2025 – NJ Transit “Black History Month” RR engine seen in Hackensack
Some of you may know that I can see all of the Pascack Valley Line trains from my kitchen, some 3-4 blocks away.
Besides NJ Transit engines, I have seen a variety of others, including Conrail, CNJ, Norfolk-Southern, and others.
But one day last month, I saw a northbound train with a colorful engine I had never seen before. I took note of the time and a few days later, it returned at the same time…………but NOW, I was ready with my camera:
It was impossible to read anything on that engine, but I knew it had to come back…..and stop.
I found an online schedule. Between that and my pictures from the free trip I took on the Line last September, I was able to figure out when it would be heading back southbound and stopping at the Anderson St. Station, a block to the right of the above picture’s location.
At the appointed time, I was across the tracks from the station, so I could get the engine and the station in an image. But I forgot one thing…………..
These trains don’t turn around for the return trip. Northbound, the engine’s in front, pulling. Southbound, it’s in back, pushing. As the train pulled into the station, I was frantically run……..er, jogging the length of the train northward, hoping to reach the engine before the train left the station in a minute or so.
I got there just before it started moving and took this PANO shot. I had no room to back up (and no time if I did) to take a regular shot (click twice to fully enlarge):
I wanted to get a clear shot of the front part of the train where all the sideways names are shown, but the train was becoming photographically-segmented on the far right in this shot:
At this point, there was nothing left to shoot except a video of the train pulling (backing) away:
I didn’t get that shot of the engine and the station, but the video gave me a still of the engine and a station sign:
So now I’m sitting here feeling proud that I got some of the first shots of this brand new engine, when I decided to search to see if NJ Transit had just put out a brand new press release about it.
I found it right away: https://www.njtransit.com/press-releases/nj-transit-celebrates-historical-contributions-african-americans-decorated
One tiny problem: it’s dated February 26, 2024.
Oy!
And here’s a shot that – thankfully – I DIDN’T take, dated February 28, 2024:
Can I at least get an acknowledgement that maybe I got the first sighting of this engine in Hackensack? (he asks, grasping for straws……………….)
Well, maybe some of my relatives in Alabama, Minnesota or Hawaii have never seen it before.
Recent Comments