CR on the Southern Secondary

@CoastLineRailfan I was up there today and they put new rails in on the Siding that leads to Gold Lumber. Work is being done by a contractor called Tracks Unlimited. How come they are putting new rails in at a railroad crossing that hasn't seen a train since 2009?

Bracdude181 wrote: ↑Wed Aug 26, 2020 5:47 pm @CoastLineRailfan I was up there today and they put new rails in on the Siding that leads to Gold Lumber. Work is being done by a contractor called Tracks Unlimited. How come they are putting new rails in at a railroad crossing that hasn't seen a train since 2009?

Since it is mandated by the NJDOT. They aren't doing that to run trains over it.

Bracdude181 wrote: ↑Wed Aug 26, 2020 5:28 pm @pdtrains You've hit the nail right on the head. The southern used to have a large amount of customers who manufactured products back in the good old days.

The largest was a plastics plant across from Collingswood Auction. They got 20-25 cars every other day and had their own engine for moving cars around. The cars were full of plastic pellets used to make molded plastic products. (Mainly plastic pet cages)

From a firsthand account, they normally received up to 5 or 6 cars every few days, and were capable of holding about 15 to 18 cars on their property.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/uvuGqdLfvW8Rjabw8

These are the pictures I took while I was in farmingdale today. This is the OOS track that crosses Railroad Ave in Farmingdale. Looks like it's being returned to service....

Bracdude181 wrote: ↑Wed Aug 26, 2020 6:40 pm https://photos.app.goo.gl/uvuGqdLfvW8Rjabw8

These are the pictures I took while I was in farmingdale today. This is the OOS track that crosses Railroad Ave in Farmingdale. Looks like it's being returned to service....

Theres no other proof that its coming back to service. One crossing being done out of maybe 10 mile of track barely means anything.

They put track back in under the NJ TPK just west of Cranbury 5 years ago. But they still don't use it. It's most likely just funded by the NJDOT so they fixed it up...

@jdh823 I think I know that track. Runs parallel with Heightstown-Cranbury road for about a mile. Doesn't make much sense to rebuild a railroad crossing or rail line for it to not be used.

Who knows. Maybe Crosslin Contractor Supply in Farmingdale is gonna get rail service. (They have a siding but it's not connected to the main) I had been hearing rumors from Conrail employees that they had been wanting to reopen the Farmingdale to Freehold route. I personally hope that's what's gonna happen, but only time will tell...

Bracdude181 wrote:@jdh823 I think I know that track. Runs parallel with Heightstown-Cranbury road for about a mile. Doesn't make much sense to rebuild a railroad crossing or rail line for it to not be used.

Who knows. Maybe Crosslin Contractor Supply in Farmingdale is gonna get rail service. (They have a siding but it's not connected to the main) I had been hearing rumors from Conrail employees that they had been wanting to reopen the Farmingdale to Freehold route. I personally hope that's what's gonna happen, but only time will tell...

They never put the switch back to the old Jamesway Building either. While I agree that this does't really mean anything, they could just as easily removed the crossing. So while just the crossing doesn't really mean much for restoration, it might mean CR isn't looking to pull the rails up just yet.

Today's train is being lead by CSX 4406 with CSX 4429 trailing. About 10-11 cars. The regular crew members are out today...

I'd assume they're in Tinton Falls?

In South Amboy right now with permission to open the switch...

Ah, I heard they were an hour early so I assumed they were further along.

Approaching Maxwell Rd at 4:45 in the pm with 11 for Woodhaven.

Found out from a reliable source that Howell Township wanted to pave over the Gold Lumber siding due to it being out of service. They brought it up with Conrail and Conrail said they wanted to save the track for a "potential future use" Conrail didn't provide a timeline for if or when the track was gonna be used. (Shocker)

Bracdude181 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 27, 2020 6:18 pm Found out from a reliable source that Howell Township wanted to pave over the Gold Lumber siding due to it being out of service. They brought it up with Conrail and Conrail said they wanted to save the track for a "potential future use" Conrail didn't provide a timeline for if or when the track was gonna be used. (Shocker)

Once again "potential" is the key word here. Doesn't mean it will happen. I have not heard anything about this and I know a lot of people in the railroad.

You're thinking about it too much. Just because they don't want to have it paved over doesn't mean its coming back

While we are at pipe dreams, I saw the crossing malfunction on Stults road, and conrail crews working on the crossing. Does that mean its coming back? No.

SA-38 approaching BANK at 1:19 in the AM