Agway to close in Bordentown

The Robinsville Industrial Track loosing another customer. The business section of the Trenton Times had a cover story on former NFL wide receiver Kevin Johnson and the fitness/sports center he is building on Rt 130. One pictures focuses on the Agway grain silos...

" The iconic Agway building in the background, above, is scheduled to be removed next year to make room for outdoor [sports] fields."

Looks like another rail customer is leaving!

This story is all over the place if you check over the past few years. Some say the Agway closed last year, some stories claimed it closed 2010!, posters claim they have sited covered hoppers at the site earlier this year.

Unfortunately, further research has NOT cleared things up:

Check the Team 85 Campus facebook page
OK, scroll down to the 18 April Entries - specifically the image with the caption that states "Workers assemble the re-enforce bar mats". Yep, covered hoppers in the background beyond the foundation of the Fitness & Wellness building (there will be a number of buildings on that "campus").

Now, check the Team Campus website- specfically the photoshopped aerial view image on their rotating-image header on their Home Page (judging from the little "dot" image index, it's the first image in the rota) - looks like the plan is (or was) to repurpose the Silos and paint them pale blue, with a big TeamCampus logo on them.

While it entirely possible that the silos could continue to operate in harmony with the fitness center, I am not even certain that they are indeed still operating (although the photo-evidence from April seems to indicate they are).

The Bing Birds Eye view still shows a lot of auxilary buildings to the South of the silos, while the Google Satellite view shows the land cleared.

My friend is a farmer, grows soy and corn. He said he used the facility to
off load some crop early this year, made no mention of closing. The corn I think he
said goes via rail to a Perdue chicken facility. I saw hopper cars in various
positions on the siding all summer, so MAYBE its not quite closed yet.

Drove by on Sat and there were cars on the tracks.

argh, I'm afraid the news article is a just the start, so another one bites the dust.
maybe they're waiting till after the harvest season.

Farmer friend says now he thinks they will be relocating because of lack of
siding track footage- they just can't manage the number of cars they need,
especially during busy season.

Anyone know if there's any other users on the C&A spur north of Bordentown?
Maybe the lumber yard?

A train has not run on the Robbinsville Industrial Track in at least two weeks now (as of 01/19/2014). Agway is the final customer on this line to the best of my knowledge. The lead into Yardville Supply up in Yardville is heavily overgrown. The mention in this thread of Agway not being able to handle the car count would make a ton of sense to me, as several times in September and October of last year, the train (WPBU-20) came up with over two dozen cars for Agway. They would fit whatever they could at Agway, then take the rest to Yardville and tie them down on the siding just south of South Broad Street. It would be a terrible, terrible shame if Agway bit the dust. This would be the final nail in the coffin to this historic line....

There was 1 covered hopper car sitting at the end of track bumper about 2 weeks ago.

Was talking with my friend Gary who drives rigs around the area and just last week took a load to Agway to get offloaded. He said that the guy he was talking to there said they've switched to trucks exclusively and are done doing business with Conrail. I'm going to try to get in contact with some folks at Agway to confirm this, but the Robbinsville Industrial Track may be a on the verge of final abandonment. Would love to see NJT RiverLINE extended up thru the Right of Way if that were to happen. I can dream right?? LOL

Might tight time windows from River Line traffic be making the Bordentown secondary unservicable on a reliable basis?

Four cars sitting at Agway 05/27/2014. I watched them deliver the cars last week, actually. Business has been slow but steady for Agway. I ride the RiverLINE to work every morning and coming back up past Burlington Yard I noticed another cut of cars for Agway freshly placed in the yard. Things are going smoothly (knock on wood!!!) for the Robbinsville Industrial...

cr5290 wrote:Was talking with my friend Gary who drives rigs around the area and just last week took a load to Agway to get offloaded. He said that the guy he was talking to there said they've switched to trucks exclusively and are done doing business with Conrail

cr5290 wrote:Four cars sitting at Agway 05/27/2014. I watched them deliver the cars last week, actually. Business has been slow but steady for Agway. I ride the RiverLINE to work every morning and coming back up past Burlington Yard I noticed another cut of cars for Agway freshly placed in the yard.

So I guess third-hand info from a "Friend of a Friend" is still not the most reliable?

Yardville supply in Hamilton Twp, several more miles up the C+A, seems to still be set up to receive rail cars. There were none in the yard when I drove by last time, but their spur is certainly still usable and the tracks are kept clear, as if ready to receive rail shipments. I don't think the tracks North/East of Broad st. (Rt 524) have seen traffic in quite a long time. The tracks themselves stop just short of I-195, where the crossing has been paved over at Klockner Rd. There was a warehouse just before it that received cars some years ago which would have been the furthest customer on the line. Last time I checked, Ocean Spray in Bordentown, near the River Line junction, had covered hoppers on its spur. Agway isn't the last customer on the Robbinsville, at least not yet..

Unfortunately, Ocean Spray is completing a move of its Bordentown facilties to Allentown PA.
Looks like another customer off the short list for this line.

Just drove by it, there was a covered hopper and I think a boxcar.
Tracks are polished on the branch too