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  • BR&W Lambertville-Ringoes

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Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New Jersey

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 #605086  by Chessie GM50
 
Here is a question that I only expect one member on here to have a non-speculative answer to. What are the chances of re-activating the BR&W between New Hope, and Lambertville?
 #605165  by BuddSilverliner269
 
Chessie GM50 wrote:Here is a question that I only expect one member on here to have a non-speculative answer to. What are the chances of re-activating the BR&W between New Hope, and Lambertville?
Slim to none since no railroad has ever run between New Hope & Lambertville, unless of course you mean Lambertville to Ringoes and of course you would still get the same answer from me and many others. The roadbed needs alot of work especially where it parallels the canal and I believe a bridge needs work done as well. When I worked for the NH&I in 99-01, I remember on weekends #40 would exchange whistle salutes with #60 late on Saturday nights when it would make a run on a dinner train I think. Ahhh the good ole times I miss on the BR&W.I just think the whole rr has fallen on hard times with track and equipment etc, although thats not a knock on the people who run the place. Hopefully kenb2k will respond as I believe he is the owner of the BR&W.
 #605186  by wolfboy8171981
 
Well, there was once a trolly that went over the bridge from Lambertville to New Hope......

The correct answer, and the only answer anyone can give you is eventually. With the exception of Shad Fest and the Saturday Nite Train, there wasnt many people riding the train. In 1998 there was some speculation of getting a very large contract from Trap Rock just north of Lambertville, 75-80% of the Line was re-tied and Tamped except for the many bridges. When the contract didnt happen the track work was stop and the line was designated O.O.S. At the Time there was no reason to continue with the track work as we would not recoup that money in Ticket revenue. Lambertville service as most of us know it only started in the mid 70's after the Bel-Del was aquired by the BR&W from CR. When the Interchanged move from Lambertville to Three Bridges only then did Passenger service start to Lambertville. When Neice Lumber stoped getting rail service in the early 90's it was just a matter of time before the other shoe droped.

To my knowledge only two rail movements have actually gone to Lambertville in the last ten years to get some equipment that was parked on the Quarry Branch, and there have been some motor car trips down there as well. But I havent answered your question yet I know. One of the long range goal of the Black River Railroad Historical Trust is to restore service to Lamberville. I had been told from a third party that a quote of 8 Million dollars is what it would take to get the railroad to Class II standards.

We need your help. We need people how are willing to Vounteer and help our casue. Go to http://www.brrht.org and join our casue. 2009 is looking like its going to be a very big year and we will need your help.
 #605204  by R36 Combine Coach
 
The Ringoes-Lamberville trips ended in 1997 while the Flemington-Lamberville "Saturday Night Special" was canceled in 1998.
 #605240  by pierrerabbit
 
For proof that we actually did track work on the South end of the BRW, I posted a photo in CNJ forum of CNJ#1523 powering a work train during spring of '98.
 #606098  by PVRX1
 
Hopefully kenb2k will respond as I believe he is the owner of the BR&W.

Nope, guess again. Kenwb2k should be Ken, one of the passenger train crew.
 #606207  by Donko142
 
I think I can shed a little light here, I high railed the line all the way from Ringos to Lambertville in 2005 with the then General Manager Rod Whitehead, we made it up and back no problem, never hit the ground. As was pointed out there was a good amout of track work that had been done already. I spoke to the owner of the railroad about it a few weeks later at a lunch meeting. I told him it didn't look that bad, he said it's not. The problem is the bridge timbers, while lots of ties were replaced very little if any bridge timbers were. So the bridges are the biggest $$$ problem. (this was a few years ago) I know the BR trust guys have been doing some work down there (as they are all over the R.R.) I hope they get it back in service some day it's a beautiful line. I also remember giving the whistle blast on 40 while crossing Bridge St. and getting a return hello from NJ back in the day.

Last thing NOT saying Wolfboy is wrong (he is a very knowlledgeable person) and I am NOT a track contractor or expert. But I do have an above average opinion on the stuff. 8 Mill sounds very high. Again lots of the wood is good down there, if you did every 3rd tie (Solid CLASS II) thats 3200 per mile = 1065 new ties per mile = $106,000.00 per mile Plus bridge timbers, stone, tamping. With the strong volunteer crew and equipment they have on the railroad I truely believe 1 to 1.5 million would see 60 in lambertville on GOOD track once again.

How could you get any return on that money if you spent it? You couldn't !
" L" ville needs a long term freight customer taking a good amount of cars so a state grant could help out.

Hope we all see it happen some day! Watch for 60's return in 2009 there doing a real nice job on her and coming near the finish line from what I hear.
Be safe
 #606314  by Ken W2KB
 
PVRX1 wrote:Hopefully kenb2k will respond as I believe he is the owner of the BR&W.

