"Rare" Move: Due to catenary work at Rare Interlocking to prepare for the new South Amboy Train Station configuration, the overhead wires were de-energized for the weekend and diesel trains used instead of the usual electric. All trains, eastbound and westbound, were routed off of the main tracks at “Rare” for the catenary work and routed through the single tracked "Raritan River Railroad Interchange" which hadn’t seen use by revenue trains in decades. Due to the switch configuration, after making the move, trains were only able to use Track #2 at South Amboy. In a short time after this photograph, the scene here would be permanently different: the original station building would be knocked down, tracks within the station would be reduced from 3 tracks to 2, the outer low level platforms would be replaced by a center island high platform, the residential cars seen here would not be allowed to park here anymore, the pedestrian overpass would be removed, the Comet III coaches and cab car seen here would be retired by 2010, and the locomotive would be retired from service in 2014. NJT 4150 began its life in 1968 as GP40 PC 3134 under Penn Central before going to Conrail as CR 3134 soon after. It then went to the Kansas City Southern as KCS 763 in 1983 before being rebuilt into a GP40PH-2 type locomotive in 1993 for use as a passenger locomotive under NJ Transit. NJ Transit designated their rebuilt locomotives numbered 4145 through 4150 as GP40PH-2A locomotives to differentiate this batch from other batches. There are no locomotives with the GP40PH-2A designation left on NJ Transit’s active roster. On the hind end of the train is NJT 5008 (Comet III Cab Car).
