Lackawanna Cutoff Passenger Service Restoration

Byram on the Cutoff

Most of the extension is going to be single or double track?

You know, I hope I don't get banned for saying this here, but the Cutoff would make an excellent walking/biking trail. High LIne Park on steroids, about 50-60 miles long and spanning two states. This would've been an excellent recreational resource and a car free way to get to Poconos. Has anyone looked at maybe putting light rail there and still allowing people access for biking and hiking? The structure looks wide enough for that.

No reason for double track anywhere. I'm guessing if it gets done, they'll run only one train on the line at a time... back and forth from Port Morris.

sidings will be put in at certain points

I've hiked the line a few times and yes, it would make a good hiking trail. However, its value as a commuter rail line and the benefits it will offer the state's commuters far outweigh the benefits that might be realized from a hiking/biking trail.

Linear rights of way for any sort of project are hard to put together these days. Using a valuable railroad right of way, one which parallels a very busy Interstate highway, as a hiking/biking trail would be an incredible waste of space and marvelous engineering, and would do nothing to either ease congestion or reduce pollution.

In all honesty, there's probably room enough for both a commuter rail line and a hiking/biking trail, but a lot of people tend to get dumb around railroads and someone would probably end up losing their life by breaking the rules.

Defiant wrote:You know, I hope I don't get banned for saying this here, but the Cutoff would make an excellent walking/biking trail. High LIne Park on steroids, about 50-60 miles long and spanning two states. This would've been an excellent recreational resource and a car free way to get to Poconos. Has anyone looked at maybe putting light rail there and still allowing people access for biking and hiking? The structure looks wide enough for that.

Why do you think highways parallel and in some cases have replaced railroad rights of way? Those engineers back then weren't idiots and knew the best way to get from one point to another. It will be a railroad, no trail. Back in my younger days i loved hiking & biking & all that extreme stuff, but today i know if it means less cars on the road, i can go without a trail.

No, it isn't wide enough, from a liability standpoint, plus they will likely double track the bridge and put X switches on either end to allow flexibility. I believe the line between east end and newark broad street has such an arrangement with all the bridges.

There are already some nice rail trails nearby, the Paulinskill Trail and the Sussex Branch Trail being two of them.

northjerseybuff wrote:sidings will be put in at certain points

In 7 miles?

JLo wrote:There are already some nice rail trails nearby, the Paulinskill Trail and the Sussex Branch Trail being two of them.

Meh, there's barely anything left of interest along the old Sussex Branch except a couple towns that deserve rail service. However, we won't go there. Now the old Susquehanna extension is loaded. That was one of the best rail trails put together. However, it might help to spell Hainesburg correct.

I'd prefer it if it remained a haven for me and my dual sport, but I'd take a railroad any day over another god forsaken "walking trail" around here.

By the way, there are more pics on page 225, I noticed they were only viewed a few times compared to this one

I'd like to try running that from Lake Hopatcong station to DWG. But now, with the new construction, I would need to use roads for the first 7 miles (since I would be getting there by train).
I hope I live long enough to see passenger service restored to Scranton!
This corridor is well suited for high speed trains, with its long straight and very gradual bends!
Maybe I should buy property out there. Might be a good investment!

FW

Focus on the remains of the Morris Canal for a walking trail. The need for mule powered, water based transportation is probably never going to re-materialize in the near future and the towpath is level, scenic, and intact in large portions from place to place.

Does anyone here have a good contact for someone within NJ Transit who is heading up this project? If so, please PM me.

Don't invest in Scranton. Buy a few hundred acres in the middle of nowhere in New York and wait for the gas companies to come knocking.

SemperFidelis wrote:Focus on the remains of the Morris Canal for a walking trail. The need for mule powered, water based transportation is probably never going to re-materialize in the near future and the towpath is level, scenic, and intact in large portions from place to place.

Even the recreational boaters need some love! Let's give 'em a new watertrail!

Defiant wrote:You know, I hope I don't get banned for saying this here, but the Cutoff would make an excellent walking/biking trail. High LIne Park on steroids, about 50-60 miles long and spanning two states. This would've been an excellent recreational resource and a car free way to get to Poconos. Has anyone looked at maybe putting light rail there and still allowing people access for biking and hiking? The structure looks wide enough for that.

Need I remind you that in the good 'ol days, the railroads burned rail trail advocates at the stake? It was a well kept secret, too.