CR on the Southern Secondary

Bracdude181 wrote: ↑Thu May 27, 2021 2:01 pm CSX 4432 today with 4 cars for Woodhaven. One car is loaded with sheet rock instead of wood.

Northbound at Cheesequake Rd 2:59 PM

Very short train. Why they keep bringing the same power

Clear of BANK interlocking on the Southern Secondary 4:28 PM

@NJTMonmouthCoastLine They took the 4452 out of Browns (Thank god) and replaced it with 4451. Maybe we’ll have that next week. 5628 is in there too which is great.

I remember hearing the price of lumber went WAY up recently so the last few trains were probably whatever they ordered so while the price was still low.

Southbound at Lakewood Farmingdale Road 8:07 PM

Bracdude181 wrote: ↑Thu May 27, 2021 7:07 pm Southbound at Lakewood Farmingdale Road 8:07 PM

They early!

NJTMonmouthCoastline wrote: ↑Thu May 27, 2021 2:44 pm

Bracdude181 wrote: ↑Thu May 27, 2021 2:01 pm CSX 4432 today with 4 cars for Woodhaven. One car is loaded with sheet rock instead of wood.

Northbound at Cheesequake Rd 2:59 PM

Very short train. Why they keep bringing the same power

Part of the reason we are seeing the same engines is two-fold. First, is what is assigned to the yard. Second, (from what I've read/been advised of) it is CSX engines that have the PTC system that NJT uses. The CA20 out of Pavonia Yard, that uses part of the Atlantic City line, has been using the same CSX engines for the same reason, the PTC system.

@OCtrainguy Your right about the PTC thing but I don’t understand why it’s always gotta be the same engines in all of North Jersey. 10 years ago we would at least get a new engine every now and then but now they just keep all the same engines around and rotate them between yards. It’s honestly kinda annoying.

The engine decision is a business decision. The newest power goes to the most important part of the Class 1's business, the long haul/long trains. All of CSAO is a terminal business. Not as time or $ sensitive. So the less reliable power goes there, where if it has a problem it is not going to cause as big a $ loss.

@R&DB True, Conrail doesn’t exactly need the most state of the art power to do what they do, but at the same time South Jersey has way better power in terms of reliability, and they have less of the big money maker trains that North Jersey sees. It seems they like to leave the junk in North Jersey, which is something I don’t understand. Especially up near Newark where many of the trains there are around 100 cars, and they move them with some of the nastiest engines NS and CSX have to offer.

Plus, NS and CSX do see some of the money these trains generate, so wouldn’t it make sense to at least have adequate power to get these trains to the customer and provide good service so the customer sticks around and keeps paying for shipments?

Unfortunately that ideology seems like something North Jersey lost when Conrail was split, and that’s a real shame. Imagine how much better this whole area would be if we had some of the people from South Jersey running things. We could’ve had the sand trains going by now, or maybe the TRIT would still be in use.

I wonder how long the high cost of lumber will be going for, and if this will continue to give the SOUS tiny trains.

@JohnFromJersey Can’t say I know exactly how long it will be like this, but there is a pattern.

Generally when we get a very small train it will stay like that for a few weeks or maybe a month. Then the amount of cars will gradually increase after that, before dropping again a few months later.

I’ve heard the price may stay this way for a while, perhaps a few months.

We will have to wait and see...

Never being able to witness it, how is SA31 drilled? Drop the inbound loads and have the engines run around on the passing siding, then pull the empties out, and shove them into the passing siding? Then drill the loads into Woodhaven and then go back for the empties? I was curious as to how those cars were pushed off the end of track a couple weeks ago. Is the train shoved back that far? Looking at Google maps I can see the track layout, just wondering in what order things were done. I'll get there eventually to see it for myself, just wondering what to expect. Thanks.

@GSC Usually they take out the empty cars first and then drop off the loaded cars.

Speaking of Woodhaven the train is still sitting there...

GSC wrote: ↑Fri May 28, 2021 3:18 pm Never being able to witness it, how is SA31 drilled? Drop the inbound loads and have the engines run around on the passing siding, then pull the empties out, and shove them into the passing siding? Then drill the loads into Woodhaven and then go back for the empties? I was curious as to how those cars were pushed off the end of track a couple weeks ago. Is the train shoved back that far? Looking at Google maps I can see the track layout, just wondering in what order things were done. I'll get there eventually to see it for myself, just wondering what to expect. Thanks.

This might help you understand

What with the Gateway Environmental Impact Statement being released this morning, and some negotiating going on in congress over an infrastructure bill, maybe I will live to see sand trains on the Southern (or Southern-Freehold) after all.