Delaware and Raritan River Railroad-General Discussion

CharlieL wrote: It's not covered as far as I can see by the grants.

Yes it was.

Other than a dotted line on a map, I don't remember seeing anything in the grants or the issued RFPs about the wye. Wht am I missing? Point it out to me please. If I missed that, I missed more.

CharlieL wrote:Other than a dotted line on a map, I don't remember seeing anything in the grants or the issued RFPs about the wye. Wht am I missing? Point it out to me please. If I missed that, I missed more.

Clearly the dotted line is/was new track construction. The mention of two new switches for construction, well one was put in already at Southward Ave, were do you think the other one will be placed? It sounds like the switch construction on the Southern and remaining new track construction hasn't been put out for RFP yet.

CharlieL wrote: ↑Tue Aug 29, 2023 5:30 pm I'm impressed with their work and progress. They started Feb. 16..
They have ties down a little more than half-way, Yellowbrook - Fairfield, with rail a good part of that distance.
The track Okerson - Fairfield looks straight and level side to side like a mason's string line, ditto Yellowbrook - Adelphia.
Quite a bit to be done, so date may slip, but this looks a lot better than most short lines I've seen. I would expect the south leg of the wye will take some time. It's not covered as far as I can see by the grants.
Brush removal Lakewood - Lakehurst is covered by the grants, not so roadbed / tie replacement, and without traffic to drive it I'm sure will take a back seat. They have time before the grant money expires.

Thank you, Charlie! We're doing great but recent weather conditions and a few other matters have pushed progress back. Look for the first train to operate on that stretch last week of September/first week of October. Test train of course. We may've the engine only go to Adelphia and make a few passes over a few crossing in a few weeks. Then go back over it with the machines to check.

Will these tests be done on regular running days? Like Tuesday or Friday?

AceMacSD wrote: ↑Wed Aug 30, 2023 8:31 am

Thank you, Charlie! We're doing great but recent weather conditions and a few other matters have pushed progress back. Look for the first train to operate on that stretch last week of September/first week of October. Test train of course. We may've the engine only go to Adelphia and make a few passes over a few crossing in a few weeks. Then go back over it with the machines to check.

I kind of figured a few test runs would be required to make sure ties are firmly seated, and then a final alignment check and if necessary, some re-ballast.

Running the ballast hopper over the line has probably been acting as a on the fly test for the last couple weeks. Almost ran into last friday.

18 cars for the Southern on Friday as per a friend…

Just as a note of info..to the best of my knowledge.... The "ballast Hopper" is an MOW 4 wheel push car, moved with a tow bar to any self propelled MOW critter. It is not a standard railroad ballast hopper. They are also spreading ballast with a highrail dumptruck

Bracdude181 wrote: ↑Wed Aug 30, 2023 7:41 pm 18 cars for the Southern on Friday as per a friend…

Maybe a double shipment, since Monday is Labor Day? Two days worth delivered at once to Red Bank, for D&R to deliver at their leisure? I'm presuming Woodhaven prefers twice a week with half the incoming cars at a time. Maybe CR said it would only deliver to them once a week, with up to 17 cars at once.

Conrail would bring whatever was in the yard I think. Woodhaven likes the twice a week service since it means their cars get delivered faster now.

pdtrains wrote: ↑Wed Aug 30, 2023 10:43 pm Just as a note of info..to the best of my knowledge.... The "ballast Hopper" is an MOW 4 wheel push car, moved with a tow bar to any self propelled MOW critter. It is not a standard railroad ballast hopper. They are also spreading ballast with a highrail dumptruck

The exact same equipment is b eing used up in Sunnyside, Queens, for East Side access work. As long as they tamp the ballast, it'll be fine.

More ties were dropped off by the Main St crossing recently, about a week ago there was nothing there. Farmingdale has been smelling a lot like creosote the last couple of days.

I assume these ties are gonna be for the wye, meaning we should start seeing serious progress on the southbound leg soon...

pdtrains wrote: ↑Wed Aug 30, 2023 10:43 pm Just as a note of info..to the best of my knowledge.... The "ballast Hopper" is an MOW 4 wheel push car, moved with a tow bar to any self propelled MOW critter. It is not a standard railroad ballast hopper. They are also spreading ballast with a highrail dumptruck

You are correct. It's a piece of mow equipment and not a standard rail car. As Oport said these are in use on the LI RR. Per my people there, work's not finished til a test train makes a few passes. An alignment machine & good tamper will generally do a good job at getting everything straight and level but you'll still want a train on it to make sure you didn't stone over an air pocket an now have a dip. Also the weight distributed by the rail cars/engines'll further compress the stone to an extent that can't be achieved with a tamper or other mow equipment. In this case, the engines'll operate 5mph several times. This'll give the stone weight to settle under and also aid the crews safety if a problem arises.

JohnFromJersey wrote: ↑Thu Aug 31, 2023 11:55 am More ties were dropped off by the Main St crossing recently, about a week ago there was nothing there. Farmingdale has been smelling a lot like creosote the last couple of days.

I assume these ties are gonna be for the wye, meaning we should start seeing serious progress on the southbound leg soon...

Why are you so hellbent on that wye? It'll get done when it gets done. "The prize is Freehold-Farmingdale" how the crew accesses it's not important at this time. If they've gotta make an extra move for the time being, so be it. They're professionals and'll figure it out. The south leg's on the agenda and will get done when it gets done. If Freehold-Farmingdale's complete and the south leg still under construction, it's still a success in completion of Freehold-Farmingdale. Access can still be had from the north leg.