Disappearing local freight

So sad to see how many companies in the last eight years that used trains to deliver goods are either gone
or not using trains altogether. These companies would get cars weekly or just periodically.
Here is my list that I used to follow:
Innovation Fuels(W.A.S.)-Newark
Omega Warehouse-Totowa
Race Plastics-Totowa
Hartz Mountain-Bloomfield
Birch Lumber-Clifton

Can anybody add to this list?
I am looking mainly at the north half of Jersey.

Federal Plastics, Cranford. (Raritan Valley Line)
Flexwrap, Lodi. (Last customer on NYS&W Lodi branch)

Gulf Plastics - Totowa
SB Thomas Bakeries - Totowa
The paperboard plant on the Newark Branch alongside Rt 3 - Clifton (forgot name - Sr. moment)
Passaic Valley Water Treatment PLant - Totowa (Chlorine tank cars)

Albea Packaging(old American Can ) in Washington. No more pellet hoppers. Old Warren Lumber yard in Washington hasn't had cars in almost 10 years. Sadly, the Old Main in Washington only gets used to the Rte31 overpass for crews to go to dinner. Not sure if ISE Farms in Broadway/New Village gets cars anymore.Still talking of BASF closing in Washington. Unless another company moves in and gets rail cars that will eliminate the majority of NS business on that portion of line.
They can spin it and tell us that railroads are cheaper transportation. Maybe for non-stop long haul but for local service I see more and more going to trucks. Example: If you ever visit the Macungie/Breinigsville, PA area notice how nearly all of the giant warehouse/ distribution centers were built away from the railroad tracks and are served by trucks. Traffic is a nightmare there anymore.

ladder2,

I don't think Passaic Valley has received a tank car of chlorine in about 25 years.

All,

You must remember that the businesses are leaving NJ as it is just to dang expensive to operate profitably here. Between taxes and the higher wages necessary for their workers to maintain a residence here businesses have and continue to move out of NJ.

cjvrr wrote:I don't think Passaic Valley has received a tank car of chlorine in about 25 years.

Looks like that plant switched to Ozone treatment around 2002:
PCI-WEDECO TO SUPPLY POTABLE WATER OZONE TREATMENT SYSTEM TO PASSAIC VALLEY WATER COMMISSION, NJ

Environmental Technologies (West Caldwell, New Jersey), has been selected to supply an integrated ozone generation system for the Little Falls Water Treatment Plant in Totowa, NJ, which is owned and operated by the Passaic Valley Water Commission (PVWC).

I remember coming across that plant around that time - not sure if it was before 2002 - and found the remnants of the trackage in a park-like environment (what I could see of it from the public road Riverview Drive) rather interesting.

When did the Schiffenhaus Packaging (now RockTenn) corrugated plant on the Erie Newark Branch cease getting roll stock via rail? the siding is still there. Many large corrugated plants still get roll stock by rail.

I remember seeing a train crossing Route 46 while in college, so around 1990 or so. By 1995 or thereabouts the tracks across Route 46 were removed.

Most water treatment plants moved away from getting tank car loads of chlorine and switched to a more stable and less toxic solid forms. The Newark Water Treatment facility in Kinnelon was one that got one or two tank cars of chlorine then never used rail again.

It should also be noted on that branch there were several other industrial business that had rail access. Those are all gone now too.

Sir Ray wrote:

cjvrr wrote:I don't think Passaic Valley has received a tank car of chlorine in about 25 years.

Looks like that plant switched to Ozone treatment around 2002:
PCI-WEDECO TO SUPPLY POTABLE WATER OZONE TREATMENT SYSTEM TO PASSAIC VALLEY WATER COMMISSION, NJ

Environmental Technologies (West Caldwell, New Jersey), has been selected to supply an integrated ozone generation system for the Little Falls Water Treatment Plant in Totowa, NJ, which is owned and operated by the Passaic Valley Water Commission (PVWC).

I remember coming across that plant around that time - not sure if it was before 2002 - and found the remnants of the trackage in a park-like environment (what I could see of it from the public road Riverview Drive) rather interesting.

