Elizabeth and I rode the bus with the National Railway Historical Society Autumn Conference attendees to the SMS Rail Lines Pureland Industrial Complex in Bridgeport, New Jersey.
SMS Rail Lines DS4-4-1000 9069, ex. Tyburn Railroad 302, exx. McHugh Bothers, exxx. Penn Central 8091, nee Pennsylvania Railroad 9069, built by Baldwin in 1949.
SMS Rail Lines DS4-4-750 102, ex. Pickens Railroad 5 1977, nee Youngstown Sheet & Tube 701, built by Baldwin in 1951. We boarded the train for a six mile rare mileage ride around their property.
Raccoon Creek.
Elizabeth and other NRHS members aboard the train.
A telephone pole storage area.
We ran by some of New Jersey's forest.
Passing a sand and gravel machine in the industrial complex.
Raccoon Creek was to our north.
Home Depot's distribution center.
Raccoon Creek.
My loving wife Elizabeth enjoying her new mileage just as much as me.
More of the forest. We came to the Norfolk Southern interchange and after a few minutes, reversed.
We followed Raccoon Creek to near the other end of the line.
Champion Services.
This was as far was we went, then the train reversed back to the SMS shops, where our ride concluded. Everyone was then free to wander around the exterior and interior of the shops, with much to photograph.
SMS Rail Lines S12 300, ex. Smokey Hill Railway Museum 1842, nee United States Navy 65-00372, built by Baldwin in 1952.
SMS Rail Lines S12 306, ex. Erie Mining 406, exx. Erie Mining 7246, nee Great Northern 27, built by Baldwin in 1953.
United Railroad Historical Society of New Jersey VO 1000 412, ex. United States Navy 65-00128, nee United States Navy 19, built by Baldwin in 1945. It is leased to SMS Rail Lines for display and painted as Baltimore and Ohio 415.
SMS Rail Lines coach 3519, ex. The Stourbridge Line 3519 "John Roebling" 1983-1985, exx. New Jersey Transit 3519, exxx. Conrail 3519 1976 -1983, exxxx. Erie-Lackawanna 3519 1961-1976, nee Delaware Lackawanna & Western 2519, built by the Pullman Company in 1930.
SMS Rail Lines FA-2 309, ex Long Island Railroad power car 602, nee Louisville and Nashville 309, built by American Locomotive Company in 1956.
SMS Rail Lines B23-7 4211, ex. National Railway Equipment 4211, exx. BNSF 4211, nee Santa Fe 6354, built by General Electric in 1978.
SMS Rail Lines FP7A 903, ex. Philadelphia Chapter National Railway Historical Society 903 1981, exx. South Eastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority 903 1974, nee Reading 903, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1950.
Woodstown Central 0-6-0 9, ex. New Hope and Ivyland 9 1966, exx. Steam Trains, Inc. 9 1964, exxx. Virginia Blue Ridge 9 1958, exxxx. United States Army 616 1952, nee United States Army 4023, built by American Locomotive Company in 1942. Restoration work began on the switcher in 1992 but did not proceed very far. By 2009, it was at SMS undergoing restoration as time allowed. When Salem County awarded SMS the contract to operate the Salem Branch and SMS decided to get into tourist train service, work accelerated on the 9, with its first test-firing in 2021 and its first movement under its own power in 2023.
SMS Rail Lines AS616 554, ex. Johnston Terminals 54 1992, exx. Trona 54 1985, exxx. Rayonier 14 1973, exxxx. Kaiser Eagle Mountain Railroad 1028, nee Kaiser Steel 1012B, built by Baldwin in 1952.
SMS Rail Lines baggage car 9374, nee Pennsylvania Railroad baggage car 9374, builder and year unknown.
SMS Rail Lines DS4-4-1000 1293, ex. Tyburn Railroad 101 1989, exx. New Hope and Ivyland 101 1974, nee Copper Range 101, built by Baldwin in 1947.
SMS Rail Lines VO 660 11, ex. donation to New Hope Steam Railway 1989, exx. New Hope Steam Railway 395, nee Warner Company 11, built by Baldwin in 1945.
SMS Rail Lines SW1 9423, ex. AF Railway Industries Incorporated 9423, exx. New Hope and Ivyland Railroad 9423, exxx. New Hope and Ivyland 739, exxxx. East Penn Railways 9423, nee Pennsylvania Railroad 9423, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1950.
