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  • CR on the Southern Secondary

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Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New Jersey

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 #1569470  by CharlieL
 
As noted above, I got the 2.6 mile figure from the grant request which states 2.6 miles to be upgraded with 132# rail between mileposts 22 and 24.6 (Freehold to Farmingdale). Also noted was bridge work at MP 12.75 (FIT). I'm not familiar with that bridge. Somewhere between Jamesburg and Englishtown? Also noted the crossing work for the 5 re-established crossings is to be done by Conrail (Okerson, Howell, 524, and Southard) and NJT (Fairfield and Yellowbrook).
New curbing has been installed by Earle with cuts at the crossing location on Howell Rd in preparation for some repaving on the road.
Other than a mention of bridge rehab to be done at MP 58.45 and some brush clearing, little mention is made of the southern below Lakewood.
 #1569630  by JohnFromJersey
 
I believe the Warehouse that's under the Route 33/34 bridge by the Auction is going to have a tile place in it soon; do we think/know if they will use rail service? The sign that advertised the warehouse being for lease/sale advertised rail access...
 #1569667  by CJPat
 
I am not too sure about that. The Southern Division has always been the track all the way down to the Delaware Bay area after being sold to the CNJ. The Trit was only a branch line to Forked River turned spur as it was cut back. The Southern Secondary was pretty much defined as terminating in Lakehurst after the 1980's even though the Toms River spur continued with customers until it was closed in the 2000's.

Not too sure when the Southern Division was downgraded to the Southern Secondary. Was it after they abandoned everything south of Woodmansie? or was it when Clayton bought the Woodmansie "spur" from NJDOT?

I have never heard anyone try to refer to the Toms River Branch as a part of the Southern Secondary anytime over the last 20 years that I had been monitoring.
 #1569677  by JohnFromJersey
 
CJPat wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 5:55 am I am not too sure about that. The Southern Division has always been the track all the way down to the Delaware Bay area after being sold to the CNJ. The Trit was only a branch line to Forked River turned spur as it was cut back. The Southern Secondary was pretty much defined as terminating in Lakehurst after the 1980's even though the Toms River spur continued with customers until it was closed in the 2000's.

Not too sure when the Southern Division was downgraded to the Southern Secondary. Was it after they abandoned everything south of Woodmansie? or was it when Clayton bought the Woodmansie "spur" from NJDOT?

I have never heard anyone try to refer to the Toms River Branch as a part of the Southern Secondary anytime over the last 20 years that I had been monitoring.
The TRIT wasn't just a branch line, it was originally part of an even larger Camden-Toms River Line back in the day. Here's a thread on it: rr-line-from-camden-to-toms-river-t8951.html
Apparently, the switch in Lakehurst for it was originally a diamond that connected to Camden via Mount Holly and Lakehurst, I've seen some of the last remnants of this line when I lived in South Jersey. Then it would continue down south all the way down to Baywood or wherever where it became the Barnegat Branch. That got cut back SEVERELY where it became the TRIT.

As for the Southern Secondary, yes, I believe it was downgraded to Secondary from Division status when Woodmansie down was abandoned. Reactivating this part, which many talk about here, would indeed resurrect the Southern's Division status, albeit it would probably take two or three different companies running this zombie division to make it realistic
 #1569678  by R&DB
 
The Southern Secondary was originally the Raritan and Delaware Bay Railroad. It ran from Port Monmouth on the Raritan Bay to Bivalve on the Delaware Bay. After going bankrupt it was re-incorporated as the New Jersey Southern. Later purchased by CNJ it became their Southern Division. The CNJ Southern Division included all CNJ properties South of the Raritan River. At the advent of Conrail it became state property and was operated by Conrail and was named their Southern Secondary. The portion from Lakehurst to Woodmansie was purchased from the state by Clayton Sand in the early 1980s. Below Woodmansie it is still state property. Parts of it are operated by SRNJ and W&W.
The TRIT was originally the Toms River Railroad and ran from Lakehurst to Toms River. Eventually purchased by CNJ, it was extended to Barnegat and became CNJ's Barnegat Branch. I believe the current name (Toms River Industrial Track) began with Conrail in the 1970s. The line was cut back to the spur that crosses NJ-37 into the former Ciba-Geigy plant in the 1980s or 90s. In 2009 the TRIT was disconnected from the Southern by removing the switch to Ocean-Gro for use at the Cross St run-around.
Last edited by R&DB on Mon Apr 26, 2021 10:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
 #1569679  by R&DB
 
