Morristown & Erie MX-29 on the Dundee Spur 10/29/14 - The Historic Movement of U34CH 3372
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- At long last, the day had arrived for the much anticipated movement of Erie Lackawanna/NJDOT U34CH 3372 from Passaic to Boonton. The unit had been stored at the New York & Greenwood Lake Railway's facility in Passaic for nearly 14 years, but now the time had come to bring it to its new home in Boonton. Morristown & Erie sent their two C-424s, 18 and 19, to Garfield in order to travel down the nearly abandoned Dundee Spur into Passaic to retrieve the U-Boat, running under the symbol MX-29.
The two ALCOs arrived in Garfield at around 10:15, stopping on the Monroe Street crossing so the switch onto the Dundee Spur could be opened. During the short wait, Train 45 passed the ALCOs with GP40PH-2B 4207 leading the way and Cab Car 6700 trailing. This train was running a few minutes late. Once it passed, the switch was opened and 18 and 19 pulled onto the Dundee Spur.
Once they were on the Dundee Spur, 18 and 19 were separated from each other. Due to the condition of the rarely used tracks, 18 was left behind just in case anything were to happen to 19 on its way to and from Passaic. Once everything was ready, 19 set off on its way, traveling down the middle of Monroe Street in one of the only instances of street running in New Jersey. 19 had to move very slowly in order to allow the conductor to walk in front of it, directing traffic around the train and stopping cars at intersections. Because of this, I was able to run ahead of the train and get a second shot of it before it left Monroe Street and pulled onto the bridge over the Passaic River. Shame that orange dump truck had to get in the way, though there wasn't much that could be done about it.
At this point, one of my friends generously offered to drive me into Passaic to see the train once again, which I graciously accepted. We waited for the train at the Wall Street crossing, one of the last two crossings before reaching the New York & Greenwood Lake facility. As the train approached, it ended up coming to a stop due to some branches hanging right in its path. The crew had to bring out a chainsaw in order to cut down the branches. Once that was done, 19 was free to continue onward, crossing Wall Street and Passaic Street and entering the facility.
Upon reaching the facility, 19 backed onto the storage track and was hooked up to the equipment standing between it and 3372. The equipment included New York & Greenwood Lake GP9 1268, Erie caboose C340, and FA1 7375. After clearing the switch so it could be thrown, 3372 was set off on the through track, and the rest of the equipment was put back into the facility.
At this point, I walked back into Garfield and made my way back over to Monroe Street. Before long, 3372 made its appearance as it was pushed down the middle of the street by 19. This was truly an incredible sight, one that will never be repeated. Once the two engines made it back to where 18 was waiting, 3372 was sandwiched between the two ALCOs, and the crew began waiting for permission to open up the switch back onto the Bergen Line. Before then, two NJ Transit trains had to pass through. First was Train 1257 with F40PH-3C 4912 on the point and Comet V Cab Car 6712 at the end. This train was running on Track 2 due to track work between Saddle Brook and Rutherford. Next was Train 1270, passing MX-29 with Comet V Cab Car 6050 leading the way. Powering this set was GP40PH-2B 4209.
Once the two passenger trains had passed by, the switch was opened up and MX-29 was allowed to pull onto the Bergen Line. When the switch was closed, the train continued on its way with 19 and 18 escorting 3372 to its new home. This was the last I saw of the train, but I do know that it ran down the Bergen Line to the West End wye, then traveled along the Montclair-Boonton Line all the way to the URHS shops in Boonton, where 3372 was dropped off. This was an amazing experience, and I am so happy that I was able to see this historical movement. Please enjoy!
Cool! My grandpa was an engineer on the Erie RR and I have a pic of him in front of a steam locomotive in his coveralls. He later was an engineer on the GP engines. We lived in Paterson, just off of Union Ave., till I was eight, then we mover to Oakland, NJ. Good Times! Now that I’m 74, this made me smile.... Thanks for the video!
Take heart, you published this in 2014, i have just watched it in 2021, wow an historical documentary. Thankyou for filming and sharing. People will enjoy this for years.
I'm NOT a train enthusiast but I was mesmerised by the whole thing! Especially when the train trundled down the road... Thank you to all!
