Lackawanna Cutoff Passenger Service Restoration

Other than connecting Scranton and NEPA and Western NJ to NYC.

Could it be that NJT will ever order a full 2 level commuter car? That would be close to what is close to being ordered in Europe. If that is even in MJT's very long-range plans, then the tunnel ceiling would need clearance for that CAT. Is the present end of line CAT 25 Kv?

JoeG wrote: ↑Sat Apr 16, 2022 5:59 pm A big reason the Cutoff was abandoned in the first place by Conrail was the lack of freight, because
the Boonton Line's severance by the construction of I-80 left no place for the freight east of the Cutoff.

EL did run through freight into Croxton via Montclair on the realigned Boonton Line, at least in the 70s.

The EL did run freight to Croxton via the cutoff, Boonton, and Greenwood Lake. The east end of the Greenwood Lake is gone now, so the route as it was is no more.

Mackdave

JoeG wrote: ↑Sat Apr 16, 2022 5:59 pm A big reason the Cutoff was abandoned in the first place by Conrail was the lack of freight, because
the Boonton Line's severance by the construction of I-80 left no place for the freight east of the Cutoff.

To expand on Mr. Grossman's immediate, Conrail swept in "like gangbusters" and applied to whack any line their consultants said would not "make book". If local passenger train agencies or Amtrak said they needed a line for their services, fine; "let's come to the table".

No agency stepped up, Conrail had no need for through lines of the DL&W, so the whole railroad was either sold to Short Lines or chopped up (exceptions abound for sure). Same happened to the ERIE East of Binghamton, where a Short Line remains.

During my years in the industry, I once heard a comment to the effect of that when Richard Spence came in from the SP to run Conrail, he was accustomed to have numerous alt-routes available to handle traffic when "shit happened" as it often did. Suddenly, he realized that "shit still happened" on the broken down Central and Pennsy lines he now had to work with. I guess it was no wonder he didn't hang around all that long.

Subsequent managements (ref: Loving; "The Men Who Loved Trains") transformed Conrail into a viable road that, for better or worse, became a "takeover target".

west point wrote: ↑Sun Apr 17, 2022 1:53 am Could it be that NJT will ever order a full 2 level commuter car? That would be close to what is close to being ordered in Europe. If that is even in MJT's very long-range plans, then the tunnel ceiling would need clearance for that CAT. Is the present end of line CAT 25 Kv?

What cat? NJT is never going to order train cars that don't fit into the hudson tunnels.

https://youtu.be/YjSguw7rsj0

photobug56 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 17, 2022 12:33 am Other than connecting Scranton and NEPA and Western NJ to NYC.

It connects Slateford Junction to Port Morris; the problem is connecting Port Morris to NYC, as shown at considerable length in previous posts.

"Subsequent managements (ref: Loving; "The Men Who Loved Trains") transformed Conrail into a viable road that, for better or worse, became a "takeover target".

L. Stanley Crane from the Southern is the Conrail CEO who lopped off excess trackage, and with a big assist from the Staggers Rail Deregulation Act, allowed Conrail to become a public company.

Interesting, how things play out: Stanley Crane had a lot to do with maneuvering the Staggers Act through Congress, and it was largely through his standing and credibility that both houses were persuaded that the changes embodied in that legislation had to be made; upheaval is not too strong a word to denote what it did to established customs and practices dating back to 1887. If the Southern Railway had not had a rigid policy of 65-and-out, Mr. Crane would not have been forced to retire and would not have been available to run Conrail. Fortunately, he was not ready for a rocking chair at 65 and readily took up the Conrail challenge -- and those who were around at the time know what a challenge it was.

Staggers Act, in my experience, seems to be controversial in the railroad community.

It de-regulated the industry quite a lot, which allowed for a lot of the super mergers and axeing of even more unprofitable and/or redundant lines, but it allowed for freight companies to actually be very profitable, instead of barely profitable at best, and be able to price competitively with the trucking industry, whose infrastructure is financed and backed by the state. A road simply can't go out of business like a railroad can.

One could argue that the Staggers Act led to issues regarding PSR and labor today, but without it, it's very unlikely American railroads would be doing as well as they have been since its passage; I doubt nearly half of American freight would be moved by rail without it.

Over time, things change. Deregulation helped, though it had its own issues. But over time, some re-regulation can become necessary again.

photobug56 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 19, 2022 5:34 pm Over time, things change. Deregulation helped, though it had its own issues. But over time, some re-regulation can become necessary again.

Fair, however, historically speaking, regulation moves slower than change. The deregulation of the rail industry came at least 30 years late, and well after many of the legendary rail companies ceased to exist.

Very true. These days regulation is mostly reactive, years later than needed, and weak.

photobug56 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 19, 2022 9:23 pm Very true. These days regulation is mostly reactive, years later than needed, and weak.

Weak? It’s resulted in what should have been a simple restoration of rail service (like this one) becoming prohibitively expensive and taking decades to get started never mind finish.