Nice trip today on train 95

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I took Northeast Regional 95 today from Trenton to Alexandria, and it was a lovely trip. The train was clean and on time all the way. I was in BC and after some people left at Philly it was fairly empty.

I was in seat 14F and my boarding location at TRE was 14F—I’m not usually so coordinated!😁

Because of the connecting light rail off-peak schedule, I got to TRE about 45 minutes before my train. I wasn’t expecting to see much there, and I was pleasantly surprised.

I saw something coming slowly down a middle track—it was an NJT consist being led by a huge engine that said Bombardier. I think it was one of the new ones being tested.

Then I saw another NJT consist, going north, and it had a brown Pennsylvania Railroad car in back of the engine. That was quite a surprise, and I have no idea what that was all about.

So I had some interesting things to look at.

I haven’t been on a train going south for over a year, and my perspective was completely different today than it was then.

It was wonderful to again see all the things I’ve missed so much—the Philly skyline, the whale mural at Wilmington, the rivers and other bodies of water.

But even the warehouses and row houses and muddy streams and traffic and all the other things I always considered mundane or ugly today had a charm as well—perhaps because I was grateful that after a year I could see them from a train window again.

It also was nice to see all the commuter rails again—SEPTA, MARC, and VRE.

As we neared Alexandria, the conductor took my bag up to the door that would be opening and had me sit near it. Then he helped me detrain (they still have the yellow stool to step on—some things really never do change!) while one of the station attendants brought my bag down. After being out of practice for a year, I was grateful for the help.

I waved to the conductor as the train left, then headed for my hotel and a few days in this lovely town.
 
That looks like a Sprinter in PRR colors! (I believe that color is called "Tuscan Red," not brown, but it brings back memories of the old PRR MP-54s that ran on the Paoli Local when I was a kid.)

I was up in Jersey today, and didn't even see it! But I did see the Silver Meteor blow through Princeton Junction about 2 hours late with a blue PV on the tail. I also rode the Dinky, the River Line, the PATCO Speedline, the Market Frankford Line, and a SEPTA Silverliner V (between Jefferson and 30th St.) I'll put up some pictures when my camera's batteries recover enough for me to transfer them to my computer.

I'm glad your trip to Alexandria went well.
 
That looks like a Sprinter in PRR colors! (I believe that color is called "Tuscan Red," not brown, but it brings back memories of the old PRR MP-54s that ran on the Paoli Local when I was a kid.)

I was up in Jersey today, and didn't even see it! But I did see the Silver Meteor blow through Princeton Junction about 2 hours late with a blue PV on the tail. I also rode the Dinky, the River Line, the PATCO Speedline, the Market Frankford Line, and a SEPTA Silverliner V (between Jefferson and 30th St.) I'll put up some pictures when my camera's batteries recover enough for me to transfer them to my computer.

I'm glad your trip to Alexandria went well.
https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf...wAhU4RTABHZ2eBjsQ7Al6BAgDEBE&biw=1242&bih=532
 
Ah, it's a Bombardier ALP46, not a Sprinter.

Here's more about these "heritage" units:

Man, Those PRR Pinstripes Look Awesome! - Railway Age

The author says that NJT did a licensing agreement with Conrail, who owns the predecessor railroad names. This was done to mark the 40th anniversary of NJT in 2019. This sort of assumes that Conrail still exists in some form, though, upon further research, it appears that it is now jointly owned by NS and CSX.

If this sort of thing can be done for this, it might be an interesting marketing ploy for Amtrak to obtain license agreements to use heritage markings on some of its trains. (e.g., New York Central livery for Empire Service, PRR and New Haven livery for the NEC, B&O for the Capitol Limited, Seaboard Air Line/Atlantic Coast Line for the Silver Service, etc. At the very least, when things go bad, the angry passengers can blame the "New York Central," or the "Pennsylvania Railroad," or the "Baltimore and Ohio" instead of Amtrak :) And CSX and NS shouldn't care, because most people can't trace the names of the heritage railroads to the names of the current cooperate entities that actually own the railroads.
 
Ah, it's a Bombardier ALP46, not a Sprinter.

Here's more about these "heritage" units:

Man, Those PRR Pinstripes Look Awesome! - Railway Age

The author says that NJT did a licensing agreement with Conrail, who owns the predecessor railroad names. This was done to mark the 40th anniversary of NJT in 2019. This sort of assumes that Conrail still exists in some form, though, upon further research, it appears that it is now jointly owned by NS and CSX.

If this sort of thing can be done for this, it might be an interesting marketing ploy for Amtrak to obtain license agreements to use heritage markings on some of its trains. (e.g., New York Central livery for Empire Service, PRR and New Haven livery for the NEC, B&O for the Capitol Limited, Seaboard Air Line/Atlantic Coast Line for the Silver Service, etc. At the very least, when things go bad, the angry passengers can blame the "New York Central," or the "Pennsylvania Railroad," or the "Baltimore and Ohio" instead of Amtrak :) And CSX and NS shouldn't care, because most people can't trace the names of the heritage railroads to the names of the current cooperate entities that actually own the railroads.
I recall reading this a few years ago...wonder whatever happened to this case, and if the individual still has these rights...
https://www.joc.com/men-who-licensed-pa-rail-name-now-must-face-wrath-fans_19940605.html
 
I too like the idea of the heritage colors, especially for the historic routes. However I can see some logistical trouble if Amtrak (or any other RR) had certain engines tied to certain routes. It seems to me that the railroad needs to be able to move any rolling stock anywhere at any time. Then again that could lead to some interesting pics of say a New York Central in Texas or California.
 
It's behind a paywall.....Any idea of the gist of what happened?
Hmm...it wasn't yesterday...what I recall was that one Richard Neumann of Markham, Il, and his son discovered that the name was no longer 'owned' by anyone, in 1994, and they opened an 'office' and registered the name and logo in Illinois, and other states. There purpose was to obtain royalties from any "for profit" businesses (t-shirts, cups, etc.) using the name. They claimed they would not want payment from museums, associations, or other non-profit entities.
I believe that they no longer have those rights, but not sure...can't remember any more details, and am not about to join that website.
 
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