River Rd bridge gone

The River Rd bridge on the M & E Main Line has been demolished and removed. I went past on River Road today and the bridge was gone. It appears that they are raising the line height so the new bridge would be higher than the old one (the old one was 11' 0'' high).

Maybe a truck finally took it down LOL!!!!!!!

haaaaaaaaahahahahahahha... and to think the same guys who thought that monster truck would fit under there (and going rather fast under it at that) are the ones who drive those rigs 75+MPH down RT-80 weaving in and out of traffic. Scrap, when are those pics from?

I spotted the missing bridge today also. It definetly looks like they are raising the height as there is plenty of fill spread atop the ROW on both sides of River Road.

I don't know when those pics were taken. I got them off the Whippany Fire Dept site:

http://www.whippanyfiredepartment.com/siteindex3.htm

What cracks me up in those pics is that the door on the truck is left open
like the driver just flung it open and took off, never to be seen again. LOL!!

Maybe he's related to the last two dump truck drivers, and the trailer driver, that tried to take out the Berkshire Valley RD bridge in Roxbury, in the past two years!

From what I can make out, it looks like the roadway under the bridge will be widened as well, what looks like fill on the ROW from ground level is actually just some dirt pushed up by the excavation equipment onto the rails, a large portion of earth behind the east abutment has been removed - s'pose they're going to pour new abutments before taking down the old? Its a bit difficult to see, but just after the ties in this pic http://www.northshorerecording.com/rail ... C03545.jpg the grade dips down several feet. FL-9 #488 is currently making home @ the sweetner company who's switch is just past the "lower" royal lube switch, to switch around cars for them while the line is disconnected from the rest of the world. I guess we'll just have to wait to see what actually happens though.

-Ryan

Sweetner company?? Do you mean B&G foods or is there another customer just west of Royal Lubricants??

Thanks,
Steve

Hey steve, yep its B&G I was thinking of, couldn't put my finger on the name when I posted - but dont they produce some sort of sweetner?

-Ryan

Angus,

Yeah, the B&G facility in Roseland is about 2 miles or so east of the Royal Lubricants switch... They make different jellys and corn sweetners for cooking purposes.....I believe they also get a reefer box car every now and again....

So the FL-9 is also now in the plant???

Steve

Pickles, lots of pickles. Seen reefers at Lake junction with cucumbers

This isn't the first time that bridge has been replaced. In 1973 (maybe '74) a truck with a dumpster took out the oiriginal bridge.
The only replacement steel beams available on short notice were
maybe six inches higher that what was destroyed, so the bridge abutments and rail had to be raised. I was a summer hire on the track crew and I think we worked 23 days straight spreading ballast and raising the rail on the approaches.

The 14 was on the far side at the time, and came home via the E-L. 15 was out of service, so service to the paper mills on the
Morristown side was provided by the 148. (Although I was qualified as a fireman on the 148, they needed me more on the track crew that one cay. Rats!-- or something stronger)

There were cars of fruit for Polaner stuck in Whippany, and I had to keep an eye on the fuel, since I was living in Whippany for the summer. Maybe Polaner is the name missing, or did B&G take them over?

As I remember it, the truck was owned by one company, the dumpster was owned by a second company, and the driver (who also was never seen again) was employed by a third. I would not be surprised if the insurance companies and their lawyers are still fighting this one out.

Polaner is one of the many barnds that B&G Foods owns. Their HQ are in Parsippany, but the plant is definitely in Roseland, not far from River Rd.

http://yellowpages.superpages.com/super ... evel=9#Map

Strike that, it's not B&G, the 15 is @ B&G in roseland, FL-9 #488 is at at the food co. in east hanover, their switch is about 20 feet east of the lower-royal switch... anyone recall the name of this company?

-Ryan

I was over in that area today and took a detour to see the work. From the point where River Road I could see that about half of the western abutment had been removed. The eastern abutment was still in place.

That was around 11am this morning.

Chris