Members in/near Northern NJ: Want to start up a get together/ride

[Another Ahab]

Late to the check-in, but watching:

- Subscribed

 

[SteveKuhn]

LiqTenEXp made it, so we had 6 vehicles. Not a bad turnout at all.

Steve

 

[Another Ahab]

Tootie Greene

LiqTenEXp made it, so we had 6 vehicles. Not a bad turnout at all.

Steve

Nice assortment:

- Is that M35a2 an unconventional color (grey-green), or

- Is that just the way the light is shining on it?

Which reminds me of a joke. But not right now.

 

[SteveKuhn]

That Deuce belongs to GForce. Perhaps he'll answer. But no, nothing unconventional about the paint.

Steve

 

[Digger09]

Nice assortment:

- Is that M35a2 an unconventional color (grey-green), or

- Is that just the way the light is shining on it?

Which reminds me of a joke. But not right now.

View attachment 525902

He drives so fast the green blew off.

 

[SteveKuhn]

Bergen Harley put up a few photos of the MVs of the day on their Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/bergenharleydavidson/photos_stream

Steve

 

[SteveKuhn]

Toys For Tots Train 12/6, 7, 13, 14

Come along for a good cause.

This will have 4 days this year.

• Bergen/Passaic County will be 12/6 from Rochelle Park -> Butler
• NY will be 12/7 from Warwick -> Walden
• Morris County will be 12/13 from Rockaway -> Flanders
• Roxbury will be a static display at the station on 12/14.

I know that the Bergen and NY runs will have convoys to chase the train, and display and help at the stops, as well as guys who can't do the run but meet us at a specific station or two. If your truck isn't on the road, perhaps a scenic train ride through the countryside as you count and stack toys in the baggage car.

Since we have lots of reach from SS, I'm adding the Morris County days as well in hopes of getting more people out to support the effort.

The routes and times are posted at http://www.toysfortotsnj.com/

Oh - and most years there's CHILI!!!! in the dining car.

Steve

 

[SteveKuhn]

Just a reminder bump that the trains begin this Saturday, 12/6 in Bergen County, Sunday 12/7 in NY, and next Saturday in Morris County. The link above has the stations and schedules, and you can either run the whole train, a portion of it, or meet it at a station or 2.

Sunday, 12/7 at 1 p.m. is the Pearl Harbor Rememberance at the USS Ling in Hackensack. We display some trucks for that, and arrive at about noon to get in to position.

SS members are more than welcome at both of these.

Steve

 

[SteveKuhn]

One screen shot that sums for some SSers and others this past weekend in NNJ:

• Bergen County Toys for Tots Train on Saturday
• Pearl Harbor Rememberance at the USS Ling on Sunday

At 2:52 on this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAoUYfYzJmU

 

[Another Ahab]

One screen shot that sums for some SSers and others this past weekend in NNJ:

• Bergen County Toys for Tots Train on Saturday
• Pearl Harbor Rememberance at the USS Ling on Sunday

That's great stuff!

Looks like some historic cars being pulled by that engine:

- all of them; the boxcar and the two passenger cars

Do you know anything about them?

 

[SteveKuhn]

I don't personally. If you search YouTube for Toys for Tots Train 2014you'll find several other rail fan videos of this train, some with the car names clearly displayed. A Google of those specific car names will likely return some info. Rail fans are big on that stuff.

Steve

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

I don't personally. If you search YouTube for Toys for Tots Train 2014you'll find several other rail fan videos of this train, some with the car names clearly displayed. A Google of those specific car names will likely return some info. Rail fans are big on that stuff.

Steve

There's a whole thread dedicated to 2014 Toys For Tots activities here on the SS Forums....
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?128848-Toys-for-Tots-2014-Events
The above referenced video has been posted there.

Carry on!

 

[Jersey 93 Ty]

That's great stuff!

Looks like some historic cars being pulled by that engine:

- all of them; the boxcar and the two passenger cars

Do you know anything about them?

We're not using a boxcar this year. Besides the locomotive, our train consisted of 4 cars for 2014.

First is the MNJ 380, a caboose supplied by the Middletown & New Jersey Railroad. To my knowledge, that's part of the train just so that the public can be happy that they saw a caboose, but we're not really using it beyond that.

Second is the PRR 9286 baggage car. It was built in 1926 as a standard baggage car and rebuilt by the Pennsylvannia Railroad into an express-messenger-baggage car in 1964. It is owned by the United Railroad Historical Society of New Jersey, who have loaned it out for use on our train for both weekends this year. This is where we accept, count, and store the toys on each run. While we have used a boxcar from the M&E for this task in years past (and may again in the future), the baggage car is bigger, has better lighting, easier access, and most importantly allows us to be inside and working while the train is moving.

Our third car is the NYC 43. It is a tavern/lounge car that was built by Budd Company in 1947 and was owned and operated by New York Central, Penn Central, Conrail, and NJ Transit before retiring in 1987. Just like the PRR Baggage Car, it is now owned by URHS, who have restored it and loan it out to us for the Toys Train. We use this to haul most of the volunteers, and the tables at the tavern end of the car are well used by the volunteers for enjoying breakfast and lunch when we aren't working.

At the rear of our train this year is the NYC Hickory Creek. It was built in 1948 by Pullman and used as the tail end observation car on the 20th Century Limited for 20 years. It was sold to Ringling Brothers for their circus train in 1968, and eventually ended up in the URHS's collection as well. It has been wonderfully restored, and is actually certified to run at 110mph on Amtrak! Some of our volunteers ride the Hickory Creek from stop to stop during the day, and we've been setting up the crock pots with our hot lunches on one of the tables inside. The sleeping compartments are used by a few of the volunteers who actually stay on board the train overnight to keep an eye on things.

More information and photos on the URHS cars can be found on www.urhs.org. The 43 and the Hickory Creek are even available for private charter, although I personally have no idea how much something like that costs. In addition to providing the cars needed to make the Toys for Tots Train a success, the URHS also supplies many of the volunteers that work the train each day of our collection. We couldn't make this happen without them, or without the generous cooperation of the railroads involved.

 

[Another Ahab]

We're not using a boxcar this year. Besides the locomotive, our train consisted of 4 cars for 2014.

In addition to providing the cars needed to make the Toys for Tots Train a success, the URHS also supplies many of the volunteers that work the train each day of our collection. We couldn't make this happen without them, or without the generous cooperation of the railroads involved.

Very cool; thank you. I figured there might be somebody train-savvy who would know these kinds of details, because years ago I knew a "train nut" (term for that?). and he would always know all these things (to a remarkable level of detail). I don't know the details myself but like to hear from those that do; thanks a million, Jersey!

Toys for Tots: it's a great tradition.

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

One screen shot that sums for some SSers and others this past weekend in NNJ:

• Bergen County Toys for Tots Train on Saturday
• Pearl Harbor Rememberance at the USS Ling on Sunday

View attachment 531323

At 2:52 on this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAoUYfYzJmU

A SEARCH of the SS Forums for mention of the USS LING brought me here. Sadly I pass along that not only is the USS LING suffering sever deterioration, but she was also recently FLOODED by an organized act of vandalism......

Here's the article:

Hackensack submarine USS Ling apparently flooded intentionally, memorial plaques stolen

https://www.northjersey.com/story/n...entionally-memorial-plaques-stolen/989139002/