The return of CMSL to Cape May...?

glennk419 wrote:The SJRA Group is reporting that brush clearing has commenced on the Cape May POINT Branch and that it has been confirmed by CMSL. No word of exactly where this is happening or why (more car storage?) but it appears to be in the area of the Bayshore Road grade crossing and out toward the old magnesite plant. I assume the only NIMBY's out that way would be the seagulls and mosquitoes.

This is good news, but if they intend to make this branch accessible to rail movement of any kind, they would need to do a lot of rotted tie replacement and reinstall the grade crossing on Route 162, Seashore Road, in addition to the brush clearance.

At long last, this is hopefully/possibly a step in the right direction of an attempt to get CMSL evening passenger service out toward Sunset Beach that I and many others have hoped for years to relieve the traffic and parking headaches this locale suffers each clear evening during the summer.

We maintian a summer home in the Cape May area. I would love to see that stretch of rail restored for evening service to the point but it is going to require lots of work. Not only has the grade crossing at Bayshore road been paved over, the wye where the branch attaches to the mainline is in poor shape. The last 1/8 mile of track near the point was also removed during the superfund cleanup and would need to be redone. Then you will need a station to accomodate the passengers and lets not forget that federal law dictates that the train must be assessible to the crippled and the handicapped. Believe it or not the ties and the rails are not all rotten, at least in the areas that I have explored. They might get away with replacing every third tie. This branch was never a high speed section of the line as there were only crossbuck signs at the grade crossings but no lights. I would asume that even when freight was carried to and from the old Magesite plant, that a flagman had to be used at every grade crossing. If I recall correctly there are three grade crossings, none with lights. Its nice to see that Tony is continuing to restore the railroad and we wish him the best of luck. Perhaps he has given up on the Cape May to Cape May Courthouse service due to the long legal disputes and will just concentrate on running within the town limits and perhaps to Cold Spring. .

dlagrua wrote:We maintian a summer home in the Cape May area. I would love to see that stretch of rail restored for evening service to the point but it is going to require lots of work. Not only has the grade crossing at Bayshore road been paved over, the wye where the branch attaches to the mainline is in poor shape. The last 1/8 mile of track near the point was also removed during the superfund cleanup and would need to be redone. Then you will need a station to accomodate the passengers and lets not forget that federal law dictates that the train must be assessible to the crippled and the handicapped. Believe it or not the ties and the rails are not all rotten, at least in the areas that I have explored. They might get away with replacing every third tie. This branch was never a high speed section of the line as there were only crossbuck signs at the grade crossings but no lights. I would asume that even when freight was carried to and from the old Magesite plant, that a flagman had to be used at every grade crossing. If I recall correctly there are three grade crossings, none with lights. Its nice to see that Tony is continuing to restore the railroad and we wish him the best of luck. Perhaps he has given up on the Cape May to Cape May Courthouse service due to the long legal disputes and will just concentrate on running within the town limits and perhaps to Cold Spring. .

Seashore Rd crossing did in fact have automatic crossing protection. Bayshore did not. I'm not sure what the third crossing you're referencing is. And true - none of them have crossing protection anymore. The Seashore Rd. protection was removed maybe 15 years ago if I recall.

And the junction with the Cape May Branch is not as bad as you might think - it has nothing really to do with the wye. The wye is another entity all-together - but yes it is in terrible shape. The switch for the Point Branch is in about the same shape as the rest of the branch. See the photo below. The Point Branch heads off to the west here (to the left in this northward facing photo from 2004). The north leg of the wye is heading off to the right and is visible in this image. The south leg of the wye comes in behind me. If I turned my camera 90 degrees to the right, I would be able to see the tail of the wye in the marsh.
Mike DiMunno

