Railroad Forums 

  • Brookhaven Rail Terminal

  • Discussion related to NYAR operations on Long Island. Official web site can be found here: www.anacostia.com/nyar/nyar.html. Also includes discussion related to NYNJ Rail, the carfloat operation successor to New York Cross Harbor that connects with NYAR.
Discussion related to NYAR operations on Long Island. Official web site can be found here: www.anacostia.com/nyar/nyar.html. Also includes discussion related to NYNJ Rail, the carfloat operation successor to New York Cross Harbor that connects with NYAR.
 #1395686  by freightguy
 
Brookhaven has begun to receive bulkhead flats of rebar for construction at the terminal. There is also a new consignee that ships stone that comes off CP Rail from upstate NY. Both of these are newer business added to BRT.
 #1395708  by SemperFidelis
 
Did the Saratoga and North Creek finally get a decent enough rate to ship out those tailings via CP Rail?
 #1395844  by ccutler
 
Thanks for posting about the CP-originated stone cars. I saw a cut of seven 3-bay hoppers, empty in Oak Point Yard, and was wondering what they were for.
 #1406462  by NIMBYkiller
 
Some folks and I over at subchat (I know, I know...) have been discussing the possibilities for freight movements to the island. From what I've read in this thread, it seems that anything intermodal is limited to single stack non-well cars (even though it was my understanding the Willis Av overpass was built with double stacks in mind...or do double stacks require well cars?). Why is that such a non-starter. Without that, what's the potential for freight movements to the island? We were basically debating the cross harbor tunnel vs other options, one of which being assembling a train in Jersey specifically for LI and sending it express via Selkirk (but not being taken apart and reassembled in Selkirk). Does the potential for rail freight on LI make this at all feasible, or is there just not enough? I only ask in this thread because BRT seems like the place where this would all go to be transferred over to trucks.
 #1406498  by ccutler
 
It might make more sense for CSX to build a dedicated trailer + container train [no well cars] in New Baltimore Ohio, where containers could be routed from all over the country, and send that train to LI. With the recent slowdown in rail freight, there is now ample equipment and track availability for such a run. However, there are currently no terminals in Long Island. Until someone has the money and courage to build such a terminal, it just won't happen. In the mean time, enjoy the truck traffic over NYC bridges!
 #1553204  by freightguy
 
From Long Island Newsday:

It’s been known for years that the closure of the massive Brookhaven landfill will create a solid waste crisis on Long Island. Where is all that garbage going to go? But as the clock has ticked toward the anticipated shuttering in 2024, there’s been more talk than action — and, some critics would say, even not enough talk.


2. That’s changing now in a major way, and a fascinating process is about to unfold.

Winters Bros., one of the region’s major solid-waste management companies, is proposing to build a rail terminal and industrial park on 228 acres in Yaphank, just north of the landfill, to take garbage off the Island by rail. The company, which says it plans to spend more than $100 million on the project, would build a spur line north to connect to the Long Island Rail Road’s Main Line.
3. Winters Bros. and its Class 3 railroad affiliate, Brookhaven Rail LLC, have gone before the federal Surface Transportation Board, which regulates railroads, seeking an exemption from local zoning, a standard request. The Town of Brookhaven initially supported that request, then changed its mind and told the STB that Winters Bros. should go before the town to seek approval for the facility, which would not be allowed by current town code.

Environmentalists, meanwhile, are weighing the relative pros and cons of the project – for example, the loss of trees on part of the 228 acres vs. saving tens of thousands of truck trips on Long Island roads. A competing proposal to haul off the garbage by rail, also by connecting to the Main Line, this one from Gershow Recycling in Medford, also is moving forward. And Brookhaven Town is exploring opening a new facility just east of the current landfill to keep handling some or all of the 350,000 tons of ash it accepts annually from waste-to-energy plants in the region.

Environmental reviews await. Litigation certainly is possible. Which solution will prevail? Or is a mix of ideas the best approach?

The only certainty is that the clock keeps ticking.
 #1553282  by ConstanceR46
 
Interesting. I wonder if this refers to the area being cleared directly adjacent to the terminal or somewhere closer to the Landfill and Horseblock Rd.

Whatever the case, i'm glad to see more freight rail near NYC.
 #1553338  by freightguy
 
Constance,

The land just East of the current facility they have other costumers planned to go in there. The other side due south would require a second switch and that land has yet to be developed however there is much more property on that side purchased from Suffolk County years back. The 230 acres mentioned in the article.
 #1554335  by Backshophoss
 
Well cars and 3rd rail don't get long together, cans and trailers on spine cars the better bet for intermodal on the Island
Last edited by Backshophoss on Fri Oct 09, 2020 12:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
 #1554362  by gregorygrice
 
freightguy wrote: Fri Sep 25, 2020 5:18 pm Constance,

The land just East of the current facility they have other costumers planned to go in there. The other side due south would require a second switch and that land has yet to be developed however there is much more property on that side purchased from Suffolk County years back. The 230 acres mentioned in the article.
Part of the initial expansion plan includes building a small rail tunnel under the main to connect both sides. This will allow BRT's locomotive to accses both sides without traversing LIRR's main line.
 #1555447  by freightguy
 
Supposedly the LIRR has already approved a second switch to go in to the south side of Brookhaven Rail. However I will save my excitement to for the 1st revenue to car to go into/come out of there.

The first mainline switch ever installed by NYA never saw a single revenue carload. That was 84 Lumber around 2001/02 in the Calverton/LD vicinity. Politics and opposing interested intervened and not a single car was received. In a bout of irony 84 lumber receives their cars at the Brookhaven Rail Terminal.