January 2012

2012 was a big year for change but not until later in the year. It started with us living in (Oakhurst) Ocean Twp., NJ in a rental house for the school year while Miranda finished up her senior year at Monmouth University. Our house wound up being a quarter mile from the NJT North Jersey Coast Line (NJCL) so prepare yourselves for a lot of NJT until May. ;-)

The first shooting I did in 2012 was of the Quadrantid meteor shower on January 4th, which was kind of a bust as this was the only shot that I got that captured one of the meteors.

 

My next outing was to Conrail's Freehold Industrial Track where I caught the local, SA31, rolling through the line's namesake town.

Delivery of AMT (Agence métropolitaine de transport) and NJT's newest locomotives, the ALP45-DP began in 2011 and continued through the beginning of 2012. I decided to run up to Port Newark, NJ on January 16th to attempt to shoot the newest imports but the gates were closed and I could not gain access to the AMT dual modes ready for transport.

After being disappointed with wasting time and gas for nothing, I headed home via Freehold where I once again caught SA31 and dealt with the lack of light as best I could.

 

One of the part-time jobs I had back in NJ was filing paperwork at the office my mom works. The only good part of the drive there was having to cross the Coast Line and occasionally getting stuck by a train pulling into or out of the Hazlet station as was the case on the 18th.

 

The busiest day I had was January 19th when I decided to spend the morning on the NJCL before taking the train to Hoboken to help my dad install new smoke and CO detectors in my grandma's apartment building. I started by driving to Belmar to shoot the Shark River bridge before heading back to Long Branch.

One thing that I have been noticing when looking at some of my favorite photographers' older work is their inclusion, whether intentional or not, of signs, vehicles, buildings, etc. giving a strong indication of place and even time period. For those not familiar with the NJ/PA area, Wawa is a chain of convenience stores (and now gas stations) located in the area. The second photo depicts the Coast Line well with the marina in the background but when taking another look, I feel that the Wawa billboard advertising coffee on this cold winter morning adds another dimension.

I must have chased the northbound up to Long Branch and caught him pulling through Long Branch yard up to the station.

Later that afternoon I hopped on the express up to Hoboken from Elberon to meet up with my dad. It just so happened that an NJT ALP45-DP had been sitting in Hoboken for a few days making it a two-birds-with-one-stone kind of day. 

 NJT's TGV sits on a side track in Rahway.

 Pacing PATH along the Passaic River.

A few shots of the Meadowlands Maintanence Complex (MMC).

A pan of the Light Rail leaving Hoboken.

The best shot I could get of NJT 4501.

The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western's Hoboken Terminal completed in 1907.

The next day I grabbed two shots at the Elberon station.

The first snow of 2012 fell overnight giving me a reason to head out in search of a rail train that was supposedly working the lower Coast Line. Unfortunately, when we got to Bay Head we found the train parked with no power. The day wasn't a complete bust as we caught a southbound through Spring Lake on our way home.

I came up with the idea to do a slideshow using all time-lapses and got the ball rolling with a trip to "film" sunset at the Raritan River drawbridge on the 24th. I thought I had the piece put together but I either don't or couldn't find it so these are two images from the evening,

The last shots I took in January were purely documentation as it was announced that the abandoned pedestrian overpass south of the ex-PRR station in South Amboy would be removed on January 28th. I ended up going shortly after sunset on the 27th to get one of the last trains to pass under the century old bridge as well as a few of the bridge itself.

That was it for my January as I kept working on my time lapse project with poor results.

Doing Something Different

While I continue to collect funds to replace my computer with one that can handle Lightroom 4 and 500,000+ photos, I've decided to do something that I've never done, a photographic year in review. I got the idea from the various forms of photography projects people attempt on Facebook such as the 365 photo thing, photo of the day, etc. Instead of doing one photo a day, I will basically review the photos I took in each month.

Here is some information about what I'll be doing and how:

- I'll be picking out photos that I feel are either "news worthy," pretty or that I just enjoy looking at!
- Most will be the small JPEGs straight out of the camera unless I have edited them at some point in the past.
- I want to give people a look at not only what I shoot but why and how. This is in no way meant to be a perfect portfolio of images but rather a personal look at what I choose to document with some insight.
- There will probably be a lot of crap that people don't care about but hopefully more (or an equal amount) that you do!

