Port Morris Branch Melrose - Oak Point NYC PC CR CSX

I thought so.
Now I know what the OSHA people did before there was OSHA.

Thank You

jacksons wrote:Now I know what the OSHA people did before there was OSHA.

Well....not really. OSHA was established in 1971, while the ability for railroads to designate track as "excepted" was not established until 1982.

There are good reasons to permit carriers to designate track as "excepted". One good one is that it permits shortline carriers to take over marginal lines from the bigger carriers and continue operation without pouring excessive capital into rehabilitating poorly-maintained trackage. Of course, that doesn't apply to the Port Morris Branch.....

Jim

Looks like the switch at Melrose is marked for removal as part of the Melrose station improvements.

In last two or 3 weeks MNCR took out the switch at Melrose for CSX Port Morris Branch.
It looks like one bussines a few hundred yards in already filled in over tracks and lots of cars parked over the rail.

On the Mapquest USGS map for Harlem, pre-"New York Connecting", the NYC Port Morris branch is shown with an east to south connection to the NH Harlem River line, enabling Cassanova to Port Morris workings. Did this get taken out when the Hell Gate bridge approach was built?
Also, I've got a reference that I cannot trace, saying that it was possible at one time to work from Melrose to Mott Haven NH over the Port Morris branch and another connection, north to west. Is this true, and when if so?

The Port Morris interchange between the NYC and the NYNH&H lasted all the way into PC and CR days. During the last years of the New Haven, the interchange was especially heavy with reefer traffic bound for the New Haven's Hunts Point Market - the Central even going so far as to lease a track or two in New Haven's Oak Point Yard to handle all the cars (the Central previously just deposited the cars on the interchange track but with the leased track(s) they could now pull the entire string into Oak Point Yard for the New Haven to move onward to Hunts Point Market.

In earlier times (pre-1960s) the Port Morris Branch was electrified (third rail) and for emergency/detour purposes the New Haven could operate into and out of Grand Central Terminal via the Port Morris Branch and its own Harlem River Branch. Don't know if any such moves were ever made that way, but it was listed as an official detour routing.

Supposedly FDR's rail movements between Washington, D.C. and G.C.T. may have been routed over the branch - again, unconfirmed.

To the best of my knowledge, the Port Morris connection was never used
for a passenger train detour. I have at least one TN for a POTUS special
from Penn Station to Mott Haven and it operated via New Rochelle.
I do not think this was really a practical route for passenger trains to
follow.
On second thought, maybe I should not use the word "never" but I think
it was highly unlikely.
Noel Weaver

The Port Morris Branch was not a detour route for passenger trains as there was a length restriction on cars permitted over the Branch.

The point of restriction was the curve at Port Morris. The timetable special instructions originally had a 60' length limit, but this was gradually changed to allow cars up to 79' in length. Reason for the restriction was the 24-degree curvature on double track with close track centers.

The restriction was eased after the double-track became single-track.

The heighth restriction on the Port Morris Branch further restricted movement between MO and Oak Point.

The September 27, 1953 Engine Assignment/Radius of Operation Diesel-Electric Engines/Tonnage Ratings/Detouring of Trains due to Emergency Situations book clearly lists the NYC's Port Morris Branch as a detour route for passenger trains if the line was blocked between Woodlawn and New Rochelle Junction or Harold and New Rochelle Junction.

Additionally, there is record of an open-vestibule M.U. fantrip over the Port Morris Branch circa 1941.

The Port Morris Branch was owned by the New York Central and not the New Haven and if the New York Central had restrictions on it, there wereno passenger train detours period. I know there have been one or morefantrips over the line but the cars used were likely shorter than anything that the New Haven had at the time.

Even if it is in the Engine Assignment book, it would still be subject to clearance restrictions of the New York Central and for that matter any restrictions on its use set by the New York Central. I can not imagine any attempt to operate a passenger train over this line when the New Haven had full rights to operate into Penn Stations, crews were already qualified there and Penn Station was not as congested as it is today.

Noel Weaver

IIRC, the clearance restrictions on the Port Morris Branch were more restrictive than those on the mainline into GCT.

In the late 1970's, the 127lb welded rail in the St. Mary's Tunnel was replaced with some 105lb rail just to get an extra fraction of an inch vertical clearance.

Also, since the Port Morris Branch was both low speed and non-signalled, it would not have been much of a passenger detour route.

CSX own the Port Morris Branch? I know it is not in service, but is it an assett of CSX?

where is the port morris branch?

The Bronx and Manhattan..I believe.

Unless I am mistaken, the Port Morris branch is out of service for about five years. In later years, it had a wye just north of Melrose Station, the wye being just north of East 163rd St. It then ran southeast, mostly below street grade, with a tunnel under St. Mary's Park to Port Morris near East 142nd Street. The history is from the 1800's and is probably covered other places in this railroad.net site. Two memories: the funeral train of FDR from Washington to Hyde Park used this branch to get from Hell Gate to Mott Haven and the Hudson Division. Also, sometime around 1948, there was a railfan trip through here, using 3rd rail, I believe. It may also be called the St. Mary's Park branch.