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

im starting to loose my hopes for reactivation

southern sec. kid wrote:im starting to loose my hopes for reactivation

Kid, don't despair. That switch from the TRIT is going to end up in service, somewhere other than the scrapper. If that weren't the case, they would not have removed it with the care that they did.

glennk419 wrote:

southern sec. kid wrote:im starting to loose my hopes for reactivation

Kid, don't despair. That switch from the TRIT is going to end up in service, somewhere other than the scrapper. If that weren't the case, they would not have removed it with the care that they did.

yea I know that haha I was talking about service to woodmansie

There is a group of volunteers working on the rail line today. They are starting in Lakehurst and working south clearing the down trees and cutting more brush. They are working from several speeders.

I thought those trucks and trailers belonged to atv riders but i couldnt figure out why they would be so dumb as to unload right in front of the Lakehurst PD. Volunteer group makes more sense.

Where is this volunteer group from? I would like to know only because given enough notice I'd go down and help out too.

VRA (Volunteer Railroaders Association), based out of North Hawthorne. A very active group...

http://www.vratrips.org/

Marty Feldner wrote:VRA (Volunteer Railroaders Association), based out of North Hawthorne. A very active group...

http://www.vratrips.org/

They were also recently very active clearing the CMSL from this past winter's damage:

http://www.vratrips.org/newsletters/New ... ay2010.pdf

They also run a great speeder trips which allows you a close up look at how a railroad works. Great group to belong to if you have any interest in riding the rails. Everything they do is first class and professional

Brush cutting report: New Jersey Seashore Lines – Southern Division

"I wanted to give everyone an update on the brush cutting we did on the (ex-CNJ) New Jersey Seashore Lines Southern Division this past Saturday...." (June 5th 2010) Rest of post and 5 pictures at URL below.

http://vratrips.org/blog/2010/06/09/bru ... -division/

Mike,
Is it alright to ask a few of questions?
1) Did VRA coordinate the expedition with Tony Macrie or was there additional coordination with Clayton (the ROW owner)? Can we verify that Clayton is truly the ROW owner?
2) Has Tony (or Clayton) provided any comments on upcoming plans, schedules, intentions regarding getting this line up and commercially running? Anything for us "fans" to look forward to?
3) Aside from the sidewalk at the Cnty Rt 530 crossing, what other crossings were paved over? Other rails were pulled at the former road crossings at Rt 530, Rt 539, and where the crossing used to be at Savoy Blvd/Mt Misery Rd/Pasedena-Woodmansie Rd.
4) Were the missing rails you encountered located in the vicinity of Cnty Rt 539? I believe the rails were stolen by people for scrap metal. I believe they were busted.
5) It looks like the shifting sand fields by Heritage Minerals is going to be very problematic. Does Tony have any plans to deal with it?
6) Does Tony have any concepts in play for any alternate uses for the line other than hauling sand out to Lakehurst?

Sorry for all the questions. Other than what we directly observed of the ROW clearing jobs in 2006, 2009, and now the VRA trip, very little is known about what is going on and we are hoping you might provide some additional insight.

Chuck P

CJPat wrote:Mike,
Is it alright to ask a few of questions?
1) Did VRA coordinate the expedition with Tony Macrie or was there additional coordination with Clayton (the ROW owner)? Can we verify that Clayton is truly the ROW owner?
2) Has Tony (or Clayton) provided any comments on upcoming plans, schedules, intentions regarding getting this line up and commercially running? Anything for us "fans" to look forward to?
6) Does Tony have any concepts in play for any alternate uses for the line other than hauling sand out to Lakehurst?
[snip]....very little is known about what is going on and we are hoping you might provide some additional insight.
Chuck P

Chuck: I wasn't on that trip and based on you post I know less than you about the situation. Business being business and the past history of 'fans' getting involved in ongoing negotiations I wouldn't say anything I wasn't directly authorized to say, even if I knew something.

There are two postings (2009-2010) about his & Clayton's intentions written in legalese on the STB website. For now that's probably the most authoritative information source as they states what Tony/Clayton intend to do and indirectly outlines the boundaries of what they can't/won't do (via direct citation in the rulings and the existing Laws and agreements in place).

I haven't read the CNJ --> NJDOT --> Clayton topic well enough to know if CRSA ever was involved beyond being a freight interchange peer at Lakhurst (I peeked at your profile). IIRC this line was left out of Conrail and went CNJ --> NJDOT directly with no freight rights conveyed to Conrail.

Mike

I wasn't on that trip and based on you post I know less than you about the situation. Business being business and the past history of 'fans' getting involved in ongoing negotiations I wouldn't say anything I wasn't directly authorized to say, even if I knew something.

I understand your response. I was hoping we could gleen some additional info due to direct exposure to the players. But Such is Life.

As far as lineage, CR did pick up the line in '76 and operated the lower half of the line from until 1978. Then Conrail ran the sand trains out of Woodmansie.
In 1986, the line from Woodmansie to Lakehurst was sold to Clayton who operated it until 1988 (Ashland Railways was the subcontracted operator) and then they discontinued its use because they couldn't afford the cost of keeping the line maintained properly. Prior to 1986, I don't recall how long the line was in NJDOT's hands (1-2 yrs?). So Conrail indeed operated the line up into the early '80's.

I recommend the following website for better details on the line:
http://octrainguy.com/ConrailHistory.html

Can anyone explain why it is such a problem to find out what is the end result of clearing all the brush and trees and rehabilitating the line? I mean it is really getting a bit ridiculous that someone can't just come out and say "this is why we are doing this." It is blatantly obvious that the line is being rehabilitated and cleared so its not like that can be hidden. Even if it was being hidden for some competitive advantage - all of the legal stuff was done months ago so why the big mystery? You would think that the townships that the line passes through would want to know at the very least and then it would be their obligation to inform their residents. I don't know, I am just really getting aggravated that it seems be all these smoke and mirrors and no one with a definite answer about what is going on down there.

Gee! I thought it was pretty clear as to what the end results are going to be. They are going to run sand out of the pit to jobs up north. And it seems that the only people that get upset at the lack of news are viewers of these web sites. Maybe the people that are actually involved in the project from the owners of the sand pit to the hauler and the end users aren't aware of your concerns and if they were, they probably wouldn't care. It's just business as usual. So relax and keep your eyes and ears open and eventually your questions wll be answered. There aren't many events that occur in a timely manner especially ones that have even the slightest attachment to the government.

Later!
Mr. Ed