Sean Scott your welcome
Everybody's a train enthusiast. Who could think trains aren't awesome?!
Nothing like trains to bring people together! Fantastic event and video! And the guy in the cowboy hat is priceless!
Watching Alcos running and on the street no less is some of the best video! Thanks for filming this action!
Priceless ancient metal from the age of industrial antiquity. Excellent historical capture.
Phillip Mulligan and
Thank You for this Wonderfull Video All you folk's get to places to where I can not travel to any more.
So you are my Eyes and ears that travel Around the world Thank June 23, 2017
Phillip Mulligan juggf Ck⊙_⊙๏_๏๏_๏ lm
Thank for sharing a great video. Just love that street action with the old engines showing the clowns in the trucks and other drivers who's boss. It's nice knowing there are people interested in preserving this unique U34CH. I presume U34CH's once ruled the line now operated by those GP/F40PH's and that the FA in Passaic came via the Long Island RR.
+713davidh42 Yup, the FA is indeed a former LIRR unit. I can only imagine how much different NJT was back then with all of the U-boats running around. I was only 2 years old when they were retired, so I never even had a chance to see them in action.
headass
I love.the street running shot. Reminds me of street lines on brooklyn, ny where l grew up in 1940s and 50s
Thanks
Thanks to all involved.
And now 3372 is on the move once again
I took the last rail fan trip by NJ Transit by U Boats on August 27th 1994 thanks for the post it was like seeing an old friend!
Njmvc Sp257 I
Funny ! I noticed that the pavement between the rails had big holes at 17:35, and when I went on Google Earth on the same place, workers on the picture were reparing it !
Nice video ! On Google Earth we can see that this place was an industrial area, there are many branches further, abandoned and cut, leading to old closed factories.
Jacques, from France.
Wow! Great video and great description!
Lots of maneuvering and switching down some side tracks that looked abandoned.
I love urban exploration, and trains, and older forgotten sections of tracks like this that are rarely used.
Thank you for filming and posting!
I grew up in Passaic, and we had bragging rights to three railroads in the city. There was the Erie Mainline, The Lackawanna and that Dundee Spur belonged to the Susquehanna. That spur served several big factories in Passaic Manhattan Rubber and Okonite. I was in Passaic two years ago and I drove over to 4th street to check out the collection and I was very disappointed in how they are being stored.
Very nice video with one of the best descriptions I’ve ever seen on UA-cam, thanks for filming this historic move
I love these videos of trains passing through cities etc,at street level, obviously the routes established many years ago, it just looks like wow! so unusual to us UK dwelers
Don the reason we don't see street running here in the UK anymore is all thanks to stupid "health & safety" rules.
The thought of a man walking down the middle of the road in front of a big engine/train with just a flag would give them nightmares!
The only street running standard gauge line left from memory is the Weymouth Quay Branch, and even that is closed. The closest you get is a short section on the Welsh Highland Railway in Porthmadog.
Don Cross The only bad thing is... you might get hit randomly...
Don't you just love HMRI?
Theres still one here in Los Angeles California
Metro Trains going through the main big streets .. with station islands
Street running is neat. I ran trains in the street in Noblesville, Indiana for the Indiana Transportation Museum in the early 2000's. Street running has become unpopular also because the salt used to melt icw & snow sped up deterioration of the bases of the rails, requiring that they be replaced more frequently. The roads also kept moisture around the ties, causing them to deteriorate more quickly.
Don't think I've seen a train on Monroe St. since the 80's. It was a common sight when I was a kid in the 70's. Great video!
Actually, I rather appreciated the orange rubbish truck in the video. It really gave scale to the size of the old ALCO locomotive. It also adds an element of what the locomotive crew had to go through to get to where they wanted to be. It was a great video.
Many, MANY years ago, at like 5 or 6 yrs. of age, I clearly remember riding in my father's '35' Hudson, on that street, and I can still see, in my mind's eye, the back end of a Vanderbilt tender, as my father followed it down the street. We had just crossed the river and where the street and tracks combined, we fell in behind the Vanderbilt equipped engine. Growing up in Riverside, very near the River Street station, Paterson, at the end of steam, I was sort of familiar with ERIE steamers, even at my age then. Thanks for the memories.
