying two carloads of passengers or just one, as I didn’t know if the car I rode was the 10:22 or the 10:12.
Arrival at Penn Station was at 10:43 and I got to a ticket vending machine quickly, where I bought two one ways (a round trip) from Newark to Elizabeth at $1.25 each. Had I purchased two to Newark Airport I would have paid $5.50 more for each, as they include the fare for the Air Train. Had I purchased just one to Elizabeth, I would have been without a ticket for the return trip, as all the NJ Transit vending machines on the station side of the airport sell only the $5.50 supplementary ticket that opens the turnstiles. And, on the other side of the turnstiles the only tickets that can be purchased include the coded stripe that opens the gates.
The electronic annunciators at the station indicate the scheduled departure time of each train, but now, instead of displaying “On Time” or “10 Minutes Late,” etc., as they formerly did, they indicate the waiting time before the train is going to arrive, based on real time data. So if it’s now 10:45 and a train is due at 10:48 it will display “In 3 Minutes” and if it’s in the station the display would be “Boarding.” If it’s 5 minutes late it would display “In 8 Minutes” instead of 3. I find that confusing and wish the information would be displayed both ways. Anyway, at 10:46 the display for the Trenton train indicated “In 15 minutes.” The time displayed for the Amtrak trains (and NJT northbound trains) indicated they were keeping to their schedules.
I went up to the platform that serves tracks 3 and 4, and found the waiting room crowded. During the time I waited an announcement that the 11:00 North Jersey Coast train was 15 minutes late was made 3 times, but never a mention of the earlier Trenton train. An Amtrak Northeast Regional train arrived on track 3 at 10:56, only 5 minutes late. Finally my train, with an ALP46 at the point pulling Comets arrived at 11:09, 15 minutes late. The 11:09 Raritan Valley Line train, which was scheduled to connect with the following Long Branch train was still in the station on track 5 when we pulled out at 11:10. Presumably it waited for the North Jersey Coast line train, but I do not know that.
My ticket was not collected on the short, 6-minute run, which arrived at EWR on Track B at 11:15, exactly 15 minutes late. I immediately went over the northbound platform and waited toward its northern end for the three trains I wanted to photograph. The Pennsylvanian (ex-NYP at 10:52) with an AEM-7 speeded by at about 11:20, about 5 minutes late, followed immediately by the 11:00 Acela Express virtually on-time at 11:22, but moving very slowly, probably to avoid catching up to its predecessor. Then 6 minutes later the Silver Meteor, pulled by an HHP-8, passed by on-time at 11:28. I also photographed a northbound Acela passing at 11:24, exactly on time. Now I had almost a half-hour to relax, as the next train, a Northeast Regional ex-NYP at 11:34, wouldn’t be due to pass until 11:57, so I took a seat in the north side waiting room and updated my notes.
During this period I ruminated about two events that occurred while I was out photographing. The first was a recorded announcement that I heard about 3 times. It stated that New Jersey Transit trains to Trenton and Long Branch are “subject to a possible 15-minute delay due to Amtrak Ice Patrol in the Hudson River tunnels.” I couldn’t help thinking that “there they go again,” meaning that NJ Transit is blaming Amtrak for the delay, even though it is doing the necessary work to keep operations safe in very frigid conditions. Secondly, while this recording may have been played much earlier as well (although I didn’t hear it at Newark Penn Station), trains were now running on time.
