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  • CR on the Southern Secondary

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

Moderator: David

 #1577663  by Bracdude181
 
Approaching Squankum Rd 8:39 PM

The rail that was dropped off is four sections of brand new rail, each 60 feet long.

At least 132 pound rail but may be heavier.
 #1577670  by Bracdude181
 
SA-31 is (thankfully) drilling Woodhaven.

There’s no SA38 tonight, so expect an SA93 either today or tomorrow. Will likely leave Woodhaven between 10 am and 1 PM.

See you all next week.
 #1577745  by Bracdude181
 
The train is still parked at Woodhaven. No crew in sight. Also, 4432 is leaking oil.

Jeez. It’s a good thing SA31 did Woodhaven Friday night.

Not sure how this train is gonna get back. Maybe PR-19 will pick it up??
 #1577751  by Jersey Rail FIlmmakers
 
Bracdude181 wrote:The train is still parked at Woodhaven. No crew in sight. Also, 4432 is leaking oil.

Jeez. It’s a good thing SA31 did Woodhaven Friday night.

Not sure how this train is gonna get back. Maybe PR-19 will pick it up??
I give Conrail 1 year before everyone, such as customers, NJT, etc, get "pissed off" with Conrail. It seems like the past few weeks have been a big sloppy mess.
 #1577753  by RailsEast
 
Bracdude181 wrote: Thu May 20, 2021 4:18 pm Train stopped at Hamilton Rd for a major oil leak.
Should not Conrail have fixed the oil leak on this unit first reported in May? No wonder why no business wants rail service on this line, all reports here indicate shoddy service which might be fixed with a concerted effort.
Conrail North Jersey doesn't care, numerous oil leaks on locomotives, I surely wouldn't locate my business here.
How about some positive news for a change, even with the world in flux. How about Conrail is doing the best they can or something like that. How about crews are short, but CR keeps the freight moving. That's how you get business back, not CR sux and doesn't care about anyone anymore.
Just my opinion...
 #1577758  by Sir Ray
 
RailsEast wrote: Sun Aug 08, 2021 9:05 pmHow about some positive news for a change, even with the world in flux. How about Conrail is doing the best they can or something like that. How about crews are short, but CR keeps the freight moving. That's how you get business back, not CR sux and doesn't care about anyone anymore.
All well and good, but what if in fact CR management for the area does indeed suck and in fact can't wait for C&D or whoever to come in and take over so CR can run to the hills...
 #1577759  by RailsEast
 
With all due respect, Sir Ray, (and I know of your intelligent and respected posts on rr.net), then keep it to yourself. Continuous negative news about a potentially profitable rail line just pushes business away.

And just a reminder...this is the world wide web (www), people (and potential rail customers) from around the world can and will read everything here, which is one of the most popular rail sites on the internet.

Not to ruffle anyone's feathers, just trying to keep this historic line operational and viable into the 21st century...

Chris
 #1577768  by Bracdude181
 
@Jersey Rail Filmmakers People are already upset with Conrail. NJT especially. Conrail North Jersey and NJT have been on bad terms for quite some time now.

@RailsEast The major oil leak in may was from 4452 and thankfully that engine is long gone. 4432 is sick as well but nowhere near as bad as 4452 was.

@SirRay You are absolutely 100 percent correct in saying that Conrail can’t wait to get rid of this line. They’ve been to do so for decades. They don’t care who takes the line over, they just want it gone. Therefore it’s not their problem.

What’s worse is that the new ownership will just be a watered down version of who was there before. Cheap maintenance, rotten engines, rotten track, etc.

