Trains on the River Subdivision: Thirty-Three Years Apart

Both of these views were taken from the Bear Mountain Bridge, though thirty-three years apart. We're looking over to the west side of the Hudson River where CSX's River Subdivision now lies, which was a former New York Central line (as is the line on the east side).

The vintage view is tight due to the fact that I was up on the bridge looking for birds—rather than trains—and so only had a 300mm lens available, thus cutting out all the wonderful context of the scene.

Metro North From the Bear Mountain Bridge

In the first image the train is between Manitou and the bridge, with Sugarloaf visible in the distance. In the second photograph, with the train going away, one can see Peekskill in the distance.

Just looked up the locomotive here: it's a Siemens SC-42DM in charge of the train. This is the model that will be replacing the General Electric P32AC-DMs over time. In the spirit of the time-comparison diptychs, I do have a shot of a Metro North train powered by FL9s at the same spot as the second image here.

This long stretch along the east side of the Hudson River makes up a portion of New York Central's Water Level Route, which is another theme of this series of posts.

Amtrak From the Bear Mountain Bridge

While not a time-based comparison, as I've been doing in this series of posts, I wanted to show these shots of an Amtrak train moving southward toward Penn Station as night fell.

I believe all Amtrak trains use Penn Station while all Metro North trains on the Hudson line use Grand Central Terminal.

As opposed to the blur seen in the previous post, I chose to up the ISO in an attempt to "freeze" this train movement. A good dose of noise reduction was used in the processing of these two images.

In the first image the train is between Manitou and the bridge, with Sugarloaf visible in the distance. In the second photograph, with the train going away, one can see Peekskill in the distance. Once again we see Amtrak's penchant for running with a locomotive on each end of their regional trains on this line.

This long stretch along the east side of the Hudson River makes up a portion of New York Central's Water Level Route, which is another theme of this series of posts.

Along the Water Level Route

Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited is seen here sprinting between Albany & Schenectady. Nice to see a speed limit sign here that stated it as simply "90". This is the former New York Central.

Not long prior to this image being made, the Boston and New York sections of the train were combined (in Albany) for the remaining overnight trip to Chicago.

Along the Former New York Central

Continuing a small series of posts made along the former NYC: we're now in Bryan, Ohio. The former depot here houses a nice little eatery: Third Rail Saloon (I recommend).

This town happens to fall on the third longest tangent in the contiguous forty-eight states. In fact, in 1966, the New York Central posted a railroad speed record here due to the lengthy straight section.

This plaque sits on the opposite side of the right-of-way from the old depot; this is where Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited stops. (A new platform and shelter is currently being constructed.)

Amazingly, the plaque states that the railroad strapped two jet engines atop a Budd RDC-3 to make the record—of nearly 184 MPH. You can read about it here.

Along the Former New York Central

Continuing a small series of posts made in Butler, Indiana: the eastbound drag here began to move once the westbound stack train has roared through.

This spot, where the the NYC crosses the Wabash, is the western end of the third longest tangent in the contiguous forty-eight states.

Along the Former New York Central Continuing a small series of posts made in Butler, Indiana: a westbound train of containers roars along the third longest tangent in the contiguous forty-eight states. The train will soon bang over the diamonds of the former Wabash Railroad—and pass a waiting eastbound drag.

Along the Former New York Central This is on the east side of Butler, in northernIndiana. An eastbound stack train, which has just crossed over the former Wabash Railroad, slides past an idling drag. At this stage it is entering the third longest tangent in the contiguous forty-eight states.