From: smb@ulysses.att.com (Steven Bellovin)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: ``Railroad Days'' on the Black River and Western
Date: 17 Aug 92 20:47:58 GMT

This past Saturday and Sunday were ``Railroad Days'' on the Black River
and Western, a (very) short-line railroad operating out of Ringoes,
NJ.  It was a fun time for my entire family.  (Well, my wife wasn't
that thrilled, but the kids loved it...)

We started by taking a train from Flemington to Ringoes, a 20-25 minute
ride.  There were ~4 fairly-old coaches pulled by #60, a 2-8-0.  One of
the coaches had open sides and wooden benches in the center, facing
out; unfortunately, we couldn't ride in it because the benches were
soaked from the rain.  (Aside:  the weather was just barely good
enough.  It was raining lightly in the morning, and the rain started in
again ~15 minutes after we were back in our car, heading home.  In
between, it was mostly sort-of dry, which was actually an advantage --
it kept the crowds way down.  But it did restrict my photography; I
didn't want to bring my good cameras.)  Immediately after leaving the
station, we spotted some deer in a field, which thrilled my kids (ages
3 and 6) almost (but not quite) as much as the train ride.

Ringoes is the base of operations for the BW&R.  They have an Alco road
switcher, which they were using today for the run from Ringoes to
Lambertville; timing didn't permit us to take that run.  There was
another Alco (?) switcher on the property, with a ``For Sale'' sign in
the cab window; it was coupled to a wreck crane.  The latter was
demonstrating its capabilities by lifting a backhoe, and moving it on
and off of a flatcar.  For whatever reason, the kids didn't want to see
that, so I never got a close look at either the crane or the engine.

Other equipment around the place included some old cabooses (cabeese?),
a rusted diesel engine (sorry, I don't know the type, though I may try
to figure it out when my pictures are developed), and a panier tank
steam engine in moderately poor shape.  Unfortunately, it was closed
off, and the windows and entrances were boarded up.

The highlight, at least to my kids, was Conrail #8110, a GP 38-2
present for Operation Lifesaver.  They weren't at all interested in the
video, though they were willing to snarf up the postcards and coloring
books, but the engine -- heaven!  They actually got to sit in the
engineer's seat and move some controls around.  (Mostly the brake
handles -- which made me a bit nervous, though I kept telling myself
that the Conrail personnel wouldn't have left the engine completely
unattended if it were unsafe.  Yes, I mean *completely* -- and given
the sparse attendance, we had ~15 minutes alone in the cab.
Fortunately, the kids didn't figure out how to start the engine...  One
thing I found interesting, btw, was a ``power control box'' -- as best
I could tell, you simply pressed buttons to bring extra units in a
lash-up on- and off-line.)

When I could pull them out of the cab -- eventually, some other people
did show up -- I could point out interesting things to my daughter,
like the uncoupling levers, the MU lines, and the air hoses.

We then had fun just wandering around the grounds, while I pointed out
interesting bits of railroadiana to my kids.  ``See the worn outer
edges of the rails?  See the spikes and the tie plates?  See how the
rail sagged as the train went by?  Gee -- see where the ballast is
washed out under that tie?''  Just about everything was open, though we
didn't go into the main engine house, as the band was a bit too loud.
I did point out the inspection pit, and the rerailing jacks.  I wish
I'd gotten to see them used.  (Aside:  the three-year-old thought that
there was some identity between the real trains and my model trains.
``Daddy, does that caboose derail all the time, too?'')

There was a minimal amount of stuff for sale; I don't know if some of
the vendors were scared away by the weather, or by the expected (and
actual) low turnout both days.  The souvenir shop was about as
expected, so we didn't buy anything (yes, that generated a few loud
noises.) Other stuff around included a stick-pushed, hand-built,
large-scale model train, and a ~1" scale diesel pulling and pushing a
couple of cars.  There was also a large junk pile of signal equipment
removed from service; presumably, they intend to add some of it to
their museum at some point.  Right now, it's not worth seeing.)

Finally, we had to head back.  #60 ran around the coaches, but didn't
reverse direction, so it led the train, tender first, back to
Flemington.  When we got there, my wife went off to do some shopping,
while I amused the kids.  This gave them a few more chances to see the
locomotive, which they enjoyed.  In between trips, we wandered over to
stare at some hopper cars stashed on a storage track.  (The BW&R is a
working freight railroad, though it doesn't seem to have many online
customers, at least not on the leg between Ringoes and Flemington.  I
don't know what's between Ringoes and Lambertville, nor how much
further the line extends in either direction.  Nor do I know where it
interchanges with (I assume) Conrail.  Friday, there was apparently a
chance to ride in a coach behind #60 while it carried out routine
switching.  Fortunately or not, I didn't know about that in advance, so
I didn't have to decide if it was worth taking a day off...)

My son (the 3 year old) is both fascinated by, and terrified of, the
engine.  Every time it passed, he levitated into my arms and buried his
face in my shoulder.  But he wouldn't hear of any suggestions that we
go away from it.  ``Daddy, let's go to the station so the driver wheels
can scare me.''


			--Steve Bellovin
Newsgroups: rec.railroad