I remember that section of rack in the 1940's with Erie steam switchers going down the road and across that trestle. As I look at that trestle it must have been repaired. If my memory serves me correctly the old structure was made entirely of wood.
That would be Monroe Street in Garfield NJ.
Great video. Really dig the street running and spur action. Nice to see old equipment moved as such
I always liked train tracks in the middle of the road. Want something like that on my LEGO railroad
Thanks! The street running was one of the best things about this movement, especially because of how rare any movement on this spur is.
Love seeing these beasts coming down the roadway..and even truck drivers are probably stunned seeing something bigger than their trucks coming!
It is an incredible sight. Just a shame that this is the only example of street running for a normal railroad in New Jersey, and this line hasn't been used at all in the two years since this day.
GenesisSanctuary it is sad, even in Canada here, many of the spurs are gone now...would of been soo cool to see many different trains working...and to see them doing what they do best!
Ithinkiwill66 Our elecetric locomotives in Bulgaria are betther
write in google BDZ 45/ 44 /43
Ithinkiwill66 z
@@lro255 Uh? Lol
Great video. Wife is from Garfield and it was good to see the train going down Monroe St. and then over the Passaic River. I went to Google Maps and checked out the location. From the sat view at 6th and South in Passaic you can still see all the rolling stock just about where they left it. Check it out if you are interested.
They better keep those tracks. They might have to use them again and would be wise if they did so.
@@trfarmer3869
All gone now.
Glad I found this , a treat for most and more so to anyone from the UK .Thanks for taking the time to do it and posting.
Since this video still gets a lot of attention, here's an update on the status of this line: The New York & Greenwood Lake Railway has filed for bankruptcy, and the city of Passaic is preparing to have the tracks ripped up so as to redevelop the area. All of the equipment left behind at the facility is being gathered up and prepared for transport up the line to the NJT interchange in Garfield. This will be the final movement along the Dundee spur before it is completely abandoned, and the move is expected to take place sometime next week pending inspection by NJT. The equipment will then be brought to the NYSW PC Yard in Saddle Brook to be stored until a buyer is found.
As for 3372, not much has changed, sadly. It's still at the URHS facility in Boonton, and it seems like there's no hope in restoring it.
@Oliver Caguia I'll try to get out and film the last run over Monroe Street. Unfortunately, I missed out on seeing the equipment being pulled from the Passaic facility because I was getting over a cold.
It is now, but it will be repaired to move the equipment out once NJT gives their approval.
lovely to see and hear the big engines trundling down the main street of town!
WELL DONE! I was on The London Underground, and I can appreciate the problems of moving "Stock" around. A WONDERFUL film.
~a78iooo0
Love seeing all of those old Alco units. Great video!
What a neat video. My 2x great grandparents were from Dundee...the Brewer and Parker families. They were among the earliest settlers.
Really good angles and great video of the train...amazing
Is it just me, or do those old F-units just look amazing? They may be old and lack the power of modern locomotives, but damn did they have a certain class about them.
WiredrawnMurder45 No I agree with you they are quite cool.The DM&E line used to use one for shunting train cars from Rochester, MN to Utica, MN. But when Canadian Pacific bought the line they just scrapped it
WiredrawnMurder45 That's an ALCO FA1 with a 244 engine
I am a trucker that loves all freight machines(trucks and trains) and i own 2 original operators manuals from 1949 and 1951 for f7 locomotives. Love them they were amazing machines. And the thought that the very manual i am holding probably trained many crewman is really amazing 😁
“Dammit John, I thought you said there was a drive thru around here”. Lol great video.
🐏🐏🐑🐐🐺🐺🐺🐃🐃🐂🐂🐄🐄🐮🐴🐴🐗🐗🐖🐷🐷🐽🐸🐸🐸🐍🐼🐼🐧🐘🐄🐮🐵🐴🐗🐡🐒🐒🐒🐵🐵🐆🐯🐻🐊🐟🔰🔰💄👟🎓👖👘👝👝🎒🎒💼👚👠💣
Great to see so many people taking pictures.
THANK YOU FOR DETAIL VIDEO OF OPERATION REAL WORLD RAILROAD AS WAS JOY TO WATCH
Good video. It is good to see stuff like this recorded, as it is a rare and probably final event. Despite the walking pace of it all, I watched it and enjoyed seeing history recorded.
