CNJ in Roselle/Cranford

Took photographs of some remanants of the CNJ.

A CNJ signal tower at the Linden Rd. grade crossing on the
Roselle/Roselle Park border.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... ?id=332730
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Based on old photos, this is what is left of EXCEE tower in Cranford.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... ?id=332734

Some concrete bases. Not really sure what they were for.

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Cranford junction's roundhouse.It is now occupied by the Cranford DPW.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... ?id=332736

Old rails from Cranford Yard.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... ?id=332738
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The twisted tracks of the Rahway Valley interchange. This spot
is directly under the GSP.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... ?id=332746

The now single track CNJ main with the switch for Federal Plastics.
The siding is a double ended siding but the local switches the
hopper cars for FP at this end.(west)

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... ?id=332739

A view of the Aldene ramp to the LVRR from under the GSP.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... ?id=332740

Nice work, thanks for sharing them.

It is always sad to see my hometown's lineage evaporating.

Here's a question for those out there (although it may have been asked elsewhere at some time and might be more suitable for the CNJ forum). If the bridge to Bayonne had not been deemed a navigation hazard requiring the whole development and implementation of the Aldene Plan, how long do you think service to the Communipaw Ferry docks would have continued? The ferries were going to be/already were on their way out as evident from all the other ferry docks abandoned. CNJ was in financial trouble (as were the others). Would Aldene have been an eventuality anyway? Or do you think some kind of water ferry out of JC would have survived to today?

Maybe some kind of connector would have been established from JC to Hoboken to connect to PATH?

It is possible that the H&M would have been extended to the CNJ at Jersey City. I have seen a map (of course I can't remember where and my books are in another state) that had an extension drawn to Jersey City and the CNJ. Can someone with a better knowledge of the H&M enlighten us further?

It is possible that the H&M would have been extended to the CNJ at Jersey City. I have seen a map (of course I can't remember where and my books are in another state) that had an extension drawn to Jersey City and the CNJ.

It so happens I was seeking similar enlightenment this weekend, and Google discovered this map (linked from this page) showing a H&M extension to the CNJ JC terminal.

Here's another map that shows a link to the CNJ further west along the line...

Anyone ever heard of the "New York & Jersey Railroad"? That other map shows it to be distinct from the H&M.

Anyone ever heard of the "New York & Jersey Railroad"? That other map shows it to be distinct from the H&M.

Before you called it to my attention, I had never heard of it. But, some historical research reveals a rather interesting story, which I've posted over in the PATH forum: The Mysterious NY&J

To the point of the supposed future of CNJ Jersey City Terminal if the loss of the bridge did not bring about the Aldene Plan. A very interesting question. At the time CNJ was not in good financial shape. The state of NJ was over taxing (real estate taxes) to the point that the railroads formed the Association of NJ Railroads as a public relations move to tell their side of the story. Also, railroads were loosing thier proverbial shirts on commuter services and would do anything to get out of it. The state was beginning to get the idea and knew that a New Jersey Transit was inevetable. The Aldene Plan was the cheapest and quickest (and made the most sense to the most people so it was relatively easy to sell) way to deal with the problem at the time. It was a quick fix and not based on long term planning. SO. Could PATH have been extened south? Yes. Would ferry service have ended? Maybe not. THere are a lot of scenerios which could be mapped out if it wasn't abandoned.

Another thought, if Jersey City Terminal was so important, why wasn't the Newark Branch used to reach it, even if on a limited basis? Again, the atmosphere surrounding commuter rail at the time probably ruled it out.

In the end, I believe the expanded use of Newark Penn Sta. from the Aldene Plan coupled with the new Secaucus Transfer, will, in the long run, prove to be a valuable asset to public transportation in North Jersey probably unthought of at the inception of Aldene! The things you can do today, the trips, the interline transfers, the ways you can get around NJ, have expanded so much in the past 10 or 15 years it makes you wish it had happened 15 or 50 years ago! If only there were some in NJT, PATH, MN, LIRR, and SEPTA who would see these opportunities and start marketing the system instead on round trip rides out of Hoboken or NYP!

In the end, I believe the expanded use of Newark Penn Sta. from the Aldene Plan coupled with the new Secaucus Transfer, will, in the long run, prove to be a valuable asset to public transportation in North Jersey probably unthought of at the inception of Aldene

I seriously doubt it. If it's a bottleneck today, it'll be a bottleneck decades down the road. Jishnu, over on the NJT forum, has indicated that 90-mph running on the High Line is gone forever, replaced by 60 mph or slower.

