RIP Lodi and Passaic branches

Yes, we knew it was coming, but now officially posted to the STB website.....

https://prod.stb.gov/proceedings-actions/filings/

View the 11/23/2020 filing date and the 301311 pdf....
Chris

The Passaic Branch I sort of figured, ever since GSP closed after Enron failed (18 or so years ago) nothing really to service (self-storage and small outlets...and townhouses... don't need rail freight service. That little materials facility with the shed that straddles the line, I never saw anything there in the 1990s let alone now.

The Lodi branch, that's more of a bummer. I recall, probably the late 1990s, a sign saying the siding across Gregg St. to what I think was supposed to be a printing plant was to be reactivated (the signs "Railroad crossing ahead" and "Tracks out of service" are still visible on Google streets in the current view, as are the tracks, buried under asphalt in the 2012) view). Since the building is now a Wholesale Vehicle importer, it is safe to say they don't need rail service.
I think in the mid-1990s the building on the East Side of Gregg just a little south of Atlantic Power and a a block south of the Expressway overpass was a refrigerated storage facility of some sort - IIRC seeing either reefers or insulated boxcars on the spur trackage. Google not states it's a cosmetics discount outlet of some sort, That business had the only spur(besides the 2 track "yard" at the end of the South branch that was rebuilt a while ago, and possibly never used (storage?) that I recall in action, although I faintly recall a spur which crossed that siding and headed toward Ellios (looking at Historical Aerials topos it went more East, although those topos seem off - the 1998 topo shows trackage south of Garibaldi that I know was gone by 1998, as I would occasionally stop by there during that time when heading west on 46, after getting hot dogs at the Callahans of course).

Bear Bags was taking plastic pellets at least til 2005. According to Google Maps that business is now a cosmetics retail store. The siding appears to be intact.

riffian's response jogged my memory, convincing me that I misremembered a few details (and I did).
So I went to Historic aerials - riffian is correct, the building that is now a cosmetics outlet ("Precocious Cosmetics") did indeed receive covered hoppers into this century (some of the aerial photography on HA for that area is not the best). In addition, in an earlier era (1960s) the building to the south of the cosmetics outlet also received rail service; this building now houses a firm that installs commercial overhead doors.
I had originally thought the covered hoppers were parked in the two track "yard" along Gregg St. and that boxcars went to the (then) plastics facility, but no - there was another siding which curved north-east, crossing the siding to the plastics plant (a suspicious radius in the parking lot paving of Atlantic Power IMO marks its route) which curved past the S.E edge of the building that houses (housed?) Atlantic Power, and this is where the boxcars were spotted. According to HA topos, this line continued further east past Ellios (McCains).

Lodi Branch derailment
#55476 by riffian
Fri Sep 24, 2004 12:53 pm
The Suskie bravely made their monthly attempt to run done the one mile Lodi spur, but came undone just short of Essex Street. A rented crane outfit is out there now rerailing the car. Luckily, there is no runaround anymore on the Lodi Branch, so the crew must shove the loads down to pull and spot, therefore putting the car on the ground and not the locomotive. They were taking two loads in and removing two empties from Flexwrap, the last and only customer on what is left of this branch. One wonders how much longer the Suskie will service this increasingly rickety branch with a very dangerous crossing of Route 17.

https://dcms-external.s3.amazonaws.com/ ... 301738.pdf

...
The New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway Corporation ("NYS&W") submitted a Verified Notice of Exemption ("Notice") seeking approval to abandon two rail lines in Bergen County, New Jersey, extending from MP 15.80 I Lodi, NJ to MP 14.50 in Hackensack, NJ (the "Lodi Branch") and from MP 17.30 in Elmwood Park, NJ to MP 18.40 in Garfield, NJ (the "Passaic Branch"). Notice of the exemption was served and published in the Federal Register on December 31, 2020 (85 Fed. Reg.
86,974). The exemption was scheduled to become effective on January 30, 2021.

By Decision served January 29, 2021, the Board imposed no conditions and provided NYS&W a deadline of December 31, 2021 to consummate the abandonment.

NYS&W hereby advises the Board of its formal consummation of abandonment of the lines in accordance with the provisions of 49 C.F.R. §1152.29(e)(2). Specifically, NYS&Whereby notifies the Board that it has exercised the authority granted to it under the applicable class exemption, and has fully abandoned the lines as of March 10, 2021.
...

I hope someone on this site will report when they lift the tracks. This site has become entirely focused on the Utica branch with almost nothing about the rest of the railroad. Not complaining - I know there are some dedicated fans in the Utica area which keep this site alive. Just wish there was a bit more reporting from the rest of the road. I can't do much from California, but am still vitally interested in the dear old Suskie.

Re: Lodi Branch:

Tracks have been lifted across Route 17 north, but are still in place across Route 17 south. It appears that tracks south of Route 17 have been lifted as well. Can't determine if all tracks north of Route 17 are up.

Does anyone know if NYS&W is selling property off to neighboring parcel holders?

There's a recent article about a planning budget to widen Route 17 near the removed tracks.
https://www.nj.com/news/2022/09/work-on ... -2023.html.

(freight related)
How bad is it?

This 2-mile section of Route 17 is the only piece of highway that isn’t considered an interstate part of the national freight system, even though it physically goes to New York state, said Joseph Baladi, division head - planning of the Bergen County Department of Planning & Engineering.

“We don’t want to put a Band-Aid on the bridges. A lot of tractor-trailers use this (highway) to go up to I-287,” he said. “We get all these 18-wheelers and heavy trucks going through this narrow section.”

With Port Newark supporting larger container ships, I've wondered how the state road network would handled the higher volume of intermodal. It also seems the products inside the containers are almost all consumables with furniture being the top item. With the region's stores dependent on overseas products, is there a need for more intermodal sites to facilitate deliveries of containers throughout the metropolitan area? If so, then better access to Rt 287 and 84 might work to NYSW benefit.

If nothing else, a small portion of the right of way will be preserved under the shed of Garfield Lumber who it appeared to have done so for the purpose of unloading lumber cars indoors. I haven't seen the inside of the shed so, I don't know if the tracks are still there.

I remember sometime during the 1990's witnessing a Geep struggling to pull some boxcars back from GSP through an "S" curve in the spur as the approached a grade crossing due to weeds on the tracks.

I am fuzzy on my memory of the Passaic Branch, and haven't read this thread in years I guess. Is the Passaic branch the one which in recent times had tracks in as far as Garfield Lumber I think?

Is what is being abandoned just the stretch south of Garfield lumber (currently with no tracks) or from the main all the way down to Garfield lumber, and beyond to Passaic? The latter would mean pulling up the tracks to Garfield lumber. (I guess Garfield lumber is not getting service, from all the cars stored on the northern end of the branch, seen on Google maps satellite images

Back up on the main, just east of Passaic Junction (junction with the Bergen County line), is a large yard with about 6-8 tracks, with many covered hoppers(?), and some kind of unloading conveyors (so it looks to me from satellite images on Google Maps). What are all these hoppers and what are the unloaders for?

Thanks, Jim S

The NJDOT Bergen County map has both branches out of service as of the 2022 edition.