A Day of Interesting Consists at the Essex County Turtle Back Zoo Railroad

Описание: Today was a great day to be at work, and a very interesting day as well. This morning, 306 had a minor issue that needed attention, so 199 was allowed to run for much of the day. This is my first time seeing 199 this year, and it’s also the first time I’ve seen 199 in its complete post-rebuild state. As part of the rebuild, a lot of parts were replaced and/or fixed, and the issues with the throttle were corrected. The bell issue from its initial return last year was also fixed, but it seems to have an irregular ringing rhythm, not to mention that there are still a few instances where it briefly stalls. In addition, 306 and 382 got brand new cowcatchers over the break, finally allowing 199 to get its cowcatcher back. At this point, the only things that still need to be brought back are the American flags and a new lightbulb for the headlight. Otherwise, 199's running better than ever and will probably be around for several more years. And considering that there’s a restriction at the moment where only one train is allowed to run, I was very lucky to work with it today.

As for the three-car train, unfortunately we were forced to work with this until 306's return because no one felt like switching the ADA blue car from the red cars to the blue cars. So it meant that there was going to be a relative small amount of people going into the train each time. Technically I’m used to this, since the Jenkinson’s Boardwalk Train has always run with three cars. It’s also not the first time I’ve seen this railroad run a three-car train; I’ve seen them do this back in 2014. Still, this is not a good choice when you literally have families coming to the train all the time. At least we made it work while it lasted.

Because of the short train, we were afraid that we were going to have long lines for the whole day. However the lines were never super long so that was a surprise. Even better, the technical issues on 306 were fixed by the late afternoon. So 199 was put away after 306 returned, finally bringing back the current five-car train. It’s also perfect because if we ran the three car train on a Saturday, we would never get through everyone. The five car train obviously holds more people, but slightly less with the current setup as the blue ADA-coach has three benches and room for two wheelchairs, while the red ADA-coach has five benches and room for one wheelchair.

So yeah, it was a great day to be working, as I got to work with both engines. Right now, 382 is still awaiting repairs as the red ADA-coach is the main priority. It’s now not going to come back for like another two weeks, but the ADA-coach will finally be ready in a few days. Overall, a great day, and another job well done. I hope you enjoy the action!

PS: Sorry about the radio blasting in the second video. I actually edited the first clip to remove it, but I forgot to do so for the second clip. Also the train ride will be coming soon. It’s been busy the last few days so I haven’t been able to hitch a ride yet.