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  • CR on the Southern Secondary

  • Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New Jersey
Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New Jersey

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 #1551243  by R&DB
 
All this speculation about the Freehold - Farmingdale is cracking me up. NJDOT owns the entire ROW and there exist standards for highway crossings. This work is routine maintenance. Any RR would prefer to have experienced RR contractors replace the crossings than city, county or state highway workers. As far as Howell wanting to pave over the crossing on Southard Ave, it's in Farmingdale NOT Howell.
By the way, most of the rail from F'dale to Oakerson Rd is still there, just buried or paved over.
In order to use this route for access to the Southern Secondary, a wye needs to be created in F'dale.
 #1551245  by GSC
 
Had a nice surprise one day many years ago. Just wandering around Farmingdale, I found a blue CR Geep parked on the old track that went to the diamond. It was shut down and well-hidden in the "tunnel of trees" that had grown over the track. Gold Lumber was still open at that time. Nope, didn't take a pic.
 #1551252  by Tanker1497
 
"In order to use this route for access to the Southern Secondary, a wye needs to be created in F'dale"

I thought the property for the exsisting wye was still in place just OOS? And if you run an engine at both ends a wye isn't really needed, lots of RR's doing this today because of lost track.
Last edited by Tanker1497 on Sat Aug 29, 2020 6:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
 #1551266  by Bracdude181
 
@Tanker1497 There used to be a wye in Farmingdale. The switch for it is still there, on the east side of the Southard Ave crossing. The rails that once connected to it are gone though. I heard that were gonna put a wye back in as part of farmingdale to freehold being reopened, but an engine on each end would work okay if they can't get a wye built.
 #1551540  by R&DB
 
I don't believe there was ever a wye in Farmingdale, although there is just enough land to do it. (Googel Maps & zoom in to see the lot lines.) The switch just east of Southard Av is there for the existing curve connecting the Southern Secondary (CNJ) to The Freehold Industrial Track (PRR). The other leg of the switch went straight to a diamond crossing with Sou. Sec. and on to Manasquan and the Coast Line(NY&LB).
Gary, you are right, CR used to tie down on that stub now and then. I saw it many times in the 80s-90s.
One more piece of of the wye puzzle... The curved connecting track was once double-tracked, as well as the Southern Secondary through F'dale.
 #1551542  by CharlieL
 
This USGS map, created sometime after the ALLAIRE route was terminated but while the Freehold route was still active, shows the wye, though the leg southbound is shown as inactive. Click on map or use sizing on right hand side to zoom in.

. https://www.topoquest.com/map.php?lat=4 ... min&size=m

I think I'll look in historical USGS maps for a better idea.
 #1551546  by CharlieL
 
You were correct; looks like there was never a wye there' Line on the maps looks like a road or track for power line management My mistake, prompted by wishful thinking.
Went back to the 1942 USGS map, 1:24000, and following years.
 #1551579  by Tanker1497
 
Historical Aerials confirms what is posted above. It appears as a wye but isn't I have always thought it was a wye. The 1956 view shows what appears to be a yard that runs along the line to Allaire which if you use the swipe feature is nothing more than woods in 2015. It also shows about 18 cars on the curve off the southern with some on the inside and some in that yard,and up towards Asbury rd. 10 more cars.
 #1551612  by Bracdude181
 
Farmingdale, like other towns along the Southern, had a freight yard at some point. I could be wrong but it's possible that some of the cars stored there were for the old Jamesburg & Matawan Agriculture Railroad. (Was run by the PRR then the CNJ later on) I'm not sure when the yard was removed from service. The tracks were still there in the 1970s but they weren't used at the time. As for the wye, I'd like to see one built if they reopen the route to freehold. Maybe rebuild the siding at Marl Rd too.

Quick side note, the following engines make up the current browns roster:

CSX 6160, 4429, and 4406. 4406 and 6160 are both facing north so chances are they're the candidates for the lead engine tomorrow.
 #1551674  by RailsEast
 
CSX 4406 shf + 5 for Woodhaven, approaching Maxwell Rd in Eatontown at 4:45 in the pm.....
 #1551749  by R&DB
 
Re: CR on the Southern Secondary
#1551542 by CharlieL
Tue Sep 01, 2020 1:06 pm

The line you notedon the topo map is the boundry line between Farmingdale and Howell.
 #1551808  by GSC
 
Farmingdale had a two-track yard along where Railroad Ave is. The tracks were set up as - south was the Southern main, and the middle and north tracks were yard tracks, with the spur to the PRR coming off the north track. The spur was double-tracked. One of the last uses of the yard, if not the last, was in 1972 I believe, when CNJ dropped off caboose 91155 for delivery to the Pine Creek RR at Allaire. Not sure if the PRR from F'dale to Freehold was in service then, although intact. Gold Lumber, or its previous owner, was a customer on the line.

Around the same time or a little before, when the diamond was still in place, an occasional hopper car was spotted on a ramp next to the (then) Frequency Engineering Labs, visible from Rt 524, the last of the line from Sea Girt to F'dale still in service. As long as the diamond was in place, a big three-panel CNJ absolute block signal protected the crossing, most of the time showing three reds. Another block signal was just past that, a single panel with a "take siding" lamp under the signal.

When I was little, on a car trip with family, we "chased" a PRR freight from Sea Girt to Freehold. As I recall, either an S or SW loco was pulling two or three boxcars and a caboose. High speed it wasn't. The train was doing all of 25, if that. We met it at each crossing, the crew waving to the little kid having the time of his life.
 #1552201  by Bracdude181
 
CSX 4406 and 4429 again. Not sure how many cars.

There was also a power change at Browns. CSX 4432 replaced CSX 6160.

So the current roster is CSX 4406, 4429, and 4432. All are ex Conrail.
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