Delaware and Raritan River Railroad-General Discussion

Forest3670 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 09, 2022 1:00 pm https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipO ... XFVqW2op3u

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Forest3670 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 09, 2022 1:00 pm https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipO ... XFVqW2op3u

On its way home today in Farmingdale

Question.

Anyone notice that on the Southbound leg they go through Farming close to or at track speed but when they come back they practically crawl? Why is that? Same thing goes on in Lakewood but it’s vice versa which is weird because there’s usually more people out and about by the time they start going back.

752 wasn’t used at Woodhaven again either.

I've noticed that as well. When they come back through Farmingdale, which is around 12-1PM, it's way busier in town than it was when they came down around 9-10AM. All but one of the crossings in town don't have gates. I wouldn't be shocked that they crawl through town to be extra safe. Or it could be the fact that they go over the spot that had the derailment in March.

In either case, when they reach the Main Street crossing, they start increasing speed and are really moving it when they leave town on the return trip.

Forgot to mention. There’s a problem with Main Street crossing in Farmingdale. The “hold clear” mechanism in one of the gate motors has failed I think. One of the gates is shaking.

I’ve noticed that speed increase as well. I wonder if there’s a slow order in effect for that section cause of all the tie markings.

Also, one of my people told me they’ve been killing weeds and/or trimming overgrowth on the tracks near Gold Lumber. Didn’t have the time to check while I was there unfortunately.

A small step forward to get FIT-SOUS reconnected. Until whatever entity finishes whatever sewer work they're doing by the County Road 524 crossing, there's probably not much they can do.

Speaking of that crossing, there is a giant dirt mound that is sitting on the ROW, not much equipment is there right now.

Yeah they should still be working on the pipes out there but they have been told that they intend to get the line open and to finish up their work as soon as possible. Talked to them one day about it.

They have been working on that sewer line stuff for damn close to a year now.

I think they have the section done that goes under the tracks but haven't yet started the part going to the development. So there may be some work needed adjacent to the tracks on the west side. The stone pile is probably to fill in around the junction box.

CJPat is correct about Beacon and the transloading. The town of Freehold pulled the plug on them loading across Throckmorton for the reasons he stated. Aside from the heavy equipment crossing the busy road, the area was being littered with small pieces of metal. This was causing a lot of flat tires and if memory serves me correctly it was the folks at the prison who were the loudest voices to put an end to loading across Throckmorton.
As for Nestle there products are shipped in those containers from the country of origin and then put onto those NS chassis once the container is off loaded from the ship at the port. It would not make business sense to unload the container to put the product into a rail car to transport it about 50 miles away. It adds more delay in getting the product, costs more in labor, and there is no designated facility to do such a thing.

The idea of a transloading facility coming into Ocean County has already been talked about within several local communities as well as the reactivation of service on the Toms River. Opposition to trains coming back to the line is mounting as the word spreads. This is going to be a tough one but the rail will prevail.

Amazing people have no problem with trucks all over but a crawling train maybe once a week on the toms river branch,is beyond me!

glenn cannizzaro wrote:Amazing people have no problem with trucks all over but a crawling train maybe once a week on the toms river branch,is beyond me!

This.

The main people who are gonna complain about it are in the Leisure Villages closest to the track. They complained about the TRIT when it was still open and even complained about the Clayton Line being reopened. IIRC someone told them to shut up about the Clayton Line though.

@AceMac The Leisure Villages are unfortunately full of people who complain about the ᵗᶦⁿᶦᵉˢᵗ of things that may even slightly inconvenience them. I personally think they have more to worry about than a train. How about the fact they still find chemicals from Ciba Geicy in their wells every now and then? Or the hell on Earth that is Route 37 and all the traffic/accidents on it? Or maybe the Ocean County drug epidemic that’s been going on for years yet never seems to be dealt with? Oddly enough I never hear about this from the Leisure Villages, but oooohhh boy if you talk about running a train past their house you’ll hear about it until the day your 6 feet under!!!

How true,I live in a active adult senior community in Barnegat now,the complaints about everything from grass cutting to they don't like the tree the builder planted in their front of their house is unbelievable. You're here to enjoy your life, not complain, about everything you have no control over.

AceMacSD wrote: ↑Wed Aug 10, 2022 11:34 pm CJPat is correct about Beacon and the transloading. The town of Freehold pulled the plug on them loading across Throckmorton for the reasons he stated. Aside from the heavy equipment crossing the busy road, the area was being littered with small pieces of metal. This was causing a lot of flat tires and if memory serves me correctly it was the folks at the prison who were the loudest voices to put an end to loading across Throckmorton.

Ah, that makes sense. IMO the town of Freehold should've thrown some money at Beacon so they could install a proper siding into their property if they had the authority to shut it down like that.

AceMacSD wrote: ↑Wed Aug 10, 2022 11:34 pm As for Nestle there products are shipped in those containers from the country of origin and then put onto those NS chassis once the container is off loaded from the ship at the port. It would not make business sense to unload the container to put the product into a rail car to transport it about 50 miles away. It adds more delay in getting the product, costs more in labor, and there is no designated facility to do such a thing.

They are containers though, they don't have to be unloaded and then re-loaded into a railcar. You can just put the container on a well car, and send it to Nestle. If they did that, it would be far cheaper to have a single train bring a few well cars of containers every day, than have to pay for multiple drivers to drive them in via truck.

I think well/intermodal cars are allowed on the FIT but CR didn't offer frequent enough service for anyone to be really interested in it. Common theme here.

AceMacSD wrote: ↑Wed Aug 10, 2022 11:34 pm The idea of a transloading facility coming into Ocean County has already been talked about within several local communities as well as the reactivation of service on the Toms River. Opposition to trains coming back to the line is mounting as the word spreads. This is going to be a tough one but the rail will prevail.

The train came before them. And rail will prevail, as it should. Would they rather have a million trucks on the road?

glenn cannizzaro wrote: ↑Thu Aug 11, 2022 7:12 am Amazing people have no problem with trucks all over but a crawling train maybe once a week on the toms river branch,is beyond me!

If they did a transloading yard on the TRIT off of 37, most likely you would see a train once a day, but that's still nothing compared to how often they used to run on TRIT + the amount of trucks down there right now.

glenn cannizzaro wrote: ↑Thu Aug 11, 2022 9:46 am How true,I live in a active adult senior community in Barnegat now,the complaints about everything from grass cutting to they don't like the tree the builder planted in their front of their house is unbelievable. You're here to enjoy your life, not complain, about everything you have no control over.

Lots of busybodies these days it seems