Official Rahway Valley Thread

[rvrrhs]

Just remembered--I wanted to do one version of the shirt that had the logo on the front and "START the train!" on the back. I planned to wear one at public hearings about the reactivation.

[crnrailal]

As of Monday, 26 Nov, all of the covered hoppers are gone; both on the ex-SIRR portion as well as the RVL siding behind the U-Store-It.

Since Tuesday morning I've seen MOW crews from M&E on the ex-SIRR in Cranford.

This is the first activity I have seen here since the Summer.

Stay tuned...

This morning I noticed aline of about 12-15 hopper cars between South Ave in Cranford and Amersterdam Ave in Roselle next to the Ashley Business Park on one of the tracks

[Metalrailz]

In March, DOT Commissioner Kris Kolluri told county officials the state would consider allocating additional funds after a full review of the project's costs and benefits

The DOT just wants to make sure that the allocated funds are going to be used for the project and not be spent anywhere else. There have been many times in the past that money has been allocated for plans that were submitted to the DOT and the money was spent on other projects or purchases not related to what it was originally dedicated for.

[kilroy]

This morning I noticed aline of about 12-15 hopper cars between South Ave in Cranford and Amersterdam Ave in Roselle next to the Ashley Business Park on one of the tracks

The M&E ran out of space and had to store the cars there.

[AndyB]

NIMBYs are attacking again.
The local weekly newspaper the Union Leader has an article this week about the efforts of Roselle, Roselle Park, Kenilworth, Springfield and Summit to "derail reactivation" of the Rahway Valley.
See: Towns Seek to Derail Reactivation

[markyk]

Meanwhile on the ole SIRT....Looks like some concrete supports for Grade Crossing Apparatus have been dropped off the last few days at many of the crossings in Roselle....So we maybe getting closer to some Grade Crossing protection on that line....Waste of money if its only to store some hoppers between South Ave and Amsterdam.....

[crnrailal]

Meanwhile on the ole SIRT....Looks like some concrete supports for Grade Crossing Apparatus have been dropped off the last few days at many of the crossings in Roselle....So we maybe getting closer to some Grade Crossing protection on that line....Waste of money if its only to store some hoppers between South Ave and Amsterdam.....

There are also concrete supports for Grade Crossing Apparatus on both sides of South Ave in Cranford.

In addition both tracks between South Ave and Amsterdam Ave and South Ave Cranford have about 12-15 cars stored there.

[Sirsonic]

Millions of dollars to build a storage track... Excellent.

[blockline4180]

Millions of dollars to build a storage track... Excellent.

Yeah I agree...Seems this whole RVRR/SIRT project was a big waste of taxpayer money if they will just continue to only store covered hoppers there!!!

[Douglas John Bowen]

We're not going to get involved in "Who's the best fiscal hawk" game here -- we're confident the cost-conscious among us can find legitimate ways of making this project more cost-effective, and they're surely encouraged to do so.

But NJ-ARP will (and does) reject the idea that this effort is simply glorified storage -- some of us have higher visions and hopes than that.

And with so much now in flux, we'd hope others, too, might re-evaluate previous rail "priority" (read that: "laundry") lists. Their call: We'll keep after this one, because if we're measuring cost-effectiveness across a long-range time frame -- and in the realities of the political world -- we still think reactivation here is justified, and then some.

[wolfboy8171981]

It is a huge leap of faith that a line that doesnt conncet to the Lehigh Line, and a Railroad that doesnt have Rights on the RVL, can get to Bound Brook for "interchange" that doesnt exisit.

Nobody wants to accept the fact that the railroad itself is in service. If they can store hopper cars they can run trains to the customers. Where are the customers? You do not need crossing lights to have customers. The Fact remains the M&E hedged a bet that when the Staten Island traffic came they would haul it to Bound Brook. However the charter with Union County never gave them the track over the NJTPK. NS/CSX/CR removed the switch off the Lehigh Line to the SIRT Interchance and made plans with the Port Authority to build a Link off the Chemical Coast up to AK Bridge.

[myfavscr]

wolfboy8171981 wrote:

NS/CSX/CR removed the switch off the Lehigh Line to the SIRT Interchance and made plans with the Port Authority to build a Link off the Chemical Coast up to AK Bridge.

And once upon a time CR went from double to single track main and the
AK lift bridge was out of service. But now they're both back. They could
always put the LV/SIRT switch back in.

[wolfboy8171981]

wolfboy8171981 wrote:

NS/CSX/CR removed the switch off the Lehigh Line to the SIRT Interchance and made plans with the Port Authority to build a Link off the Chemical Coast up to AK Bridge.

And once upon a time CR went from double to single track main and the
AK lift bridge was out of service. But now they're both back. They could
always put the LV/SIRT switch back in.

Your right. However someone other than Conrail salvaged the SIRT/LV interchange tracks last year.

[myfavscr]

Mostly wishful thinking on my part.

[AndyB]

The SIRT/LV interchange yard in Cranford.
Who does the property belong to?