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30

HOBOKEN

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   My three-months service engineering stint on the Lackawanna was a memorable experience. I covered it in part in my TRAINS Magazine article that is included in this 1930 section. However, there were many incidents that didn't quite fit into the article which I want to preserve and that will be the purpose of this "Hoboken" portion.
   In 1930, the DL&W inaugurated 3,000-volt DC commuter service on its main line in northern New Jersey. Each commuter-car unit consisted of a motor car, built new by Pullman, and a trailer car, the latter being old cars which were revamped by American Car & Foundry at their Berwick, Pa. plant. The electrified section ran west from Hoboken, traversed the four-track Began Hill twin-tunnel beneath Jersey City Heights, crossed the Hackensack River and proceeded generally northwestward. At the tunnel's west portal, a line branched north two miles to the Secaucus freight terminal, then swung gradually westward to rejoin the main line at Denville, N.J. This was the freight line, known as the Boonton Branch.
   Jersey City yard bordered the Hoboken passenger terminal, both dead-ending at the Hudson River. A few hot-shots ran directly into J.C. yard to be broken up and floated to Harlem Transfer and South Brooklyn. However, most of the eastbound freights terminated at Secaucus, were broken up and transferred to J.C. yard, Harrison yard and other area destinations.
   In deference to the commuters, the DL&W decided to handle this transfer service electrically, thus sanitizing still further the Bergen Hill tunnel. Catenary was strung over the approaches to J.C. yard and from the west portal of the tunnel to Secaucus. Multi-powered [[handwrittten]] ^locos [[/handwritten]] were required, suitable for 3,000-volt trolley as well as self-propulsion in the yards.
   The DL&W chose a 3,000-volt trolley locomotive carrying, for yard operation, a 243 kw-hr traction-type battery charged by a 300-hp Ingersoll-Rand diesel-generator set. Although unimpressive looking, the locomotive had 124 tons on drivers. With sand on a good rail, 35% adhesion was often available, representing a maximum tractive effort of about 87,000 pounds for limited periods. On internal power, the performance was relatively sluggish but the required yard speeds were low. On trolley, however, the locomotive was highly responsive, developing over 3,000-hp at the rail. These 3-power locomotives were the first (and Last) of their type (3,000-volts) in the world.
   GE delivered two of these units in October. I'd been assigned to help Bob Williamson, by that time transferred from Erie to our New York Office, instruct the railroad personnel in the operation and maintenance. It was my first service engineering assignment as well as my first assignment of any length away from home sine we were married and it proved to be a memorable experience, many parts of which, after 43 years, I can still remember quite vividly.