Of special note is the sublettering for Staten Island, N.Y., the location of CON ED's Arthur Kill coal-fired generating plant. Delivered by rail, this coal originated on the BALTIMORE & OHIO RR/B&O and was delivered by a B&O subsidiary, the STATEN ISLAND RAILWAY/SIRY. In between, this B&O coal was handled by the READING COMPANY RR between Philadelphia, PA and Bound Brook Junction, NJ/'RK' Tower, where the JERSEY CENTRAL/CNJ trackage began to Cranford Junction, NJ/'XC' Tower, the connection to the SIRY. The SIRY operated through Cranford, Linden and Elizabeth, NJ to the 'AK' lift bridge across the Kill Von Kull waterway onto Staten Island. An interesting operation on the Staten Island end. It was a very hectic weekend afternoon at 'XC' Tower when the 'SIRT Extra' coal train arrived...at least 100 cars of coal...and usually powered by older F-unit covered wagons and GP-9 diesels! Handling CNJ passenger and freight trains on the 6-track CNJ main, was interrupted by the switching required on the 'SIRT Coal Extra'. The coal train entered track 5 at Westfield, NJ/'WF' Tower and ran to Cranford, then each cut of 20 cars was run-around by the diesels and pushed back onto the SIRT Eastbound Main Track where a pair of SIRT Alco diesel switchers would later arrive to take the train. When the final cut was runaround, the B&O caboose was now next to the B&O diesels. After a short break for lunch, the westbound train returned as a 'caboose hop' to the B&O's East Side Freight Yard in Philadelphia, PA. This coal car is a tribute to that time when the B&O-RDG-CNJ railroads hauled thousands of carloads of 'black diamonds' across PA and NJ to supply New York City's need for electricity. The Staten Island, NY power plant no longer burns coal (2007) having been converted to oil in the late 1970's. Realistic CON ED coal car colors of black with the distinctive 'CON ED' logo with lettering in white. Click on the small inset photo to the left to see the level of detail in crisp/sharp lettering and painting! Sold as a 2-car set only. |