Nope, guess again. Kenwb2k should be Ken, one of the passenger train crew.
Yeah, the confusion being the RR GM and I have the same initials. :wink:
 #606317  by Ken W2KB
 
Donko142 wrote:I think I can shed a little light here, I high railed the line all the way from Ringos to Lambertville in 2005 with the then General Manager Rod Whitehead, we made it up and back no problem, never hit the ground. As was pointed out there was a good amout of track work that had been done already. I spoke to the owner of the railroad about it a few weeks later at a lunch meeting. I told him it didn't look that bad, he said it's not. The problem is the bridge timbers, while lots of ties were replaced very little if any bridge timbers were. So the bridges are the biggest $$$ problem. (this was a few years ago) I know the BR trust guys have been doing some work down there (as they are all over the R.R.) I hope they get it back in service some day it's a beautiful line. I also remember giving the whistle blast on 40 while crossing Bridge St. and getting a return hello from NJ back in the day.

Last thing NOT saying Wolfboy is wrong (he is a very knowlledgeable person) and I am NOT a track contractor or expert. But I do have an above average opinion on the stuff. 8 Mill sounds very high. Again lots of the wood is good down there, if you did every 3rd tie (Solid CLASS II) thats 3200 per mile = 1065 new ties per mile = $106,000.00 per mile Plus bridge timbers, stone, tamping. With the strong volunteer crew and equipment they have on the railroad I truely believe 1 to 1.5 million would see 60 in lambertville on GOOD track once again.

How could you get any return on that money if you spent it? You couldn't !
" L" ville needs a long term freight customer taking a good amount of cars so a state grant could help out.

Hope we all see it happen some day! Watch for 60's return in 2009 there doing a real nice job on her and coming near the finish line from what I hear.
Be safe


That's my understanding, too; good summary of the status. The substantial needs are primarily bridge timbers and one area next to a stream that needs some rip-rap or shoring to prevent further erosion. 60 should be good to go for the Spring opening of passenger service, maybe even fired for testing well before that if all continues to go well.
Last edited by Ken W2KB on Thu Dec 04, 2008 8:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
 #606445  by wolfboy8171981
 
If i can I want to clarify that the 8 million dollar remark actually came from a third person, ( BRRHT Tresurer Dan Vaccarella via the Trust talking to the former head of the BR&W voulnteer track department). I think the figure Donko Thru out there is closer to a true figure of what it would take to get the line open and in shape for a pax train and the $8 million mark is a figure for 25 MPH class II standards, which are two very different things. But as Ken and Donko also said, and the BRRHT knows Lambertville was a money lossing black hole. There is no easy way to make it all back. The fact of the matter is if one of our members hit the lottery and donated the money to fix the line tomorrow we still couldnt run trains next year.

We need a solid plan in order to make Lambertville work. We have 4 coaches that are in service, to make it work we need, in my opinion 2 or 3 more. We have CNJ 1009 we got from Steamtown in 2005 on the Bel-Del, we need to swap the trucks out with roller bearing trucks in order for the NS to move it to Three Bridges. That should happen over the winter or spring of 2009. We have the option of applying for a grant to restore at least one (1) DL&W bootoon car. We also voted to join the URHS. The URHS has coaches available that its member groups would love to place on trains for weekend use.
Under our current setup we lease an engine from the BR&W. One of our volunteers has purchased a "antuque" engine that will also be available to us to use if we choose. We would need a 2nd engine available to us in order to run two trains again. The BR&W has historically had at least two engines assigned to Ringoes.
We ran two trains this october every Saturday and Sunday. One was the regular excursion train and the other was the Pumpkin Jct train. We were able to fill all spots on both trains, so for once Crews werent an issue, but we can always use more.

For everyone- Just keep in mind that the BR&W/BRRHT hasnt forgotten about Lambertville service. The time is nearing, but the time isnt right just yet. But the question I'm not afraid to ask is, will you ride or will you just take pictures.
 #606459  by blockline4180
 
wolfboy8171981 wrote: But the question I'm not afraid to ask is, will you ride or will you just take pictures.

I would ride in a heartbeat if and when the time comes... I rode the Saturday night special about 5 times between 1994 and 1997...

Even if I have to wait until 2013, you don't have to worry about me not riding! :wink:
 #606489  by pierrerabbit
 
Proof of track work on the "South end". Found some photos from 97-98, the ol' BRW track dept, somewhere between Ringoes and L'ville. The red machine is the tie inserter, usually carried to the job in the back of the hi rail truck:
Image
The yellow machine is the tie crane, the machine I used to run:
Image
And lastly, a shot from the seat of the hi rail boom truck, following the work train North towards Ringoes. The engine for the day was BDRV 1848, she is shoving a flat car, the baggage/tool car, and a caboose
Image
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