Official Rahway Valley Thread

We never had any issues getting across, with the 70 tonners, or the NYSW 120. Just "blow and go", with the horn tied down, and looking away from the direction of oncoming traffic. (what you don't see, won't haunt you) Never tagged a car at Rt. 22, but came close, a couple of hundred times...............

An update...courtesy of the Sunday Newark Star-Ledger...

http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/union/ind ... xml&coll=1

Not that computer savvy, so hopefully the link will work. Otherwise, go to nj.com, Star-Ledger, Union County, Sunday March 25.
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Thanks! Article in its entirety (please leave, nj.com articles disappear after 2 weeks)

The Star-Ledger wrote:Still no green light on funding for freight rail line
Revitalization projects on hold pending DOT review
Sunday, March 25, 2007
BY GABRIEL H. GLUCK
Star-Ledger Staff

There will be no further funding of the two freight rail revitalization projects though central Union County until the state Department of Transportation conducts a new review of the costs and benefits of restoring service to the 14-mile route.

DOT Commissioner Kris Kolluri said during a telephone interview that his first priority will be to assess what is needed to have the old Staten Island Railroad (SIRR) line up and running between Cranford and Linden.

Work stopped on the rail project last May when funding ran out.

Nearly $10.5 million from the state Transportation Trust Fund has been spent rehabilitating the SIRR and small portions of the Rahway Valley Line, which runs from Cranford to Summit, according to Union County officials.

The Morristown & Erie Railway, which is rehabilitating the two lines, estimates it will require another $2.9 million to finish the Staten Island line, with nearly half of that going for signals and gates at the grade crossings in Roselle, said M&E Chief Operating Officer Gordon Fuller.

When the SIRR was fully operational decades ago, it tied into the Lehigh Valley Line, which cuts through the county on a diagonal, from Westfield to Hillside, and is now used by Conrail. The line connected to Staten Island, via a rail span just north of the Goethals Bridge, as well as the old Jersey Central line, a portion of which is now NJ Transit's Raritan Valley Line. Kolluri said he told Union County officials to concentrate on the SIRR. "I said to them, to focus on Linden to Cranford first, in making sure that line can be activated," Kolluri said. "It is only fair that that line be activated as soon as possible."

However, Fuller has maintained from the beginning of the project that most of the economic benefits would come from providing rail service to the industrial section of Union, in the northern portion of the route.

According to county officials, completing the Rahway Valley stretch would cost an estimated $6.6 million. The 7-mile run requires three new rail spans in Springfield and Summit, along with new grade crossings on Westfield Avenue in Roselle Park and the Boulevard in Kenilworth.

While Kolluri said he wanted a full accounting of how the state funds were spent on the entire rail project, he gave no hint as to whether further funding would be forthcoming on the Rahway Valley Line.

As part of that project, the DOT was to be responsible for repairing the rail crossing on Route 22 in Kenilworth. However, the DOT will not be committing to do any work on the crossing until the project review is complete.

"We are awaiting information from the county justifying the investment and the economic benefits of activating the line," Kolluri said.

Union County Economic Development Director Alfred Faella said the county is aware of at least seven or eight businesses that would be interested in having rail service and that a report examining job creation, new ratables, and other economic benefits would be done in about two weeks.

Faella said there also have been discussions with the Conoco Phillips Bayway Refinery about expanded operations at the Linden facility that could require shipping rail cars along the Staten Island line out to Bound Brook. The route would be an alternative to the heavily-used Chemical Coast line.

Faella said county officials were told Gov. Jon Corzine wants to see "the numbers" on the project before committing more state funds.

The stiffest resistance to the completion of the rail project has come from Springfield and Summit, Corzine's former hometown.

Summit Mayor Jordan Glatt has discussed the rail project with Corzine, an old friend, on numerous occasions.

"I think he's listened. He's been noncommittal, but he's definitely listened with an open mind," Glatt said.

Fuller said he is concerned that funding might not be committed to complete the project.

"We've already advised them that connectivity is important," Fuller said. "If they don't want that, we need another route. Conoco Phillips (in Linden) has stuff that my customers up in Morristown want."

Fuller said the connection would enable the M&E to move locomotives and other equipment back and forth through the county so that when customers needed something, the M&E could provide a timely response.

"This is a good route to put back in service," Fuller said.

Gabriel H. Gluck may be reached at (908) 302-1506 or [email protected].

We never had any issues getting across, with the 70 tonners, or the NYSW 120. Just "blow and go", with the horn tied down, and looking away from the direction of oncoming traffic. Never tagged a car at Rt. 22, but came close, a couple of hundred times...............


