upturn in freight on RV line?

[ccutler]

I saw another "new" customer at Finderne Ave in Bridgewater today. On the north side of the large plastics transfer facility, a very old siding next to a warehouse had 3 boxcars in it. I've never seen that siding used before and it looks like a new transload customer. Inside the warehouse it looked like stacks of 40lb bags. I couldn't get a closer look without trespassing.

On the south side of the same area, a new siding was put in about 2 years ago and is regularly used for boxcars.

So it seems there is growing business in the RV line near Manville. I don't think there's much beyond "Fisher Scientific" in Branchburg to the West, or much to the East, but if anyone knows, please post it here.

On Youtube, there are some videos of the MA-20 local serving this area through Bound Brook late at night.

[Jtgshu]

I noticed those boxcars last week as well - i was thinking, i don't think I ever saw them before......or did i? hahah I guess I never did see them before, thanks for verifying

[many19]

Well Gentlemen, as I was taking my train back home this afternoon I got a glance at those famous Cars. There are 3 NS waffle cars. Right behind them there are a few hoppers also.
If this warehouse is going to start receiving cars it will bring some nice new and interesting moves on this little but exiting yard.

Thank you
Juan
NYSME member

[Ken W2KB]

I saw another "new" customer at Finderne Ave in Bridgewater today. On the north side of the large plastics transfer facility, a very old siding next to a warehouse had 3 boxcars in it. I've never seen that siding used before and it looks like a new transload customer. Inside the warehouse it looked like stacks of 40lb bags. I couldn't get a closer look without trespassing.

On the south side of the same area, a new siding was put in about 2 years ago and is regularly used for boxcars.

So it seems there is growing business in the RV line near Manville. I don't think there's much beyond "Fisher Scientific" in Branchburg to the West, or much to the East, but if anyone knows, please post it here.

On Youtube, there are some videos of the MA-20 local serving this area through Bound Brook late at night.

The south siding is not new I believe. It was a rehab of an existing siding to allow for resumption of service. Good news indeed!

[ccutler]

A little update with a photo. Now the new warehouse siding on the south side and the old warehouse siding on the north side are both receiving box cars. It is hard to tell on the photo---just an android picture from the Finderne Ave bridge--but there are 2 boxcars on each side, along with the battalion of covered hoppers that warehouse plastic feedstock.

I wish the rest of the RV line were so busy with freight.

[pumpers]

A little update with a photo. Now the new warehouse siding on the south side and the old warehouse siding on the north side are both receiving box cars. It is hard to tell on the photo---just an android picture from the Finderne Ave bridge--but there are 2 boxcars on each side, along with the battalion of covered hoppers that warehouse plastic feedstock.

I wish the rest of the RV line were so busy with freight.

By the south (left?) side, do you mean the warehouse by the water tower? I can't make out the cars for sure there on your photo. I looked on maps.bing.com . In "Birds-eye view" the siding for that warehouse looks recently ripped up. Did they put it back? http://binged.it/10KcCvX If I switch to "aerial" view (a standard aerial photo) I see a siding with cars, but don't know which view is the most recent . Could it be that what I think is a "ripped up siding" in one view is simply the grading for the new siding? If you zoom in I think I can actually see a backhoe next to the warehouse. JS

[ccutler]

South side is the left on the photo, and yes, looking toward that water tower. The aerial view you see is the preparation for installing the siding. I don't think there was a siding there before, but I'm not 100% sure.

[pumpers]

South side is the left on the photo, and yes, looking toward that water tower. The aerial view you see is the preparation for installing the siding. I don't think there was a siding there before, but I'm not 100% sure.

I looked on http://historicaerials.com. 2007 looks like the Bing birds' eye view with the siding being graded (you can almost see the shadow of what seemed to be a backhoe in Bing...)
In 2002-2006 the area just looks like a parking lot/storage area, with no hint of a prior siding.

But if you go back to 1953 to 1987, there was clearly a siding there back then already (with a spur off of that).

Also, what are all those covered hoppers for? Storing inbound loads for a customer? Who? They show up on historicaerials.com too, as far back as 1970 already...

JS

[Jtgshu]

In the timetable its listed at Damiano Trucking (I think I spelled it wrong) but they are a transload facility. There is almost always a tractor trailer there unloading some product out of the Covered Hoppers. The Covered Hoppers parked in Bound Brook are also for there, stored as overflow out there. They get drilled just about nightly.

[JoeRailRoad]

In the timetable its listed at Damiano Trucking (I think I spelled it wrong) but they are a transload facility. There is almost always a tractor trailer there unloading some product out of the Covered Hoppers. The Covered Hoppers parked in Bound Brook are also for there, stored as overflow out there. They get drilled just about nightly.

It's Dameo jtgshu.
http://www.dameo.com/index.htm

They also own that warehouse on the North side.

Joe

[ccutler]

I was happy to see the consignee between Plainfield and Dunellen has three new covered pellet hoppers spotted on its siding.

there's also extensive tie replacement work now on the RV line eastbound track from Somerville to Plainfield.

[ccutler]

Took the RV line train out to Somerville and saw some pretty big changes.

East of Cranford, the switch serving the industry near the LV line overpass was removed. that industry hasn't seen a freight car since the beginning of the Great Recession.

At Cranford Junction the tracks were clogged with NJ Transit MOW equipment. I was so busy looking at the equipment that I almost missed that they were installing a crossover from the freight track to one of the main RV line tracks, thus reconnecting the freight track at that point to the main track.

The freight track on the south side of the line, running from Cranford Junction to Garwood [Garwood running track?] has been heavily upgraded with ties and ballast. It could conceivably carry a heavy oil train [speculated elsewhere on railroad.net] though I have read somewhere else that it was upgraded to store equipment in the event of a Sandy #2.

Further west of Plainfield, the customer between Plainfield and Dunellen had four pellet cars in its siding.

Nothing new since last update Bound Brook to Somerville.

[Jtgshu]

The plastics place that had the switch removed, only had one switch removed - it was a siding, but also a run around - there is still a switch to that siding on the west end, under the GSP bridge

[ccutler]

Yes, the easternmost customer is still technically connected via its remaining switch on the west side of the siding, but a jungle has grown on that part of the tracks. It would be nice to see that customer come back on-line. The track running into Elizabeth is still also overgrown east of the LV overpass.

The west-facing switch on the runaround track in Garwood has also been disconnected. The track is still connected from the west side switch.

[ccutler]

saw five boxcars spotted at the two warehouses near Finderne Road in Bridgewater today.

However [while not technically RV Line] the Bridgewater waste transfer facility has no railcars on site and may have switched to trucks. Does anyone know what is going on there with rail?