Delaware and Raritan River Railroad-General Discussion

CR7876 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 21, 2023 8:14 am https://static1.squarespace.com/static/ ... cement.pdf

Next phase of reconstruction has been put out to bid. Notice they have marked out sections on the first page. This RFP is for section #4. They are currently working in sections 2 and 3. No chance this is done before/ in June of this year.

So, who they are using right now for Okerson Rd - Fairfield Rd is not going to be the contractor for the rest of the entire project?

So, who they are using right now for Okerson Rd - Fairfield Rd is not going to be the contractor for the rest of the entire project?

MAYBE
This RFP is for "9,764 T.F. of track replacement between
Fairfield and Yellowbrook Roads in Howell Township, NJ on the Delaware & Raritan
River Railroad Freehold Branch"
aka Section 4.
The current contractor(s) MAY or MAY NOT win the bid.
Proposals are due April 20th and will include a "work schedule for completing the project"
There will likely be RFPs for Sections 5, 6, 7N and 7S, whether or not those will be separate or bundled RFPs remains to be seen.
Also note: "2. The project does not include any work (except stagger overhang) within 100’ of the edge
of Fairfield or Yellowbrook roadways. Grade crossings to be constructed by others. ". Unclear if those contracts are in place or will also have to be competed,
Completion by June, as some are speculating, seems highly unlikely to me.

The current company, from their trucks, is Railroad Construction. They could be the only / winning bidder, and start in early May, or sooner if no one else bids or underbids them. They have a small advantage in their bid as their equipment is on-site currently.
If the pending contract is the same as the current one, they will still need to ballast before they are done.
Also, there was no mention of section one (by Prestone). The current contractor may already have that one. Several times I have seen one of their track vehicles up near the Prestone switch and some serious work is needed between the switch and Okerson Rd.

CR7876 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 21, 2023 8:14 am https://static1.squarespace.com/static/ ... cement.pdf

Next phase of reconstruction has been put out to bid. Notice they have marked out sections on the first page. This RFP is for section #4. They are currently working in sections 2 and 3. No chance this is done before/ in June of this year.

True. Per the document: "All construction and work associated with this project shall be completed before July 31,
2023."

I wonder if they will continue to do one section at a time, or if they will try to get multiple contractors working on multiple sections at once?

Did RB-1 even make a run today?

Yesterday's Train headed south in Farmingdale around 9am .

The track work is apparently around the little bend between Fairfield and Howell roads. It is now visible from Howell Rd but way distant. Rail going down pretty rapidly.

There was a NJT truck at the Okerson crossing. Do not know what he was scoping out, rails or road crossing.

NJT owns Okerson all the way down to F’dale. Hmm…

Thx for the pic. Nice to see something that isnt a nose shot.

1st RFP for 2023 posted on Mar 20th. Its for track reconstruction between Fairfield and Yellowbrook roads.
Please also note that Section 7S is 1575 Track feet for the southern leg of the wye at Farmingdale. That should put to rest all the "are they building a wye" talk.

Also RFP 2205 was for all the highway grade crossing work. I would conclude that this contract has already been let.

RFP No. 2205
~ Page 2 ~
SCOPE OF PROJECT
This project includes eight (8) to twelve (12) grade crossing rubber rail seal/asphalt
surface replacements, as more fully detailed in Schedule H, attached hereto and made
a part hereof, on the Black River & Western Railroad, Belvidere & Delaware River
Railway, Delaware & Raritan River Railroad or Dover & Delaware River Railroad. The
preponderance of these crossings will be on the Delaware & Raritan River Railroad in
Monmouth County.

This should answer the grade crossing questions.

Why they are having so many individual contracts for at least 8 sections of track, IDK, it may be required by the state, or have some sort of tax consequence..IDK..... Chances are that all the track rehabilitation (except grade crossings) will be done by the same company. It isnt like there are that many companies out there doing track work. Also, better to work with a company u know, rather than try saving a buck with someone new/unproven.

pdtrains wrote: ↑Wed Mar 22, 2023 12:01 pm Why they are having so many individual contracts for at least 8 sections of track, IDK, it may be required by the state, or have some sort of tax consequence..IDK.....

My guess is that if the contract is under some dollar amount, then it qualifies as a "small business" contract or something like that, which allows them (or the State of NJ) to sidestep a lot of paperwork and/or regulations.

So by the sounds of it with the RFP, all those assumptions that this would all be done by april-july as pointed out many times turned out to be extremely ambitious and unrealistic.

I can't see this being done before the end of the Summer

End of the summer sounds realistic. There are at least 3 more sections of track for which RFP's arent out yet. So when they come out, we'll see what the requested finish date is.

So some ppl were overly optimistic. Thats OK,

pdtrains wrote: ↑Wed Mar 22, 2023 5:04 pm End of the summer sounds realistic. There are at least 3 more sections of track for which RFP's arent out yet. So when they come out, we'll see what the requested finish date is.

So some ppl were overly optimistic. Thats OK,

Maybe late fall since all bid proposals have to go to the state bureaucracy for review before awarding contracts.

" The Railroad will review the proposals, prioritize its choices, and send the proposals to the New Jersey Department of Transportation for approval. Contractors will only be notified of the results, after NJDOT review. "

Does anyone have a list of all the crossings that RB-1 goes through during their trip to Lakewood and back? And possibly the times for it? (e.g. Main St in Farmingdale being 1:10 into the trip)