New type catenary on North east corridor.

I foresee some renovations and updates on some east coast basement layouts.

This piece of hardware is would  have to be cast.

If I were someone modeling a modern-era heavy-electric railroad, I wouldn’t panic yet. It’s going to take Amtrak and other Corridor operators a few years to replace all that Pennsylvania catenary,

Besides, with old-style catenary, modelers won’t have to make awkward explanations for their GG-1s, P-5s, and E-44s.

I believe this may only be proprietary to NJTransit. The main NEC catenary was upgraded some time ago to accommodate the high speed Acela. The Gladstone branch near my home was just upgraded recently with a similar mount. All the wood poles were replaced with steel poles as well. 

This catenary style is not new.  The entire line from New Haven to Boston is outfitted with this same style, which has a distinct 'Euro' feel to it.  The newer system is also a 'constant tension' type, which uses a pulley system of sorts to allow the wire some give based on environmental conditions.  It also has some 'zig-zag' worked into the trolley wire to allow for even pantograph wear.  The system is better designed to physically handle the higher speed trains.  As far as I know, there is no catenary (in the NEC) dedicated to a single carrier, though it is interesting that Amtrak accounts for less than half of the total system usage.

I model this newer system, and run E44s and E33s, as well as the AEM7s.  Call it some creative license, but I found it easier to build this system than the Pennsy system, particular since I power the trains off of it.

At the Princeton Junction station 3 tracks had the new cantenary. The number 2 track wasn't done. I think it will get done sooner or later. I thought all of the tracks were owned by Amtrak and NJT uses it. 

That's the same style used for the light rail in the PHX Metro area.  And that's been there for a few years.