Quick NEC question

Just south of Metuchen station I noticed all the trees have been cleared on both sides of the NEC. There have also been some gravel roads laid down along the line. Is this for some kind of future work? Or do they want a clearer view for security reasons?

I am about as lost as you. I live and usually pass Edison Station, where that is also happening.

myfavscr wrote:Just south of Metuchen station I noticed all the trees have been cleared on both sides of the NEC. There have also been some gravel roads laid down along the line. Is this for some kind of future work? Or do they want a clearer view for security reasons?

Judging from the sign they have up, it's "Right of Way Improvements", funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act...

Amtrak's ambitious Northeast Corridor ROW Improvement Project. The funds for this came from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. They are not done yet.

- A

Just railroad-west of the Metuchen station, on the geographically-south side -- right between the substation and the Metuchen platforms -- the chainlink fence that separates the parking lot from the ROW has been removed, and in a fence made out of big hunks of pressure-treated timber is going up in its place.

The old fence has deterioriated over the years, and came loose from the poles, in various places. The replacement fence is not very pretty, but somewhat better looking. In preparing the site, they bulldozed away decades' worth of decaying leaves, deadwood, brush, and other debris. Just clearing that mess away made things look much nicer.

On the other side of the substation, where that wye to the Conrail yard is, all trees in that area have been cut down too, both alongside the main tracks and the wye tracks. The main tracks are now in plain view from route 27, before then you couldn't see much from route 27 -- it was blocked from few.

I've also noticed a lot of work on the ROW between Metuchen, Metropark, and Rahway, on both sides. There's a new fence on the south/east side of the tracks, most of the way between Metuchen and Metropark. On the other side of the tracks, between Metropark and Rahway -- where the tracks run alongside route 27 for a couple of miles -- all the trees have been cut down. There was a lot of trees there, all of them are gone, cut down right down to the stump. One stump after another, as you roll by.

I'm guessing it's to keep them from falling on the wires when they come down.

However, it looks like hell. Some areas that had a decent amount of trees between people's backyards and the railroad no longer do, some places have no trees at all where there once were some. In some areas, it reminds me of going from the Parkway to the Turnpike. Oh well. Progress?

Yea, they've made accessing the wayside a lot safer and easier for amtk crews in their pickup trucks and vans, they have a bus too that i've seen. The new fence looks great and you can tell it's solid, i believe they replaced the guard rails as well but i could be not remembering correctly.

Equipment parked overnight or long periods of time will no longer sink into the soil, with some stretches & areas being paved, the rest having the gravel. I've seen a bucket lift truck left right at that one area with major paving adjacent to the underpass/bridge a few years ago parked for about a month, i guess they were doing work on the supply lines or something, it was to the hubs in mud after one week of it being unused.

I was majorly surprised at the amount of material removed from around the trenton station complex, inccuding the river line etc, you can plainly see the tracks from that loop road, you can even see the C&A ramp & remaining tracks as well.

I can say, after seeing the scope of this project unfold since the beginning, that this has been needed for a long time, and it will benefit workers crew and riders, easy safe access to the right of way to make repairs, upgrades, and if something happens, an easy & safe egress path.

As for the look of the affected areas, in a few years it will "smooth out" and nature will make it look nice again. The reason trees were targeted, is because their close proximity to the tracks meant the air blast from passing trains dislodged leaves in the fall in big swaths. The other concern was absolutely trees or branches falling on the wires or obstructing the track. Not something you want on your bread-and-butter-125 mph-busy-as-hell main line, especually sharing it with the odd freight move and NJ transit. Plus, forbid a train did leave the rails, you don't want it smacking into trees, and you can actually see a lot better too, which helps with security.

Over all just a common sense smart move, and really what ARRA was/is all about.

- A

ryanov wrote:I'm guessing it's to keep them from falling on the wires when they come down.

However, it looks like hell. Some areas that had a decent amount of trees between people's backyards and the railroad no longer do, some places have no trees at all where there once were some. In some areas, it reminds me of going from the Parkway to the Turnpike. Oh well. Progress?

Ive thought the same thing, I thought they might have at least kept a buffer of trees inbetween some of the houses, etc, but they haven't left ANYTHING. And it looks like they are "reclaiming" some of I believe its called "Merrill Park" east of Islen Interlocking.

I mean the access roads are good if there is an emergency, and the fences are nice now, but give it some time, and they will all be covered in graffiti, especially the stretch where the fence has the green vertical slats by Edison Station....and it will look worse than ever.

Honestly, I sort of preferred it the other way, with the trees, because there were less distractions with lights and people while running the train. Now, with everything wide open, cars and headlights are much more visibile and annoying, especially on Route 27, and of course, its natural to want to look in houses and yards along the tracks , which were never visible before.

Of course, no trees means less chance of branches and trees getting tangled in the catenary, which is good, and it sure has opened up some views of/from the railroad which haven't been seen in probably 40-50 years in some cases, which is nice too, but the natural part of it, especially in the urban areas (the houses by Union interlocking tower in Rahway, come to mind), is going to be much different.....

It would be very nice if they could have taken some of this cash they are spending on taking all these trees down (i hope they are at least selling the lumber to a lumber mill or something) and use it to replace some ties. the 30mph speed restriction on track 1 inbetween Metuchen and Metropark is very annoying....at least they are giving you longer to look and enjoy the tree cutting work going on, while you are creeping down the railroad at 30 or 60mph....

Thanks for the info gentlemen.

Jtgshu wrote: the 30mph speed restriction on track 1 inbetween Metuchen and Metropark is very annoying....at least they are giving you longer to look and enjoy the tree cutting work going on, while you are creeping down the railroad at 30 or 60mph....

Isn't that when it's nap time?

They really need to replace the ties on that interlocking through metuchen. Some of the ties in trenton too on track 1 and 4 are cracked and crumbling from all the accel/decel forces i guess from the substandard concrete.

Here i might be touting the benefits of rail travel to random passenger, while we eep along at certain points.

All up to amtrak. I hope they get another funding boost to resolve these issues.

- A

How about painting those old, rusted PRR-vintage cat poles?

Amtrak has been doing some extremely noisy nightime and weekend work at Union Interlocking just south of the Rahway station for a few months now. I know because it wakes me up many nights! It appears that they are replacing rails, ties and ballast.

I asked Amtrak for a written update on what exactly is being done and how long it will take. When I hear back (IF I hear back?) I'll post it here.

They're replacing many of the switches in Union Interlocking...

ryanov wrote:I'm guessing it's to keep them from falling on the wires when they come down.

However, it looks like hell. Some areas that had a decent amount of trees between people's backyards and the railroad no longer do, some places have no trees at all where there once were some. In some areas, it reminds me of going from the Parkway to the Turnpike. Oh well. Progress?

That section has electric utility transmission line overbuild on Amtrak's poles and there are NJ and federal regulations that require certain clearances be maintained. For Amtrak's transmission, the regulations do not apply, but Amtrak would want to ensure the same protection for reliability of its infrastructure. It is much less expensive to clear cut rather than trim or retain some trees.

See: http://www.nerc.com/files/FAC-003-1.pdf