The Philadelphia Chapter of the

National Railway Historical Society

Established in 1936

When it's cold out there, it's King Coal to the rescue, in this case, NS 502 heading for the Beesley Point Secondary in New Jersey with a whole bunch of "'the rock that burns". Growing up in a coal heated house, I have always been fond of it (my father who had to shovel it to keep the house warm, probably not as much), but residential use is a thing of the past. Now it is used primarily for the generation of electricity, but unfortunately it is also the dirtiest fuel for the purpose, and this train's destination, the BL England Generating Station, one of the dirtiest in the state. The owners of the plant planned to shut down one of two coal burners and convert the remaining one, along with a third unit that burns oil, to natural gas. The problem is the natural gas pipeline required would have to run through the protected Pinelands and in a vote last month, the New Jersey Pinelands Commission effectively denied the pipeline permit. So for now the future of the plant is uncertain, with May 2015 the date set to either convert or close; either way these trains are running on borrowed time.

All pictures February 7, 2014

Copyright © 2014 John P. Almeida

Photographs for personal use only. All rights reserved by original owner of image. Reproduction or redistribution in any form without express written permission is prohibited.