Conrail salvage of the Lackawanna Cutoff

Since the original Lackawanna Cutoff discussion is locked (nice going, guys!) http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... nna+cutoff, I will ask my question here.

Conrail dismantled many, many lines in their existance. They often did it neatly and cleanly, without leaving anything behind. Why then did they only remove the rails on the Lackawanna Cutoff? Signals and, more noticable, crossties, still remain in place. It is so rare today today to find an abandoned rail corridor with the crossties left embedded in the earth, ballast, even the grade crossings (that last one being a non-issue for the Cutoff).

Any takers?

Pacobell73 wrote:Why then did they only remove the rails on the Lackawanna Cutoff? Signals and, more noticable, crossties, still remain in place.

Conrail was not interested in salvaging those other materials, only the rails. That's why they were left behind.

Simple enough, though very out of step for Conrail. Thanx!

I am sure signal relays were spirited away. They cost big bucks.

The signal system on the cutoff was out of service for a considerable period before the tracks were pulled up. I would suspect that the signal equipment was probably pretty old and not much use to the railroad elsewhere.
I remember when this line was torn up, don't remember the exact month and year but it was in warm weather and I hunted
and found the rail train that was pulling up the rails. The train was one of the rail trains and it was partially loaded but the
operation was shut down for the weekend. There were two engines and I think one was a GP-40-2 and the other one was
something older maybe a GP-9 or something of that sort. The engines were shut down for the weekend. I tried to get a
picture or two but I don't remember whether I was successful. I know I was hunting for a better spot when I came very
close to a nest of Yellow Jackets and I did not want to mess with them, I headed quickly for my car and got out of there
without injury.
Noel Weaver

There were some rumors that the rail was worth more than scrap, and was sent to Luknow to be turned into ribbons of welded rail for reuse.

Just weird to see Conrail not take up the ties. Do an anaylsis of all the lines Conrail salvaged and they almost always did a clean sweep. Stacks of ties, rails, equipment, etc. I remember when they ripped up the Rocky Hill, Mt. Holly, Hightstown-Cranbury segments, Three Bridges-Somerville (CNJ) - cleaned out.

The concern was to get the line removed quickly, and I'm sure the rail got welded and relaid elsewhere, particularly if it was heavy rail. You can find either former LV or Erie rail on the NYC Auburn Branch near Syracuse to this day that was welded and installed the first few miles going west.

Pacobell73 wrote:Do an anaylsis of all the lines Conrail salvaged and they almost always did a clean sweep. Stacks of ties, rails, equipment, etc. I remember when they ripped up the Rocky Hill, Mt. Holly, Hightstown-Cranbury segments, Three Bridges-Somerville (CNJ) - cleaned out.

Was ConRail the contractor for tearing up 3 Bridges - U.S. Rte. 206, owned by Central Jersey Industries, and Kingston - Rocky Hill, owned by PennCentral? Or do you mean the part ConRail did get, U.S. Rte. 206 - Somerville? I don't know if they later sold it to New Jersey. I don't know who owned the part of the Rocky Hill branch between Kingston and Monmouth Jct., or the other lines you cited.

Not sure about the bridges. I just know finding crossties on Conrail-abandoned lines is a rarity.

JimBoylan wrote:

Pacobell73 wrote:Do an anaylsis of all the lines Conrail salvaged and they almost always did a clean sweep. Stacks of ties, rails, equipment, etc. I remember when they ripped up the Rocky Hill, Mt. Holly, Hightstown-Cranbury segments, Three Bridges-Somerville (CNJ) - cleaned out.

Was ConRail the contractor for tearing up 3 Bridges - U.S. Rte. 206, owned by Central Jersey Industries, and Kingston - Rocky Hill, owned by PennCentral? Or do you mean the part ConRail did get, U.S. Rte. 206 - Somerville? I don't know if they later sold it to New Jersey. I don't know who owned the part of the Rocky Hill branch between Kingston and Monmouth Jct., or the other lines you cited.

What is referred to above is not the former Erie Lackawanna cutoff
between Port Morris Junction and Slateford Junction.
Conrail did not tear up tracks of railroads that were never a part of Conrail in the first place, they were torn up by an
outfit contracted by the former railroad corporation or owner whether it be Penn Central, CNJ or whatever.
Noel Weaver

Old post I know but you should find this interesting

Track removal West of greendell

Track removal west of greendell

Greendell station