Montclair-Boonton line

Today I decided to take a ride on the Boonton-Mont. line to Mount Olive. (Dont know why; there was nothing to do there) but anyway, we went up the montclair connection to the old booton line then to Dover and Mount Olive. WHat is going on with the abandoned portion of the booton line? Is it being used for freight?
Personally, I really like what they did to the old Bay st. station.

Off course what would a day be without a few incidents........Our ALP44 missed a cement truck stopped a tad to close to the tracks and of course a pax running under the gates to catch the NY local.

The abandoned part of the Boonton line is abandoned and not used anymore (I'm 98% sure of that.) No freight (I think) is run on the abandoned line and no passenger service (I'm sure of that!) is run on the abandoned line. There is a guy, Jimmy Wilson, who is trying to run that abandoned line for himself and he is fighting with the help of others to get trackage rights on the abandoned line into Hoboken.

The lower boonton used to see a bit of NS traffic to service something on the Newark Industrial Branch, but that was only for like a week after NJT abandoned service, then all service stopped all together.

NS now owns the line and has removed the west-bound track. Jimmy Wilson tries as hard as he can to get permission to run commuter between Benson St, Rowe St & Arlington to Hoboken, but it definatly will never happen (even though I want it to and I live in Rutherford, no where even near the affected area). NJT would charge to much insurance to run over their portion in Hoboken, NS would definatly want some kind of payment for using their property, DB & WR drawbridges are in desperate need of expensive repair or replacement, all the signals & grade crossings have been heavily vandalised and need repair or replacement & NYGL only has one commuter locomotive (EL U34CH #3372) with currently two coaches sitting in their yard in Passaic (The NYGL Chesnut Hill and an old LIRR coach). They wouldnt be able to use NJT's old CI's because they are already old enough and won't comply with the new FRA safety measures.

So, in my opinion, it looks like the Boonton Line will be nothing but a weed-garden until either NJT reactivates service (very unlikly), NS finds a new customer demanding service (Also unlikly), or the whole line is ripped up and a road is placed over the old ROW between Jersey City & Montclair.

BUT!!... if NJT was ever to re-use the Boonton Line, I would say rename the lower boonton line (from Bloomfeild to Hoboken) the "Arlington Branch". Re-open Arlington, Rowe St & Benson St stations and use that as the desiel route between Hacketstown & Hoboken, and keep the electrics running through the Montclair Connection. The only place desiel & electric power would be intergrated would be in Hoboken and the stretch of track from the Montclair to Great Notch.

To close, the only thing NS has really said about the old line is that if service was ever re-instated on the line, they would replace the west-bound track between DB Draw and Montclair.

Oh Mike! You have very little faith, my friend. Jimmy Wilson looks on these boards and he knows ther pessimists..........

Well please understand that I support the NYGL and I would absolutly love to see those GP9's the RS-3 and the 3372 pull commuter traffic and roll over those bridges, or into Hoboken, but you really have to look at it realistically.

NJT will charge insurance money to operate passenger over a portion of the busiest section of their system into Hoboken. I mean just imagine what would happen if one of the NYGL trains derailed into Hoboken, or one of the loco's broke down and blocked NJT peak traffic? Also, what equiptment will NYGL use that will comply with the new FRA standards?

Also, how could a small short line operation that only services one steady customer in Passaic possibally get the money to repair worn out stick-rail track, two bridges that are falling apart, and repair the old signals and grade crossings that have been vandalised or gutted for parts?

Like I said, I would love to see it all happen, I really would, but we live in a world that is conrolled by money, and if you don't have the money to pay up for what you want, you wont be able to legally do it.

Is there still a customer in South Orange that receives service?

Here's my idea:

Have M&E take over short-line operations for the NS Newark branch. M&E could then use the former Boonton line ROW for storage and/or access.

When did NS cease service to Hartz on the ex-Erie Orange Branch via the ex-Boonton Line ?

Went by the switch at CLARE ( Pine Street ) last Sunday and the rails were clearly polished....

????

Tri-State Tom wrote:When did NS cease service to Hartz on the ex-Erie Orange Branch via the ex-Boonton Line ?

Went by the switch at CLARE ( Pine Street ) last Sunday and the rails were clearly polished....
????

No, I believe they are referring to a plastics company on Passic Rd in Kearny, which used to receive plastic pellets in cover hoppers (I believe a few cover hoppers were retained for storage purposes only).
Why NS could not have connected this to an existing nearby active line with a switch (and a ramp if connecting to the line crossing Harrison Ave.) did not bring up a lot of really good answers (in other words, NS screwed up again).
One interesting thing about this customer was the switchback from the branch to the sidings was in the middle of the adjoining store's (I think at first a Rickels, then a Pathmark[?], now a what[?] Marshall's, maybe) parking lot, with a track bumper right by the store entrance. Pretty cool looking, actually.

In Hudson County, the municipality of Kearny has indicated a desire to turn the abandoned line into a rail trail. The same holds true for the Essex County Parks Department regarding soon to be abandoned portions of the line in Essex County.

NS must first offically file with the STB for abandonment, and then put the property up for sale before municipalities can begin to seek funding for property purchases.

Tri-State Tom wrote:When did NS cease service to Hartz on the ex-Erie Orange Branch via the ex-Boonton Line ?

Went by the switch at CLARE ( Pine Street ) last Sunday and the rails were clearly polished....

????

Tom,

This thread has gotten a bit confusing. NS still operates from Clare down towards North Newark to reverse onto the Orange Branch and serve Hartz Mountain. My understanding is this is a fairly regular occurence on Thursday evenings with the H56 crew (this is the night Suffern job that now reports to Dover on Tuesday and Thursday evening; Reheis in Berkeley Heights is the regular Tuesday night move). I often hear them coming east through Denville around 10 pm.

Up until this change to the Suffern crew, the daylight Dover Crew (H-02) used to do the Hartz work on Friday evenings.

Disclaimer: I do not work for NS. I believe this to fairly represent the present activity on the line. Your mileage may vary.

gravelyfan wrote:

Tri-State Tom wrote:When did NS cease service to Hartz on the ex-Erie Orange Branch via the ex-Boonton Line ?

Went by the switch at CLARE ( Pine Street ) last Sunday and the rails were clearly polished....

????

Tom,

This thread has gotten a bit confusing. NS still operates from Clare down towards North Newark to reverse onto the Orange Branch and serve Hartz Mountain. My understanding is this is a fairly regular occurence on Thursday evenings with the H56 crew (this is the night Suffern job that now reports to Dover on Tuesday and Thursday evening; Reheis in Berkeley Heights is the regular Tuesday night move). I often hear them coming east through Denville around 10 pm.

Up until this change to the Suffern crew, the daylight Dover Crew (H-02) used to do the Hartz work on Friday evenings.

Disclaimer: I do not work for NS. I believe this to fairly represent the present activity on the line. Your mileage may vary.

I've also have heard that NS still delivers to Hartz Mountain during the late night or early morning. Usually after midnight.

I will be going there in the fall to hike the Orange Branch from Bloomfield Avenue to at least Arlington Avenue and perhaps beyond.

Ken