Freight Delivery in NHP

I caught a glimpse of a boxcar on the siding East of New Hyde Park this afternoon. Is this for a customer or was it set off for repairs?

I think it was an RBOX car, from the color.

This car is for Chelser Plywood, one of the most favorite customers to switch by the crews.

To make things more interesting, he hasn't received cars in about two years, so a substantial amount of debris and vegetation has grown around the track, adding to the adventure.

Chesler is located all the way at the end of the siding, which is pretty long. You need to traverse the above mentioned obstacles, as well as cars parked on the track around a blind curve, a gate that is locked across the tracks (you can walk right around the gate, but must open it for the train, real wierd), a grade crossing and finally Chesler's gate.

All the while, you are holding the main, and having Nassau Tower screaming at you that he's got a train coming in 5 minutes, and someone has to attend the gates at New Hyde Park Road.

Due to the relative ease of switching this customer, the car rarely makes it all the way to the customer's door on the first shot. From the looks of it, this delivery was no different.

Jay

Sometimes while servicing this cosignee Nassau tower will try to sneak an Oyster Bay train past you because you're hidden around that above mentioned curve.

I remember seeing a CNA box car on that siding near the two CR ones behind Castro Convertibes, maybe three years ago. Then the weeds grew and I thought whoever it was gave up on rail.

It's a good thing to see a siding in use, even though that one looks like it could use a few new ties.

Does Chesler only get boxcars, or do they get flatcars too? How many cars do they usually get, and how often does NYA serve them?

Good to hear Chesler's back, although you don't seem all that excited to switch them. Anyway, they do have a bit of an interesting layout, and I guess as you get push the car in those debris will clear right up.
Anyway, Chesler is on the north side of Nassau Terminal Blvd. - does anyone know if the spur at any time continued further north - perhaps to what used to be AirFlex (?I think), which is now a supermarket.

In addition to my question two posts ago on this topic, how do the crews switching Chesler deal with cars and trucks parked on the spur? Do you blow the locomotive's horn, knock on the doors of the businesses and tell them to move, have them towed, etc?

In response to LegioX, I believe the preferred method for dealing with cars on that particular siding is A) make note of the car(s) as you pass by eastbound, B) confirm sighting as you creep by westbound, and finally C) put Chesler's car away in the yard when you return to Pond.

One popular variation of "C)" is to leave your entire train on the wye.

But seriously, when a delivery is imminent, customer service calls ahead and gives Chesler the heads-up. Its in thier interest to have the track clear after all, they want their stuff!

You can tell that Gruntled is a seasoned veteran of the Chesler move from his NYAR days.

Many a harrowing experience switching that guy. To quote an ex-LIRR freight guy regarding Chesler: "No matter how much we tried to &%$# that guy, he'd always be back for more!!!"

Jay

I remember a train falling down a manhole there once! Ah the glory days!

If I remember right, to make matters worse there is a 4 minute rundown on the electric lock, plus all the cars blowing their horns because you have the crossing plugged. Not one of my favorite sidings to switch.

Joe

I can say I was the proud engineer on the manhole debacle! Actually, we put an engine on the ground there when it walked off on the ice. We were able to rerail it, then it wouldn't move at all. That is when it fell in the manhole!

Actually, the 4 minute rundown is only when coming out. That may have not always been the case, but when I used to switch Chesler, there actually was no timer on the switch. (One of the only benefits of switching there!)

Jay

Jay, I don't know about coming out of Chesler, never cleared up in there, never wanted to. I do remember the 4 minute run down going in. If you listened closely you could hear a click in the switch, then you could remove the lock. If you didn't wait the 4 minutes and tried to remove the lock, the 4 minute run down would start over. It was like watching a pot of water, waiting for it to boil.

Joe

LIRR RETIRED wrote:If I remember right, to make matters worse there is a 4 minute rundown on the electric lock, plus all the cars blowing their horns because you have the crossing plugged. Not one of my favorite sidings to switch. Joe

Which crossing? You can't possibly mean Nassau Terminal Road, as I very rarely see any traffic there, even in the middle of the day (OK, a few trucks, and some cars, and that's about it).
Since Denton Ave. is bridged (with a one lane spanning bridge - I always honk and flash my headlights before attending to drive through), that leaves New Hyde Park Road, which I thought was fairly far from the switch?

It's the New Hyde Park Road crossing.

I believe the 4 minute timer was removed when Nassau Interlocking was expanded in the early 1990's. As for clearing up, they don't like it when you do that because it's such an old-type lock, it doesn't show properly on their boards, and have to cut holding orders.

A good way to p*ss off the dispatcher is to call up and say "In the clear at Chesler Lumber!" Good luck getting back out!

Jay