Jethro’s Last Run: After 53 years of service, Frank “Jethro” Strunk, originally hired by the Central Railroad of New Jersey, makes his final run on NJT 5441 on July 20, 2021. Appropriately, NJ Transit personnel arranged for his last run on the ex-CNJ Raritan Valley Line to have an ex-CNJ engine in CNJ livery be his leader for the run to Raritan. Frank Strunk was the last CNJ engineer on the NJ Transit roster. With 5-cars (NJT 7022 on the rear) and two engines (NJT 4525 behind the leader), the train was running several minutes ahead of schedule. The leader began its life as CNJ 3677 making it one of the few heritage locomotives to come from the railroad that its livery conveys. Happy trails.