US ink in Rutherford no longer receives tank or hopper cars !!! Schiffenhaus now RockTenn my guess about 20 yrs.since they got cars , all truck!

cjvrr wrote:I remember seeing a train crossing Route 46 while in college, so around 1990 or so. By 1995 or thereabouts the tracks across Route 46 were removed.
Most water treatment plants moved away from getting tank car loads of chlorine and switched to a more stable and less toxic solid forms. The Newark Water Treatment facility in Kinnelon was one that got one or two tank cars of chlorine then never used rail again.

I guess that extends to sewage treatment too, this treatment plant off Doremus Ave. in Newark NJ has a three track unloading area, but in ten years of on and off passing by the plant around the turn of the century, I recall seeing a tank car spot only once. The track in that view looks to be in decent shape, maybe they have a really fast turn around time...

Many customers gone along csx northern branch. Three that come to mind... J.J. Demerast/Dykes lumber (Closter)... Whyerhauser paper (Closter)... and Cove distributers (Northvale).

I will add to this... that this is a really sad commentary on what or how things used to be. I have read alot on this site, and also done a little research and exploration on my own, and have come to find out that Northern New Jersey, used to be a hotbed of rail. Kinda like a railroad central if you will. Every town had a train station and every train station had a siding. There were mainlines and branchlines and industrial spurs and sidings all going everywhere and in every direction. Just as an example... Take a ride on the NJT pascack valley line. Get on @ Westwood station and travel towards Hoboken. There is more old out of service rail, sidings, branchlines, etc. It is/was like a absolute MAZE of trackage going everywhere. Some of it is still there, alot gone, and some just remains of an old row. But think about that for a moment... And that's just in bergen county alone.

Add to this, that I've heard railroad taxes in NJ are astronomical, (so no incentive to keep a line active), and what CSX/NS charge for a car these days is outrageous. (which makes the truck option cheaper) Even what CSX/NS charge to maintain a siding or switch, is highway robbery. (again see truck option) And I didn't even mention nj property taxes. All these things I mentioned are on the railroad side of business.

All this adds up to the end of the "local" freight train. Pretty soon a branchline will only be something you'll learn about in History class in high school. And I have family members of mine who are not that old (late 50s- early 60s) who remember as teens helping unload boxcars on the northern branch in Closter. So alot of this has only happened in the last 20-30 years or so.

Aside from the unit oil trains for Westville, it's been up and down here in South Jersey but mostly down too. The former PRR Pemberton branch is busier than ever with CSAO running M-F all the time for a few years now. This used to be a 2-3 day a week run before the Hainesport Ind RR took over the Ind park shifting then. Trash businees started up requiring the extra runs by Conrail. The Beesley's has lost business in John's Manville in '09 due to the economy. International Paper has beem the steadiest customer as it's always been. The other couple of customers- DuBell and Warren Beer Dist don't get as much as they used to and interchange with SRNJ isn't as much as it was, except for the separately run stone trains which still do well. The power plant rarely gets shipments tho it got a coal train last week, and no further word has been said about it's future. They do run once or twice a week to exchange storage cars to CMSL at Tuckahoe on a steady basis these days.

The $$$$$ line - the Penns Grove Sec doesn't see a much as it did with the coke from the refineries being trucked out. Still good size trains but not like it was. The Salem Branch is all but dead with the Glass Plant closing in October. Very little business left there. Plus losing traffic at Mannington hurt big time. Most of the Millville traffic is interchange cars for Winchester and Western. Haven't followed the River Line counts but they are doing a little less with the old Agway plant not being on business and Ball Plastic closed a couple of years ago or so.

The port of Camden does ok plus Holt has a descent business with slab trains for both CSX and NS but overall the local traffic isn't what it used to be here. This state has never been too business friendly plus our high costs of everything that was mentioned earlier here.....

Airman- this whole state was a railroad hotbed then- SJ too. A lot of it was started when railroads became all about Wall St instead of running their business like a railroad- as a result we have too many trucks on the roads tying up traffic and tearing our roads up that they need to be paved more often which we can't keep up with. I'm only talking about the freight end of it too.

bluedash2, go back and read the second paragraph of airman00's post of 7.23 pm today. Keep reading it until it sinks in. Everything mentioned in it costs money. If that money is included in the freight rate, the truck rate will be cheaper; if it is not included in the freight rate, the railroad loses money on the shipment. The truck rate does not have to include anything to fix the roads, which may have something to do with the fact that the truck rate is cheaper and the roads are not being maintained. You might also clarify what you mean by "running their business like a railroad."