Goldarm were you the guy who spilt the rails with 120 on the CNJ spur I was a fireman in RP and had to provide lighting for that little incident

Well, Mike, you would have to be a bit more specific. Given the amount of times we were "on the ground", at various locations, I would need a little more info. Most of my time running on the ties, was with the 16, and/or 17. I did bury the 120 at Rt. 22, while rerailing the 70 tonner, around christmas 1987. If you mean a derailment, in the yard between Excee, and the Aldene bridge, it could have been me, or the regular engineer there, who was working hard, on not working at all. A benefit of working for the RVRR/SIRY and the M&E, earlier in my career, was the important skills learned, while rerailing cars, and locos, and how to make do, with whatever was at hand, at the scene of the derailment.

The Route 22 grade crossings, both eastbound and westbound, have been repaved/repaired. No trackwork on either side of the crossings has been done.

do you mean that the rails have been paved over, or that they are now technically functional and ready to accept trains?

The rails are intact. Trains could go over them.

that is great news. the ROW on the northern side is really crappy though – last time i looked at it, it was being used by the maxxon car dealership as a parking lot...what's the deal there now?

The highway was repaved by the crossing to remove several large potholes. Anyone who regularly drives Rt 22 through Union knows of the garden of patches that was called a road by the road crossing there.

The rails and flange ways remain intact.

For those of you that will not have the opportunity to see it for yourselves, I will describe what was done at the Rahway Valley grade crossings on Route 22 in Union. On both the Eastbound and Westbound lanes of Route 22 (3 lanes on each roadway), the asphalt has been replaced for equidistant lengths on each side of the track, I would say for approximately 20 feet from each rail. The asphalt has also been replaced between the rails. The lines have been repainted. The flangeways are clear. Each rail of the track has a guard rail on both sides. The guard rails were put in the last time they did the crossing.

The following was posted on New Jersey Railfan. I don't have the link, but here is the text of a recent Star-Ledger story:

Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 10:24 pm Post subject: New RVRR news- Star Ledger 6/12 Reply with quote
County envisions new life from freight trains
By Gabriel H. Gluck
Star Ledger staff


Restoring rail freight service to central Union County would create
at least 500 new jobs and generate more than $10 million for the towns
along the rail line, according to a new analysis of the project.
The report, prepared by the county's Department of Economic
Development for state consideration, found that a large percentage of
the properties along the 14-mile route between Summit and Linden are
under-used and that providing the rail service would "create an
opportunity for industry and employment growth in the region."
Work stopped over a year ago on the revitalization project, which
called for restoring service on the Staten Island Railroad,from Cranford
to Linden, and the Rahway Valley Line, from Cranford to Summit.
With the change in administrations in Trenton, the project remained
in limbo until March, when state Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri
told county officials he wanted a full review of the costs and benefits of
restoring service to the two lines. There would be no further funding
until the county submitted that report, he said.
Kolluri said his first priority was to assess what was needed to have
the line running between Cranford and Linden.
According to the report, $11.62 million was spent on repairs between
Linden and Union. But officials estimate it will require $8.9 million more
to have that portion operational. The report makes no mention of the
cost of completing the section through Springfield and Summit, where
three bridges are out.
" I believe that we've shown the benefits to at least go out to Union,"
said county Manager George Devanney. "The economics of going to Union
are good for everybody."
Devanney said he expected the state would continue its commitment
to funding the project, but was not sure when the funds would finally be
released. The project " is really moving at a snail's pace," he said.
The report states that nearly 1,000 jobs could be created within five
years if the two freight lines were operational.
The analysis also reported that by using the railroad, nearly 32,000
truck trips a year could be eliminated for businesses along the line,
saving local industries upward of $3 million to transportation costs.
The businesses already in the corridor serve national and international
markets, making them prime candidates to use long-distance rail
service, the report said.
Under the county's contract with the Morristown & Erie Railroad,
which is rehabilitating the track and would run the freight operations,
the county could end up receiving an estimated $200,000 a year, funds
that would be reinvested in economic development projects in the
communities along the rail lines, according to the report.
Devanney said the county did not analyze the Summit/Springfield
portion of the project because it was the last phase and state officials
were more concerned with getting sections, like the Staten Island line,
in operation.
There is also some discussion, he said, of looking for alternative
routes to enable the M&E to make the connection to its Morristown base
without going through Summit and Springfield.
"Where it goes from here is un-certain," Devanney said." There are
other options being looked at, other track rights that would provide the
same connection."




It sounds like there will be concessions made to the NIMBYs in Summit
and Springfield in order to get more funding. Also the expectations for
these lines seem a bit high since you would need to build sidings for
all of these so called businesses that are going to pop up along the
lines.Seems like a lot of wishful thinking is still going on.

It's still progress, and if they're pushing to complete what's already been started without involving Springfield and Summit at this stage, it at least indicates the RV won't be reactivated simply for M&E's convenience in moving equipment between Morristown and Bayway.

Whatever it is, I'll take it. Better to use half a rebuilt railroad than none of a rebuilt railroad. And, better to use what you've spent money to rebuild instead of letting it go to pot again.

Funding has been approved for the Linden-Cranford portion of the SIRR. Here's the link to yesterday's Star-Ledger story:

http://www.nj.com/starledger/stories/in ... xml&coll=1

Now there's some good news!