The SIRR AND RVRR II

Heh, we should drive by the protest.. honk our horns and yell "Long Live the RVRR!!" I can't wait to see them start building in these towns.

Honking a horn except in an emergency is illegal and might result in a ticket, especially given the sensitivity of the matter. A sign on a car that says "one 10 car freight train a day takes 50 trucks a day off of our local roads" or similar might be appropriate. If planning on this, let the police chief know in advance to get advice on how to be non-confrontational. The police will appreciate that.

The NIMBY's could do us all a favor and try this on Rt 22 instead of Mountain Ave...that would thin the group out a little!

Ken W2KB wrote:Honking a horn except in an emergency is illegal and might result in a ticket, especially given the sensitivity of the matter. A sign on a car that says "one 10 car freight train a day takes 50 trucks a day off of our local roads" or similar might be appropriate. If planning on this, let the police chief know in advance to get advice on how to be non-confrontational. The police will appreciate that.

Ken, excellent point.. the sign is definitely a better idea.. and letting the police know is good too.

There was lots of activity this morning at the juntion with the Garfield Industrial Track. Best I could see from the train in the near-dawn darkness, several trucks were there, maybe with ties. At least on dumptruck (hirail??) next to the ballast piles, and a number of workers milling about. More activity than I've seen there for a couple or three weeks.

I just wanted to correct you and say that it is the Garwood industrial track.
Alot of people do confuse Garfield with Garwood.
How many cars approx. is the train sitting there, were you able to tell?

Yeah, I meant Garwood. Not sure why I mistyped it.

Not a train, 3 or 4 tractor trailer trucks and maybe a couple of hi-rail trucks. Again, it was still fairly dark when we passed by.

Same thing this morning, 3 flatbed tractor trailers loaded with new, I think, ties, plus some other activity.

I drove past Cranford yard today too and it does look to me that they are trying to configure it into some kind of rail yard.
I also did notice all of the new bundles of ties.
I can only assume that they are going to start rehabbing the Garwood Indistrial track.
If someone knows something different, I would like to know about it.

Article in the Star-Ledger today about Sunday's protest. My God, the horror of freight trains running through these "toney" towns ruining property values, threatening lives and probably killing children.

http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/in ... 206600.xml

Politicians like state Sen. Tom Kean Jr. and Assemblyman Jon Bramnick, both Republicans from Westfield, pledged their support to the coalition.

"There is no evidence of the need for this train," Bramnick said to the protesters. "This is a massive disaster that they intend to impose on the citizens."

Massive disaster? Maybe someone should call the Department of Homeland Security. Or maybe it's an example of :

a) hyperbole
b) pandering
c) demagoguery
d) hysteria
e) all of the above

I just hope someone doesn't have a heart attack on the wrong side of the tracks someday.

CBS ran a story on the protest Sunday evening at 11 pm. Very brief, kind of disjointed, no real point to the story. Whoever put the story together wasn't very interested, and it showed. Not well-informed, either. Didn't mention that the train also will go through Union (which is not involved in the lawsuits).

This event was just an opportunity for some people to get their pictures in the paper or on TV. If they really wanted to grab attention to their cause, they would have let themselves get arrested for blocking traffic.

I guess the CBS reporters couldn't convince the protestants to block traffic for better copy for the CBS report.

How are things coming along with this program ?

Are they going to make a seemingly seemless connector from the RVRR to SIRT iron ?

How about calling it Union Co. Rapid Transit ? The M&E should farm out the operation to an independant operator similar to the Sopranos who can stand firm against the NIMBY and politicians.

I dont think there is a plan for an seamless connection since both lines will interchange with NS or CSX out in Manville. They have already made it know that both Lines will be known as the Rahway Valley Railroad. Which makes of us around here very happy

Unofficially, we like to think of it as "The Biggest, Little Railroad"