Raritan River RR general questions

just some questions about the old rrrr.

1. is it true that ns wants to abandon the line thru milltown to the rt 1 bridge?

2. i saw a map from years ago. it shows 2 branches in milltown. one is still there that goes to the old tire factory. but there was another, according to this map, that ran behind the old freight house twice as far. anyone have any knowledge of this?

Can't awnser number 2 (Should know the awnser, but I don't. Esspecially considering how I have a copy of "Rails up the Raritan sitting next to me).

But for number 1. Its not nessicarilly CSAO that wants to abbandon it. The state wants to reconfigure route 1 in that area, to improve sight lines, etc. And it wouldn't be abbandoned all the way through Milltown. Only a few hundred feet would be abbandoned. This is because, right by route one, there is still a major industry served by the line (Silver Line Windows). But, it is still bad, because this was a possible route of the possible New Brunswick LRT.

I think this map is wrong. I don't think there was a second branch line in Milltown. The map also shows a small yard behind the freight house, with about 5 tracks that stub ended at Washington Ave. Even in the pics I have of this area in the early 1970s there is no yard.

On a side note I walked the line west of Milltown about 10 years ago. It goes right thru the Personal Products facility. There is quite an extensive amount of sidings running into different warehouse buildings and up to large chemical storage tanks. All of the spurs were rusted and severed from the main. You'd think NS sales managers would get on the ball and try to drive up some business. The same thing with Brystol Myers. That's a huge plant.

carajul,

There WERE two spur lines in Milltown. I think they're shown on a map in Rails Up the Raritan (RUTR) and I think there was a brief description for the one not going to the old tire factory. Unfortunately, I don’t have my copy of RUTR with me right now. However, like I said, it was a brief description so it’s easy to miss in RUTR.

During a hike that myself and a few other RRRR fans took in that area on 19 Oct 2002, we actually found some remnants of this elusive spur. Go to
http://www.raritanriverrailroad.com and click on the “RRRR Forum” link. If you access http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topi ... IC_ID=2156 you can see the discussion leading up to and after the hike. We did another RRRR Field Trip on 15 Nov 2003 (see: http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topi ... IC_ID=3476 and http://www.railroad-line.com/discussion ... IC_ID=5020). We’re currently planning RRRR Field Trip #3 to occur this fall (see http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topi ... IC_ID=6200). While there are no details in these forums regarding the Milltown spur you’re interested in, I thought you might be interested in the hikes.

Here it is: On Page 12 of RUTR it discusses the “Milltown Spur” (as shown on RUTR’s centerfold map). It states “1924 saw construction of the Milltown (or Fresh Ponds) Spur. This bucolic little line meandered a mile or so through the woods to service Wright’s Clay Pit”.

I referred to a recent map and (if I lined things up correctly) the Milltown Spur appears to have branched off the mainline just short of the RRRR's Milltown Freight Station and then headed southwest to cross South Main Street. The line then ran between (or on) West Lakewood Avenue and the Mill Pond (which is the pond on the western side of Main Street). It looks like it came close to the intersection of Crestwood and Albert Avenue and then crossed out of Milltown and into East Brunswick Township at Bog Brook, tapering off as it paralleled Fresh Ponds Road for perhaps another 1000 feet.

ok so this spur did exist! the spur into the old tire factory is still there, up until it crosses washington ave. from there it is obliterated. it did still cross washington ave until 10 yrs ago when they repaved it. i was told the tire factor and branch became defunct in the early 1960s. when they rebuilt the bridge on main st they actually redid the crossing too. 50 years and the rails are still in. unreal.

as for that second branch it must have been torn out ages ago. there is no sign of it whatsoever near main st or any row left. even the pics i have of the 1970s and 1960s don't show it behind the freight house.

A map...

http://www.raritanriverrailroad.com/ima ... _Map_1.jpg

GandyDancer wrote:A map...

http://www.raritanriverrailroad.com/ima ... _Map_1.jpg

Great map! Thanks!

Alot has changed since 1947. It was difficult to orient myself until I recalled that State Hwy Rte. 25 is now US Route 1, State Hwy Rte. 28 is now State Hwy Rte. 18, and Ryders Lane appears to be through the boonies. It would also appear the RRRR's Serviss(sp?) Branch is now gone.

