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| Last updated on August 8, 2025
On Sept. 3, 1958 – nearly a year after the Pennsylvania Railroad stopped using steam locomotives – PRR 0-6-0 5244 emerges from Union Transportation’s New Egypt enginehouse. UT used leased PRR steam engines from 1945 to 1959.
Aaron G. Fryer photo
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Even at 77 Y.O., having grown up and attended public school K-12 in Northern NJ, I can hardly recall seeing ANY steam locomotives in revenue service. Circa 1950, my folks were driving us to the Jersey Shore, and while driving on U.S. Rtes 1 & 9 on the Pulaski Skyway over the Passaic River, (or was it the Hackensack River???), I saw a steam switcher, perhaps the same as in the article pic 0-6-0, spliced mid-train shoving freight cars along the adjacent railroad bridge. Somewhat north of that, I saw a steam engine switching on either the NYC West Shore, or parallel NYS&W, or maybe Erie Northern branch, (??? they all ran tightly together) along Rte 1 & 9 Tonnelle Ave., And lastly, for many years, there was a big old inactive steamer, perhaps a Niagra???, stored dormant outdoors at the old NYC roundhouse for many years before both the round house and that steamer were scrapped. From what I’ve learned over the years, the eastern RRs were the first to dieselize which is why I didn’t see (m)any active steamers. 🙁