Delaware and Raritan River Railroad-General Discussion

My point on the finances was, D&D got a grant for 4.3 mil with an estimated 400k+ to be provided by D&D. If costs have gone up to the point where they would be on the hook for double that 400k or more, which they almost certainly have, D&D may have decided to walk away from the whole thing. They are, after all, in business to make money. My other point was if indeed NJT is denying D&D access to NJCL and the Red Bank yard (not conrail denying the Amboy secondary), they might be able to proceed as I suggested. Let CRSA deliver extech, woodhaven and lairds until FIT is reconnected.

If CR continues to run the FIT and SOUS while C&D reconnects the FIT and SOUS, it would probably make the whole project cheaper - they just have to focus on connecting the two lines instead of also running the two lines separately.

If CR won't give access to C&D on the Amboy Secondary, and NJT won't allow them access on the NJCL and/or allow an interchange in Red Bank Yard, there's really no point in them operating anything until this project gets done.

Judging from all the surveying and company trucks seen around the OOS line, something's going to happen, but at this rate, who will be doing it and when?

As was reported by some people, the CR employees who worked on the derailment back in late March told people the line is getting "sold within 30-60 days;" well, it's almost 30 days if not more.

@JohnFromJersey Honestly, the way Conrail and C&D are going about this whole thing seems confusing.

@CharlieL Yes indeed the cost has gone up, but remember they say they have to fix up the Southern as well. Something that REALLY should be the priority considering that derailments are becoming more common and getting worse. Words been getting out about how bad the Southern is after the Farmingdale Accident just over a month ago. Had some people in Ridgefield Park ask me about it while I was up there the other day!

Bracdude181 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 27, 2022 4:21 pm @JohnFromJersey Honestly, the way Conrail and C&D are going about this whole thing seems confusing.

@CharlieL Yes indeed the cost has gone up, but remember they say they have to fix up the Southern as well. Something that REALLY should be the priority considering that derailments are becoming more common and getting worse. Words been getting out about how bad the Southern is after the Farmingdale Accident just over a month ago. Had some people in Ridgefield Park ask me about it while I was up there the other day!

It's NJ after all, anyone who knows the history of NJ's bureaucratic BS expected this. if you want to hear about a really screwed up rail project in NJ, look into the Rahway Valley Railroad. Don't think that's the case here but obviously, you have to expect some nonsense going on whenever the state gets involved in something like this.

As for the Southern, a good chunk of the line will probably go OOS once the FIT-SOUS connection is in place; I'd imagine north of the Earle connection will not see a train again. If it does, it will probably be for storage or drilling potential customers on it, not be used for thoroughfare. Not to mention, there is a bridge somewhere over it in Tinton Falls that cannot handle any bigger cars that C&D might want to run.

Let's not forget a major derailment happened on that stretch last year. Making north of Earle go OOS once the FIT-SOUS connection is finished will save a lot of work and money for C&D, as they essentially halved the part of the Southern that is active.

@John from Jersey

Not to mention, there is a bridge somewhere over it in Tinton Falls that cannot handle any bigger cars that C&D might want to run.

That would be the Tinton Avenue bridge in Eatontown which once the FIT connection is done will have no effect on the operation of SOUS.

R&DB wrote: ↑Wed Apr 27, 2022 7:18 pm @John from Jersey

Not to mention, there is a bridge somewhere over it in Tinton Falls that cannot handle any bigger cars that C&D might want to run.

That would be the Tinton Avenue bridge in Eatontown which once the FIT connection is done will have no effect on the operation of SOUS.

Yes, that was what I was saying to Bracdude regarding this he posted:

Bracdude181 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 27, 2022 4:21 pm @CharlieL Yes indeed the cost has gone up, but remember they say they have to fix up the Southern as well. Something that REALLY should be the priority considering that derailments are becoming more common and getting worse. Words been getting out about how bad the Southern is after the Farmingdale Accident just over a month ago. Had some people in Ridgefield Park ask me about it while I was up there the other day!

Once the FIT connection is done, they're probably going to halve the operated/active part of the SOUS, meaning they will have far less track on the Southern to maintain/fix. I was just telling Bracdude that, in my opinion, the SOUS repairs won't be as extensive nor expensive as he thinks they will be due to that.

Not to mention the $1000 charge for Plate F and 286k cars C&D has so who’s to say they even will pick up any Plate F down here at all.

That and the catenaries between South Amboy and Perth Amboy are too low for Plate F regardless. And because of how the infrastructure is over there, that isn’t gonna change anytime soon.

The tarrif is NOT written for Plate F cars in general service. The tarrif is written for excess dimension LOADS, like transformers on flat cars.
The catenaries in Perth Amboy are the lowest at the bridges near the station.

Two things:

If memory serves, the new bridge crossing Raritan Bay is supposed to have raised catenaries capable of supporting "plate F" traffic.

There is more work where FIT crosses rte 524 in Farmingdale this morning. They are either raising the telephone cables where they cross the ROW, or are pulling additional cable. I noted loose cable on the ground, but no cable reel.

No STB filing as yet, though.

What dose the acronym SOUS stand for? Asking for a friend!

SOUS is the call sign for the Southern Secondary.

@CharlieL The problem isn’t the bridge, it’s the catenaries before the bridge. They aren’t high enough because of all the bridges over the tracks in Perth Amboy. Standard Plate C cars have about a foot or less of clearance from the roof of the car to the bottom of the wire. IMO the weight limit is the bigger problem though.

Forest3670 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 28, 2022 9:52 am What dose the acronym SOUS stand for? Asking for a friend!

Southern Secondary, Conrail's name for the former CNJ Southern Division from Red Bank South through the Pines to Bridgeton.

There are, according to the FRIO report, 8 height restrictions north of the river, with an estimated cost to fix (all 8) of 10-65 mil. Being this is NJ, gonna guess closer to 100 mil. But that's up to the state. At any rate don't think it's something D&D is counting on.

Well, apparently they were just pulling new cable; strange how every time I go by there some work is being done at that exact location.

As in underground cable or the telephone wire they put on power poles?