The Browns Yard Santa Train is headed for Freehold with a special guest aboard. This train is jointly sponsored by Conrail and the Freehold PBA, and it will draw quite an impressive crowd on this... (more)

On a beautiful Columbus Day afternoon, Conrail local freight SA-31 passes through Helmetta en route to Freehold. The train is passing the 1883 G.W. Helme Snuff Mill, in the process of being conve... (more)

Conrail SA-33 passes by Helmetta on its way to Heller Park. Helmetta was once a bustling place owned by the PRR full with passenger and freight trains between the NJCL and the NEC. It has also see... (more)

Foliage Ablaze

Wasting no time, OCS-100 begins the trip back north to Port Reading on the Amboy Secondary.

Conrail hosted an excursion for the Lexington Group, Inc. as part of their annual meeting which was held this year in Newark, NJ. The train was led by Bennett Levin's beautifully restored Pennsyl... (more)

Returning to Browns Yard - Running SHF the SA31 crew passes by Villa Borghese II, which has good pizza, as they cross Brookside Place at track speed (25 mph). The train is returning earl... (more)

A single car train kicks up a little dust as it cruises at track speed (25 mph) by the old abandoned Helmetta Snuff factory. Construction work is being done here. A worker in orange is off to th... (more)

The SA33 crew leads an 8 to 9 car train through the Borough of Helmetta, en route to Dayton. In the background reside the Helmetta water tower and old abandoned snuff factory.

The annual Conrail Browns Yard passes the old snuff mill, which was founded in 1884, in the town of Helmetta. The train is headed to Freehold first, then will come back to Jamesburg.

En route to the Dayton Branch NS 5283 hauls a 15 car train across Willow St. I chased this train from Spotswood, which was a challenge as she was pushing track speed (25 mph). This line has mult... (more)

After serving the Freehold Industrial Track, CSX 4423 makes an early return to Browns Yard w/ SHF. Here it negotiates Willow Street, the first of many road crossings on the Amboy Secondary.

Three years ago, on Tuesday, June 2, 2009, the afternoon Conrail local out of Browns Yard in central New Jersey was led by NS GP38-2 5271 and CSX GP40-2 4429, both former Conrail units, the 8061 a... (more)

Merry Christmas! Conductor Santa waves to small crowds gathering by the tracks as he makes his way to meet with the children of Freehold and Jamesburg.

SA-31 with a Conrail blue GP38-2 passes the abandoned Snuff Mill in Helmetta.

Norfolk Southern GP38-2 no. 5281 passes the abandoned Helme Snuff Mill in Helmetta on Columbus Day 2010. The Conrail locomotive and the Mill itself are both on borrowed time. Abandoned since 199... (more)