hrfcarl wrote:Are there any restrictions on the type of freight cars that can be moved on the ROWs? For example: I know double stack well cars and hoppers can, but what about auto racks and others?
In the 90's, was a semi-regular train of empty auto racks the moved west from the CSX ( Q-413?) in Little Ferry, and the NYS&W itself, for a time, had a customer that shipped used rental cars from the Little Ferry/North Bergen area
Using this map http://www.nj.gov/transportation/gis/maps/railroads.pdf there seemed to be a ROW connecting the spur heading south from Franklin to the main line between Sparta & Hardyson (was not sure if Odgensburg was on spur or main line). Why was this connection abandoned? Was the track pulled?
The spur that shows on the map was the NYS&W's Hanford branch, which ran from Beaver Lake to the connection with the Middletown and Unionville at the NJ/NY state line. This branch was actually a part of the original New Jersey Midland main line. The section of the line from Franklin Jct. to the M & U connection was abandoned in 1958, and in 1959 the Lehigh & Hudson bought the 2.7 miles of the Hanford Branch from Franklin Jct. to Ogdensburg to service the NJ Zinc company's Sterling Hill Mine , and the balance of the Hanford Branch from Franklin Jct. to Beaver Lake was abandoned by the NYS&W and the track was pulled up.