NYSW Edgewater Tunnel

[R36 Combine Coach]

Who owns the NYSW Edgewater/Fairview spur ROW? The NJDOT Hudson County map has it as Conrail (CSAO), but other sources as NYSW. Track is intact to a point just west of the U.S. Route 1-9 overpass. I've heard the vacant tunnel is owned by Conrail (some reports as now passed to CSX).

[dano23]

Has to be a typo because the map still shows the old NYC tunnel as CSAO not the light rail. If you look close, there's rail lines that have been out for decades still shown on that map. The map doesn't even reflect the relocation of the NJT Bergen county line through Secaucus for example.

The rail on the Edgewater Branch ends right at the 1-9 bridge and is still owned by the NYS&W. I've never heard anything about the tunnel being owned by anyone but the NYS&W.

[hajelliott]

Having participated in more than a few Motor Car excursions on the Susie Q.
We go right up to the edge of the tunnel.
It is part of the NYS&W property.
The area is carefully patrolled by RR Police.
There are no rails beyond the entrance.
Susie Q uses this "SPUR" to service at least two customers near the entrance to the tunnel.
It is a flyover track really neat.

[cjvrr]

A Hess Oil pipeline is the only thing that runs through the tunnel. It runs between their Edgewater facility and the Bogota facility following the NYS&W tracks.

Tunnel and a small piece of property on the east side of the tunnel are still owned by NYS&W as far as I remember.

[njmidland]

There are several sets of fiber optic cables that run through through the tunnel as well.

[R36 Combine Coach]

Do Hess and Verizon (fiber optic wire) pay NYSW air rights/lease or user fee for the tunnel ROW?

[UP4981]

This is the haunted tunnel that the Susie Q uses for spare box cars wit parts... I think and they say theres lots of homeless people and cultist in there and it is built on two cemetaries... Spooky, I wanna go there wit my friends tht told me of this

[R36 Combine Coach]

Sounds like a good trip for Weird NJ.

[Steve F45]

Sounds like a good trip for Weird NJ.

already been done LOL. And the tunnel isn't built ontop of a cemetary, the cemetary was built ontop of a tunnel.

[woz]

Not to be off-topic and off-railroads... the fact that Hess has a pipe line between Edgewater and Bogota running through the old tunnel, could this explain why there has not been any oil barge delivery's to the Bogota terminal in a while? Woz

[Ken W2KB]

Do Hess and Verizon (fiber optic wire) pay NYSW air rights/lease or user fee for the tunnel ROW?

Perhaps. However, the usual practice for utilities is the purchase of an easement in perpetuity; deals are usually not structured as a lease. There are exceptions such as the utility transmission overbuild on Amtrak's catenary supports that is a leasehold (or maybe a license), probably because the PRR owned the supports versus the utility owning them as in the usual right of way easement for electric transmission.

For the relatively nearby tunnel that is now used by the Lightrail,it's my recollection that PSE&G acquired an easement from Conrail in the 1980's for the installation of the two 230,000 volt transmission circuits that pass through the tunnel.

[R36 Combine Coach]

Not to be off-topic and off-railroads... the fact that Hess has a pipe line between Edgewater and Bogota running through the old tunnel, could this explain why there has not been any oil barge delivery's to the Bogota terminal in a while? Woz

It IS on topic...the Hess barges require Upper Hack, HX and Portal to open.

[JasW]

Sounds like a good trip for Weird NJ.

already been done LOL. And the tunnel isn't built ontop of a cemetary, the cemetary was built ontop of a tunnel.

And in one of my other favorite quirks concerning this tunnel, a neighborhood was built around the three-story ventilation shaft (imagine having THIS in your backyard!): http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=qt24kj8v0286&lvl=19.155471238904138&dir=94.2427365397672&sty=b&form=LMLTCC

[Steve F45]

Did the NYSW ever run steam thru the tunnel before the RS's? probably a stupid question LOL

[CAR_FLOATER]

Really?