High Bridge Line and Raritan Valley Line questions

so here I am in Baghdad looking at a computer with Google Earth. I was on Google Earth and saw the high Bridge and Rairitain Valley Lines and I thin kthat the high Bridge ROW from what Isaw looks in pretty good condition. Would it be possible for CSX, NS, or M&E to rehab this line and press it back into workgin service and operate it again as a through line as an alternative to existing freight routes?

With the Raritain Valley with the exception of Route 78 cutting through it I think NJT could resue this ROW and just put a bridge on it while servicing the existing stations like Lulow Asbury and if they want to then Alpha or P Burg depending on where they can get the most parking sicne I heard the srea around P burg station is run down and has next to no parking for commuters.

This is what I saw on Google Earth. Correct me if I'm worng but I think the optimism is getting to me.

NJTRailfan wrote:so here I am in Baghdad looking at a computer with Google Earth. I was on Google Earth and saw the high Bridge and Rairitain Valley Lines and I thin kthat the high Bridge ROW from what Isaw looks in pretty good condition. Would it be possible for CSX, NS, or M&E to rehab this line and press it back into workgin service and operate it again as a through line as an alternative to existing freight routes?

With the Raritain Valley with the exception of Route 78 cutting through it I think NJT could resue this ROW and just put a bridge on it while servicing the existing stations like Lulow Asbury and if they want to then Alpha or P Burg depending on where they can get the most parking sicne I heard the srea around P burg station is run down and has next to no parking for commuters.

This is what I saw on Google Earth. Correct me if I'm worng but I think the optimism is getting to me.

It would need a bridge over I-78 and a new one over what is marked as 3rd Ave on Google, as that was removed some years ago. A couple or three smaller bridges might need rehab, too. Not a big deal. The track and signals would need complete replacement and or rehab for higher speeds.

But as a first step, it would be relatively inexpensive to extend west of High Bridge to where Route 173 crosses under I-78 - where the large truck stops are, easily seen on Google. The CNJ line is right there, there is lots of room for parking inside the I-78 exit loop or the adjacent farm field. Plus there is no need for anything other than track and signal work. The costly I-78 bridge would not be needed as that's west of this location. Since the I-78 exit is west of Jugtown Mountain that is a significant problem in inclement weather, this could be a real attraction to residents in that area and the west. West to Easton, more practical than just to P'burg, could happen at a later date.

Don't believe everything you see from space.

Except for the portion from Mt Olive north, the High Bridge ROW is a natural gas pipeline ROW now and is also a trail for most of its length. Thus, it is open and preserved, but nary a rail in sight.

Besides the economic and political costs, the biggest impediment to restoring rail service would be a lack of users. There are no freight users along the ROW, which at one time was peach country. IIRC, peaches and some mining products, zinc, iron ore, etc. were the primary goods shipped on the line.

Finally, the rails would run right through dowtown High Bridge, close enough for the engineer to run his hand on the side of some buildings and homes. No way service ever gets restored.

Jlo, Are any of these industries still around to where they could be intrested again in rail service or are they all gone? Had no idea they had peaches out there alogn with that amt of mining. When did they shut down?

So would it be impossible to even expand service jsut to Hampton and not all the way to Alpha (Due to lack of parking at P burg) as was originally planned by NJT?

I reember the project being on NJT's to do list only to be taken off when they redid their website. I was hoping NJT could do what they did on the M&E Lien and expand service to the two stations like Glenn Gardner and Hampton like they did when they got back into Mt Olive and Hackettstown. Too bad they didn't get into Washington.

NJTRailfan wrote:Jlo, Are any of these industries still around to where they could be intrested again in rail service or are they all gone? Had no idea they had peaches out there alogn with that amt of mining. When did they shut down?

So would it be impossible to even expand service jsut to Hampton and not all the way to Alpha (Due to lack of parking at P burg) as was originally planned by NJT?

I reember the project being on NJT's to do list only to be taken off when they redid their website. I was hoping NJT could do what they did on the M&E Lien and expand service to the two stations like Glenn Gardner and Hampton like they did when they got back into Mt Olive and Hackettstown. Too bad they didn't get into Washington.

I've traversed the entire length of the High Bridge line trail. No mines or industry left between the current end of track and High Bridge. The peach industry in the area, as I recall reading, failed in the early 1900's at least in part to a blight that attacked the orchards.

JLO was describing the former High Bridge Branch with the pipeline. The former main line from High Bridge to I-78's milepost 3 is intact, and in the Bloomsbury area still has a freight customer served via a ramp down from the Lehigh Line onto the CNJ line west of Bloomsbury. See my post above in this topic.