The other item was the arrival of the North Jersey Coast train due at 11:05, behind my Trenton train, also 15 minutes late. While it was stopped on Track B in the station, I noticed that it was being pushed by ALP45-DP locomotive 4515, a dual-mode (electric/diesel) with its pantograph up. I had heard (perhaps a week earlier) that one of these behemoths was spotted in service at New Brunswick. Clearly these locomotives are now running regularly to and from Penn Station, with the stage being set for them to start providing a one-seat ride from diesel territory to New York City. Apparently that will happen early in March, when the current weekday off-peak Raritan Valley service between Raritan or High Bridge and Newark will be extended to Penn Station, New York. It is expected that once this is operating smoothly similar use of these locomotives will allow through Bay Head Jct.-New York service to operate, eliminating the necessity for passengers on those trains to transfer at Long Branch. I later saw other trains, both on the Corridor and the North Jersey Coast, operating with these locomotives, although most were still being pulled or pushed by straight-electric ALP46s. In all the time I was at Newark Airport, a little over two hours, I saw about 15 New Jersey Transit local trains (both directions), and none of them consisted of Arrow MU cars.
I walked down to the south end of the platform for my next photo, getting the 11:35 Northeast Regional coming through at 11:58 with an AEM-7 at the point. I wanted to photograph the mezzanine, with the big “NEWARK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT” sign, in the background. But while I was waiting for that train to appear, I observed a security guard walking slowly down the platform. He came up to me and said, in a laid back voice and body language, “no photographs allowed.” In the same tone I responded, “I don’t think you’re right. Both NJ Transit and Amtrak allow the taking of photos.” He had a Hispanic accent and then said, “a lady told me she was worried about terrorists with cameras.” I assured him I was no terrorist and told him I was a railfan, waiting to photograph the new Amtrak locomotive. He then said OK and walked off. Clearly the “See Something, Say Something” has made an impression on passengers, but I’m also sure it has yet to identify a terrorist.
The next train I wanted to photograph, the 12 noon Acela Express, wouldn’t be coming through for another 20 minutes, so I went to the warm waiting room, where the security guard and a red-coated usher were hanging out. The security guard must have mentioned me to her, because she asked me if I worked for the railroad, also in a strong Hispanic accent. It turned out she lived in Elizabeth but came from Argentina, and told me that her grandfather and great grandfather worked for “the railroad.” She then mentioned that on his last day before retirement, her grandfather slipped, hit his head and died.
Since I already had taken shots of two Acelas from the platform, I decided to go up to the mezzanine and photograph the next one from a window. It duly sped through on time at 12:21 and I exposed my picture accordingly. Then I waited for the next train, a Keystone, which also came by on schedule, some 7 minutes later, operating cab first. (I also had observed a northbound Keystone operating with its cab car on the south end.) Now I had a long 30-minute wait for Regional 171 bound for Lynchburg with the new locomotive. While I was in the mezzanine I realized I could also get photos in decent light of northbound NJ Transit trains stopping on Track A, as long as the locomotive was pushing. But there were no such trains scheduled before the southbound Amtrak train.
Since the 12:57 Regional to Lynchburg was going to stop, I went back to the southern end of the platform, where I proceeded to slip on a hidden slab of ice. As I was going down, with nothing to hold on to, I could only think of one thing, Save My Camera. So I lifted it up in the air as I hit the ground. Fortunately, I only scraped my left knee. The big moment was soon upon me, and it happened right on time. I photographed No. 171 with the ACS-64 on the point at 12:55, as it was grinding to a halt. I then walked forward a little more to get some close-ups of the 600, and just as I was about to snap a railfan on the other platform popped up in my viewfinder. It looked like he got off the train and ran up to get a photo. I yelled and waved at him; he acknowledged my presence and moved further forward on the platform, out of my way.
The locomotive and the Amfleet cars looked really clean. No. 600’s pantograph was bright red and its wheels were spotless and shiny, gleaming in the sun. I was very pleased and impressed. The train pulled out right on the advertised, at 12:57. I then went back to the mezzanine, waiting to photograph an NJ Transit train through the appropriate window.
The railfan I had seen on the platform soon appeared, and went up to a ticket machine and bought a $5.50 fare. He was a young oriental, I guess about 30 years of age and probably Japanese, and did not speak too much English. I tried to tell him that all he has to do is go back down and ride an NJ Transit train back. From our conversation however, I determined he was going to ride the monorail and then a bus back to New York. Different strokes for different folks.
