Tying up traffic! Local traffic on Toad Lane in Ringoes, NJ begins to back up as Lerro Productions and the Black River & Western Railroad prepare to stage a grade crossing shot with a classic automobile. The subject on this pretty spring evening is Great Western Locomotive #60, a recently restored Alco Product, which has been painted in the original colors she wore when she worked as a freight hog for her original owners in Colorado. This grade crossing is in a relatively rural area and normally doesn't see this much commotion. Add in a steam engine, a classic car, 50 photographers, a railfan with a large, radio-controlled heli-cam and a fair number of curious locals and for about 30 minutes, this was the busiest spot in all of little Ringoes.
Images of surviving Great Western Railway locomotives, painted in the liveries of their original owner, operating on photo charters on tourist railways today.
Serving small industries in Hunterdon County for 50 years, the Black River and Western serves as an active line and a window to the past of New Jersey with rural farms and small creeks.
