Hoping you can help

I hope you don't mind me asking, but I need some help.

My wife and I are looking to buy a house in Glen Ridge, NJ on Baldwin Street (zip is 07028). The Norfolk Southern (old Conrail) tracks go right through the back yard. Service was discontinued a few years ago by NJ Transit in favor of a new routing through Montclair to access Hoboken, and the line is seldom used now by Norfolk Southern. We love the idea of having the old tracks in the back yard but if the tracks go live again that would be quiet a lot of noise for us since we have children.

I've spoken to the folks from Norfolk Southern and they have told me that they are rail banking it for now. They filed for a "Discontinuation of Service" that went into effect this month.

I've also asked around through other web sites and I've found that The New York and Greenwood Lake Railroad is seeking to operate passenger service on that rail line into Hoboken Terminal.

Can you help us? What chance to you think there is that the New York and Greenwood Lake Railroad will actually begin operating passenger service? If the objective is profit, it seems awfully hard to imagine that they would ever operate in the black, seeing as the line was already abandoned by NJ Transit, seemingly because it would cost more to operate than it would take in for tickets.

Again, hope you don't mind me asking, and hope you can help.

Either way, many thanks.

Kevin

brooklynkevin wrote:I hope you don't mind me asking, but I need some help.

My wife and I are looking to buy a house in Glen Ridge, NJ on Baldwin Street (zip is 07028). The Norfolk Southern (old Conrail) tracks go right through the back yard. Service was discontinued a few years ago by NJ Transit in favor of a new routing through Montclair to access Hoboken, and the line is seldom used now by Norfolk Southern. We love the idea of having the old tracks in the back yard but if the tracks go live again that would be quiet a lot of noise for us since we have children.

I've spoken to the folks from Norfolk Southern and they have told me that they are rail banking it for now. They filed for a "Discontinuation of Service" that went into effect this month.

I've also asked around through other web sites and I've found that The New York and Greenwood Lake Railroad is seeking to operate passenger service on that rail line into Hoboken Terminal.

Can you help us? What chance to you think there is that the New York and Greenwood Lake Railroad will actually begin operating passenger service? If the objective is profit, it seems awfully hard to imagine that they would ever operate in the black, seeing as the line was already abandoned by NJ Transit, seemingly because it would cost more to operate than it would take in for tickets.

Again, hope you don't mind me asking, and hope you can help.

Either way, many thanks.

Kevin

There have been a number of rail "revivials" in the northeast and other
parts of the country too over the past years.
Nobody ever thought the N.Y.S. & W. would come back after an absense
of over 20 years but it did and the people really complained about that.
A portion of the New Haven Railroad's Berkshire Line made a comeback
a few years ago after a long idle period, the Greenbush Branch in the
Boston area is coming back.
If the tracks are still there and you don't want to live next to an active
railroad, I suggest you look elsewhere.
You might get a good deal on the place because of the railroad track(s)
but if years down the road from now, if the railroad decides to use them
again, there will probably not be much that you can do.
Noel Weaver

Kevin,
I would'nt recommend it, especially with young children (I have 3). "Rail banking" is a way of taking tracks out-of-service without pulling them up, but as Noel said, they may become quite active again--then again, they may not. I guess it's something you and your wife will have to think hard about. If I were in your shoes, I think I would pass. I would like to live near tracks "just close enough" to see them, not have them right in my yard.

Hi, folks. Thank you so much for your replies. This is very, very helpful.

I've been researching on railstotrails.org about converting the tracks. This is an exciting idea, but I'm not sure how realistic it is for this area.

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks again, and please, keep the responses coming.

Kevin