by JohnFromJersey
Maybe we should all pool some money together, find some rich people to befriend, and buy the line ourselves. I'm sure we would do a good job
Railroad Forums
Moderator: David
OCtrainguy wrote: ↑Sun Oct 18, 2020 7:31 pm A lot of discussion going on here the past few weeks on the ol' Southern. With 590 pages now, there's still a lot of passion from the railfans on the former CNJ line. As a child, a drive to my grandmother's in Lakehurst meant crossing the tracks in Lakewood and the Glidden Spur for a chance to see Conrail. That did happen a few times, seeing the train stopped at County Line Road right at 84 Lumber a few times and then once on the Glidden Spur.Couldn't agree more. Speculating is always fun, and a realists' view can't hurt from time to time.
We often didn't, but a walk from my grandmother's house down to the tracks in Lakehurst didn't result in seeing a train. Ironically, a weekday soccer game in Manchester during the fall of 1990 resulted in me seeing a train on the Toms River branch . The train was heading back to Lakehurst. I first photographed the SA35 back in 1997, thanks to a co-worker, who lived in western Howell and would cross the tracks in Farmingdale to get to the office. His sightings on certain days helped me get my first photos of the train.
A lot has changed obviously since then. Builders General has shipments consolidated to Freehold (from Little Silver, Toms River and Freehold locations). Gold Lumber was destroyed by fire and never rebuilt. US Components in Lakewood closed (is now a private school). The lumber yard in southern Howell changed names several times, not sure what it is now, but doesn't get rail service. DiNaso is no longer in Lakewood and whoever was receiving the pole cars there no longer does. PolyOne moved (out of state I think) from there location in Howell. They were a large customer for the line. Woodhaven is now the biggest customer. As also noted in the recent discussions, several have come and gone. Clayton has a rail line at their Lakewood location, but doesn't use it. The use of the siding for fertilizer via Ocean Gro was a great idea, but that was killed by competitors. Sand trains have been talked about for quite a while now. That would be a shot in the arm for this line.
There continues to be talk about potential for this line, but to me, that depends on who runs it and how hungry they'd be for that business. For now, I will continue to enjoy the updates we share on the weekly trip of the SA 31 and discussions concerning the line. When weather and my work schedule allows (hybrid of remote and in-office), I will try to get out and photo the train. That's getting a bit more challenging now with sunset at 6:30ish right now.
CJPat wrote: ↑Mon Oct 19, 2020 7:06 am OCtrainguy,There is Chris' site as well as one with a load of CNJ era photos. The CNJ ones aren't the best quality since they were scanned but are still nice to browse from time to time. I don't have the link right now but I'll post it later.
There used to be a fantastic website that contained a myriad of pictures from when the Southern was running regular freights. Was that your website? Does it still exist?
Coast Line Railfan wrote: ↑Tue Oct 20, 2020 12:07 pmhttp://web.archive.org/web/201004250434 ... oudiv.htmlCJPat wrote: ↑Mon Oct 19, 2020 7:06 am OCtrainguy,There is Chris' site as well as one with a load of CNJ era photos. The CNJ ones aren't the best quality since they were scanned but are still nice to browse from time to time. I don't have the link right now but I'll post it later.
There used to be a fantastic website that contained a myriad of pictures from when the Southern was running regular freights. Was that your website? Does it still exist?