I know I gotta try to stay positive sometimes, but if this is how things are gonna go from here on out, then maybe honesty is the best policy.
 #1577771  by Sir Ray
 
RailsEast wrote: Sun Aug 08, 2021 10:14 pm (and I know of your intelligent and respected posts on rr.net)
All right you gave me a good chuckle with this one. You work in PR or advertising?
Continuous negative news about a potentially profitable rail line just pushes business away.
Eh, some people kvetching on a message board would likely not be a significant driver of that. No, IMO its what actually happens, the actual service and reliability, the actual customer response and satisfaction, that drives it. Also if there's a perceived change in attitude toward more positive, responsive service either by a new more focused management, or a new owner (ahem, C&D which is what we've been discussing in this thread for a number of pages), or at least someone who wants to market and sell service (like a short-line, like we've been discussing in this thread...eh, you get the idea). I would certainly expect that no company rep would see my 'maybe management does suck' and say 'Yes, that Sir Ray makes a lot of sense - cancel that contract!' or that company may not be around much longer itself. My presence in social media is just not that powerful.
Of course external factors such as plant closings (e.g. the recent Nabisco closure in North Jersey) don't help matters, but in general are not the railroad's fault.
 #1577772  by Sir Ray
 
Bracdude181 wrote: Mon Aug 09, 2021 8:13 am What’s worse is that the new ownership will just be a watered down version of who was there before. Cheap maintenance, rotten engines, rotten track, etc.
OK, I have a question on how the Dover and Delaware IS doing with the lines they took over from NS? I know they started the clearance project (I think they finished it), but the RR.net Dover and Delaware thread had been rather quiet since 2019 (with one recent post involving the southern secondary) - so is the D&D running engines in bad shape? Skimping on maintenance? Poor track upkeep? And how will this translate to the Southern Secondary and beyond?
 #1577778  by Bracdude181
 
@Sir Ray I went to go see how this operation runs a few weeks back and what I saw was not good at all. In fact, it was worse than I thought it would be. It’s kinda disappointing because I went in hoping that everything I had been hearing about this company being bad would be exaggerated.

Before I get started I would like to note that the amount of traffic on the Washington Secondary has steadily been decreasing since early 2020 and hasn’t gone back up. Same goes for cars to Lake Junction and especially the Totowa Industrial Track. I cannot explain why this is going on, especially when the amount of traffic into areas like Browns Yard are practically back to normal, if not slightly up from before the pandemic.

Now onto the main event, with a chase starting in Phillipsburg. (Videos and pictures of all that is mentioned below this at the bottom)

The Washington Secondary was in no better shape than the Freehold Industrial Track. Many of the tracks were uneven and despite this, the train cruised along at 20-25 mph the whole time. The train was swaying violently throughout the trip. Under the last few years of NS this was 10 MPH track, according to the 2015 Harrisburg Division timetable.

Like the Southern Secondary, several crossings were inoperable requiring the crew to stop and flag. At one crossing, a no trespassing was VERY close to the tracks. Signs were also bolted to trees in a few spots which was a little amusing lol. Other crossings had lights that only came maybe 10 or so seconds before the train crossed the road and that was concerning...

The engines, ex NS 5303 and 5304, were okay. They are at least better than most engines in Conrail North Jersey, but they made some odd noises and smoked a bit. I’ve definitely seen much worse, but there are other engines on C&D that are much worse than these two.

The relay cases at all the crossings I stopped at had cheap locks from Home Depot on them. Anyone who knows how to pick a lock would be able to pick those and help themselves to the signal rectifiers, batteries, relays, and copper wires inside. Wouldn’t be a good day for the signal maintainer.

One crossing next to Washington Yard was rebuilt cheaply, with asphalt that was already cracking despite being maybe 2 years old at most. The crossing was built with cheap equipment too from a mixture with what looked like the cheapest components of like 4 different companies. (WCH, Harmon, Progress Rail, General signals) That was kinda odd to see vs the all Safetran setup Conrail uses on crossing rebuilds.

Track work had been done recently but very few ties were installed. Which is odd because this area of track was considered excepted track under NS. Credit where it’s due, the new siding in the yard looked well made. That was probably the highest quality track I saw that day. Sadly I didn’t get a picture of it as they got back to the yard around 4 and I had to get home. Next time maybe I’ll chase to Rockport Yard.

Also the track directly leading up to Washington Yard was pretty rough. Quite a few spots where the joints in the track had dipped.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/9WAYmKGi54TRc6USA

Sooooooo yeah. After seeing all that I can’t say I’m excited to see them on the Southern Secondary. I’m not gonna knock anyone for liking this company as that would just be rude, but the first impressions, in my opinion, is that this isn’t what I was hoping for and I’m not looking forward to seeing all this on the Southern in two years.
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