joesk268 wrote:>Did one of the sidings for Empire Box cross the creek ?
Yes. The second (railroad western most) siding did cross over the brook/creek. The brook ran under Outwater Lane and then under the Empire Box building and come out into the open behind the building. I don't remember if there was a simple bridge for the siding or if the brook ran under the track by way of a concrete culvert.
I was in the area today, and naturally stopped by to check this out - it is quite interesting (well, to me) the way the brook heads south (in the open, between the Firehouse and the Strip Mall containing the Pizza Hut) crosses under Outwater Lane, continues under a sizable garage/annex (containing Amana Cooling and Allied, judging by the array of signs attached to various parts of that complex), pops into the open again south of that garage, running in a channel due east of that big building (in the parking lot shared with the Sofa outlet), heads under a bridge used to access a truck loading door, pops into the open again (except bridged by steel beams at intervals - these beams appear to be also in that truck bridge mentioned above), and finally exits the channel and continues meandering south (over some sort of weir ) past DeWitt? As you can see, I found it very interesting, and should get back there shortly to photograph the whole scene before they turn it into another strip mall (not saying they will, but in Jersey you never know). Anyway, to tie in the railfan part, there was rements of a siding at the south east corner of this complex, between the building and the brook. I saw two blocked up loading doors along this siding, one very oddly situated at the very end of the building (odd because the brook curved into the siding's path at this very point, preventing the siding from ever heading further [all the concrete was quite old - no recent mods here), and so a standard boxcar door would NOT line up - either they unloaded flat cars, or the siding extended awkwardly halfway across the brook on some sort of On3 model type trestle. Sorry, it just kinda bugs me
. Also I assume the garage spaning the brook is a recent addition, or else that was one sharp ess-curve to get to that siding (no 72ft Centrebeam flats for that baby).
I'm sure the Sofa outlet building, looking like Pre-WWII construction, once had some siding too to service whatever was in it in years past - just couldn't find the freight doors or ROW alley...
As to the Hird complex behind the Dunkin' Donuts, well I took a quick look around (and got some Orange juice, and took a pit stop at Dunkin' while I was there), and saw more rement of a siding, this one more or less in line with the 1-way street coming from the Supermarket parking lot (halfway between Outwater and Columbus) - I figured this had to be the former ROW, and so was another 1-way street coming North from the supermarket parking lot.
In reference to the River crossing, My Geographia Atlas, being 'up to date', shows the ROW heading south following the brook (I guess between the Amana cooling and Sofa outlets, and curving through the parking lot south of the pedestrian bridge), and finally crossing River Road (and thence the river) about where Belmont intersects River Road.
And when that Bridge burned, I don't remember reading this, but does anyone know if the Erie picked up the NYS&W customers along 1st St in Passaic (it wasn't mentioned in articles I read a few years back when the NY&LE started servicing Atlantic Fibers in Passiac again, after the big Garfield/Monroe Avenue service fight).