by markyk
Conrail put together an exhibit for the general public tonight at the South Plainfield Holiday Inn.
It was intended to educate the general public about the pro's of the project which is expected to begin THIS MAY.
It was outstanding........I give Conrail kudos for the attempt they made tonight to educate the public, on how the 2nd track will improve the congestion at Inman Ave.
They had a video of an actual train (NS 21M) starting from a stop at CP-Potter after a meet. It took almost 7 minutes for the train to clear the crossing and for automobile traffic to start to flow normally. RIght next to this video, was a video of a train going through Rahway Ave in Westfield (double tracked), and it took only 1 minute and 20 seconds for traffic to flow.
They also explained how the horn blowing will be shorter in duration due to the higher speed.
They had large color photographs of almost every mile of track between Potter and Bound Brook, and with a red line they showed where the 2nd track will be, and it was clear that the 2nd track will be where the old 2nd track was.
They also had information about the inevitable increase in freight traffic in the coming years, and would the public rather see it move by truck?
OPeration Lifesaver as well as the NS police were there with information.
Many politicians were there, and a low turn out from the Stop The Train party was evident....although their leader was walking around and sounding off and quite frankly was sounding out of touch...............Over a dozen Conrail employees were there answering questions as you walked around the exhibit
Double Tracking will begin this May, and is expected to be completed by Dec of 2007
They are done with the pre-engineering work and issuing of contracts, and are awaiting one last go ahead from the EPA, which I was told was due in the coming days.
As for the new double barriered Grade Crossing for Inman Ave....I was told that it is NOT coming. Edison pulled out of funding it.......
Get your pics now of the single track, as we are only weeks away from the beginning of construction
It was intended to educate the general public about the pro's of the project which is expected to begin THIS MAY.
It was outstanding........I give Conrail kudos for the attempt they made tonight to educate the public, on how the 2nd track will improve the congestion at Inman Ave.
They had a video of an actual train (NS 21M) starting from a stop at CP-Potter after a meet. It took almost 7 minutes for the train to clear the crossing and for automobile traffic to start to flow normally. RIght next to this video, was a video of a train going through Rahway Ave in Westfield (double tracked), and it took only 1 minute and 20 seconds for traffic to flow.
They also explained how the horn blowing will be shorter in duration due to the higher speed.
They had large color photographs of almost every mile of track between Potter and Bound Brook, and with a red line they showed where the 2nd track will be, and it was clear that the 2nd track will be where the old 2nd track was.
They also had information about the inevitable increase in freight traffic in the coming years, and would the public rather see it move by truck?
OPeration Lifesaver as well as the NS police were there with information.
Many politicians were there, and a low turn out from the Stop The Train party was evident....although their leader was walking around and sounding off and quite frankly was sounding out of touch...............Over a dozen Conrail employees were there answering questions as you walked around the exhibit
Double Tracking will begin this May, and is expected to be completed by Dec of 2007
They are done with the pre-engineering work and issuing of contracts, and are awaiting one last go ahead from the EPA, which I was told was due in the coming days.
As for the new double barriered Grade Crossing for Inman Ave....I was told that it is NOT coming. Edison pulled out of funding it.......
Get your pics now of the single track, as we are only weeks away from the beginning of construction