John from Jersey:
The TRIT wasn't just a branch line, it was originally part of an even larger Camden-Toms River Line back in the day. Here's a thread on it:
John, the TRIT has / had NOTHING to do with the line from Camden that passed through Pemberton, crossed the CNJ in Whiting, went through South Toms River, Ocean Gate, Seaside and Bay Head. It's purpose was to bring Vacationers from the Philly area to Long Branch which was the premier beach resort in the 1870s-1880s. The only thing they had in common was a diamond crossing in Beachwood near where US-9 and NJ-166 intersect now.
Last edited by R&DB on Mon Apr 26, 2021 12:27 pm, edited 2 times in total.
 #1569681  by JohnFromJersey
 
R&DB wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 9:56 am John from Jersey:
The TRIT wasn't just a branch line, it was originally part of an even larger Camden-Toms River Line back in the day. Here's a thread on it:
John, the TRIT has / had NOTHING to do with the line from Camden that passed through Pemberton Whiting South Toms River Ocean Gate Seaside Bay Head. The only thing they had in common was a diamond crossing in Beachwood near where US-9 and NJ-166 intersect now.
Yep, my mistake.
 #1569692  by CJPat
 
Thanks R&DB for providing a fuller description of the two lines and the correction to John mistaking the Pennsy Backroad for the Toms River-Forked River Branch.
 #1569895  by GSC
 
The TRIT / Barnegat Branch did have an "almost sort" of connection with service from Camden if you count the side-by-side running of the Tuckerton RR and the Barnegat Branch from Waretown to Barnegat. Although little used, there was a connection between the two at Waretown. The Tuckerton actually operated the Toms River RR / Barnegat Branch for a short time when the Toms River RR went on strike, providing service from Tuckerton, Barnegat, Toms River, and Lakehurst. (Have to look at Brinckmann's book for exact dates) The strike didn't last long, and the Tuckerton RR found it difficult to run those extra miles and keep to a convenient schedule.
 #1569968  by Bracdude181
 
Well, I’m a bit late to the party.

So, the grant indeed was for C&D to reopen Farmingdale to Freehold and it seems like they will take over from Conrail once all the work is done.

C&D has their work cut out for them to turn things around in Central Jersey. Nice to see they will do some repairs but I’m sincerely hoping they will do more than just what they are talking about. The Southern Secondary and Freehold Industrial Track need a lot more than just a few thousand ties and other spot repairs. Some sections are bad enough that it’s honestly a miracle there isn’t a derailment.
 #1570034  by pumpers
 
GSC wrote: Wed Apr 28, 2021 10:21 am The TRIT / Barnegat Branch did have an "almost sort" of connection with service from Camden if you count the side-by-side running of the Tuckerton RR and the Barnegat Branch from Waretown to Barnegat. Although little used, there was a connection between the two at Waretown. The Tuckerton actually operated the Toms River RR / Barnegat Branch for a short time when the Toms River RR went on strike, providing service from Tuckerton, Barnegat, Toms River, and Lakehurst. (Have to look at Brinckmann's book for exact dates) The strike didn't last long, and the Tuckerton RR found it difficult to run those extra miles and keep to a convenient schedule.
I believe the Tuckerton RR was for many years controlled by the PRR, so I wonder if coming from Camden/Philly to Whiting on the PRR, you could go directly to Barnegat or Tuckerton without changing at Whiting. I doubt it - I'll have to go look at some old Official Guides and look up the connections.
Related, it would be fun to look at the CNJ and Tuckerton RR schedules, to see if you were trying to go from Forked River or Waretown for example to Camden, and took the CNJ down to Barnegat, how long a layover you had before you could get the Tuckerton RR to Whiting, and again how long you had to sit in Whiting. (The Tuckerton came in just a bit south of Waretown - was there a station there - if so how far was it from the CNJ station a bit north in Waretown?)

In Barnegat, I found maps online https://library.princeton.edu/libraries ... negat.html
Go to 1909 page 3 - the CNJ and Tuckerton RR stations were about 100-200 feet apart, just north of Bay Ave on Railroad ave (now Memorial Dr). Does anyone know if the old brick building on the NE corner of Memorial Dr & Bay Ave that I see on Google Maps https://goo.gl/maps/YRtrrLw3DXe7zM1u8 is the CNJ station? (I have a deja vu feeling that was discussed here on RR.net once 5 or 10 or 20 years ago...)

EDIT: WIkipedia says https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuckerton_Railroad
"In 1900, through passenger service was established by the PRR between Camden and Beach Haven." !!- that meant Camden to Whiting, going down through Barnegat, across Barnegat Bay, and then running down Long Beach Island. I wonder how long that trip took.
 #1570040  by JSX331
 
Was having Dinner in Freehold borough last night and heard a train come through. Still new to this area and lines. What customers get served in the Freehold area? Thanks!
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