So some things have changed since I created this blog years ago. I have finally found a focus for my modeling. The National Docks Railway is my prototype inspired freelance railroad. It was in fact a "paper" railroad created by the Lehigh Valley Railroad to provide access to the New Jersey waterfront and connect to other railroads in the area.
The premise of my version of the National Docks is that the Lehigh Valley created a subsidiary using the name in January 1968. All Lehigh Valley property and trackage east of the Newark Bay bridge was conveyed to the National Docks Railway. This would include what remained of the Lehigh Valley Marine fleet. In June of 1968 the Erie Lackawanna Railroad became a partner in the National Docks by adding its properties and track east of Bergen Jct with the exception of the Hoboken passenger terminal which would go to NJT. This transfer would also include the EL marine fleet. In 1971 the National Docks signed a 75 year lease of the Erie Lackawanna Northern Branch. In 1972 a 50 year lease was arranged for the Newark Branch and an industrial branch from Kearny Jct to Kingsland Jct. And also in 1972 the National Docks becomes the operator for the Hoboken Shore Railroad.
Locomotives
The company starts out with a shoestring budget so all locomotives in the first year are 4 second hand Alco S-4's acquired from the Delaware & Hudson and 4 EMD NW2 models acquired through a broker. When the Erie Lackawanna became a 50% partner, 4 Alco S-2's were pulled from retirement, repainted at the Hornell shops and added to the Dock's fleet. The fleet is supplemented by various locomotives supplied by the owning railroads. On any given day 2-3 locomotives were assigned from both the EL and LV. Typically end cab switchers were assigned but first generation road switchers were not uncommon.
After a few months of operation it became obvious to Management that the lack of multiple-unit capability of the locomotives was hindering efficient operations contacted Alco about adding MU equipment to the fleet. During the discussions a member of the Alco sales team contacted Dock's Management regarding 3 new T6 models that were available at a discount. Apparently an industrial customer withdrew their order at the last minute. One of the locomotives was complete and in the paint shop with 2 more to be completed within a week. 3 new T6 locos were purchased and the existing loco's were sent to Alco 2 at a time to have MU equipment installed. By 1972 the addition of the property leased from the Erie Lackawanna forced management to purchase additional motive power. The revenue coming in from the IPD boxcar fleet allowed for the acquisition of 6 new SW1500's from EMD. Additional locomotives were leased for various periods of time from a variety of sources as a result of the rerouting of Central Hudson Electric Utility coal trains onto the Northern Branch.
Management's intent was to acquire enough locomotives to eliminate the need for the Lehigh Valley or the Erie Lackawanna to supply any. However the sales teams success in keeping and even attracting new sources of traffic, along with the leasing of EL branches meant that the roster was still short of power through 1975.
