Delaware and Raritan River Railroad-General Discussion

Ties and track being placed at Yellowbrook Rd. Looks like they have their 700 - 800 feet of wood ties down, and some rail.

Managed to stop by and get some pictures.

Starting with the team track.


I don’t think this is the same rail that was here prior though. It’s bigger and has old ripped steel wire attached to it. Ties don’t look new either. Still better than it was though.

Now for Farmingdale to Freehold, starting at Yellowbrook Road. Notice the removed asphalt…

And ending at Adelphia Road

Great pictures. I was worried when I heard that Fairfield Rd-Yellowbrook Rd was being put out for contract... Then they just skipped that portion and began this section. Definitely making some good pace and definitely putting down some quality looking rail and tie.

Not shocked that the team track isn't getting fresh ties and fresh rail. It's a siding. As long as the ties and rail aren't rotting away and buried in the ground like it was previously, it'll do. I do wonder if they will put some sort of buffer at the end of the track, like seen at the old siding for Gold's. I wouldn't be shocked if they snatch that and put it on the end of the Freehold Team Track. Which is definitely pretty long... I assume C&D is anticipating that it will be used quite a lot

I'm shocked they have not put up concrete barricades alongside the Stavola entrance, and opted for cones for now. I hope they put up some sort of barricade/barrier between the tracks and the entrance, the trucks that come in and out of Stavola will definitely cause some serious damage to the tracks if a mishap occurs.

I am wondering if Stavola and the company across from it will receive rail service at some point after this project...

#1620681 by JohnFromJersey
Sat Apr 22, 2023 2:30 am

I am wondering if Stavola and the company across from it will receive rail service at some point after this project...

L&L Paving. I heard they looked into it about 3 years ago before C&D. I have no definative knowledge, just heresay.

I too have been hearing they may be interested in service. We will see…

JohnFromJersey wrote: ↑Sat Apr 22, 2023 1:30 am Not shocked that the team track isn't getting fresh ties and fresh rail. It's a siding. As long as the ties and rail aren't rotting away and buried in the ground like it was previously, it'll do. I do wonder if they will put some sort of buffer at the end of the track, like seen at the old siding for Gold's. I wouldn't be shocked if they snatch that and put it on the end of the Freehold Team Track. Which is definitely pretty long... I assume C&D is anticipating that it will be used quite a lot

I'm shocked they have not put up concrete barricades alongside the Stavola entrance, and opted for cones for now. I hope they put up some sort of barricade/barrier between the tracks and the entrance, the trucks that come in and out of Stavola will definitely cause some serious damage to the tracks if a mishap occurs.

I am wondering if Stavola and the company across from it will receive rail service at some point after this project...

The bumping block at Gold belongs to the owner of the property, not the railroad. Same goes for the siding track beyond the switch onto their property. The railroad can't just take it.

Onto the Stavola driveway, there's still track work going on. Installing a concrete barrier(s) would be counter productive to the project. When the project's completed, a guardrail would be a more appropriate barrier being that it is fixed mor than a jersey barrier that can be pushed by a truck.

The paving business doesn't use enough material to warrant use of rail service. It's more cost effective to truck it.

R&DB wrote: ↑Sat Apr 22, 2023 6:45 am L&L Paving. I heard they looked into it about 3 years ago before C&D. I have no definative knowledge, just heresay.

Three years ago, the tracks by them were buried, with no change in sight. Things are different now, I wonder if they would still be interested.

IIRC, L&L Paving received a huge amount of pushback from the town when they opted to open their facility at the current location; it was a whole big thing. L&L has not been at that location for more than 5-10 years now. But they were very determined to have the facility in this location; for what reason made them fight the town's pushback instead of opting for somewhere else, I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised if the facility's location being flush to the railroad tracks, for potential service, was appealing to them.

AceMacSD wrote: ↑Sat Apr 22, 2023 9:12 am The bumping block at Gold belongs to the owner of the property, not the railroad. Same goes for the siding track beyond the switch onto their property. The railroad can't just take it.

IIRC, Conrail took the rails from that siding just before the C&D takeover. There are just ties there + the bumper. Conrail must've got permission from the owner to do so, but I imagine Conrail didn't pay much, if anything at all, for the rails. Not sure why the owner of that long-empty property would want to hold onto old and disused railroad equipment.
I'd imagine C&D could call the owner(s) of the former Gold's property if they really wanted to get that bumper.

Theres a reason why Conrail did what they did. The owner wanted anything to do with the railroad removed. From what we got, there's the possibility of affordable housing slated for that lot.

Why is the property listed as an available industrial zone on C&Ds website if the property owner has considered putting housing there?

My family is in real estate, and they used to deal with the owner of Gold's Lumber. He owns a lot of property in NJ, I believe he comes from a pretty wealthy real estate family. Like BIG.

Anyway, the story I was told by them is that the guy who owned Gold's Lumber isn't the greatest landlord. One of the other properties I know he owns is always pretty vacant, except for tenants that will always be there and always pay the rent, no matter how s****y the economy is - specifically dialysis places, dollar stores, and gyms. That's all that are in the other properties he owns, no other regular retail spots, no restaurants, etc.

AceMacSD is right, as I was told he was holding out for affordable housing to come through, especially since this area has a TON of it popping up all over the place, if not already there, like in Wall, Howell, Neptune, etc. Didn't happen however, as the land was sold for just under $1M in 2018. You can see information about the old Gold's Lumber and its (somewhat) recent sale here.

However, as Bracdude mentioned, the property is on C&D's site as an area that can be used for industrial purposes that specifically use rail transit, as seen here and here.

Likely the new owners don't want to go the affordable housing route.

Here's something that might complicate things a little bit. https://nypost.com/2023/04/22/nj-town-p ... chemicals/

Lovely. I guess 2023 is the year of chemical spills/accidents.

Stay safe out there guys. I know at least a couple of you live not too terribly far from this place.

As long as whatever industrial property goes into 32 Southard Ave doesn't involve dangerous chemicals (like a lumber yard or something), they shouldn't have issues going in there.

It's more likely that housing won't go there (for now) after the recent revelations at Marl Rd. I appreciate the well wishes @Bracdude181

Heard a news crew and a lot of other people were at the Marl Rd tar plant a few hours ago. Anyone else see anything going on?

i heard nothing