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  • Cranford trackage question

  • Discussion of the CNJ (aka the Jersey Central) and predecessors Elizabethtown and Somerville, and Somerville and Easton, for the period 1831 to its inclusion in ConRail in 1976. The historical society site is here: http://www.jcrhs.org/
Discussion of the CNJ (aka the Jersey Central) and predecessors Elizabethtown and Somerville, and Somerville and Easton, for the period 1831 to its inclusion in ConRail in 1976. The historical society site is here: http://www.jcrhs.org/

Moderator: CAR_FLOATER

 #443079  by carajul
 
If you are on the CNJ at Cranford station (which looks like a gost of itself as far as # of tracks go) and you head east. Just east of the platform a seemingly defunct track cuts off and heads south. It goes into an industrial park, crosses under the LVRR, and heads south. I think there are even PRR-style catenary poles above it. It goes all the way to Linden when it passes a huge 20-track yard that is filled with white hopper cars, then it crosses over the turnpike and the tank car yard where it seems abandoned again.

What is this line?

 #443105  by 56-57
 
Rahway Valley???
 #443319  by Ken W2KB
 
carajul wrote:If you are on the CNJ at Cranford station (which looks like a gost of itself as far as # of tracks go) and you head east. Just east of the platform a seemingly defunct track cuts off and heads south. It goes into an industrial park, crosses under the LVRR, and heads south. I think there are even PRR-style catenary poles above it.
Those are not catenary supports. It is a PSE&G H-style frame electric transmission line support structure.

 #443396  by CJPat
 
That track used to be the B&O/SIRT track that ran out to Linden and over the Arthur Kill to handle the various businesses there in Staten Island.

The section between Cranford and Linden is being operated by the M&E and will probably pick up the monicker "Rahway Valley" once the other half of the project is complete (the rehab of the actual Rahway Valley RR thru Kenilworth and out to Summit). The RVRR trackage connects to the old CNJ at the former (?) Horan Lumber facility east of the GSP overpass and heads north.

The rest of the trackage was rehabbed and supporting Fresh Kills and the "new" port facility on Staten Island. This piece of track currently connects only to the Chemical Coast line to move freight up to the Newark yards. See this link for further info:
http://railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.ph ... 8b141a2370

 #538418  by Semaphore Sam
 
About 8 years ago I walked most of the length of the old SIRT from the CNJ to Linden, and snooped around the old connection of the SIRT with the LV. Although there was very thick vegatation (up to 10 feet high), I was able to follow two tracks from the SIRT up the hill to the LV...the tracks stopped short of the LV by about 50-60 feet. Now that the SIRT is functioning again (Google Earth shows 2 tracks filled with white-covered cars on the SIRT), are there plans to connect the LV back up with the SIRT?

 #538476  by CJPat
 
Semaphore Sam wrote:Now that the SIRT is functioning again (Google Earth shows 2 tracks filled with white-covered cars on the SIRT), are there plans to connect the LV back up with the SIRT?
I asked the same question on a couple of other previous occasions and no one came back with an answer so I offer this thought on the subject:

Although I am unclear on who pulled the tracks up on the connection (who owned that part of the tracks?), I am doubting they will return very soon...maybe farther in the future?

My reason is as follows (I invite the professionals on this board to correct me if I am "off track"). The connection was in place to allow interchange between the SIRT (B&O) & the Lehigh. By the looks of it, the dual track connection looks like it could have held about 20-30 cars. But any traffic that is coming from Staten Island now a days needs to go up to Oak Island for sorting to the appropriate trains before heading west. Since the local comes out of Oak Island to pick up the traffic in Staten island, there is no need to take the cars to an intermediate yard only to need them to be picked up again and taken to a sorting yard.

The only use a connection from the SIRT to the LV could provide would be as a detour route to bypass Union & Roselle (if there was ever a track problem), but I don't think there was ever a straight connection from the Chemical coast Southbound onto the SIRT Westbound.

 #538728  by GOLDEN-ARM
 
I don't remember a connection from the SIRY to the CC with Conrail, although there was (is?) a small set of tracks, with connections being made inside the Exxon plant. With a nice sized interchange yard at Cranford (across from Excee tower), there wouldn't be the need to interchange with the same railroad, 4 miles further east. The old LV connection faces the wrong way, for picking up cars to take to Oak Island. As mentioned, a train already picks up the CC, for delivery to Oak Island anyways.

As far as detouring trains over the SIRY, from Cranford to the CC, if there was a need due to problems in Union or Roselle, there is already a connection on the Lehigh main, that goes to the CC. It's called the Port Reading Secondary. If NS really needed an "escape route' in the vicinity, it would seem to be much easier to open the CNJ from Aldene to E'port, as a single track runner. That seems highly unlikely, though.
 #559604  by fastfrt1
 
About a year and a half ago I was up on the Lehigh Line (just snooping about) and the switch for the SIRT interchange was ripped out. :(