| Nickel Plate Road... on the Reading... over the Pennsy. I had off from work on this beautiful day, and saw no better way to utilize this rare weekday free time than by going trackside. With news of K042 coming westbound with the Nickel Plate Road heritage unit, I decided to make it a heritage triple threat. The train is seen passing over the Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park, utilizing a bridge span that was built for the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad in 1900. The span was moved onto its current concrete abutments in 1913, though, when the current concrete bridge over the Delaware River was built. If you notice the path in the foreground... that was part of a PRR route connecting Trenton to Lambertville, Frenchtown, Phillipsburg, and other points northward. The Pennsylvania Railroad completed the line in early 1851, and it went on to serve many years as their Belvidere Branch, hustling coal, Trenton-made commodities of all sorts, and passengers up and down the riverfront. However, when Conrail arrived with their infinite wisdom, this segment of the lengthy Belvidere Line was the first to go, and it was torn up by the end of 1979. Although the rails and ties are no longer present, nearly all of the whistlepost signs and mile markers are still intact. |