New Jersey Seashore Lines: was CNJ being cleard Woodmansie>N

The only thing I see in all of this is the fact that Clayton does not at this time have a big enough sand customer.

Splatz wrote:To the rhetorical question, a few rhetorical answers.
So the announcement prioritize rail freight projects via the TTF revitalized with a gas tax mentioned in the article could mean rhetorically speaking those projects fully funded and ready to go would be prioritized. Try to think these rhetorical questions before not asking for answer.

There was no mention of prioritizing this section of right of way so it is an extreme stretch to link that article to the thread and I would wager that no portion of that $2 billion allocated for roads, bridges and rail will be used on this near-useless section of track.

Drove past Clayton today, looked like the ROW right in front of their property has been fairly recently cleared.

Didn't we have this discussion a half a dozen pages ago?

"EXEMPT" signs are about trucks and school buses. They are not about trains. "TRACKS OUT OF SERVICE" signs and that totally non-compliant ""ABANDONED GRADE CROSSING" Vince posted are about trains. (I hope you guys have it hanging on a wall somewhere)

Colonial was exempted because there are is a negligible chance of a train colliding with anything there and a far greater chance of a rear-end collision because of the number of school buses. Lacey was exempted because the crossing is protected by a traffic light. The Federal Motor Carrier rules treat a crossing with a traffic light as automatically exempt - if State Law allows. New Jersey is one of the states which does not have that provision in the motor vehicle code, so in order to be consistent with the Federal Regs crossings controlled by traffic lights are being ruled exempt.

Those signs have nothing to do with with the ongoing discussion of rebuilding the line for service and whether or not it will be operated. Lacey came on the radar for this not because of the railroad per se but because of the rebuilding of the entire intersection. Even if Clayton had not leased the line out there would have been a new surface, crossbucks and exempt signs. In the alternative there would have been an agreement concerning the rebuilding of the track when and if. Doing it now is usually cheaper in the long term. From strictly a traffic safety perspective the crossing would be exactly the same if it had been rebuilt without the railroad signal circuitry and had just the crossbucks and the exempt signs. The detection circuitry and the traffic signal preemption could be installed as an overlay anytime.

I just came across the dvprc website. It shows proposed freight rail construction in southern nj. Of interest is reconstruction of freight rail from winslow jct to woodmansie. It discusses the need for moving heavy frieght from Southern nj ports to connect with northern . also of interest is reconstruction of the robinsville industrial track.....of course we all know that the politicians have made that impossible with the sale and removal of the historical rail line...typical nj money face.

Like to read about that. Where is that on the website?

Its on the second page of this under Blue Comet Line.
http://www.dvrpc.org/Freight/longrange/ ... ummary.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Time period, 2026 to 2035 at a cost of $130 million.
Also, see page 235 in this report from 2009,
http://www.dvrpc.org/reports/09047C.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.
Of course the rebuilding of this railroad portion in that time frame does not excite me
(not even likely locked in), however, I would imagine the talk added value to Clayton's
Blue Comet portion.

Wow, 2035 target date, what are all you foamers going to do to fill these pages in the meantime? Those new grade crossings will need to be rebuilt by 2025 or so. Plus those remaining rails will be rusted thru by that time. Don't count on Christie administration to donate any $$ to help the cause thats for sure.

"Wow, 2035 target date, what are all you foamers going to do to fill these pages in the meantime?"
- The issue is, What is Clayton going to do be doing until at least that time? Regardless of your beliefs, there has been value added to the line over the past several years.
Money has been spent on it for some reason, and that reason may not even involve Clayton contract sand trains to run on it.
"Those new grade crossings will need to be rebuilt by 2025 or so. Plus those remaining rails will be rusted thru by that time."
- Those rail crossings are pretty solid, made of concrete and not the old creosote wood tied variants the CNJ used a great many years ago even on the North Coast Line. Also, the material of the rails is the type where the surface rust forms an oxygen barrier preventing the inside from corrosion. After all, the rail from Lakehurst through Chatsworth was rolled in the 1920's.
"Don't count on Christie administration to donate any $$ to help the cause thats for sure."
- As discussed in previous pages with documentation links, grants have been approved for improvements to this R.O.W. under the NJ Seashore LInes.

