The Freehold Secondary Mystery

I hope that boom truck didn't die, that bucket of bolts was classic!

Maybe he slammed the door too hard, and it fell to pieces like the Bluesmobile did in the end of the Blues Brothers movie.

Must have been some activity in Freehold lately. I went by BG last week (Fri. 10/23) and there was a loaded centerbeam in BG's yard, and today there are three empty centerbeams there, along with the brick car out front.

Throckmorton St. is being worked on right in front of BG today, expect some traffic there.

I had an opportunity to photograph the SA31 as they made their way to the Freehold Industrial Track back on September 28th. Hard to believe it's been over a month already. It was a nice sunny afternoon and the engine was NS GP38-2 5311. Here are a few photos.

First, here is the SA31 on the Amboy Secondary heading through Spotswood:
NS 5311 in Spotswood

In Jamesburg, I was lucky and was able to photograph the train in a spot where there weren't many cars parked.
NS 5311 in Jamesburg

Crossing Lake Manalapan:
Photo 1
Photo 2

Enjoy.

Nice photos!

Nice shots!

There are never to many cars parked in that section of the lot luckily .

The GSC Tuesday Freehold Report:

An empty centerbeam and a box car at BG, with the brick car still out on the team track.

Anyone know who pays the per diem charges on empty cars? If I was the consignee of a rail car, and I unloaded it in a day's time, and the car sat for another six or seven days before it was picked up, would I be responsible for the time rental on that car? Or would the rail carrier?

Thanks for the compliments. The times I have been to Jamesburg, usually in the late fall, there have been more cars parked in the spaces against the tracks.

Nice shots !!! As far as the brick car, is it emptied ? I talked to a conductor and the 31 normally picks it up when they get a call that its empty. BTW Gary, I think the Smithsonian wanted their truck back !
Jim H

GSC wrote:The GSC Tuesday Freehold Report:



Anyone know who pays the per diem charges on empty cars? If I was the consignee of a rail car, and I unloaded it in a day's time, and the car sat for another six or seven days before it was picked up, would I be responsible for the time rental on that car? Or would the rail carrier?

Used to be (back when I worked for the RR) consignee would get 2 days free, then they are charged per diem for
each day the car is on a siding, until company informs the RR that car is ready to be picked up, which is when
per diem charges stop. Per diem does not apply to privately owned cars on a private siding (not a team track or other public track) This is why you may see tank cars sitting on a siding for weeks before being picked up.

To be technical, a customer pays Demurrage for detention of Railroad owned or controlled cars according to the NS or CSXT Demurrage Tariff, since this is on ConRail. As for which tariff, ConRail doesn't exist, it's as if NS or CSXT serves the customer and collects the money. In both tariffs, the charges stop when the car is released to the railroad, not when the railroad gets around to actually moving it.
Per Diem is paid by railroads for use of each others' cars, although now it is paid per hour instead of per day (diem).

Thanks for clearing up the demurrage vs per diem confusion. Whatever it's called, I was just curious as to whom is being billed for a sitting car. So if I unloaded the car within the two days, and I called the carrier that it was empty, I would be off the hook as far as paying anything. If I had to pay for it to sit there for a week, I would definitely go for truck transportation next time!

Tuesday report: One empty centerbeam at Builder's, the brick car is still on the team track.

Sounds like the brick guy could be racking up quite a bill. I heard the train last nite , 6:30ish ?. Ddint know what way it was going but the kids wanted to chase it ! Too dark at that point and dinner time.
Jim H

Your kids wanted to chase the train and you didn't?!?

Bad Daddy! Bad Daddy!

Dont know when it happened but the brick car on the team track is gone.
Jim H

Monday (yesterday), empty centerbeam and brick car in Freehold.
Tuesday (today), two empty centerbeams and a box car (in the trees) at BG and the brick car is gone. Late Monday train this week, I guess.