Chasing NYAR RS-90 with a GMTX GP38-2 and a KLW SE23B/Slug Duo

The New York and Atlantic Railway (NYAR) is a shortline operating throughout Queens, Brooklyn and Long Island. With dozens of customers, the railroad runs numerous jobs each day and currently uses 15 locomotives. Most of NYAR's trains originate out of Fresh Pond Yard in Queens, where the railroad interchanges with CSX and P&W.

One of NYAR's largest customers is NYC Waste Management, which operates two facilities in Queens, both of which are switched on a daily basis. Because of the highly industrial areas through which NYAR jobs have to pass through to reach Waste Management, weekday jobs generally operate at night so as not to interfere with truck traffic. Since truck traffic is minimal on Sundays, NYAR operates one daylight job in the morning, symboled RS-90. This train is tasked with collecting loads from both Waste Management facilities, in addition to servicing numerous other customers on both the Bushwick and Lower Montauk branches.

On the morning of Sunday, February 2nd, 2020, I ventured to the Bushwick Branch in hopes of seeing RS-90 switching Waste Management. I arrived just as the train had finished grabbing its cut from the facility and was ready to head out. In charge of today’s train was GMTX GP38-2 #2127, followed by a unique KLW (Knoxville Locomotive Works) slug set, which was purchased by Waste Management (USWX) in 2018 for use by NYAR. The slug (SE23B-S) was rebuilt from a UP SW9, and the mother unit (SE23B-M) was rebuilt from a CSX GP40.

Once RS-90 departed Waste Management, I shot the train crawling across Woodward Avenue before chasing to Flushing Avenue, which offered a unique shot as the cars disappeared under a building. I would then head for 43rd Street on the Lower Montauk Branch, and it wasn’t long before RS-90 passed through as lite power, having dropped its loads in Fresh Pond Yard. After collecting cars in Bliss Yard for about 20 minutes, RS-90 would return east with 8 trash loads, which it would drop in Fresh Pond before finishing up for the day.



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