Misc Questions (NEC tributaries)

From my notes that I take while railfanning, I have down:

1. Railroad bridge between Edison and Metuchen. Is it still used and by whom? Any notable history is also appreciated.
2. Freight on Jersey Av. spur track. Where does the spur track lead? Also, why are there platforms for Jersey Av. on both the NEC and the spur track?
3. A lot of 'extra trackage' was noted also between Edison and Metuchen, along with the remnants of ripped up catenary for those tracks. Any history and who uses them now?
4. Along parts of the NEC between Princeton Jct and Jersey Av. (??) there is a lone track that follows the NEC ROW for a while. Where is this track from and who owns it?

You sure do ask a lot of qustions. Haha, no I like questions, because in answering them, I inevitably end up learning something myself!

Good questions. I'll try to help

1) Don't think so. Don't know much about it. You're talking about the one that goes over the NEC- not the freight track passing under the NEC near Metropark, right?

2) The spur leads to various industries served by the crew out of Metuchen. I have never been back there so I don't know but I do know that the ME2 is down at County yard and goes down the spur daily on weekdays. As for the platforms, the idea is this: In the morning, all passengers traveling to NY from JA board from the Satellite Station on the spur which is where the trains from Jersey Ave originate from after coming out of the yard. They have the platform on the NEC to allow passengers returning to JA midday or whenever to take a Trenton train and get off there. Then for the evening rush, passengers can either take a Jersey Ave train (which pulls into the Satellite Station and then into the yard) or they can also take a Trenton Train that stops at Jersey Ave (on the platform on the NEC.)

3) The trackage on the southside of the tracks along the "big curve" is the receiving yard which goes into Metuchen Yard. Here, cars are placed for the ME10 to take them to Oak Island. Usually, some widecabs or SDs or Geeps or whatever they got hooks up to the consist in the yard daily around noonish on weekdays and then proceeds onto the NEC and heads east until spuring off the NEC just before Newark Airport and then going off on its own to Oak Island. There is also track on the north side of the NEC. Most of this is not currently used but some of it is used in the afternoon by ME34 which services some industries there. ME34 gets onto this track by access through the switch on the west end of the westbound platform at Edison. Usually, I've seen them with two geeps whenever they do this.

4)The extra trackage you speak of is used daily by the Metuchen Crews working down along the NEC. It comes off the NEC at County and goes through the parking lot at Jersey Avenue and follows the NEC for a good way down. The track spurs off into various industries and also allows the crews to work without blocking up the mainline. I'm not sure how far they go down the parallel freight track though. Eventually, this track goes off on its own away from the NEC. I don't think that is used though. Can't help you with the history on it though.

The track at Jersey Avenue is the remnant of the old PRR Millstone Branch IIRC.

At Metuchen overhead, that's the Port Reading Secondary. Originally Reading Railroad (IIRC); Conrail cut it back to merge it with the LVRR main.

2. Freight on Jersey Av. spur track. Where does the spur track lead? Also, why are there platforms for Jersey Av. on both the NEC and the spur track?

The MU yard at County tower was originally the layup yard for the Pennsylvania Railroad's New Brunswick locals. A platform was built on the Millstone branch (AKA the Millstone and New Brunswick Railroad) just west of the yard which could be accessed from Jersey Avenue so that commuters who drove to the station could utilize a large tract of then vacant railroad land as a parking lot. Traditionally only New Brunswick locals served County, Trenton locals bypassed the stop. The Main Line platforms are part of a New Jersey Transit plan to eliminate the yard and concentrate MU layup at New York and Morrisville.

4. Along parts of the NEC between Princeton Jct and Jersey Av. (??) there is a lone track that follows the NEC ROW for a while. Where is this track from and who owns it?

The Pennsylvania built separate industrial switching tracks parallel to its main tracks wherever traffic justified it. You can see the remains of these all along the Corridor. The track at Princeton Junction runs to Plainsboro where it served Walker Gordon Dairies. It once ran all the way to Midway and was only severed when the bridge at Plainsboro was built during the Depression. The end coming west from Midway served the Princeton University Forrestal Campus. A similar track also ran west from Midway to Plainsboro on the opposite side to serve the sand pits.

F40 wrote:From my notes that I take while railfanning, I have down:

1. Railroad bridge between Edison and Metuchen. Is it still used and by whom? Any notable history is also appreciated.

I would guess your talking about the "bridge to no where"? This was formerly a part of the Kilmer loop, used in order to turn trains destined for and coming from Camp Kilmer, and no, it is no longer used.

[*]Freight on Jersey Av. spur track. Where does the spur track lead? Also, why are there platforms for Jersey Av. on both the NEC and the spur track?[/quote]That is the County Yard, and the beginings of the Millstone IT and Delco IT (all are served from Metuchen Yard). Industries on the Delco IT (whichruns along the NEC) include J&J, Delco (obviously), Arm & Hammer, and Strauss. I don't know about industries on the Millstone, but its not active past Rt. 27 (used to go all the way to East Millstone). Jersey Ave is set up like that because all northbound trains stopping at Jersey Ave. must origionate there (NJT also uses a portion of County Yard). So Jersey Ave station is commonly split into the "main station" and the "branch station".

