NJT gallery updated

As you might have noticed, there’s some new “stuff” from New Jersey popping up on Laughing Frog Images.  I’m still processing and sorting out the vacation photos, and this little run of NJT and Amtrak is what you might look at as “low hanging fruit.”  The day job has been really busy of late, so I’m making do with what I’ve got to work with.

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I managed to catch NJT ALP-46A electric locomotives (4600 series numbers) and ALP-45DP dual mode diesel and electric locomotives (4500 series numbers) in some sweet late day sunlight, which has given me the chance to add to the NJT Gallery on Laughing Frog Images.

I haven’t been a good student of the NJT fleet, and when I saw the first 4500 roll by – I noticed that it only had one cab.  Of course, that happened while a cloud was stealing my sun, so that shot didn’t make it to the gallery.  I was starting to watch the clock, as the time for my train was drawing near.  And I saw an ALP-46A.  And then another one.  And then – you guessed it, another one.  And the clock kept ticking…  The last train before mine was headed up by a 4500, and that image did make the gallery.

When I had some time to research the 4500s, below is what I found on the Bombardier website (the link follows as well if you want to look at some of the technical information that’s posted).

Dual power for all lines

New Jersey and Montréal: Two metropolitan regions, similar challenges. Only a few electrified tracks for passenger transport are integrated in a well-utilised freight transportation network with diesel traction: a heterogeneous infrastructure that often forces passengers to change trains.

To overcome such system limits and to markedly increase travelling comfort, both NJT and the Canadian Agence Métropolitaine de Transport (AMT) utilise Bombardier’sALP-45DP. This modular locomotive combines the technology used in the bogies, the locomotive body and the propulsion of the ALP-46A. However, two further diesel engines are also integrated. Because the DP locomotive is used in push-pull operation with double-deck coaches, it also has a pantograph and driver’s cab.

http://www.bombardier.com/en/transportation/products-services/rail-vehicles/locomotives/alp.html

So, while it was a brief wait at EWR for my train, it was an interesting one, as I managed to catch a new locomotive that quite frankly, I wasn’t even aware of!

Thanks for looking!  Enjoy this brief look at how many folks in Jersey travel every work day.  It has to be better than I-10 in Los Angeles County….

 

Gone in 8 Seconds…

While waiting for my train at the Newark (NJ) International Airport Station on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, I pulled out my trusty Nokia Icon and made some images and videos.

As this was a business trip, I wasn’t traveling with a tripod.  So, the pictures are fine, and the videos… well, a couple of them turned out well enough to share on the Laughing Frog Images YouTube Channel simply because they’re a little different.

Here’s the first one – Gone in 8 Seconds.

Why “Gone in 8 Seconds”?

Well, I had something different in mind when I shot this New Jersey Transit (NJT) train that’s carrying people home (or somewhere else) from Manhattan.

There are a lot of train videos out there that hold one camera position and allow you to see the entire train as it comes by.  They’re usually a 3/4 angle view parallel to the tracks.  And, there’s nothing wrong with that.

I looked to my left, and noticed the same guy was still sitting in the same seat waiting for his train.  He’d look up when a train came by, but he wouldn’t turn his head, and his view was almost perpendicular to the tracks.  So, the creative part of me said “hey – maybe there’s a different view that would make a different sort of video…”

When I saw the train coming, I framed up my shot and hit record when I could hear the train (not as simple as you think – they’re electric, and pretty quiet).  My goal was to replicate his view – look at the train from a hard angle and watch it blow by the camera.  Which it did.  In about 8 seconds.

So, in case you ever wondered what it would be like to be sitting on a bench at the Newark International Airport train station and watch a train blow by you in about eight seconds, you now know what that’s like.

You’re welcome!

Enjoy, and thanks for looking!

NJT Gallery added

Next in the new galleries showing images of railroading in the Northeast Corridor is a small (for now) gallery of New Jersey Transit (NJT) trains and EMUs.

What’s an EMU?

Well, it’s not an animal, at least in this case.  EMU stands for Electric Multiple Unit, and the reality is that an EMU is a self-propelled passenger car (with or without a control cab) – an EMU doesn’t need a locomotive to move.

NJT operates passenger trains moved by diesel-electric locomotives, electric locomotives, and EMUs.  This gallery is a small sampling of what moves through the Newark International Airport station that is shared with Amtrak on the Northeast Corridor.

NJT operates commuter trains on routes that date back over 100 years.  Trains run on lines formerly operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad, Erie Railroad, Lackawanna Railroad and Central of New Jersey Railroad.  I think that’s it – but it’s possible that the Lehigh Valley Railroad might be a part of that group as well.  Unlike what happened out here in California where they put the rails back in where they tore them out, there’s a long history behind the services provided by NJT.

I thought initially that this would/could be a larger gallery.  As I selected the images for this gallery, I also became more aware of the limitations of iPhone photography, at least with the 4S.  What looks great on the phone’s screen…  But hey, the iPhone is today’s version of the Kodak Brownie or 126 film Instamatic, and it can do some wonderful things.  That’s another possible post…

But this is about trains – so back to the subject at hand.

You can learn more about New Jersey Transit from their website or from our friends at Wikipedia.

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You can check out the NJT Gallery on Laughing Frog Images and get a glimpse of how people commute in New Jersey.