Salem County Line - Swedesboro to Salem - Operated by: West Jersey, SRNJ, US Rail, SMS

What happened that caused the change from SRNJ to SMS?

So SMS also owns the Westville Branch? Do they have trackage rights to get from Woodbury to there if the line ever sees another train? Sure are spending big bucks for a line that hasn't seen a train in years, or is that our money being spent like it was to place welded rail all the way to Salem so Sweeney could hold a press conference? https://www.southjerseyobserver.com/202 ... -route-45/

Mod Note: I did some combining of the various Salem based threads into one comprehensive thread.

Note the item for Port of Salem and movement of sand to NYC. Anyone have more details? https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews ... ra-grants/

New Jersey: $9 million to the Port of Salem for a $24.2 million project which will extend a berth from 150 to 500 feet, and allow for refurbishment of a multimodal rail connection. The project will allow concrete and sand to be moved to New York City by barge rather than truck, and allow the port to handle ships involved in manufacture and transport of large wind-energy components.

Dcell wrote: ↑Wed Jun 30, 2021 6:30 pm Note the item for Port of Salem and movement of sand to NYC. Anyone have more details? https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews ... ra-grants/

New Jersey: $9 million to the Port of Salem for a $24.2 million project which will extend a berth from 150 to 500 feet, and allow for refurbishment of a multimodal rail connection. The project will allow concrete and sand to be moved to New York City by barge rather than truck, and allow the port to handle ships involved in manufacture and transport of large wind-energy components.

The concrete and sand may be, in part, used for construction of offshore wind turbine platform support structure. See also: "INFRA FY 2021 Proposed Project Selections For Official Use OnlyPORT OF SALEM INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTSouth Jersey Port CorporationSalem, New JerseyProposed Award: $9,000,000Portion of Proposed Award Subject to 23 U.S.C. 117(d)(2): $9,000,000Estimated Future Eligible Project Costs: $24,248,679Estimated Minimum Non-Federal Funding: $9,699,472Urban-Rural Designation: RuralProject DescriptionThe South Jersey Port Corporation will be awarded $9 million to: rehabilitate an approximately 150-linear-foot bulkhead and extend it to approximately 500 linear feet; dredging the new berth; acquire an adjacent approximate 6-acre former glass manufacturing facility; and perform site preparation, improvements, and refurbish a multi-modal rail connection.Project BenefitsThe project would support economic vitality by expanding the Port’s barge capacity and allowing shipments of concrete and sand to the New York City area by barge rather than by truck. The reduction in truck miles traveled will alleviate issues that face the New Jersey Interstate Highway System such as congestion and roadway maintenance costs. The project also directly supports the renewable energy supply chain, as the improvements will allow the Port to accommodate the vessels that assist the manufacturing, assembly, and transport of large wind energy components in an efficient and cost-effective manner." https://bylt.news/wp-content/uploads/20 ... ons-v2.pdf

Thanks for the additional details. The area has been hurting since the last glass factory closed down 3 years ago.

I'm guessing the sand would come from the pits in Quinton? They'd ship the sand by rail to the port?

Dcell wrote: ↑Sat Jul 03, 2021 11:35 am I'm guessing the sand would come from the pits in Quinton? They'd ship the sand by rail to the port?

How would the train get down to the pits. Is there still a clear ROW to it? Also, if this is the originating point, would it really be more effective to do all the work to connect the train to the pits when trucks can run a round trip in 30 minutes?

I admit I'm confused. The grant mentions a trans loading facility at the port - how does the railroad fit into this scheme?

Maybe the idea is to run them from the active sand pits in Williamstown Jct. to Pavonia to Woodbury to Salem then to the barge? Seems like an awful lot of trouble when the trains could take it straight to New York.

Bump

What’s been up with this line? No trains in like 6 months…

Was in the area and checked out Woodbury. There’s a reefer car in front of 100 and 102, looks like it’s being transloaded here.

The reefer hasn’t been there long but the engines don’t look like they’ve moved in a while. Wheels are covered in rust…

Okay, found out that they go to Woodstown around once a month or so, but everything else just gets transloaded at Woodbury now.

Bracdude181 wrote: ↑Wed May 18, 2022 6:02 pm Okay, found out that they go to Woodstown around once a month or so, but everything else just gets transloaded at Woodbury now.

So their business is down?