Excellent video. Hope the spur track is maintained for future use. Hate to see it abandoned and the equipment at the facility stranded.
Thanks! Sadly, it seems like the line actually has been abandoned. It saw a brief resurgence in freight activity earlier this year, but the tracks connecting it to the Bergen Line were cut, so now all of the equipment, as well as a hopper, are stranded in Passaic.
@@GenesisSanctuary If the Bergen Light Rail gets built won't they need this track? I may have myself in the wrong area also. I wuold think that they would keep them for the revitalaztion of industry there.
Wow lots of railfan around in this video. Especially enjoyed the guy standing on the roof of his car snapping some video action in the second clip. Nice Video!
Love those Alcos. Don't get to see many of them, especially in that good of condition. Looks like this railroad does a good job keeping them maintained.
I saw this in a magazine when they made this special move
Jaw Tooth ayy jaw tooth
Me to jaw tooth
Those alco units are real pieces of history themselves. Great video!
Thanks for taking the time and trouble to bring a rare event to all.
Nice to see old EL engines in action!
Just loved the echo off the horns !!!
OMG! My father was born 100 years ago this past April on Passaic Street Dundee, a stone's throw away from the facility.
This loco reminds me of my local town fire trucks that still use a bell while moving through traffic.
Our fire trucks use a electric siren, but most of the time they use the bell as there isn't much traffic in the area.
Aslo Aso ,
.
ook
Simply amazing, moving all this stuff in the middle of a street....
Street running is something to behold.
Been by Boonton many times in my truck on I 287.. always would check the trains parked up on the hill.
Great video , thanks for making it and sharing it.
Looked up the cross streets of sixth and south in Passaic and followed along it during the video, pretty cool.😎😀
Turbo Pokey ☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️
I love this train design. So cool.
And that’s where those cars sit until this day. I went exploring up in there back in 2018, and filmed and got photos.
The guys who work in the garage back there spoke very broken English but was telling me those locomotive are suppose to be restored or something.
I will miss these elegant beasts…
RIP 18 & 19 1964-2017.
At least they’re in the good hands of preservation.
Something quite satisfying about this whole thing.
I can imagine when #19 coupled to the U-Boat, waking up the U-Boat from hibernation and #19 screaming, "ON YOUR WHEELS UNIT, WE ARE LEAVING!"
Also, I seriously can't tell the difference between a C36-7 and that U34CH. Maybe the dynamic brake grids on the C36-7 would give it away.
Ill be darned, the bell on the U34Ch works!!!!
They should have run that collection cars and locos back through the main street of town just to mess with people.......really enjoyed this , thanks for posting
Call me sadistic, but I'd love to have seen that ^_^
Haven't seen that Erie caboose since I was a kid. Glad some were saved.
Great video! I enjoyed seeing the U34CH, and I hope they restore it back to operating condition. Equally impressive is the ALCO Century. I hope they plan on fixing/restoring the high hood GP9 as well as the FA-1. Subscribed.
Thanks! I also hope to see the U34CH restored in the hopefully near future. Unfortunately, I have no idea what's going to end up happening with the rest of the equipment stored in Passaic. It would be great to see them saved, but who knows.
🚅ty enjoyed immensely with morning coffee
it was nice seeing it as I live over the pond
Great video, 2nd time watching...The traffic after you pick up the consist looked like they wanted to bust past you...If that were done around here they'd have had about 20 cops....
FYI: @ 13:52 you can actually SEE the bell operating. Very cool !!! :-)
I really liked the guy with the Stetson , especially when he sat in the window of the old loco , he really looked the part of a cowboy on his old workhorse. And now I know that the bellsound used to come from a real bell , its probably done electrical now a days
Still uses a real bell to this day. just not a brass bell. Though it does use an electric/pneumatic actuator.
I remember this train pulling passenger cars. It would roar into Paterson on the main line.
Nice to see that a man with a red flag is a better warning than a huge locomotive coming at you.
The answer is simple. Put a yellow vest on the locomotive.
Excellent video work!
Thanks! Very interesting.
Fabulous, and great filming
Merci pour les explications. Great video! Thanks for the explanations.
