Strange activity on Lodi branch

I have heard the horns after I posted the original message, and you can hear them just laying on the horn as they cross Route 17. They do (I should say did) it later at night, and I haven't heard it in a long time.

I recently walked past the tracks, and I don't know how you could get any piece of railroad equipment over these tracks. There is a section by the sidewalk where it basically is just all dirt.

What about the elmwood park branch? Where it crosses market street, the boulevard and rt.46?

GOLDEN-ARM wrote:We never stopped when we hit parked cars in Patterson, either.

Probably a good idea, who knows what would have taken a pot shot at you if you had stopped.

2005Vdub wrote:What about the elmwood park branch? Where it crosses market street, the boulevard and rt.46?

Actually, thats whats left of the Passaic Branch. Unfortunately unless the lumber company in Garfield starts taking cars those crossings will no longer be a problem. Word has it that the owners of Garden State Paper failed to pay their taxes and the City of Garfield has siezed the property. They plan on razing the paper mill and building an assisted living center on the site. Look for the Passaic Branch to be on the abandonment list at some point in the near future.

i know there were a bunch of gondola cars on the siding for as far as the eye can see on both sides of market st.[/quote]

n01jd1 wrote:

2005Vdub wrote:What about the elmwood park branch? Where it crosses market street, the boulevard and rt.46?

Word has it that the owners of Garden State Paper failed to pay their taxes and the City of Garfield has siezed the property. They plan on razing the paper mill and building an assisted living center on the site. Look for the Passaic Branch to be on the abandonment list at some point in the near future.

The city should be agressive in attracting new industry and manufacturing.
These create JOBS-JOBS-JOBS.

im not sure where i saw the pic, but the new york&greenwood lake was still running thru the streets. the pic i saw was relatively recent.

and again in Elmwood park, there must be dozens of small hoper cars on the siding that goes across midland ave. What are all these doing?

Garden State Paper Company was involved in the Enron mess, and went into a financial tailspin. Media General, the newspaper company, sold the mill to Enron in 2000. GSPC took the money and ran.

The recycling business dropped off significantly, as Enron's other businesses went belly up. When the dust cleared, there wasn't enough money left to run the paper business. No buyers bid on the recycling or the pulp, and the plant was closed down in early 2002, I believe.

(Although most people think of Enron as an energy trader, they also bought real companies like this mill, or Portland General Electric, or Rochester Gas, and put them through the wringer)

The Passaic Branch (aka Garfield branch) seems dormant. There are gondola cars spotted on the branch on each side of the Market Street crossing in Elmwood Park. Seems they have been stored there for a long time. The track into the lumber facility on Lanza Avenue appears intact but OOS. A 'For Sale Sign" is visible on the old GSP plant along River Road.

I'd like to see a new bulk transfer facility built at (or upon) the old GSP site.