I originally planned on doing just 12 different posts (one for each month) but after going through January (a slow month) and picking out so many shots, it will definitely end up being more than that.

Stay tuned!

Last Day of Summer Outing

After 9 straight days of sitting at home except for trips to the store, I decided I needed to get out for a few hours yesterday. I realized that I haven't actually shot much orange since moving to BNSF country because I would only go out if I knew a Warbonnet was leading or if the West Texas & Lubbock was on the Slaton Sub. As usual, I went to Canyon Jct. to see if there was anything ready to head west on the Slaton or east on the Plainview. The SLAAMS train (Slaton, TX to Amarillo (South), TX) was talking to the dispatcher on the south side of town. "BNSF 786" Seriously?! Even though I was looking for orange, I would take another Warbonnet for my collection. They had work to do in the yard and the light hadn't gotten far enough around for any good shots so I decided to do some exploring. I ventured to the west side of the yard to see if there was any accessibility. Much to my surprise, I was able to drive right by the ex-ATSF passenger station, which is now the yard office. Also to my surprise, a "BNSF 998" was now talking to the dispatcher and the SLAAMS. I continued driving up and down different roads until I saw him pull up to the yard office and stop to get permission past the track foreman's limits at Canyon Jct. I found a spot at the intersection of Avenue F and 9th Street where I could shoot them departing.

I drove back to Canyon Jct. to see what the SLAAMS was up to. It wasn't much of a wait until he would ask the dispatcher for permission past the signal to double his train, which was granted before the afternoon locals would be in the picture. I walked up onto the Avenue Q overpass for my first shots from the vantage point.

 

I hung out on the bridge as they reversed back to the rest of the train in the yard. I could hear the local making its way towards the junction. A minute later the "201 local" popped out from under the overpass with two SD40-2s on the point. 

Once they were in the clear, it was the "342's" turn. I saw the caboose appear from behind BNSF 786 and stop at the switch for the industrial track that heads east across 3rd Street. I quickly ran back to the car to get into position for them heading over the wooden trestle accessible from the public parks off of Avenue K. Unfortunately, the angle I chose wasn't too appealing but as [lack of] luck would have it, I would get an error message as my camera recorded the images. I had to take out the battery to get the camera to reset and lost the photos. This is a future angle to try when I catch them on the branch again.

I checked the map and found where the Purina mill was that they would be working. While they switched the mill, I drove down a bit to shoot the current end of track.

The industrial track was originally built as the Crosbyton-Southplains Railroad from Lubbock to Crosbyton in 1911. It would be purchased by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (ATSF) in 1915. The line would be owned by the ATSF until 1989, when it was sold to the Crosbyton Railroad. They began operation in January 1990 but wouldn't even survive a full year. The line was abandoned shortly after. Today, BNSF uses a mile and half of the line to reach Purina.

I sat watching the SD40-2/GP39-2 duo go back and forth until I heard BNSF 786 getting their track warrant for the Plainview Sub. I drove back to Canyon Junction and barely made it back before they got the signal.

Once the head-end was under the bridge, it was back to the car and back to the mill to shoot the local. Just west of the mill is a bridge over Ash Ave. that is still lettered "Santa Fe". They kept pulling out onto the bridge as they got the last of the cars in order allowing for different angles.

Finally, I moved my truck into position for their departure and didn't have to wait long.

I had found a cool spot on my way back to Canyon Jct. on the branch where the tracks cross I-27.

I made it back to the 1st Street crossing with plenty of time to spare. This area is pretty cool because the line is surrounded by public park land as is the case here with Pallottine Park.

Less than a quarter mile later, the branch, basically running in people's backyards, rejoins the mainline.

That would do it for me as I started making my way back home only to get caught at the Avenue P crossing at Canyon Jct. for an eastbound intermodal. One last shot out the driver window of the DPU as I went across would officially end my day.