Hello everyone,
For anyone who has not been by the Owens Corning Fiberglass Plant site in Barrington, along the Beesley's...there have been some significant changes there in recent weeks. A few years back, a majority of the plant was demolished or overhauled into new warehouse structures, to make the Barrington Business Park, which now occupies the site. During this reconstruction, several buildings were left standing from the days of fiberglass production. Effective the week of September 25th, 2005, those remaining buildings have been demolished and a large area directly adjacent to the Beesley's of what was formerly entirely trees on the property of the Owens Corning Fiberglass Plant has been cleared. Once cutting through those trees was a spur which was used at one time to serve the fiberglass plant by the railroad, and was later used to service what I called "building number 9", due to a lack of additional information as to what exactly was produced or stored inside the building with a large "9" on the side. A majority of that spur has also been removed, as well as the siding up to building number 9. However...this is not necessarily a bad thing, when one thinks of what may move in directly adjacent to the Beesley's. There is always the possibility that something that will not utilize railroad service at all may move in there, but there is also the possibility that something very large might make it's presence known in Barrington (thoughts of Roosevelt Paper at Hainesport on the Pemberton Industrial come to mind).
Building number 9 was last served (in my estimate) back in 2001...I cannot be positive on the date, as I didn't shoot slides of that, but I do have prints somewhere around here...which I'll try to dig up. That spur was completely rebuilt for whatever it is that #9 building was bringing in or shipping out for the year or so that they got cars...after that, it was left to the elements as it was in the years following the closure of Owens Corning. It was no longer visable in the trees as of September 1st, and rails back by building number 9 may have actually been removed some time ago. The distance from the Beesley's to building number 9 is fairly long, and I walked back there only once when the spur was rebuilt, to document the siding. I have those photos someplace too, which I'll try to find.
The photos below show the scene at Barrington as of September 26th. In a few of the photos, you can see building number 9 and the loading docks on the side up to which the spur used to run. The track which continues straight was left in place when the rest of the place was rebuilt (for some reason), and a yard of sorts still exists within that facility...however, nothing has ventured past building number 9's switch (which no longer exists) since the fiberglass plant was in operation.
Here are the photos:
http://www.sjrail.com/DailyPhotos/Owens ... Owens1.jpg
http://www.sjrail.com/DailyPhotos/Owens ... Owens2.jpg
http://www.sjrail.com/DailyPhotos/Owens ... Owens3.jpg
As you can see, there still exists a small portion of the spur, off Magnolia Siding, which runs approx. 50 feet before ending suddenly. The former ROW for the siding can be seen in Owens1.jpg, the spur curved ran straight for some time out of the complex before curving quite sharply left between the nearest two poles. Just out of view to the left is the location where the spur now ends, being cut short. Keep in mind that until this week, the foreground in this photograph was ALL TREES, and this image was not possible.
I'll try to keep everyone updated on progress here.
Take care.
Mike DiMunno
www.SJRail.com: All about South Jersey Railroads!
For anyone who has not been by the Owens Corning Fiberglass Plant site in Barrington, along the Beesley's...there have been some significant changes there in recent weeks. A few years back, a majority of the plant was demolished or overhauled into new warehouse structures, to make the Barrington Business Park, which now occupies the site. During this reconstruction, several buildings were left standing from the days of fiberglass production. Effective the week of September 25th, 2005, those remaining buildings have been demolished and a large area directly adjacent to the Beesley's of what was formerly entirely trees on the property of the Owens Corning Fiberglass Plant has been cleared. Once cutting through those trees was a spur which was used at one time to serve the fiberglass plant by the railroad, and was later used to service what I called "building number 9", due to a lack of additional information as to what exactly was produced or stored inside the building with a large "9" on the side. A majority of that spur has also been removed, as well as the siding up to building number 9. However...this is not necessarily a bad thing, when one thinks of what may move in directly adjacent to the Beesley's. There is always the possibility that something that will not utilize railroad service at all may move in there, but there is also the possibility that something very large might make it's presence known in Barrington (thoughts of Roosevelt Paper at Hainesport on the Pemberton Industrial come to mind).
Building number 9 was last served (in my estimate) back in 2001...I cannot be positive on the date, as I didn't shoot slides of that, but I do have prints somewhere around here...which I'll try to dig up. That spur was completely rebuilt for whatever it is that #9 building was bringing in or shipping out for the year or so that they got cars...after that, it was left to the elements as it was in the years following the closure of Owens Corning. It was no longer visable in the trees as of September 1st, and rails back by building number 9 may have actually been removed some time ago. The distance from the Beesley's to building number 9 is fairly long, and I walked back there only once when the spur was rebuilt, to document the siding. I have those photos someplace too, which I'll try to find.
The photos below show the scene at Barrington as of September 26th. In a few of the photos, you can see building number 9 and the loading docks on the side up to which the spur used to run. The track which continues straight was left in place when the rest of the place was rebuilt (for some reason), and a yard of sorts still exists within that facility...however, nothing has ventured past building number 9's switch (which no longer exists) since the fiberglass plant was in operation.
Here are the photos:
http://www.sjrail.com/DailyPhotos/Owens ... Owens1.jpg
http://www.sjrail.com/DailyPhotos/Owens ... Owens2.jpg
http://www.sjrail.com/DailyPhotos/Owens ... Owens3.jpg
As you can see, there still exists a small portion of the spur, off Magnolia Siding, which runs approx. 50 feet before ending suddenly. The former ROW for the siding can be seen in Owens1.jpg, the spur curved ran straight for some time out of the complex before curving quite sharply left between the nearest two poles. Just out of view to the left is the location where the spur now ends, being cut short. Keep in mind that until this week, the foreground in this photograph was ALL TREES, and this image was not possible.
I'll try to keep everyone updated on progress here.
Take care.
Mike DiMunno
www.SJRail.com: All about South Jersey Railroads!
~Mike DiMunno
CSAO Beesley Point Secondary - MP 8.69 (Magnolia, NJ)
Moderator: Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines :: Penn Central
CSAO Beesley Point Secondary - MP 8.69 (Magnolia, NJ)
Moderator: Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines :: Penn Central
