O & G New Milford, new spur?

BandA wrote:If some of the stone cars derail, just tip them over and spread it on the tracks - they probably need the ballast. Use duct tape to mend the ties. If that is not possible, replace the ties with overgrown trees cut along the ROW.

On a serious note, would cement ties work better than wooden ties in swampy areas?

CNZR redid a large portion of the Armory Branch with salvage concrete ties from Amtrak. When the defective Rocla ties were replaced CDOT sifted through the good-condition ones and made a donation. They're perfectly fine for a minimal-maintenance Class 1 line, and the price certainly can't be beat. I haven't heard of the MBTA doing anything similar with their concrete tie replacements, so I don't think there's a supply of them remaining.

Of course, CNZR operates on CDOT-owned track so they would be natural recipients. The privately-owned Maybrook--especially the unused west end--isn't going to get any grants until HRCC sells it to the state. And the state, of course, pulled all its grant apps for Housy because past awards of ties and rail outright disappeared (suspected snuck across the border onto their derailment-happy, privately-owned MA track).

Hey, let's be positive about this! Yes, it will take a sh#t load of money to fix track. If O&G is wanting this, they must know what needs to be done.
For other thread, more talk or reviving commuter service to Mass border. Will post more there.
Joe D

Anyone heard anything more about this? Haven't gotten around to going into downtown Danbury to see if there's been any work west of White St.

I have not seen any work being done in New milford or Danbury recently.

Any updates on this proposal???
Joe D

I have not heard a thing or have seen any indication of track work around the Danbury (Seager street) cement plant.

Housatonic RR is clearing the track west of the Danbury rail museum. They started Thursday and are supposedly going all the way to the NY line. The O&G plan is waiting on an easement in New Milford.

A few questions/observations:

The quarry is about halfway up from New Milford to Gaylordsville. That siding is pretty long (3000 feet), but I doubt there'd be much opposition. If they're shipping from there to the plant, that's about 20 miles, give or take.

They may not have a locomotive; in my travels along the LIRR main branch, I noticed somewhere west of I think the Veteran's cemetery a pretty busy siding that used, and I'm not sure what to call it, a "shunter" that wasn't very large; looked almost like ROW equipment. This may be what they use to bring the cars back and forth from the HRRC. It wouldn't go out on the "main" line to be sure.

It's also possible O&G could have a locomotive, and has received "overhead" rights from HRRC for either cash, or an upgrade to the line. It seems like this is a large company (I haven't looked at financials; not sure if it's a publicly-traded company) with likely deep pockets, and they've decided an upgraded line of 20 miles is worth the cost savings of trucks, particularly if they're increasing operations. They could also be sharing these costs with HRRC, especially west of DRM.

In Danbury, they'd have to build a pretty big siding as well, and one that crosses a creek to get up Segar. Of course, they could as well be interchanging with P&W in Danbury. If they do ship west of DRM, why not just sell the Maybrook line W of DRM to P&W? They'd have the pockets to build it, and overhead from SoNo. Of course, they'd have to still account for the Berkshire trackage. And don't forget the track north of New Milford is owned by CTDOT.

Assuming the trackage west of DRM is OOS, they'll have to reactivate it. What's the process for this? And they'll have the issue of renewed crossings (remember the controversy over the Main St crossing condition and responsibility for repair?) at roads that haven't seen regular trains in years. I'm sure MNRR in their emergency move had to protect. What will HRRC/O&G do when the tracks become active again? They'll have to be plenty of testing.

Any way you slice it, though, this is a good thing. Renewed, not abandoned tracks, for even a short distance. This was once the mighty Maybrook two-track main ROW.

If it's just unused and not embargoed they only need to do a hi-rail inspection to make sure everything is passable then they're free to use it. It hasn't been that long since the Maybrook tracks inside City of Danbury have had steel wheels rolling over it, and it's double-track the whole way to this customer so the spare stick and ties for making a spot repair is about 4 feet away at all times. Even Housy in all its crapulence can keep 2 whole miles of track in service when it absolutely, positively has to or else. They probably do take a hi-rail ride on it from time to time; that type of activity can easily slip under the radar unnoticed by residents or railfans.

If it's embargoed that requires an FRA inspection to reactivate and lift the embargo, since they're the gatekeeper for that (not the STB). But I sort of doubt Housy put such a short stretch of track under embargo while it's been pimping this passenger train unicorn. Would kind of be a bad thing PR-wise if they flunked the FRA inspection and that scuttlebutt made the news. I am pretty sure the part that's really embargoed is in Metro North territory at that water crossing in Brewster that's awaiting scheduled repair in the next allotment of Beacon Line maint funding spare change, not in Danbury.

I sure hope that this will come to fruition. I can see how this would be good for O&G in the long run as the Rt. 7 corridor down to Danbury is still a nighmare even with the slight extension of super 7. O&G is a large construction company with plants throughout the western part of CT. They are also a construction management company and if I recall correctly they were involved with the Alameda Corridor trench between LA. and Long Beach Ca. They should have enough capital to do this but the question is can they get a reliable agreement with the Housy. Last I knew the Housy had only two locomotives operating to service their whole system from Pittsfield to Danbury. It should be interesting to see how this will play out but it would be nice to see more freight traffic on the south end.

John L.

J.D. Lang wrote:I sure hope that this will come to fruition. I can see how this would be good for O&G in the long run as the Rt. 7 corridor down to Danbury is still a nighmare even with the slight extension of super 7. O&G is a large construction company with plants throughout the western part of CT. They are also a construction management company and if I recall correctly they were involved with the Alameda Corridor trench between LA. and Long Beach Ca. They should have enough capital to do this but the question is can they get a reliable agreement with the Housy. Last I knew the Housy had only two locomotives operating to service their whole system from Pittsfield to Danbury. It should be interesting to see how this will play out but it would be nice to see more freight traffic on the south end.

John L.

Heck if they've got enough money maybe they can just buy the entire Housy and be done with it-- wouldn't be the worst outcome.

Ridgefielder wrote:

J.D. Lang wrote:I sure hope that this will come to fruition. I can see how this would be good for O&G in the long run as the Rt. 7 corridor down to Danbury is still a nighmare even with the slight extension of super 7. O&G is a large construction company with plants throughout the western part of CT. They are also a construction management company and if I recall correctly they were involved with the Alameda Corridor trench between LA. and Long Beach Ca. They should have enough capital to do this but the question is can they get a reliable agreement with the Housy. Last I knew the Housy had only two locomotives operating to service their whole system from Pittsfield to Danbury. It should be interesting to see how this will play out but it would be nice to see more freight traffic on the south end.

John L.

Heck if they've got enough money maybe they can just buy the entire Housy and be done with it-- wouldn't be the worst outcome.

That would be great! Throw in the Maybrook from Derby Junction to Danbury and there might still be a future for freight railroading in western CT.

John L.

Its been over 7 months since anything was discussed on this subject. Anything going on with it? Or is the Housy just pocketing the money they got from MA and not doing anything with it to expand the railroad.

Mike Scholz

Figure this has become a pipe dream for now,any $$$ from the sale to MassDOT had strings attached.

I was told O&G was denied an easement by the town to build their spur between the quarry and the Housatonic's track. Anyone know if this is fact or fiction ??