Yes I confused Seashore road with Bayshore Rd so I should have said that the Seashore Rd grade crossing has been paved over. It wasn't that long ago that this happened, probably four or five years ago. I don't recall the grade croosing signal as it had to be removed before we started going to Cape May. The grade crossing itself used to be in very good condition. One day a home was built at that location on the West side and the grade crossing was gone. I have no idea why it was paved over as it looked fairly new. Last I looked the trackage there has all kinds of garbage stored on it and that new home that is very very close to the tracks. As for the other grade crossing if you go on the roads that cross the line (Bayshore Rd.) all I have found is an old crossbuck sign and at another location no sign. As for the wye, I believe that was necessary to turn the train but if RDC's are used the wye would not be needed.
So far no one that I have spoken to has any idea what is happening on this branch and why the brush hogs are at work. Since Macrie is secretive, I have a couple of contacts at MAC that fill me in from time to time so I'll speak to them and see if they know anything. Macrie is freindly to MAC and well he should be. Being a tourist organization for the arts they are firmly in favor of the CMSL as it's a good tourist attraction. If the train ever starts running on this line and brings visitors to the point, the recently restored and reopened fire control tower can be visited. There is not much left of the Atlantus wreck to see, but the flag ceremony, the beach view (of the bay, the ferry and the boats) , the miniature golf course, and the gift shops would be enough to generate tourist interest. Lets hope for the best

JJMDiMunno wrote:Seashore Rd crossing did in fact have automatic crossing protection. Bayshore did not. I'm not sure what the third crossing you're referencing is. And true - none of them have crossing protection anymore. The Seashore Rd. protection was removed maybe 15 years ago if I recall.

The relay cabinet, battery box and meter socket for the Seashore Road crossing are all still in place. The rails were removed from the crossing and are sitting in the gauge just to the east of the road. The occupants of the mobile homes have seriously encroached on the ROW and will inevitably be getting a wake-up call when the clearing reaches that point.

I visited the area where the clearing has actually begun yesterday morning before the snow started and confirmed that it is at the Bayshore Road crossing. They've cleared about 100 yards on either side of the crossing and have mainly just taken out what was growing between the rails but it's a start. They have a way to go to get it wide enough for any loco's or cars to fit through. I also found it somewhat interesting that they started the work in the middle of the branch.

The occupants of the mobile homes have seriously encroached on the ROW and will inevitably be getting a wake-up call when the clearing reaches that point.

Yes I noticed this as well. They may be getting a wake up call and will eventually have to move their mobile homes farther away from the tracks but can you say more lawsuits? Nothing that the CMSL does seems to go easy. Its a major miracle that they got this far.
If I were the CMSL I would be petioning the white house snd the congress for some stimulus funds that would bring summer mass transit back to the area. What better story can there be than one of a small one guy business, working against all odds, trying to promote the green movement in Cape May County. We hear estimates that $25-$30 million are needed to restore full service between Cape May City and Tuckahoe. . Compared to the Trillions that are being spent by the federal government this is "chump change". Perhaps they could even donate some old Amtrak equipment to the CMSL that is slated for replacement in 2010.
I honestly believe that one day we will see full restoration of passenger service on the Cape May branch but I would certainly like to see it in my lifetime. The NJ State goverment spends billions on mass transit, the federal government spends way more. You mean to say we can't afford to fund a small project like the CMSL?

You mean to say we can't afford to fund a small project like the CMSL?

NJT already has a $200mm structural deficit and the state a $10bb one. We are looking at a $3.6 Trillion federal deficit as a result of Obama's latest budget proposal. I'd say we cannot afford it.

How far from the water do the tracks of the West Cape May branch actually end? If they are going to shuttle tourists, it will need a public walkway to the beach, etc etc.
Who owns that site (he old factory site where the branch ends)?
JS

JLo wrote:

You mean to say we can't afford to fund a small project like the CMSL?

NJT already has a $200mm structural deficit and the state a $10bb one. We are looking at a $3.6 Trillion federal deficit as a result of Obama's latest budget proposal. I'd say we cannot afford it.

$3.6 Trillion??? Thats it????