3372 has finally been restored!
Que belas manobras, adorei o vídeo parabéns 👏🏼👏🏼
man if i saw something like this in my town id grab a 6 pack and my lawn chair and just chill and watch this whole thing
Great video. Wonder why the police weren't on hand to assist with the engine's travel down the middle of a crowded roadway.
Nice street running! Nice shot
Thanks!
Loved the "shark nose" unit!
Haven't heard so much creaking since I went to my auntie's nursing home.
Even has an old LIRR power-pack in the mix of engines....and LOL at 12:38, the Signal Maintainer scratching his back with a wood wedge before he gets to work.
It sure would be interesting to know where it was coming from and going to, and why.... great video. That’s an old diesel electric but it seems to run just fine.
All the information you're looking for is in the description. The U34CH doesn't run and hasn't for nearly 20 years. It has also been vandalized during the 14 years it spent in Passaic, so it's possible it can never run again.
Well they build new parts for Steam Engines so it can be done for Uboat 3372
Great video as always....BIg like from Romania
Thank you very much!
It shouldn't be difficult to restore the unit to operating condition, besides money. The prime mover is still being produced 7FDL16.
going through a neighborhood like that - I can just imagine if one of the train crew lived in one of those houses. Parking the engine outside his house for lunch.
ive seen a train stop at a party mart by the tracks and come out with a full pizza and a 2 liter of mountain dew then continue like nothing happened
Honey I'm home for lunch.
There was a branch line in my area where the engineers house was right next to a crossing!
@@domboy08 LOL WOW that's awesome!!!
Paul Johansson 0””!
That ALCO FA1 power pack is beautiful.
They looked great but the models ran better than the real ones their 244 engines were problematic and unreliable. Some got repowered with EMD 567 or Alco 251 engines and the rest did not have a long service life. By the early 1970s most were scrapped or had their trucks reused after being traded in.
Great video. I only live a few blocks away.
Love them old Alco's....
that yard does actually look a lot similar to the train yard over in Ridgley,West Virgina at Ridgley Yards Maintenance physility at The Western Maryland Scenic Railroad that goes from Cumberland,Maryland to FrostBurg,Maryland and Back.
Wow that was some move to plan. Love the old diesel unit although I guess she will need a major overhaul :-))
That NJ Metro came by quick. I LOVE freights running on city streets, it's odd, but amazingly awesome!!
What a layout for a model train!!! Original!! Yes it is!!!
Was hoping to see the front of the crossing signals, Seems like an interesting set of lights
I can try to get a shot of that crossing from the front next time I'm in the area.
Six years later, the Dundee Spur is no more.
CLASSIC Jersey stuff 😎😎😎
cool ! I love to see ALCO locomotive !
Truck got in the way of the best bit of the recce/pioneer mission ! Driver's mate looks like Lemme (from motorhead) crossed with Albert King, lol. That train looks like a zombie, gypsy ghost train, amazing relics. This is real Americana train-porn. thanks for post, peace
Awesome job hitting 1 million views on this video!
Spectacular‼️. Madrid Spain .👍👏🏻👏🏻🇪🇸
I hope they restore the ALCO unit that looks like a GM "F" unit as well soon I miss watching them go by.
The cowboys back lol
pretty funny to see a century series rescuing a universal series, but god do i love those old u-boats. the centurys are probably going to love up to their name at this point lol
It must be interesting being a train driver just driving down thousands of miles of rail for hours at a time, it must be interesting to see some of the things they do also
99% of the time, it's boring as hell.
@@All_Noing I disagree man I love it.
Thats great run out of tracks!
16:11 I love how there's six million tons of steel straddling the entire width of the road and Garth Brooks there still deems it necessary to hold his stop sign hand up to the traffic!
Looking at the condition of some of the track, makes me wonder why they would risk such a valuable engine, 'specially gave me a heart attack going over that trestle. And judging by the way the consist creaked and groaned after hook-up it must have been in storage for quite a very long time. But all in all a great post.
3:43 "Holy shit! Is that a train coming down the street heading towards me?"
cleaning up shop*
hums*
looks out window*
"is it me or a TRAINS COMING TOWARDS MY STORE?"
train turns "phew"