Folks,
Please bear in mind guys that these cars, regardless of what town they are in, are being stored on railroad property. It is railroad property, within the limits of Rio Grande. Or Cape May. Or Whitesboro. Or Tuckahoe. But in the end, it's still railroad property, and there is no justification for tresspassing and vandalism.
It's quite obvious why no one wants the cars in their neighborhood now...because they are in such terrible shape, as a result of vandalism. I was around when they showed up back in the 90's, and they didn't look anything like they do right now. While inoperative, they were clean, and free of graffiti. They stayed like that for YEARS, and were welcome in Rio Grande by it's residents and those in the government, until Rio Grande began their rebuilding efforts around the area of Rte. 47 and Rte 9 a few years ago. That rebuilding attracted more people, and in the process, it attracted the good and the bad to hang around the area of the railroad tracks, which happens to be adjacent to a shopping complex which now has more people around it than ever before. When CMSL built their maintainance facility there back in the mid 90's, this wasn't how Rio Grande was. If it was like it is now, I'm sure they would have chosen a different location at which to build.
And they picked that location because it's accessibility, and sort of "central" location along the CM branch's former in-service portion between Cape May and Cape May Courthouse. They also chose that spot because of the existance of a long passing siding where magnesite trains of decent length were formerly stored (I wonder if anyone vandalized them back in the 70's?)
And I've never really heard any railroad enthusiast condoning and almost encouraging vandalism as I've heard here in recent months. This is historic equipment guys, and it should be treated as such. The concept of some folks actually seeming happy that equipment is being vandalized makes me sick.
As for available sidings for storage, let's see. We have "Bay Siding" between the Canal Bridge and the Cape May Point Branch switch. That's nearly inaccessible, accessed only by one relatively small road which dead-ends at the tracks. Where CMSL would park trucks, etc there while working on the equipment, I don't know. Second, we have the Cape May Point Branch. Can't store anything on that until some work is done due to the terrible condition of that track. Hasn't been used since 1983. Third, we have the wye to Schellenger's Landing, which is in worse shape than the Point branch. This is completely inaccessible by vehicle, as well as the POint Branch.
We also have a few stub tracks in Cape May City, which weren't available when the facility at Rio Grande was built, due to the fact that Cape May CIty was unavailable at the time. Not to mention that they're short in length, and most likely wouldn't store even a portion of what is at Rio Grande.
Additionally, most of the equipment which was formerly at Rio Grande has now been moved to Tuckahoe. The remaining equipment may be plagued with such problems as brake issues, and being simply too heavy to risk moving right now over the bad track north of Courthouse. Why they don't move them north to Tuckahoe, I don't know...but I'm sure there's a reason, as there's no reason on earth why they'd want to keep them in Rio Grande anymore...if anyone here thinks CMSL WANTS their equipment vandalized, they're way off base in my opinion.
Mike DiMunno