Most of the Serviss Branch is long gone, however a small portion still exists in East Brunswick. I don't think it connects with the main line anymore, but there is about 1500 feet of track that stretches from the main line paralleling Route 18 and terminates near Tices Lane behind Circuit City and Kohl's. Lowe's Department Store is going to be moving into an old warehouse that backs right up to the tracks in the near future. It would be nice to see the spur used again!

Carajul: You mention that “As for that second branch it must have been torn out ages ago. there is no sign of it whatsoever near main st or any row left. even the pics i have of the 1970s and 1960s don't show it behind the freight house.” I did some follow-on reading in RUTR and I think it mentioned that the Milltown Spur was removed some time in the 1960’s.

Transit383 mentions “Most of the Serviss Branch is long gone, however a small portion still exists in East Brunswick. I don't think it connects with the main line anymore, but there is about 1500 feet of track that stretches from the main line paralleling Route 18 and terminates near Tices Lane behind Circuit City and Kohl's. Lowe's Department Store is going to be moving into an old warehouse that backs right up to the tracks in the near future. It would be nice to see the spur used again!” There was a point in time at which the Serviss Branch fell into disuse, but it was later resurrected as the East Brunswick Branch to serve (I’m guessing) ITT Bakery(?). Transit383 is correct in that the old Branch no longer is connected to the mainline and that some track is still there. During RRRR Field Trip #2 we explored the remains of this Branch. Existing track starts near the mainline and ends several hundred feet before where the Branch used to cross Hart’s Lane. It would be neat to see the line used again, but on the day of our Field Trip we were surprised to see a bulldozer doing some nearby work which included pushing though the old ROW.

During Field Trip #2 we also tried (and succeeded!) in finding some of the remains of the far end of the Serviss Branch (thanks to one of our hiker’s previous knowledge and maps & aerial photos he brought). We found the right-of-way (which roughly paralleled William Street in South River) from Brickplant Road all the way down to “Pacers Field – Varga Park (type in 300 William Street for South River NJ at mapquest.com to see a map). There was not much there, but we did find some ties and were able to discern the ROW. I’d say we covered the run that used to exist between the words “Amclay” and “Pettits” on the map at the link GandyDancer provided.

Regarding: "Carajul: You mention that 'As for that second branch it must have been torn out ages ago. there is no sign of it whatsoever near main st or any row left. even the pics i have of the 1970s and 1960s don't show it behind the freight house.' I did some follow-on reading in RUTR and I think it mentioned that the Milltown Spur was removed some time in the 1960’s."

Here it is on Page 14 of RUTR: "During 1962, all less-carload-freight service was discontinued and the agencies in New Brunswick and South River dropped. Two years later, having outlived its usefulness, the Milltown Spur was torn up." So...the Milltown Spur existed between 1924 and 1964.

The map shows 3 spurs into the J&J facility in Milltown. This is now called Personal Products and there is still quite an extensive network of spurs in there, but they are all defunct. There also seems to be a spur at Ryders Lane (a team track maybe?) and even a spur just before the J&J facility right after the line crosses the river. Any idea what this was?

Last month I caught an NS workman fooling around with the grad xing lights at Washington St at night. The tracks are welded rail and good ballast. The pics of the track in the late 60s/early 70s show rusted black rails in the mud. I've never seen a train go thru Milltown in all my 35 years but the rails have a bit of shine to them usually.

The spur at Ryders Lane was receiving freight into the Late 80's, early 90's. When I used to do summer work on the NJ Turnpike, I remember seeing a white covered hopper there. This was about the same year that they widened the turnpike, including the RRRR bridge going over it.

I'm surprised you've never seen the train in Milltown in all those years. As you can see, the rails are used, not often, but used.

-Tom

I don't think the Ryders Lane spur in the 1940s map is the same as the spur that is there now. The one there now is a stub that goes into some type of small warehouse type place that looks like it was built after the 1970s. The switch has been disconnected from the mainline. There is also another switch and spur at the same location, but on the other side of Ryders Lane that goes no where...literally. They must have dug out that area when they built the shopping complex with Home Depot because the rails end and there is a 20' drop to a parking lot now.

I've seen slightly shiny rails but never a train :-)
I read once that a rr needs to haul 20 car loads per mile annually to break even so I assume Silverline Windows does enough business to warrant keeping the line and bridges in tact thru Milltown to Rt. 1 crossing.

Carajul,

What MAP do you have? Is there a way we can get a copy of it?

-Tom

P.S. Why don't you come along with us Nov 13th?