[*]A lot of 'extra trackage' was noted also between Edison and Metuchen, along with the remnants of ripped up catenary for those tracks. Any history and who uses them now?[/quote] That would be the receiving yard which is a portion of the Metuchen Yard complex (metuchen yard includes the Receiving yard, Metuchen yard, and the Upper yard. Conty yard is a satelite). ME10 is the transfer between OI and metuchen. ME2 is the main train out of Metuchen that works trackage on the NEC. ME 34 works National Can and General Tire (General tire is the track on the other side of the southbound Edison platform), and will head down to County Yard to finish any work that ME2 might not of finished, or pick his train up, whatever has to be done. ME36 is the local seitcher for Metuchen and I belive also works Heller Industrial park, drops off cars for Raritan Central, etc.

[*]Along parts of the NEC between Princeton Jct and Jersey Av. (??) there is a lone track that follows the NEC ROW for a while. Where is this track from and who owns it?[/list][/quote]
If its on the eastern side of the NEC, that would be the Amtrak Adams MOW yard. Back in the day, this yard was originally supposed to be used for a studebaker factory, but the factory was never built, so they began to use the yard as an MOW base. If its on the West side of the NEC and connects into Jersey Ave, that would be the Delco IT. Its customer located arthest away from County Yars is J&J, so trains only go that far, but past J&J, the Delco IT runs about 2 miles, unused.


Hope I answered your questions!

The Millstone Branch still runs to Vorhees. I'm not sure if the industry there is still active. You can still track the ROW to east Millstone and one of the Mercer and Somerset bridge piers still exists over the canal and the Millstone River.

There was a plant constructed at Adams but it was used by Okenite (SP) Cable, not Studebaker. Track actually continued to Deans.

Yea, I forgot to add a few details. The Millstone IT still runs to Vorhees, but I belive the last active customer is before Route 27. I didn't know the plant was actually built and was used by Okenite instead. I saw it on a map off the lead, but figured it was added later. Is the industry still served? And theres also the Deans IT, which is off the NEC (its in my NJT rail diagrams anyway). Apparently it's serviced by LI-26 out of Linden. Is Okenite serviced by him too?

TAMR213 wrote:Yea, I forgot to add a few details. The Millstone IT still runs to Vorhees, but I belive the last active customer is before Route 27. I didn't know the plant was actually built and was used by Okenite instead. I saw it on a map off the lead, but figured it was added later. Is the industry still served? And theres also the Deans IT, which is off the NEC (its in my NJT rail diagrams anyway). Apparently it's serviced by LI-26 out of Linden. Is Okenite serviced by him too?

According to my info, Deans is served by LI26. Deans is down below County on the NEC, correct? I sometimes see LI26 coming up from there.

Yep, Deans is between Adams and Midway, located in the Deans section of South Brunswick, right by the North Brunswick border. You would think it would make more sense to serve it from Metuchen, but I belive I've heard that it is served by LI-26 as well (or else theres really no point for it to head down this way). Hey, whatever works for them.

TAMR213 wrote:Yep, Deans is between Adams and Midway, located in the Deans section of South Brunswick, right by the North Brunswick border. You would think it would make more sense to serve it from Metuchen, but I belive I've heard that it is served by LI-26 as well (or else theres really no point for it to head down this way). Hey, whatever works for them.

Yeah, LI26 typically comes down to service Deans on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They almost always seem to have the caboose when they come down on the corridor. They sometimes do Cutters in Woodbridge without the caboose though.

I have seen them sometimes coming down the corridor on Friday dropping off the caboose and a car or so on the outskirts of the Dayton Branch. Why this occurs is still a mystery. One other Friday I saw them with just their engine in Newark Airport- back when they had NS 5280.

Lemme chime in here if I may. My favorite "tributary of the NEC" (as you term it) is the P&H and the associated feeder lines in/around SK, OI, and the various WA yards. WA=Waverly.

Sad to see them BIG electo-freights along w/the constant, daily hum of hundreds of amps (perhaps more) drawn by the tonnage of many freight cars which have vanished from the NEC spiderweb.

Re-wire the routes and re-freight the corridor !!!!

NS & CSX ALP50's !!!

re-freight the corridor

That'll kinda kill its potential as a high-speed corridor to some degree...

Whatever happened to the high speed NS intermodel trains that they were proposing for the Corridor?? I guess NS didn't like the high premiums Amtrak was charging them......

Steve

NS should have lobbied Congress to increase Amtrak's funding, then. Subsequently, Amtrak could have charged lower premiums, or none at all.

Maybe NS refused to indemnify Amtrak for accidents, as Amtrak does for running on NS's line.