Blue Comet Line Route "REDUX" 1968-2000 Era in Progress

[ebnertra000]

Ahh, you're going to use the modern one...it wouldn't be too hard to make sign fit on its side. I might have to toss a power-on light on it, too, since it was originally built for block signals rather than crossings

[MMSS]

Ahh, you're going to use the modern one...it wouldn't be too hard to make sign fit on its side. I might have to toss a power-on light on it, too, since it was originally built for block signals rather than crossings

Well if you do it will be greatly appreciated also. I am going to have a mix of new and old on the line. From Red Bank to Woodmansie, I am putting the modern boxes like today. Along with newer cabinets, I am leaving the older ones in place along with battery boxes along with them like you actually see today. From Woodmansie south will have the older cabinets & battery boxes in place down to Winslow Jct.

The NY&LB (Now NJT's NJCL) will have the newer boxes installed. This is so the people who like running NJ Transit trains will have a look for that era. The CNJ Seashore Branch, Barnegat Branch from Mule Road in Toms River south to Barnegat & the old CNJ main from E'Port to Jersey City will have older style cabinets. So will the old PRR Atlantic & Long Branch line & the Island Heights branch.

The modern boxes will also be on the old PRSL main line & the former Elizabeth & Perth Amboy (Now Conrail Shared Assets Chemical Coast Secondary). This will make a nice blend of eras that I like to cover. A little bit of everything that is basically for everyone.

[NW 2156]

Mark, Only thing that stands out is lack of wires on the power lines. Ron Picardi put some wires in the file library years ago but they are a hassle to place. I don't know if TSRE5 makes that job any easier or not?

Robert

[MMSS]

Mark, Only thing that stands out is lack of wires on the power lines. Ron Picardi put some wires in the file library years ago but they are a hassle to place. I don't know if TSRE5 makes that job any easier or not?

Robert

That actually will be the last thing I will do on the route. I figured it is one of the most time consuming parts of the project is I will leave that for the end. Work from Atlantic City to Jersey City or vice versa.

One saving grace is that during this era, the build up of retirement villages & home developments was in full swing. The 1970's was the beginning of the "McMansion" era for Middlesex, Monmouth & Ocean counties. And retirement villages like Leisure Village & Knolls (a.k.a. Seizure Village to the locals), Crestwood Village and so on were in full bloom too. 90% of them had underground electrical services So taking a green traffic signal control cabinet & sinking it into the ground in front of the houses closes to the tracks is an easy solve for that.

But the larger cities & towns plus anything north of the Raritan River will of course take some time.

[NW 2156]

Mark, in the default Marias Pass route there are objects, Powerbox1, Powerbox2, Powerbox3. Not sure if they would be anything worth considering?

Robert

[MMSS]

Mark, in the default Marias Pass route there are objects, Powerbox1, Powerbox2, Powerbox3. Not sure if they would be anything worth considering?Robert

There is a control box in one of the Vincent Lanza's traffic light sets, the shape is VLCCP44G.s that is perfect for them if you sink it below the terrain a third. Even the color is correct. But powerbox2 & 3 I can find a good use for

[MMSS]

Well a man can plant so many trees without becoming one wave short of a shipwreck. So to break it up a bit I headed up to NWS Earle on the bayshore in Leonardo, NJ

With the vast "3 Mile Pier" (Actually 2.9 miles) that jettisons into the upper Sandy Hook Bay. Earle has been a mainstay of naval operation on the Jersey Shore. I began this week working on updating the Navy Pier area first between re-foresting the NJ Pine Barrens.

Here are a few screenshots of the work in progress. Some feature Rick Franzosa's 2018 Bonus for the BLW/ZT's Troop Train set which was made the Blue Comet route in mind (Thanks Rick). Those white USN boxcars look right at home on the fingers of the pier. Some of the older ones are now part of Amtrak's MOW fleet.

Looking like another busy day at NWS Earle's pier facility.

















Below an overhead view showing the 3 fingers of the NWS Earle Pier. In the background is Sandy Hook & Fort Hancock (Decommissioned in 1974). The architect of the fort was the one and only Robert E. Lee when he was part of the Army Corp of Engineers before the Civil War. Now Sandy Hook & the fort are both part of the Gateway National Recreation Area park system. To the left is North Beach & Gunnison Beach is on the Atlantic side. This area hosts a USCG station on the bayside tip and the beaches are known greatly as "Clothing Optional" beaches. Needless to say there is a lot of boat traffic there between Memorial Day to Labor Day




Last is the wreck of the former "Hudson River Dayliner" S.S. Alexander Hamilton. She was decommissioned in 1971 was was the last steam powered "side-wheeler" tour boat on the Hudson River (I rode on her back in 1969). Instead of heading to South Street Seaport in NYC, A group of investors were going to make her a tour-dinner boat on the NJ Shore. While waiting disposition for upgrading, the USN allowed her to moor along the main pier. A fire in 1977 partially sunk and ravaged the ship. She stood there for years, slowly decaying losing much of her superstructure over the years from Hurricanes, Tropical Storms & Nor'easters which are too many to count. After Superstorm Sandy back in 2012 much of her was lost but her hull still sits below 15-20 feet of water. During blow-out tides, her engines emerge above the waterline. Here Chris Gerlach (CrisGer on ET) model of the "ALEX" sit below the waterline beside the pier.



NOW BACK TO PLAYING JOHNNY APPLESEED ! - MARK

[linkj]

Wow, I remember the Alexander Hamilton, also rode her to Poughkeepsie in the late 1960s, round trip from NYC was $4.25, not a small sum back then for our family. I recall seeing the Peter Stuyvesant heading down river as we sailed up. It was a windy summer day...if you sat in the back you caught the cinders from the coal-fired boilers all day long. I found this nostalgic video if interested:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmK8HrCtg6k

Thank you for adding that detail to the route.

[MMSS]

Wow, I remember the Alexander Hamilton, also rode her to Poughkeepsie in the late 1960s, round trip from NYC was $4.25, not a small sum back then for our family. I recall seeing the Peter Stuyvesant heading down river as we sailed up. It was a windy summer day...if you sat in the back you caught the cinders from the coal-fired boilers all day long. I found this nostalgic video if interested:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmK8HrCtg6k

Thank you for adding that detail to the route.

Amazing, the same year I was on her. My grandfather heard that they were going to retire her real soon so he took me for the ride in the summer of '69.

I put the Hamilton there as she was back around 1980, but I might put her submerged up to the decks as she looks a month after the fire in 1977.

[MMSS]

RUST NEVER SLEEPS........And neither do I lately with the condition with my leg. But putting my "up" time to good use. Today because of the High Wind Warning in my area, I decided not to get into something too heavy. Checked my UPS and started updating the sidings on the NY&LB (Now NJT's NJCL) & the grade crossings also.

From the days of the CNJ & PRR into the PC days, Through Conrail into NJ Transit & Conrail Shared Assets. When you listen to the scanner, you would hear them give a grade crossing instead of a milepost reading. The screenshot shows I been starting in Point Pleasant Beach & heading north. One the NY&LB, this will be done up to "SA" (ESSAY) Tower in South Amboy.

[MMSS]

UPDATE 03/06/2019: Blue Comet Line Route "REDUX" 1968-2000 Era in Progress

Between having a few "Fun Runs" with the Monogame version of OR w/ ReShader & a few encouraging doctor visits. Work has continued on the The Blue Comet Lines route update. The pier end of NWS Earle is just about if not complete, just might add a few more details to the pier itself. Chatsworth is complete except for pole wires which I am going to do last on the route. The Route 72 area of Woodland Twsp. is also complete as is shown earlier in this post. Jersey City Terminal area is my go-between. Going to start putting in the NJ Turnpike Extension overpasses in soon.

I been working north towards Whiting on the Southern Division. Between Chatsworth & Whiting is a lot of nothing but scrub pines of the NJ Pine Barrens. Until you get into the southern section of Manchester Twsp., then you come into civilization. You first come into Ocean County Route 539 which is Roosevelt City Road. It is a main E-W road in the area & a major evacuation route during hurricane, nor'easter & fire seasons. This is about 2/3 of a mile south of the PRR/CNJ diamond in Whiting.

I did this area with the NJ Seashore Lines (NJSL) in mind. The NJSL is upgrading the Southern Division between Woodmansie & Lakehurst for future sand trains for the new NEC tunnels & new Portal Bridge into NYC. The trains would have been running if the original CORE Project wasn't canceled. But hopefully the GATEWAY project will see the light of day in the near future & the trains will roll on a part of the line that last seen a train around 1987.

So here are a few screens of the work I did yesterday on it. I still have more to do & adjusting the scenery too.

A view of the County Road 539 grade crossing from the signal box.



A NJSL signal crew working on the inner workings keeping things safe.


A closeup of the signal box & crew. Each box is marked accordingly between Lakehurst & Woodmansie.


The crossing gates are Safetran S-40 style. They look great in the view here.


You might notice that the "Emergency Call Plate" is in a weird spot. This is prototypical on some of the grade crossings on the line here. First picture is on the one I made up for the crossing & the second photo is one taken from Google Maps showing the sign at the actual grade crossing.




The old relay & battery use to be on the SW corner of the grade crossing. I put them in there just for added detail.


County Route 539 looking west towards Roosevelt City.


Looking west again on Route 539 this time across the tracks at the corner of Central Ave.


A CNJ SD35 #2508 & a cabin hitting the grade crossing. Looks like the NJSL is doing OK with the new truck the signal crew has.



ENJOY.........

[R. Steele]

Very nice work, indeed...looks wonderful.

[Signalmaster]

I have an improved model for the Jersey City Terminal Headhouse, if needed.

Hank Sundermeyer
Newark, DE

[MMSS]

I have an improved model for the Jersey City Terminal Headhouse, if needed.Hank SundermeyerNewark, DE

WOW Hank, incredible ! If you want to, I would love putting that in at Jersey City. I am going back to JC after I head up to Lakehurst on here. Just figuring my plan of attack for putting in the NJ Turnpike extension & for "The Raceway" between Communipaw & 8th Street, Bayonne.

[Signalmaster]

These are two shots, one in the original BC route and the other in the PRR Eastern Region.

scrgrb0.jpg/original BC
scrgrb1.jpg/PRR Eastern

Hank