US Navy Earle Railroad

[RailsEast]

When a ship is in port, morning trains arrive at Portside in the pre-dawn hours (typically 0500-0600). Departure is usually in the late afternoon (anywhere from 1500-1800); I heard the westbound blowing for the Kings Highway East crossing today at about 1600 hours (4:00pm). Rails (Track 1, I believe) have been cleared for the past few days, don't know if it was a regular train or a snow clearing move. Security rolls with each movement, to each grade crossing, so be forewarned as to photographing anything on the line.....

Chris

[bigblue5277]

When a ship is in port, morning trains arrive at Portside in the pre-dawn hours (typically 0500-0600). Departure is usually in the late afternoon (anywhere from 1500-1800); I heard the westbound blowing for the Kings Highway East crossing today at about 1600 hours (4:00pm). Rails (Track 1, I believe) have been cleared for the past few days, don't know if it was a regular train or a snow clearing move. Security rolls with each movement, to each grade crossing, so be forewarned as to photographing anything on the line.....

Chris

So what does this mean, Is it unlawful to take photographs of a military base from a public grade crossing? I suppose an MP could confiscate one's camera if he believes classified information is being captured.
One can always call the Naval base and ask if photographing the train from a public location is permissible.

[RailsEast]

Jason, I asked a question a few years ago about this.....

http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... &start=195" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you are out of sight of a Master-at-Arms, I guess you could shoot what you wanted, but I would be careful if/where you posted it. From personal experience, I know that going through the security checkpoint in Colts Neck and Leonardo is no picnic, and I would assume, with a great amount of certainty, that a field encounter with Navy personnel would prove most uncomfortable.

[NJT4149]

Thanks guys! If I did see a train, and if I managed to film it from the bus window, I would definitely keep the video to myself. The only way I can tell if a train ran on a particular day is if the rails are shiny... I have seen periods of 3+ weeks when the rails were completely rusted over, but this week was the first time in a while I have seen shiny rails on consecutive days.

[GSC]

It's been a long time since I saw an Earle train, but I was going to Brookdale a few nights ago and had to stop at the Swimming River Road crossing for a train - two locos and three cars (I didn't catch road numbers, sorry). I was impressed by the escort of police and security vehicles.

[bigblue5277]

Jason, I asked a question a few years ago about this.....

http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... &start=195" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you are out of sight of a Master-at-Arms, I guess you could shoot what you wanted, but I would be careful if/where you posted it. From personal experience, I know that going through the security checkpoint in Colts Neck and Leonardo is no picnic, and I would assume, with a great amount of certainty, that a field encounter with Navy personnel would prove most uncomfortable.

Thanks for posting the link. Nothing I like more than reading federal statutes.

[NJT4149]

If it matters, there are new ties scattered all over the track 1 side of Swimming River Road.

[NJRAILNUT]

I saw a blurb on the bottom of the nj morning news today that stated a railroad employee has been killed in a "train accident" at the base. My condolences to anyone effected by this tragedy.

No other details were provided and I cannot seem to find any information online about this.

[RailsEast]

From the Asbury Park Press website:
http://www.app.com/story/news/crime/jer ... /28544429/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[CLamb]

Just came across this job posting for a rail car repair assistant at Earle. https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/408635200

[ChrisU]

Thought this might be interesting, http://www.newjerseybids.com/bid-opport ... -Neck.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[GooStats]

I saw the other day that one of the tracks got ripped up and no longer goes across Swimming River Road. When did that happen?

[OportRailfan]

Theyre re-doing the grade crossing there. The road's been shut down for a while.

[RailsEast]

The new grade crossing was installed the last week of August, and Track 2 (I believe it's track 2) was severed on either side of the crossing. I would guess that this is the first time that the Navy RR has been single-tracked at any point, but there are numerous crossovers along the line should there ever be a need for multiple movements at some point in the future (i.e, war time, god forbid).
After driving over their crossings for the past 35 years, it does look very strange.......

Chris

[ChrisU]

The train's been running since last week. Last week it had a Genset-SW1200 combo, this week it has the two VOs for power, came off the pier around 4pm yesterday.