ProRail 2026 Railfanning

General

There is plenty of railfanning nearby. Below are some solid publicly accessible spots that are in reasonably safe neighborhoods. That said, it’s always a good idea to pay attention to your surroundings. This ain’t rural Iowa, my friends!

Bound Brook, NJ

Bound Brook is the nearby railfan classic. It’s only 2.5 miles from the hotel. There is plenty of action, both passenger and freight.

This station is on NJ Transit’s Raritan Valley Line (ex-Central New Jersey) and Conrail’s Lehigh Line (ex-Lehigh Valley).

Frequent NJ Transit commuter trains on the Raritan Line are often powered by dual-mode ALP-46 engines. The daily freight on the line mostly goes to a few large covered hopper customers to the west of Bound Brook. The connection track between the NJ Transit and Conrail lines goes in front of the eastbound station.

The “Little Conrail” Lehigh Line passes just south of the newly-restored eastbound station. It carries local Conrail traffic, CSX traffic west towards Philadelphia, and NS traffic west towards Allentown, PA and the rest of their system. Crude oil and ethanol trains of both Class One railroads diverge here onto the Port Reading Secondary line on their way to the refineries of the Chemical Coast.

The restaurant in the ex-CNJ westbound station, Mama Rosina’s, is one of the best places in New Jersey to see trains and have dinner at the same time – and maybe have a beer too.

Metuchen, NJ

Metuchen is another nearby location. It is on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, about 15 minutes (10 miles) from the hotel. There is the rare off-hours freight, but nearly everything here will be passenger trains of NJ Transit and Amtrak.

Metuchen is a good place for fast train action in a safe environment. There is a vibrant downtown a few steps away with plenty of restaurants for any taste, including Brainy Borough Brewing, Brewed Awakening, and Metuchen Diner, among others. The aptly-named Pennsylvania Avenue has track-level parking spaces. (Note that almost all parking in Metuchen is paid, but the rates are not bad.)

Princeton Jct, NJ

Princeton Junction is another Corridor Classic, about 40 minutes (20 miles) from the hotel. Amtrak goes by at 150 mph as trains zoom down an eight mile straightaway. There’s nothing much within walking distance of Princeton Jct, but the rail action is so impressive that you won’t mind a bit.