SMS Rail Lines VO660 6712, ex. Standard Steel 12, nee demonstrator 335 built by Baldwin in 1940. It was purchased by SMS from the Altoona Railroaders Memorial Museum.
Conrail bay window caboose 21305 built by Fruit Growers Express in 1978 with a slogan on it that reads "Stay Focused, Stay Safe".
SMS Rail Lines E8A 833, ex. New York and Greenwood Lake 833, exx. Conrail 4022, exxx. Erie-Lackawanna 833, nee Erie Railroad 833, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1951. It used to be part of the Port Jervis Transportation Museum.
SMS Rail Lines 6 double bedroom-lounge 661 "Crystal Stream", ex. sold to private party 1983, exx. Amtrak 3203 1973, exxx. Penn Central 4414 1968, exxxx. New York Central 661 "Crystal Stream" 1967, nee New York Central 10625 "Crystal Stream", built by Budd Company in 1949.
SMS Rail Line transfer caboose 94033, ex. Conrail 18276, nee Penn Central 18276, built by railroad in 1969.
Caboose of unknown origin.
SMS Rail Lines FP7A 902, ex. Philadelphia Chapter National Railway Historical Society 902 1981, exx. South Eastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority 902 1974, nee Reading 902, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1950.
SMS Rail Lines coach 1306, ex. Green Mountain Railroad 1306, nee Central of New Jersey 1306, built by Pressed Steel in 1931.
SMS Rail Lines coach 3596, ex. The Stourbridge Line 1985, exx. New Jersey Transit 1983-1985, exxx. Conrail 3596 1976-1983, exxxx. Erie-Lackawanna 3596 1961-1976, nee Delaware, Lackawanna & Western 2596, built by Pullman Company in 1930.
SMS Rail Lines B23-7 1961, ex. Norfolk Southern 1961, exx. Conrail 4054, nee Delaware Coast Line Railroad 4054, built by General Electric in 1978.
The engine hood of a Baldwin switcher.
SMS Rail Lines caboose 513, nee Missouri Pacific built by the railroad, year unknown.
SMS Rail Lines diner 950, ex. New York and Greenwood Lake 950, exx. Owego & Harford Line, exxx. Wisconsin and Calumet 7802 "Iowa River", exxxx. Iowa Interstate 7802 "Iowa River", nee Chicago and North Western café-lounge 7802, built by American Car and Foundry in 1949.
SMS Rail Lines business car "Pride of the Delaware", ex. New York & Greenwood Lake "Pride of the Delaware, exx. Canadian National dynamometer car 15100, exxx. Canadian National dynamometer car 69:2 1975, nee Canadian National sleeping-buffet-observation 1196 "Atlantic" built by Canadian Car and Foundry in 1924.
SMS Rail Lines open car built from a gondola, still a work in progress. Presumably this is for the Woodstown Central Railroad, which SMS Rail Lines operates.
SMS Rail Lines transfer caboose 18100, ex. Penn-Jersey 18100, nee New York Central 18100, built by the railroad year unknown.
This concluded our visit to the SMS shops and all returned to the hotel very satisfied after a great day of train riding and new experiences. Elizabeth and I drove to the Charcoal Pit with Doug Scott for our evening meal, then attended the NRHS Fund meeting before calling it a night.
10/12/2024 We had another breakfast at this hotel and after our Internet duties, all conference attendees gathered in the Christina Room for the day's worth of meetings.
After the plenary session of reports, Elizabeth, in her role as Advisory Council Secretry, prepared the room for the Advisory Council meeting, and shared a light moment with Ron Gawedzinski, National Representative for the St. Louis Chapter.
The meeting was now underway and Elizabeth made sure that she captured the names of everyone attending remotely via Zoom.
Richard Shulby, Advisory Council Chairman, addressing the meeting, while Elizabeth takes notes.
It was then Elizabeth's turn to speak.
Doug Scott, National Representative for Cape Cod Chapter and Western Connecticut Chapter, listened intently to the proceedings. After the Advisory Council meeting, there was a lunch break and the meetings continued in the afternoon with a Chapter Roundtable, led by Elizabeth in her capacity as lead of the Chapter Engagement Committee. The NRHS Board Meeting followed mid-afternoon and by 5:00, the business portion of the day was concluded. The two of us went to the Charcoal Pit for dinner with Richard Shulby then returned to the hotel for the rest of the evening.
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