Of Interlockings And Other Machines ...: 2024

Raritan, NJ and a gauntlet track in Union, 2024

Deutsche Version dieses Postings

The following pictures are from a short trip to Raritan, about 30 miles west of Newark. It was only after arriving there that I pulled out my cell phone to record the ride into the siding:

After arrival, Raritan NJ, 29.2.2024

Signals, Raritan NJ, 29.2.2024

The old "RA/Boyd Tower" is apparently no longer used as a signal box (all internet posts only refer to it in the past), but is fully maintained and also has air conditioning. So something is still going on in there ...:

RA/Boyd Tower, Raritan NJ, 29.2.2024

Once again the signal cantilever:

Signals, Raritan NJ, 29.2.2024

Here one can still see heavy rails fixed by spikes:

Spiked rails, Raritan NJ, 29.2.2024

The spikes do not exert any (or much) vertical force, so it does not matter if they move (a little) out of the sleepers:

Spiked rails, Raritan NJ, 29.2.2024

There are insulating joints in all rails below the signal:

Insulating joints, Raritan NJ, 29.2.2024

Here is a picture of the switch machine:

Switch machine, Raritan NJ, 29.2.2024

Apparently balises are also used here—but I haven't figured out what for:

Two balises, Raritan NJ, 29.2.2024

Raritan is a typical small American town that was pretty sleepy on this cold day. The usual overhead power and telephone lines are probably only noticeable to Europeans:

Raritan NJ, 29.2.2024

The old station building has been beautifully restored:

Station building, Raritan NJ, 29.2.2024

Information about its history is posted outside:

Station history, Raritan NJ, 29.2.2024

I interrupted my return trip to Newark Union to take pictures of the gauntlet tracks, which are used to guide freight trains with their larger profile past the platforms:

NJT ALP-45DP 4513 pushes its set toward Newark, Union NJ, 29.2.2024

Offset tracks for passenger and freight trains, Union NJ, 29.2.2024

Finally, a picture of the switch at the beginning of the gauntlet, still in the "slightly branching" position for my suburban train:

Switch, Union NJ, 29.2.2024

Translated partially with DeepL.com (free version)

Hoboken Terminal in New Jersey, 2024

Deutsche Version dieses Postings

The Delaware & Lackawanna, and later the Erie Lackawanna, never had a direct connection to New York City. Its route ended on the western bank of the Hudson, from where ferries bridged the last mile. In 1907 (after the previous building had burned down two years earlier), the current Hoboken Terminal was built, then still the destination of long-distance trains from Buffalo on Lake Erie, today only the terminus of New Jersey Transit's Morristown Line.

Hoboken Terminal (Erie Lackawanna Station), Hoboken NJ, 27.2.2024

The station concourse is magnificently designed as a kind of "detached New York station":

Hoboken Terminal (Erie Lackawanna Station), Hoboken NJ, 27.2.2024

The old piers for cargo ships have long since been transformed into a park from which you can see the whole of Manhattan:

Manhattan seen from Hoboken, 27.2.2024

Of the five former ferry terminals to Manhattan, three are still in regular use today:

Hoboken Terminal, ferry dock, Hoboken NJ, 27.2.2024

In the evening, commuters from Manhattan flock to the westbound Morristown Line commuter trains:

Hoboken Terminal, ferry dock, Hoboken NJ, 27.2.2024

In the opposite direction, the ferry is completely empty:

Manhattan seen from Hudson River, 27.2.2024

This ferry sails to the dock at the World Trade Center:

Manhattan seen from Hudson River, 27.2.2024

A last look back at the New Jersey skyline:

Hoboken seen from Hudson River, 27.2.2024

Translated partially with DeepL.com (free version)

A few pictures of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, 2024

Deutsche Version dieses Postings

Without too much ado ...

Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, Jersey City, 27.2.2024

Three trains in one picture:

Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, Jersey City, 27.2.2024

NJT bridge over Jersey Street, Jersey City, 27.2.2024

"Motors" was the American term for electric traction vehicles. The sign with the punched-out inscription "Motors stop" marks the end of the catenary on the southernmost track over the bridge (which used to be a siding and now ends after a few hundred feet):

NJT bridge over Jersey Street, Jersey City, 27.2.2024

A short distance after the bridge, the railroad line disappears into the Bergen Tunnels. Above them are two "substations"—I don't think these are substations for railroad operations; rather transformers for operating facilities in the tunnels: