One Day on the RV - December 27, 1974

by Richard J. King (c) 2023

The following narrative was written based upon available documentation (i.e. interchange ledgers, freight bills, crew time sheets) and known train crew routines. The day's actual events may have transpired somewhat differently from how they are described here, but this narrative is written as accurately as possible. Documentation made available by Bob Hart, Jr. and Jeff Jargosch. All photos shown were taken by Daniel G. McFadden.                                           

The day was overcast but no rain or snow fell on December 27, 1974. The temperature crept up to 41 degrees, not bad for a Friday in late December. Winter had just started so the days were starting to get longer, but only just. The day’s sullen weather reflected the overall mood of the RV the past few months.

 

Back in August, the Kenilworth office had accidentally caught fire in an ill-conceived attempt to oust bees nesting in the old passenger depot’s eaves. Since then, RV had been operating something like a ship without a rudder. The railroad’s President & General Manager, Bob Clark, had been a ghost as of late. Clark suffered from dependence and had a relapse not long after the fire. Corinne Clark had been doing some clerical work for her ex-husband at the time of the fire. Without any direction or guidance, Ms. Clark assumed much of the day-to-day responsibilities of running the office alongside Charlie Hunter, the freight agent. Without a proper office, the pair worked out of a rented office trailer parked behind the burned depot.

 

With the weekend probably already on their minds, the train crew officially signed on at Kenilworth at 9 AM. In those days, the crew consisted of an engineer, conductor, and two brakemen. Harry S. Davis, age 51, had been filling as engineer for months. Bob Jones, the regular engineer, had left the railroad shortly after the fire. Davis was hired by the RV in 1972 to take over the job of maintaining the diesels and the track, taking over the position from his elder brother, George Davis, who had finally retired. After months, the RV hired Porter C. Collins, age 37, as the new engineer; however, on this particular day, Davis was still breaking Collins in. Collins had come to the RV from the Black River & Western in Ringoes, NJ, where he had fired steam locomotives and run diesels. The day’s conductor was John E. “Eddie” Jones, Jr., age 20 (no relation to the ex-RV engineer). Jones had been hired in 1972 and by 1973, when he was just 19, he was the railroad’s conductor. Darren Famular, age 21, who had come to the RV from Penn Central in 1971, was likely on the job that day as a brakeman. There may have been a second brakeman that day, it’s unclear.

 

With Clark gone, Jones likely would have gotten his marching orders that day from Charlie Hunter. There were twenty-six cars sitting on the railroad that morning. Twenty of them were hoppers of plastic pellets consigned to Monsanto in Kenilworth. The RV would store Monsanto’s cars on sidings around Kenilworth until the plant requested them. That morning, or the day before, Monsanto would have called the office with a list of the cars they wanted brought in. Beyond that, four cars were ready to be sent back out and twelve cars were coming in. The train crew would hit all three interchanges that day: CNJ at Aldene, LV at Roselle Park, and EL at Summit. Typically, at this time in the waning days before Conrail, the RV ventured up to the EL about every other day. No. 16, a GE 70-tonner and twenty-three years old, was the locomotive for the day.


Cars on the RV on Friday morning, December 27, 1974 (cars ready to go out in bold):



The train crew got underway at 9:05 AM. Working around Kenilworth, they gathered the cars for Monsanto and headed down the Rahway River Branch (“Can Branch”) and drilled the facility. After making their set outs, they picked up an outbound boxcar load (LV 8384) of plastic sheeting, likely going to Proctor & Gamble in Mehoopany, PA.

The train crew headed back eastbound through Kenilworth and stashed outbound LV 8384 either on the White Labs or Avis Machinery lead, to be grabbed later. Now running light, No. 16 headed to the LV interchange at Roselle Park. In years past, the CNJ was the heavier interchange and was customarily handled first; however, before George Clark died, there was a falling out with the CNJ and the RV began to favor the LV. 

Once at Roselle Park, nine cars were picked up:

Dan McFadden, a local railfan, was out chasing the RV on this day, his first time following the little short line. His first shot of the day, McFadden caught a picture of the train departing Roselle Park. The covered hopper of plastic, DUPX 35789, is seen behind the locomotive as the train crosses the LV's Roselle Park team track on a diamond.

The train stopped short of the “junction switch” (where the lines to the CNJ and LV diverged) and cut the cars off, likely south of Fairfield Ave. This enabled No. 16 to run light down to the CNJ interchange to pick up those cars.

McFadden caught No. 16 on its light engine move from Faitoute Ave. and took two shots. You can see the train crew piled into the confined cab. Once at Aldene, two inbound loads were picked up:

The train departed Aldene. McFadden caught a shot of them crossing Westfield Ave. with Darren Famular flagging. After clearing the crossing, the train pulled past the trailing Crossfield switch behind Valley Road. The tank, on the hind end, was shoved in and spotted for Crossfield Products.

No. 16 proceeded westbound up the mainline through Roselle Park and into Kenilworth. McFadden caught another shot of them crossing Faitoute Ave., with the lone boxcar, where he had seen them go by earlier. Upon returning to the "junction switch," the boxcar of furniture, SLSF 27570, was added to the train. Now with ten cars, the train crew would have started going about setting off cars, whose consignees were not ready to accept delivery, someplace in storage. Cars destined for short term storage probably would’ve been stashed in either the Volvo or Mike’s Coal sidings as they were trailing points.

 

The hopper of plastic (DUPX 35789) for Monsanto would have been set out in storage. Jersey Tab Card’s siding in Union could only fit two or three cars but four loads were received. So, some of Tab’s cars would have been stored someplace. Continental Packaging was already working a car on their siding, to be picked up later in the day. They technically had two car spots, each with its own loading door, but they only ever worked one door. The Mart’s loading dock in Union could only accommodate one car.

McFadden caught the train again, in front of the remains of the Kenilworth depot. In his photo, No. 16 is seen with SLSF 27570 and the two empty gondolas, N&W 189441 and UP 29650. It’s unclear, beyond these three cars, how many other cars No. 16 proceeded westbound with. They may have brought one or two of the Tab cars up to Union with them. The rest most likely stayed behind stored in Kenilworth.

In any event, No. 16 proceeded westbound and got up to Route 22. After stopping, Eddie Jones got off the engine to activate the warning flashers and flag the traffic on both sides of the highway.

 

After crossing the highway, the train reached Branch Junction in Union where some drilling was required. Carpenter Technology Corp. had an outbound load of tubing ready to head to the EL, packaged and loaded onto a flatcar (EL 7557). The two empty gondolas were consigned to Carpenter, also to be eventually loaded with steel tubing but bound for points via the LV.

 

Carpenter’s two sidings were facing point switches. Also, if they had cars for Tab with them, that was also a facing point switch. So, flying switch moves would have been needed to get cars into those sidings. Typically, the engine would have pulled the cut of cars forward, cut away, and tucked into the Essex Chair (Iorio) siding. The cars would have then rolled past the switch which would have successfully moved them to the opposite end of the locomotive.

 

If they did have boxcars of paper for Tab, those would have been spotted prior to the boxcar of furniture for The Mart. Their two sidings crossed each other on a diamond. The Mart’s single car loading dock was very close to the diamond. Any car spotted at The Mart’s platform would foul the diamond and block Tab’s siding. Therefore, Tab’s cars would have been shoved in first from the east. The Mart’s single boxcar would have then been shoved in from the west.

 

Before departing, the crew would have flown the outbound flatcar (EL 7557) past No. 16, to get it on the east end of the locomotive. Once all was complete at Branch Junction, the short one car train proceeded westbound through Union and into Springfield.

The switching in Union would have taken some time. Meanwhile, McFadden proceeded from Route 22 and up to the Mountain Ave. crossing in Springfield. There was the site of the Springfield depot, then leased out by the railroad to someone who dealt in lawn sprinklers. After waiting a bit, McFadden saw the headlight slowly approaching in the distance and took a photograph, capturing the scene at Springfield. He captured another shot, of the short train in front of the Springfield depot, before heading further west to meet the train again.

McFadden next met the train at Baltusrol Way. He snapped a photograph as Eddie Jones was jumping down off the front steps to flag the crossing. The rest of the trip westbound was in the woods or elevated above street level. So, McFadden headed up to the EL in Summit to catch the train there.

 

No. 16 slowly trundled westbound up the stiff grade of Springfield Mountain. The grade was no challenge for the 70-tonner with only one car in tow. No. 16 wallowed through the deteriorating and weed choked tracks. At this late date, on the eve of Conrail, the west end of the railroad in Springfield and Summit saw little traffic, save for a seldom car for Carter Bell or the Springfield team track.

The train got up to Summit and onto the EL. After Eddie Jones removed the double-end flop over derail at the end of the RV’s track and set the switch to come out onto the EL, McFadden caught a picture of the train. After relining the switch, No. 16 shoved the outbound flat east into the hole track and cut off.

No. 16 ran light up into the yard and held while Eddie Jones exchanged paperwork with the tower. McFadden caught another shot of No. 16, sitting in the yard under the EL’s overhead catenary for their MU electrics. By this time, the agent’s office in Summit had been abolished. The agent at Chatham handled Summit and left paperwork with the Summit tower operator. The day before, the EL’s P&D drill had dropped off a single boxcar for the RV:

No. 16 coupled up to the boxcar and proceeded east out of Summit at 12:25 PM, per McFadden's notes. The switch onto the RV was normalized, to keep any runaways lined for the hole track, and the derail placed back over the rail. The short eastbound train then proceeded down the hill. McFadden captured one last shot, of No. 16 and the MEC boxcar crossing over the RV’s rickety Broad Street bridge. In the picture, the RV’s old Summit depot can be seen at the right. This was about the time the RV sold the depot property to Overlook Hospital.

 

The train drifted back down the mountain and into Springfield. At Springfield, there was an outbound boxcar (C&O 26747) on the team track ready to head back to the LV. The car had come in on December 23, with a load of fertilizer likely consigned to Doggett-Pfeil Co. in Springfield. No. 16 would have pulled the C&O boxcar off the team track and utilized the Springfield runaround to get the car behind it, coupled to the MEC boxcar.

 

Heading eastbound again, the train got into Union and reached Branch Junction. The MEC boxcar was bound for J. L. Hammett Co. at the end of the Newark Heights Branch, shortened from its former terminus in Maplewood. The C&O boxcar was likely left behind and tied down on the mainline to avoid a nearly two-mile shove move back down the branch. MEC 6396 was hauled up to Hammett and shoved into their siding, spotted at one of the three loading docks. Another boxcar load of paper, N&W 160666, was already there and being worked. It had come in on December 23 via the CNJ. Both cars would be at Hammett till after the New Year.

 

Once back to the mainline, and with the C&O boxcar in tow, the train proceeded eastbound across Route 22 and back into Kenilworth. An empty boxcar, ACL 35807, was picked up off the Continental Packaging siding. It had been a load of paper that came in on Christmas Eve.

 

Heading further eastbound, the outbound boxcar of plastic, LV 8384, would have been picked up from wherever it was stashed earlier in the day. All three cars now in tow – C&O 26747 – ACL 35807 – LV 8384 – were outbounds for the LV. With no other outbounds to pick up, the train headed for Roselle Park and set the three cars out in the yard for the LV. The crew may have spotted that inbound boxcar of paper for Continental Packaging, SAL 28023, if they didn’t deal with it earlier in the day or maybe just left it alone until the next day.

 

No. 16 tied up at Kenilworth at 3:45 PM. Despite only working six hours and forty-five minutes, the train crew got paid for eight straight hours. With the day’s work done, the train crew signed off and headed into the weekend. The winter sun, obscured by the clouds all day, set just an hour later.