Trackwork - Eisenhower Pkwy.

[Tri-State Tom]

Drove by this area this afternoon and found ALL track ties and ballast removed for quite a distance west of this grade crossing.

Appears RCC had already dug out and regraded the ROW base in anticipation of new stone with new ties and rail to follow.

All of the RCC MOW vehicles were parked on the east side of the grade crossing.

[denvillerailfan]

Awsome!
Sounds like the bridge might be out this week.? or at least soon. I'll try to get down there for some pics after work.

Thanks for the update.

[fox7344]

The stb is in the process of making judge beglin's ruling so airtight that the nimbys will never be able to challenge this in circuit court or the supreme court.Also of note the nimbys were down in trenton two weeks ago to try to stop the county and the m&e from asking for an additional 8-1/2 million dollars for the reactivation of the rahway valley side of the railroad.
Word should be coming soon as to whether the m&e will get the dough they need to finish the job from the state DOT.Keep your eyes on the star ledger for an article as to that affect.Also the state diagnostic team's findings as to whether a certain rr crossing will need gates,signals,crossbucks,catenary etc and their reccomendations should be coming out in the paper soon, as pertains to the rahway valley/former staten island railroad crossings.also known as the B&O running track.The diagnostic team was busy down on the snjlrt or southern new jersey light rail transit line.Now they are free to devote themselves to the "Rahway Valley"![/b]

[Don Maxton]

Fox,

You should post your message on the SIRR/RVRR thread. Everyone will be interested to read it.

[fox7344]

sorry i thought that i was on that thread and when i went to check it ,my post was not there.Thanks i will try to copy and paste my post from here to there.

[Angus202]

Some shots of work on the bridge, like previously stated, all the track and ties are gone, the switch into the powerplant will be reconnected when the work is finished as well. RCC has moved into the area with a path they cut out down to the river, boats, ladders all ovet, etc. So far, not much has been taken apart from the old bridge, but rather they've cut right through the old concreate pilings, and constructed forms for the new ones. Also notice the 145lb welded rail sitting off to the left of the ROW.

http://www.northshorerecording.com/rail ... C03483.jpg
http://www.northshorerecording.com/rail ... C03506.jpg

-Ryan

[Tri-State Tom]

Ryan -

Thanks for the pics.

On the rail in the ditch....didn't you mean to say 155lb. as opposed to 145lb. ?

Was told this was 155lb. rail lifted from ex-Pennsy routes in the Midwest.

[njt4172]

Ryan,

WOW! Wasn't aware that they were doing a complete rebuilding of that portion of the line! What powerplant are you referring to?

thanks,
Steve

[Greg]

Additonally, they had River Road closed in E. Hanover for the past few days as the ties and rail are replaced on the trestle there. As a side note I happened to witness someone strike the bridge on Saturday with a Penske rental box truck, guess he couldn't read.

[RS115]

Why would they replace the switch into the power plant? They've not received anything by rail in ages. With the loss of the Caldwell Branch connection they can't receive the high & wide loads that constituted the plants only occassional use of rail service (the really big generators/components). There's not a lot of room between the switch and the gate so it's not really useful as a place to store stuff.

Just wondering...

[Angus202]

Tom, the rail clearly had 145 stamped on it, it was also of a different profile than the 155 pennsy stuff around ridgedale ave, I recall the steel mfg. as being the same as the rail conrail put up the riverline - made in the 80's long after even PC was dead. The powerplant's rails have been rusty for some time, but I think it was last year that the tracks into it were reballasted for whatever reason, it's also home to a flat car with assorted MOW equipment on it. If the plant would allow it, it'd be a great place to store more equipment, two stub sidings (one of which is rather lengthy) all in locked and barb-wire fence. The pic below is from standing at the gate... The rails right up the main are still in place, and I'm doubtfull they'd leave that equipment marooned there.

http://www.northshorerecording.com/rail ... C03488.jpg

-Ryan

[denvillerailfan]

Thanks for the updates! I haven't been able to get over there lately...

The sub-station has been storage for a while... This was last fall - http://community.webshots.com/photo/996 ... 3016jGwEbT and had been there for a while before.

So are they also replacing the River Rd. Bridge, or just the track? I though it might be M&E's doings when I saw the closure warnings. Wow! I need to get down there soon.

[Tri-State Tom]

Link not working Jeff.

I'm getting a " Error - you don't appear to own the album " message.

[denvillerailfan]

Thanks Tom, I updated the link...

[Tri-State Tom]

Ryan -

You've raised my curiosity on the rail going in....

Since I'm far from being an expert on this I checked the website for Nortrak North America Inc., one of the leading manufacturers of rail.

In the 'heavy' rail category they offer/make 131, 132 ( NJT uses these 2 types ), 133, 136 ( see alot of this on CSX/NS ), 140 ( in use via Amtrak on the NEC )....then they jump to the big stuff in 152lb. and finally 155lb. ( kinda famous Pennsy use - can still be found on the NEC outer/station tracks ).

Nothing for a 145lb. type rail.

When ya check it again see if you see a stamp/coding for 'AREMA' ( RE ) or 'PS'.

This might be some sort of hybrid or special rail manufactured by someone else....maybe why it was available to the M&E.

thanks.