Delaware and Raritan River Railroad-General Discussion

JohnFromJersey wrote: ↑Fri Feb 03, 2023 8:12 pm Today's RB-1 return trip at Megill Rd, sometime between 2 and 2:30, I forgot

Blackseal Jim wrote: ↑Fri Feb 03, 2023 1:16 pm Just drove past Okerson Rd crossing. Crew has moved the rails off to the side and are grading the road bed
Jim H

That is crazy. I was not expecting them to begin starting track work this early, especially before the ROW clearing was done! For trackwork, will they put the ballast or the tracks down first? I know Brightline in Florida put the tracks down first, and then the ballast for a lot of their construction.

Bracdude181 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 03, 2023 2:22 pm They might reach Gold Lumber by days end!

Speaking of Gold's Lumber, I wonder if an industrial customer will return to that site after the reconnection is done.

pumpers wrote: ↑Fri Feb 03, 2023 2:36 pm Once they clear Southard Ave. what will be interesting is if they not only curve left to clear the existing track to connect compass northbound on the Southern, but if they also go straight and clear past the JCP&L yard to make a compass southbound connection to the Southern. Monday perhaps.

They will definitely clear straight to JCP&L in addition to the northbound curve of the (future) wye.

Bracdude181 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 03, 2023 5:25 pm Almost the whole Freehold Team Track has been removed. All that’s left is the crossing and the tracks on the other side. Some of the brush has been cleaned on the other side, presumably to allow EH Allen to unload his next shipment.

Don’t know if they’ll rebuild the removed tracks.

Didn't a Facebook post say they are rebuilding it?

Speaking of shipments, I was at Jamesburg today, at Recoil. Recoil is down the street from the Jamesburg wye. I saw not one, but THREE tanker cars there, who gets those and why so many? IIRC, tanker cars rarely ran on the FIT.

I also saw 1888 parked on the wye, but no sign of 2005. Where did it go?

Bracdude181 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 03, 2023 7:34 pm Forgot to mention there’s an article in the Howell Times about Farmingdale to Freehold being reopened. I have the newspaper but can’t show it due to my ongoing technical issues.

Here's the Howell Times article

Bracdude181 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 03, 2023 8:00 pm This also assuming any ballast will be delivered by rail.

When I spoke with the guys at Adelphia Road, (they’re the same crew who put ties in the southern) they mentioned Faemingdale to Freehold might have the sub ballast replaced. (Provided there’s any left)

They probably won't deliver any ballast by rail. It would probably make the ordeal easier, but if the ballast is coming locally, and they want to get it done before the crossings are done, they will have to do it by truck most likely.

Also, what is sub ballast??

From what I saw yesterday , and the tree stumps that ha e to be removed , it's a total rebuild. Much of the ROW runs through mucky area's so they'll have to put down a solid base before they start rebuilding.
Jim H

Id expect that they will lay the base below the ties with 1" or 1 1/2" rock. Its easier to smooth for laying ties evenly, and less air per truckload. Some places (especially with contractors using trucks)
...they use small rock as the ballast over the ties too. I guess we'll see.

With all due respect..this is new jersey...so the quarry that gets all this ballast business will be one that is politically connected. The way the ballast is delivered, will be dependent upon how that quarry can deliver it.

Politically connected, you say?

Hmm. Could Stavola be said quarry? Or someone else?


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@pdtrains, that's what they're getting, 27,500 tons 1-1/2 stone.

When does phase 2 grant money become available?

Not sure. I haven’t been able to find anything on 2023 NJ freight rail grants. Only stuff for passenger rail…


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I do not think they have applied for it yet.

The state hasn't published the 2022 RFAP on www.state.nj.us. The 2021 report was only published as a press release.

State may wish to wait before granting any more funds to C&D until this one is complete, or substantially complete.

I have no idea if Stavola sells 1 1/2 " rock or not, but if so and they are the contractor, for a million bucks, they could put in a short siding, and load a couple of hopper cars with a wheel loader, and shuttle them back and forth.

I concur. I think the state will wait for this project to be (mostly) completed before giving them more money, which is maybe why they are moving so fast for NJ.

In addition, a friend of mine walked the RoW between Adelphia Rd and where they stopped yesterday, and sent me a ton of pictures. He said he walked what is probably .25-.5 of a mile, from where the Adelphia Rd crossing is, to where C&D stopped. Here's the album

He then also went to Southard Ave. Took some pictures there, but there wasn't much to show. Here's that album

Tracks Unlimited was doing the clearing Friday. They even said the rails aren’t all that bad and could probably be left in place and used depending on what section your talking about.

The reason there isn’t much brush on the section he took the pictures is because that section of track was kept relatively clear until Gold Lumber closed. Just enough so SA31 could pull up to the bridge or thereabouts if they had a big train.

The ties are definitely shot from what I saw in those pics.

Oh they are. Roadbed is too. That’s why those are getting replaced.

Still a bit concerned about that bridge though. Mainly because little chunks of concrete appear to have fallen off the bottom going off the picture Forest uploaded.