How far from the water do the tracks of the West Cape May branch actually end? If they are going to shuttle tourists, it will need a public walkway to the beach, etc etc.
Who owns that site (he old factory site where the branch ends)?
JS

The grounds where the former Harbeson Walker Magnesite plant were located on is now state or county owned property. The railroad tracks used to go nearly all the way to the beachfront but some trackage was removed during the plant demolition and cleanup. They now come within about 1/4 mile of the waters edge. Most of the old PRSL Sunset Beach/Cape May Point branch is stil largely intact and can be restored with some brush clearing new ties and grade crossing rebuilding. Getting those trailers that have encroached on the line off of it at Seashore rd, could present legal problems
The long range plan is to obviously to make this part of the line a CMSL tourist train. If and when NJT ever steps in they could potentially force the CMSL out but if the CMSL gets this branch going, I could never see NJT wanting it. If the line were to return to service, all they would need at the point end is a simple platform for unloading with a provision for the handicapped. To my knowledge this was always a freight line.
These is another railroad line that wnet to the point South of where this line is located but that has been gone for many years. IN a few areas you can still see the tracks. I believe that it may have been a trolley line that ran from the point at Sunset Beach through downtown Cape May all the way to Schlesengers landing where the Lobster House is located. I don't have much more info on it but its was there.

JLO..i say lets build it.Your right we cant afford it but we couldnot afford the Medowlands station for sports ,the tunnel 8 billion dollars, the rehab of the Trenton Lantenburg station,also the new big Gaints sports stadium.Soooo lets finish this CMSL one and the Glassboro line and we will STOP.Oh and the federal budget,watch us spend billions rebuilding, Haitia,a non US state.

south jersey trains wrote:JLO..i say lets build it.Your right we cant afford it but we couldnot afford the Medowlands station for sports ,the tunnel 8 billion dollars, the rehab of the Trenton Lantenburg station,also the new big Gaints sports stadium.Soooo lets finish this CMSL one and the Glassboro line and we will STOP.Oh and the federal budget,watch us spend billions rebuilding, Haitia,a non US state.

Whats Hatia, I think you mean Hatti...

Haiti..ok...Plus rebuild the spur into Wildwood NJ.Its good for jobs,NJ and trains fans.Plus it will make money and pays taxes.Just 2 trains a day in winter,but many in the summer for tourists and visitors in Atlantic City to visit the rest of our southern seacoast towns.Wow all this trying to get 10 miles of railroad ties replaced since 1997.Unbelievable !!

rebuild the spur into Wildwood NJ.Its good for jobs,NJ and trains fans.Plus it will make money and pays taxes.Just 2 trains a day in winter,but many in the summer for tourists and visitors in Atlantic City to visit the rest of our southern seacoast towns.Wow all this trying to get 10 miles of railroad ties replaced since 1997.Unbelievable !!

I do not believe that we will ever see train service return to Wildwood. While the right of way to the inlet is still all there, the bridge to Wildwood has been gone for many years and when you get into Wildwood city the right of way has all been built upon. A Walgreens drug store now sits where the old train station was. The realistic plan ( or is it) will be to refurbish the line between Woodbine and CMCH. That would make the line fully functional again. Still it is an expensive project and if the state of NJ doesn't apply just a tiny bit of the $25 BILLION transportation to the Cape May branch, I doubt if this will happen anytime soon. Meanwhile Macrie pushes on with a very limited budget and is doing the best that he can.

dlagrua wrote:

rebuild the spur into Wildwood NJ.Its good for jobs,NJ and trains fans.Plus it will make money and pays taxes.Just 2 trains a day in winter,but many in the summer for tourists and visitors in Atlantic City to visit the rest of our southern seacoast towns.Wow all this trying to get 10 miles of railroad ties replaced since 1997.Unbelievable !!

I do not believe that we will ever see train service return to Wildwood. While the right of way to the inlet is still all there, the bridge to Wildwood has been gone for many years and when you get into Wildwood city the right of way has all been built upon. A Walgreens drug store now sits where the old train station was. The realistic plan ( or is it) will be to refurbish the line between Woodbine and CMCH. That would make the line fully functional again. Still it is an expensive project and if the state of NJ doesn't apply just a tiny bit of the $25 BILLION transportation to the Cape May branch, I doubt if this will happen anytime soon. Meanwhile Macrie pushes on with a very limited budget and is doing the best that he can.

The biggest justification I can see for the Wildwood branch being rebuilt is if it runs from the airport bringing Quebecois down to the Wildwoods. Either way there should definitely at least be a dedicated shuttle at Rio Grande.