And the lack of redundancy means fewer locales served by rail (for some pre-Aldene perspective, here's an image of the old Elizabeth Avenue Station that used to be on what is now the Chemical Coast Line, i.e. the Elizabethport & Perth Amboy; and if that's not enough perspective, here's the old Sewaren Station on the same line).

The icing on the cake is, of course, what continues to be threatened if there ever is an Amtrak strike—the entire Newark Division shuts down, with no alternate routing such as the Hoboken Division has (where Midtown Directs can still terminate at Hoboken Terminal).

BTW, the Newark Bay Bridge was in service until the very late 1970s IIRC. The Newark & New York RR was abandoned during the late 50s too, so there was no chance of using that. The whole "navigation hazard" thing was political maneuvering by the Port Authority, nothing more and nothing less.

Irish Chieftan wrote: "The whole "navigation hazard" thing was political maneuvering by the Port Authority, nothing more and nothing less."

MOST DEFINITELY!

Irish Chieftain wrote:[
The icing on the cake is, of course, what continues to be threatened if there ever is an Amtrak strike—the entire Newark Division shuts down, with no alternate routing such as the Hoboken Division has (where Midtown Directs can still terminate at Hoboken Terminal)..

Maybe not the RVL though. Plan with the threatened strike a few years ago was to run the RVL trains onto the freight track near NK just before the NEC and have buses at the Frelinghuysen Ave grade crossing going to Newark and NY. Doable, I suppose, in a pinch.

I find that less believable than running trains on the NJCL to Avenel and having the 115 bus divert to that station. There's no station at Frelinhuysen Avenue grade crossing; and the prospect of getting off at the grade crossing is probably illegal in this day and age. I dearly suspect that the entire Newark Division would indeed be shut down completely, as threatened, if Amtrak were to strike.

Back on topic: The prospect of going to a waterfront terminal via Elizabeth and Bayonne has been thrown in the garbage since 1967, the connection between Elizabethport and Bayonne sent back to the condition prior to the CNJ's connecting the two cities, and part of the route in Bayonne now has light rail on it. Imagine how much cheaper it would have been in the long run if the status quo for well over a century had been maintained instead...

There were plans for a connection of the Central of New Jersey Terminal in Jersey City with the Hudson & Manhattan. There are details in The Hudson Tubes web page http://www.hudsoncity.net/tubes/gatewaytubepage.html [ 1. Construction History]

Irish Chieftain wrote:I find that less believable than running trains on the NJCL to Avenel and having the 115 bus divert to that station. There's no station at Frelinhuysen Avenue grade crossing; and the prospect of getting off at the grade crossing is probably illegal in this day and age. I dearly suspect that the entire Newark Division would indeed be shut down completely, as threatened, if Amtrak were to strike.

Back on topic: The prospect of going to a waterfront terminal via Elizabeth and Bayonne has been thrown in the garbage since 1967, the connection between Elizabethport and Bayonne sent back to the condition prior to the CNJ's connecting the two cities, and part of the route in Bayonne now has light rail on it. Imagine how much cheaper it would have been in the long run if the status quo for well over a century had been maintained instead...

At North Branch, the westbound trains have the single open door pair spotted in the middle of the grade crossing every day, so it is unlikely that there is a legal impediment to that type of operation.

The Frelinghuysen Ave 'station' was the official plan for the threatened strike. Gravel was to be added to the track area east of the crossing to create a temporary platform. Note that the Governor would have declared a state of emergency which greases the skids for a lot of things to address the emergency.

Sure have to agree on the Bayonne issue. While it would be feasible to route lightrail over the Bayonne Bridge, and thence to Cranford over the SIRR (assuming time separation for freight like on the Riverline), the cost would likely be prohibitive, at least under the status quo State financial condition. On the topic of seriuos blunders, had the CNJ line through the Ironbound section of Newark been maintained, it would have provided an ideal grade separated route for lightrail, needing only additional stations added where appropriate. The population density and narrow streets would have made a winner for lightrail on that line. Selling that off was even more shortsighted in the sense that the CNJ Bay Draw did prevent larger ships from entering Ports Elizabeth and Newark, so there was at least some justification for its demolition. On the other hand, the two parallel bridges each with two channel draws design was an ideal setup to allow for the reconstruction of one side to widen the draw without interfering with train or ship traffic druing the construction. That would have addressed ship size concerns while maintaining the valuable rail asset.