Summit siding

I thought of this on the train this morning as we rolled through Summit. What's the reason that the "siding" closest to the new parking garage in Summit is on an incline while the rest of the track is level with everything else? This track is where they normally store some catenary maintenance cars. The only thought I could come up with was perhaps there used to be some kind of building there that received freight a long time ago before a parking lot was put there.

james1787 wrote:I thought of this on the train this morning as we rolled through Summit. What's the reason that the "siding" closest to the new parking garage in Summit is on an incline while the rest of the track is level with everything else? This track is where they normally store some catenary maintenance cars. The only thought I could come up with was perhaps there used to be some kind of building there that received freight a long time ago before a parking lot was put there.

That sounds like a good theory to me. Summit yard was used back in the day. Nowadays as you know, it is just used for trains making brief layovers. But, that inclined track must have been a siding for some factory there. That is the only reason why I think it is inclined. Before the car dealership and parking area, there must have been something there that recieved freight.

james / nick -

Prior to the parking lot, the Lackawanna had a freight yard up above with AIR 4 tracks. It was accessed via the switch and track going up the hill from the station to a 2nd switch just beyond ( east ) the overhead bridge.

In addition to ice deliveries and other local freight, I believe the yard handled interchange traffic with the RVRR.

I don't know which came first....the demise of the RVRR or the closing of the yard.

Tri-State Tom wrote:james / nick -

Prior to the parking lot, the Lackawanna had a freight yard up above with AIR 4 tracks. It was accessed via the switch and track going up the hill from the station to a 2nd switch just beyond ( east ) the overhead bridge.

In addition to ice deliveries and other local freight, I believe the yard handled interchange traffic with the RVRR.

I don't know which came first....the demise of the RVRR or the closing of the yard.

And there we have it. It's a good point to have that. Right on the M&E and RVRR.

Wow, thanks!! I always wondered why that was there.. never thought to ask about it.

What are AIR 4 tracks? I have never heard of that before..

It would be cool if someone had pics of the yard or a map showing the tracks, just to see what it was like..

AIR = As I recall....

Tom Tabor's DL&W books are a good source on anything Lackawanna.

Up to the 60s the Summit yard held MUs overnight. By 8:30 in the evening it was filled with cars/trains awaiting the next morning inbound commuter rush. There were many trains from Hoboken to Summit and v.v. They were all numbered in the 300s. One hundreds were to Montclair, 200s were Sougth Orange, 300s Summit, 400s Gladstone, 500s Morris Plains, and 600s were Dover. The Boonton Line trains (also to Washington, Netcong, and Branchville) were all in the 1000s.

The 1956 employe timetable that I have on my desk shows 9 Summit trains in each direction during the week. None on the weekends. Some were turnaround.

Anyone know if new cars were ever unloaded at Summit yard? I have seen a bunch of pictures over the years of 50's and 60's cars with window stickers parked in the yard. Way back when cars were shipped in box cars, I've always wondered if there was a freight platform there to unload these cars.

Yeah, today Summit yard is still used for the Summit trains. Except, nothing is kept there overnight (drat!) They'll use the yard for any Summit-Hob or Summit-NY trains waiting to back into the station and then depart. These trains in the evening are also kept in Summit yard awaiting clear tracks to deadhead back to Hoboken. Also, maintenance equipment, disabled trains or passenger cars and stuff in transport (like going from Dover Yard to the MMC but laying over at Summit for a while) can put here as well for whatever reason.

I remember autos being unloaded in that Summit yard. My father bought a small pick up truck every three or four years for his business. The dealer with Otto Schmidt, and he was a school buddy of my father. The dealership was across the street from that yard. I remember us going over to a box car and watching cars being offloaded from what I guess were 40' XM box cars.

pd -

Let's not confuse anyone....

The Summit MU coach layover yard ( electrified ) still exists mostly intact from the 1930's configuration.

The one-time modest freight yard was adjacent to the MU coach layover yard up above where the parking lot now lives.

BTW, your auto delivery story sounds very plausible....what years would this have been ?

I was aware of there being two "yards" there -- one electrified and the others for a team track, l-c-l loading/unloading, etc.

The memory would have been 1950 - 54.

Joe

pd -

" Up to the 60s the Summit yard held MUs overnight. By 8:30 in the evening it was filled with cars/trains awaiting the next morning inbound commuter rush. There were many trains from Hoboken to Summit and v.v. "

Remember it well....Summit was a great place to watch trains in the 1960's !

I'm gonna guess the old MU's continued to layover in Summit thru the mid-1970's.

One reason I'm taking that guess is the E-L continued to have 3-4 MU 6-8 car sets layover in the Morristown coach yard thru 1975. Seems logical that Summit would have still had the layover operation as well at that time.

Conversely, MU's laying over in the old Montclair Terminal on the Montclair Branch ended in the late 1960's when that terminal had 4 of it's 6 platform tracks go OOS.

[quote="Tri-State Tom"]pd -

"I'm gonna guess the old MU's continued to layover in Summit thru the mid-1970's."


Tom,

I thought trains continued to layover in Summit up until their retirement in 1984?? No?

Steve

Steve -

Roundabout answer....when NJT was doing the massive catenary upgrade on the Morris & Essex lines, I remember them including the cat structures within the Morristown MU coach yard - even though it had not been used for any layovers in some time ( some time = not sure exactly as to # of months/years ). This gave me hope that NJT was going to start using that yard again....which they didn't.

Summit ? Dunno....hence the guess on the time frame of late 1970's.

Also, the MU fleet was dwindling/failing due to differed maintenance their last few years. I'd bet NJT couldn't afford the luxury of having many of them layover anywhere toward the end.