I took a ride down to Whiting today and noticed a couple of things while walking around.
* Looking south from Diamond rd, maybe about 400 feet up, it looks as if there is something large and black on the left side of the R.O.W. where the curve straightens out. I like to think it is a pile of fresh ties but my senses now make me believe I am seeing the bottom of a fallen tree.
* Both sections of track next to the park on Rt. 530 have been cleaned up very nicely.
Now for Lakehurst.
* Looking far south from Union Ave. in Lakehurst down the siding track, seems to be the appearance of a big black scar, fairly fresh. I still see steel ribbons when looking down the main track however.
* If the track will be used, the residents in the new apartment building South of Union Ave. will certainly have a great view of the trains, with steps facing the tracks so they can sit and watch.

jrzwalker86 wrote:I took a ride down to Whiting today and noticed a couple of things while walking around.
* Looking south from Diamond rd, maybe about 400 feet up, it looks as if there is something large and black on the left side of the R.O.W. where the curve straightens out. I like to think it is a pile of fresh ties but my senses now make me believe I am seeing the bottom of a fallen tree.
* Both sections of track next to the park on Rt. 530 have been cleaned up very nicely.
Now for Lakehurst.
* Looking far south from Union Ave. in Lakehurst down the siding track, seems to be the appearance of a big black scar, fairly fresh. I still see steel ribbons when looking down the main track however.
* If the track will be used, the residents in the new apartment building South of Union Ave. will certainly have a great view of the trains, with steps facing the tracks so they can sit and watch.

This following is Conrail related to the rehab of the line. The missing overhead signal at the Rt. 571 crossing in Manchester has reappeared sometime between Saturday and today. It appears to be a brand new signal or painted and not the one that was removed. The vertical post is installed but the part that goes over the road has not been installed yet. This would require the road to be closed or made into one lane for a few hours I assume. It also appears that the ties on the bridge under the Rt70 bridge have been torn up on what appears to be both tracks and they are stacked on the bridge. The signal in downtown Lakehurst by the milepost 66 sign was knocked over recently and seems to be gone now. I wonder if was hit by a car or taken town to tie in utilities to the new homes.

That stretch between Diamond and 539 can be partially seen from Cherry St. on the fly, unfortunately its after the curve so I couldn't say. I usually spot activity when it occurs. If it weren't DST I'd amble over to the ROW and look north. I think it may be a tree upturned with roots as you speculated. The ground is soaked and with all the wind we have had. The park was cleaned about three weeks ago by the township and they went right up on the east side of the ROW. nothing other than routine maintenance and nothing to do with the ROW I suspect. That spot would be a great place to see some movement on coming out of the trees, through the cut, to 530 with our crossing signal claxtons and the motive power's combined. Manchester Blvd. would be a great chase route to there, but Savoy would be even better.
Great to hear Conrail replaced the signal on 571, begging the question was that done just to keep in compliance with the crossing's current status or for the future grant funded considerations to the south?

Splatz wrote:Great to hear Conrail replaced the signal on 571, begging the question was that done just to keep in compliance with the crossing's current status or for the future grant funded considerations to the south?

What I can tell you is that my understanding is that the signal on 571 is being replaced from the insurance settlement. This is separate from any other activity which might be occurring.

NJ Operation Lifesaver wrote:

Splatz wrote:Great to hear Conrail replaced the signal on 571, begging the question was that done just to keep in compliance with the crossing's current status or for the future grant funded considerations to the south?

What I can tell you is that my understanding is that the signal on 571 is being replaced from the insurance settlement. This is separate from any other activity which might be occurring.

Did it get hit in an accident? The only thing that was wrong with it that I saw was one of the flasher assemblies over the road had a broken mount and was hanging by the wires but looked like it could not fall onto the road. I would imagine it would have cheaper to fix the old one instead of replacing with a new one unless the old one got destoyed. I can't imagine that signal is cheap.

A pile of new ties in the woods? Can't be! The woodchucks would have taken them long ago for their gardens and other landscaping. You can't leave anything in the woods, locked or unlocked, or even alongside a road in New Jersey. Or is it the NEW SOUTH BRONX?