I then spoke for a while with the man in the booth alongside the turnstiles, and he told me he worked for the company that provides the software for the turnstiles, and that his company’s next job involves adjusting the gate mechanisms to recognize the QR barcodes on Amtrak e-tickets. Apparently a phone application had been installed successfully, so now it is only e-tickets that have to be handled manually (as well as children, who do not have to pay the airport supplement). That made me thing of a question. If you’re going to EWR, let’s say from New York, why not buy a ticket to Elizabeth and a child’s ticket from Elizabeth to the Airport, the latter costing less than the $5.50 supplement (I think 50 cents). I wonder if such a child’s ticket, which you would not present on the train, will release a turnstile?
Adjacent to the turnstiles was a cardboard cutout of a good looking red-coated passenger agent, indicating they were there to help passengers and answer questions. At that point I couldn’t help thinking that if the agent, or anyone else, asked me if I had permission to take photos I would reply: “I asked her, and she didn’t say no.” (That’s an old Frank Fontaine shtick, involving a marriage proposal to a mannequin in a department store window.)
I had not noticed the 12:56 from Trenton while I was concentrating of the ACS-64, but I did see a train did arrive on track A at 1:07, two minutes after the time scheduled for a Long Branch train. It had an ALP46 pushing and I was able to photograph it on departure. From the number of passengers waiting on the platform, I assumed it was the 12:56, running 10 minutes late. This was pretty much confirmed when another train, probably the one from Long Branch, pulled in immediately after. It also had an ALP46 pushing, and for all I know the two trains could have come in in the reverse order.
I decided to take the next train back, the Trenton local scheduled for 1:23, and so I went back down to the platform. While waiting I took a couple of photos of monorail trains pulling in and out, as the sun had now shifted toward the west. A long CSX freight with three diesel locomotives then came through on the track next to A. It stopped for a while, probably waiting for a signal to allow entry into Waverly, and finally began moving again just as the 1:23 from Trenton arrived, on time with a locomotive pushing. I boarded and rode to Newark, where I waited for it to pull out, and saw the power a at the rear was an ALP45-DP. Again, my ticket was not collected
After a few minutes in the station I went down to the City Subway, validated my light rail ticket and reached a virtually empty platform at 1:40. I immediately observed something new. NJ Transit has installed electronic annunciators displaying the destination and departure time of the next few LRVs. They indicated that the next car to Grove Street would be at 1:46. Well, 1:46 came and went and the only thing that happened was that now the annunciator showed the next departure to be 1:56. Clearly these new electronic signs are tied to the Newark Light Rail timetable instead of being set up to provide passengers with real time information. This reduces their utility to just parroting the same information that is on the posted paper timetables, albeit in a more accessible manner. These new electronic signs are totally inconsistent with the real time information provided electronically at NJ Transit rail stations like Penn Station in Newark and New York, among quite a few others. As mentioned earlier the railroad station annunciators also include a countdown to when the trains actually arrive. All in all, I believe the new signs in the subway are just another example of NJT spending lots of money but not doing it right.
A car finally came in at 1:50 and I had an uneventful ride to Grove Street. Patronage aboard the LRV seemed to be about the same as on my inbound trip, with not all seats taken and a few standees. I thought this was very good for off-peak periods. I had enough film left for three more slides so I took two at Grove Street. When I got to my car I was gratified to see it was not ticketed. I then drove down to Branch Brook Park, where I took my last photo before heading home.
I had a very good time chasing down the 600. Even though the temperature was below freezing I stayed relatively warm when I was outside, as the sun’s rays were being absorbed very nicely. And there were always places to warm up and freshen up when necessary. I’m now waiting for my slides to come back from Parsons, Kansas
JackMay
Very nice report, JackMay. I'm a little surprised that you gave it away as an e-mail instead of putting it in one of the railroad mags for payment, but what do I know about the writing business?
Hope your knee is all healed up.
Thanks.
Tiesenhausen
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