The first two shots,
below, are of North Jersey Coast Line commuter runs, photographed in
Hazlet back in 1969.   Here, from a few years earlier, is a GG1-led express tearing through a heavy snowstorm in Metuchen, in the mid-60s. There is no railroad sound (sorry steam buffs) like a GG1 cruising at high speed, a purring hum that could be heard well before the train came into sight. Even more impressive in a snow storm!   Below, a GG1-led New Haven consist, probably the Colonial from Boston, a a timless platform scene.  Next, the Pennsy's Sunnyside Yards in Queens, photographed from my inbound train, probably from Boston, in 1966.  My New York Central collection is extremely limited. Most of my trips were overnight ones, with opportunity for photography pretty limited. What I remember is a Twentieth Century Limited that was decorated with splendid taste, including pastel colors and a sense of coolness one didn't associate with big eastern passenger trains.  Here's the New England States in Massachusetts. Back in the 60s it did a good business and was well stocked with sleepers, diners, lounges and sleepercoaches which gave overnight travelers privacy -- though I was to discover, almost no room to stretch or sleep comfortably.
When Amtrak took over there was on again off again service for awhile, but for the last twenty years or so the Boston route was served by a separate section of the Lake Shore Limited, a consist of coaches, a cafe and sleeper which were attached to the New York section in Rensellear, near Albany. Happily, after several years of downgrade, the train is becomig a full service one again, with a thru sleeper and food service car; as in this December 2010 photo. It is also the last Amtrak train on the Inland Route, Boston-Worcester-New York service having also ended in favor of having Worcester area passengers take new MBTA commuter rail service to Boston, where speedy corridor trains can be picked up. While Massachusetts invests heavily in rail and taxpayers helped pick up restoration of the beautiful Worcester station, many parts of the state are less well served.
My first teaching job was at the State University of New York at Buffalo back in the early 70s. That gave me many opportunities for pre-Amtrak and Amtrak trips to and from the Big Apple, where I was engaged in several projects. A lot of my photos from this period have gone missing but what's not missing are my memories of the passage to and from New York: always late trains, a cavernous terminal with fewer and fewer visitors of any kind, by the end, just one connecting train, a CP RDC run up to Toronto.
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