Group discusses past and future of Lackawanna Cutoff

Many Sussex and Warren county residents are nostalgic about what Greendell resident Bill Swinson said was once the "fastest and best railroad in the east" — the Erie Lackwanna Cutoff.

The cutoff, which county officials want to see back in operation, was the subject of reminiscing during Monday night's meeting of the Green Township Historical Society.

Many have mixed feelings about putting the line back in operation. While some residents hope the railroad is rebuilt, others fear a lack of passenger interest will lead it to become a freight-only line.

http://www.njherald.com/secure_story/35 ... 224369.php

Where exactly would freights access the Cutoff from the NJ side? Dover station's high platform has pretty much nixed anything other than carload freight. On the PA side, there isn't very much freight either—and there is an existing way for freights to get from NJ to that part of PA, that being the DL&W Bangor Branch via the Lehigh Line.

Rest assured, there would be no "lack" of interest for passenger train usage. Indeed, that would be the only interest of this line; otherwise, Conrail would never have closed it.

Irish Chieftain wrote:Where exactly would freights access the Cutoff from the NJ side? Dover station's high platform has pretty much nixed anything other than carload freight. On the PA side, there isn't very much freight either—and there is an existing way for freights to get from NJ to that part of PA, that being the DL&W Bangor Branch via the Lehigh Line.

Rest assured, there would be no "lack" of interest for passenger train usage. Indeed, that would be the only interest of this line; otherwise, Conrail would never have closed it.

Seriously, if it was going to be built as a freight line, why did Conrail rip it all up.

Plus, it's not the most populated part of the state, of course it's not going to be a hit over night. But when the limited developing space in the immediate New York area runs dry, people will expand to that part of New Jersey and the train will be a good resource to attract people to the region.

Like Secaucus transfer. It wasn't a hit at first because it was in the middle of nowhere, but more and more people are starting to use it, and now that they have all these development plans for that part of town, you might see the stations use increase.

Might as well put reactivate the cut-off and build up around it.

I grew up in Blairstown, and I can tell you from a few town meetings on the subject that the NIMBY's are as bad in my town as anywhere. In fact, the ones who show up to the meetings for the most part are "Not In My County" advocates. They are afraid that aside from the passenger trains, there will be garbage trains running all night long, dumping garbage at will, and the passenger service will bring "undesireables" into the community to settle.

Frankly, nothing could thrill me more than having freight service back on the cutoff, being able to railfan the paulinskill viaduct, the delaware river bridge, and everything along that line.

NIMBYs like that don't know how the real estate market works, do they, nor are they versed in commuting habits other than hitting I-80 and sitting in traffic for three hours in each direction. Plenty of what the bigoted NIMBY types would term "undesirables" further west in Monroe County PA, doing the "extreme commuting" daily; the factors are affordable house prices and lower property taxes.

But of course we all have to duck our heads for the dreaded predictions of William T. Fidurski of Clark NJ, for the Cutoff, namely 300 freights per day or one train every 4.8 minutes (consistently during 24 hours!), which is impossible even on a two-track main...(someone lock up this Fidurski fella before he hurts somebody)

Irish Chieftain wrote:But of course we all have to duck our heads for the dreaded predictions of William T. Fidurski of Clark NJ, for the Cutoff, namely 300 freights per day or one train every 4.8 minutes (consistently during 24 hours!), which is impossible even on a two-track main...(someone lock up this Fidurski fella before he hurts somebody)

Maybe he confuses "freight cars" with "freight trains," or more likely slyly takes advantage of the fact that many folks are not familiar with the distinction.

I've from time to time heard on Amtrak and NJ Transit trains passengers making references to "two trains ahead" versus "two cars ahead" or saying the food car was two trains back or somesuch.

Check out the NJT forum and "Lackawanna Cut Off" thread for complete and further discussion!

I first heard about the Cutoff when I was asked to write a story about it for the old New Jersey Bell "Tel-News" publication, early 1990s, I think. I also recall a bond issue being passed that, I believe, allowed the state to purchase the cutoff.

Why is this project taking so long? The NIMBY's or other factors?

IC -

" NIMBYs like that don't know how the real estate market works, do they, nor are they versed in commuting habits other than hitting I-80 and sitting in traffic for three hours in each direction. "

Am not an I-80 daily commuter....sounds like you are.

The few times of late I've had the misfortune of getting 'caught' on I-280/I-80 westbound ( from Parsippany to Rt. 206 ) between 5 and 6 p.m., the worst delay/loss of time due to heavy/bumper-to-bumper conditions has been about 40-45 minutes.

Can you elaborate on how often a 3-hour delay occurs and between what points ?

thanks.

Voters passed a "Bridge bond" package in November 1989 that, among other things, dedicated funds for purchasing railroad rights-of-way throughout the state of New Jersey to be preserved for future transportation use.

Though the list of projects and routes was always somewhat fluid, the Lackawanna Cut-Off was always a prime candidate for purchase, and most often the first right-of-way on that list.

Other properties (among many) included the Rahway Valley Railroad (ex-Staten Island Railway and ex-Rahway Valley), and the "Coal Yards" in Jersey City which now house HBLRT's maintenance facility.

NJ-ARP helped cobble the language for such legislation in the months prior to the vote, and was one of the co-sponsors advocating its passage.

Thanks for the update. It's shameful that this project is taking so long. I think it should have been done prior to Secaucus Transfer. A lot more people would be benefiting from the Cutoff. The pressure needs to be taken off Rt. 80. No wonder NJ has the poorest quality air in the U.S.