Wellwood Ave Siding

Sunday night, emfinite and myself took a trip to Wellwood to see that the leaf crusher is still parked there as usual, but behind it more to the west near the Albany Ave grade crossing, there are about 20 ballast hoppers (loaded) just sitting there and haven't moved as of 11/30. Any idea as to why they are parked there?

To the Joes, and others, the one leaf crusher train was sitting west of Wellwood with 167 on the east end with no other engine on the west end. The weekend had 2 consists with both having 2 engines on each end of them. 163 was the one at Wellwood Crossing.

Today around 11:45am by sheer suprise I caught them doing a move. On the east end they had units 150, 157, and 152. Not sure what they were doing aside from 152 being thrown into the siding since there was a eastbound due thru at 12:02pm. When I went by there roughly an hour later, there were no engines on the east end but the 167 was on the west end.



I was parked along side New Horizions Blvd since there wasn't really anyway to get close. I did eventually get caught for staying there too long.

That's the kind of posts we need, info with pictures. Good work. You said you got caught for being there too long. Did you get a parking ticket from SCPD or MTAPD?

Well, once I drove over the tracks and saw activity I decided to see if I can stop somewhere. Obviously my usual parking routine at Pepsi wouldn't have gotten me anywhere, so I just parked along side the curb. I wasn't going to get any shots if I was in the driver's side, so I went into the passengers seat.

About 20 minutes later when I was looking through a magazine I had inside my car, I saw a guy walk up along side my car asking who I was, if I had a permit, how old I was. He happened to be an undercover cop (hence the badge he had on a string around his neck). He didn't have a problem with what I was doing, but I felt it was best I removed myself and drove away.

There really isn't any good spot to park and watch anything on Wellwood to begin with.

hey, my office is a mile up on wellwood and I see the train do moves on saturday afternoons as I leave my office at 310PM

Thanks for hte answer, I did not realize its role as a leaf crusher. How often does it go out on the road and to where?

Since hte engine is on all the time, I would think its used often, no?

I'll keep a more watchful eye, but I dare say thath e engines get moved at least once a day.

They usually run up the Port Jeff line every night and every so often they run out east to Patchogue.

Hi,
Leaf Crusher????
Yeah Right!!!!
More like a leaf blower. Does not do a darn thing. Waste of fuel.. But The Crews like it very much(HINT HINT) 6 cars and two tired engines.

Chris I also heard they like the fueling runs to Morris Park once a week. BTW now at Wellwood MP15AC 170, 6 hoppers and MP15AC 152.

i thought they used the old M-1 on the leaf crusher

How long is this siding, how long of a freight train could it hold, and are the switches automatic, or manually-thrown?

Oh the siding is actually pretty long. I'd say at least 1200ft. It can probably hold a 30-35 car train (guessing as there are 20 cars full of ballast, with about 4 car lengths inbetween, then the leaf crusher, with 2 car lengths in front if it).

I recently heard word that there is going to be a NYA customer there soon, being they are going to be repairing a switch there. The customer is actually a bakery I heard. The switch getting into the siding is an electrically locked switch (Divide controlls it) then it is hand thrown.

As for the track condition, it is nowhere near the condition as the mainline next to it. It can definitely be improved. The siding more towards Wellwood Ave is in pretty good condition. But as you move more west, it is really pretty bad. Some over grown weeds and ties in really poor condition.

A personal thought, that section of the Central Branch has the potential of being a very rich source of business. Amco Plastics, which NYA services is just west of there, Pepsi is right next to the line, and now you have a future bakery taking interest in it. Obviously the chances of Pepsi taking advantage of what they have is totaly unrealistic but the potential is there.

There is a switch off of the siding track to a soon-to-be NYA customer?

Yes, there is a switch. It's more towards Albany Ave. I'll manage to get a photo one of these days...

Im late to update you but since Monday this week, the engines have been gone. Only the hoppers are there.


Also, the Saturday before, we were shopping near Republic and the siding on New Highway. We drove by and I noticed a string of hoppers but didnt see the head end(west)
45 minutes later we drove by and it was gone. Was this the same leaf train?