Delaware and Raritan River Railroad-General Discussion

As I hear it they were either hammering away at the track, attempting to put things on the track to have the train run them over, or both.

This has been a problem for many years now but recently its been much worse. This afternoon a couple of my people informed me that people have been pulling spikes out of the track before Squankum Road and 7th Street for the past few days.

Aren’t these technically considered acts of terrorism or something? This really has to stop. These people don’t seem to realize or care that these acts can cause a serious accident.

Bracdude181 wrote: Aren’t these technically considered acts of terrorism or something? This really has to stop. These people don’t seem to realize or care that these acts can cause a serious accident.

So lets post it on the internet

Wood ties are down, track being replaced at Adelphia Rd.

Be interesting to see what happens next. I'm guessing the same company got the contract for the next 2 sections. Their equipment is right there for either end, Yellowbrook westbound, or Adelphia eastbound. Should know by next week.

CharlieL wrote: ↑Tue May 09, 2023 2:04 pm ... Their equipment is right there for either end, Yellowbrook westbound, or Adelphia eastbound. Should know by next week.

Thank you for the update. How is progress on Fairfield Rd to Yellowbrook Rd?
Is everything west of Yellowbrook pretty much done, except for crossings?
JS

Last I checked nothing had changed between Fairfield and Yellowbrook. Seems right now they are focused on Yellowbrook to Adelphia.

Looks like everything west of Fairfield is done except for ballast, the crossings, and work needed between the Prestone switch and Okerson Rd.
At Fairfield, road work is going on right at the crossing, probably for sewer / water / gas lines.
I expect they will finish their work on the current section between Yellowbrook and Adelphia/524 by the end of the week.

CR7876 wrote: ↑Tue May 09, 2023 1:37 pm

Bracdude181 wrote: Aren’t these technically considered acts of terrorism or something? This really has to stop. These people don’t seem to realize or care that these acts can cause a serious accident.

So lets post it on the internet

See something say something at its finest. Were the authorities notified?

I don’t know. Usually whenever Lakewood police are called they don’t do much. Last time they showed up was when some teenagers threw lumber in front of the train and it got wedged underneath 752. They helped the crew move the lumber but paid little attention to the kids climbing on the last car while they were doing that.

If that's the case, then Lakewood police seem to look the other way when the locals are out and about - shocker.

Someone is going to have to bark up a higher tree than little old Lakewood PD

The State Police on the Parkway won't ticket on the portions through Lakewood because all infractions are dropped. Its too costly to the SP to waste time going to court when the Rabbi drops all charges. The big fire started in Lakewood that burn several Buildings and some homes in Brick. All charges were dropped and a small fine was paid.
Even in Brick town the Parkway storm drain fire that shut the parkway for 12 hours was two JV's fine 1500.00 each and the cost of the repair is 3.5 million not including the buildings the broke into. All three of these have one common denominator.

Maybe it's time to notify the feds. The FRA and STB do not screw around.

If people have pictures and videos of the people involved, please keep them handy in case an investigation comes out.

Tanker, back in 2015 Conrail ran a “operation lifesaver” campaign to try and stop exactly what the C&D has been putting up with the past few months. It was NS and Lakewood Police going around and screaming or giving tickets to anyone they didn’t like. They told the Jewish that’s what operation lifesaver was. However, while NS police was around the amount of trespassing and other dangerous activity on/near the tracks in Lakewood stopped for months.

Maybe they should do this again but with Federal Railroad Police instead? Towards the end of the Conrail era, once such officer in a black unmarked pickup escorted the train through town one night and used his loudspeaker to warn people to stay back. They had no problems that night.

Earlier this year I noticed Jewish security vehicles were always near the tracks on the return run for a couple weeks. And during that time there was also hardly any trespassing or dangerous activity. I’m wondering if those guys were “big people” who rank just below the rabbis…

Not to get too religious or ethnic about this, but there are seldom any municipalities throughout the country that would tolerate, nor put up with the level of vandalism that occurs near the tracks, not even if you are a "protected" minority. This is a failure of the local authorities to do their job like anyone else would in the rest of the country, but get away with it because they hide behind their identities. Since I used to work for Woodhaven and worked for customers in town, I have confirmed firsthand knowledge that they know EXACTLY what they are doing, and they KNOW they can get away with it. This whole "rules for thee, not for me" stuff needs to stop. I agree that a Federal level involvement would scare them enough away not to get involved.

But guess who has to pay for it? Not them.

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In a lighter vein, track work between Yellowbrook and Adelphia is done, with cleanup / inspection in progress.
Several workers are eyeballing (walking down) Adelphia - Southard, so I guess that's next.

@CR2721 Has me wondering who pays the fine when they park their minivans on the tracks…