Check the yahoo message boards for NYSW/Susquehanna. It was posted over there numerous times over the course of the year. They started cleaning/clearing the soil near the switch off the main probably close to a year ago or more and now are just near essex street crossing.
Ties, rails (and all the equipment that removed them) are gone from the branch, Essex Street back up to the main line. Looks like it may be done for good, although there still has been no filing for abandonment. Its been a year and a half since the removal, and I can't imagine why they would replace the rail since there are no customers left. A formal filing is not necessary for industrial tracks and tracks in yard limits, although I don't think the Lodi branch would qualify.
On another note, the Passaic branch is still stuffed with CEFX gondolas. These cars, owned by Capital Leasing, were used in removal of dirty dirt from the brownfields (Superfund) cleanup at the former Maywood Chemical Company. Presumably that project has been completed. These relatively new cars have been stored here for a long time. The Garden State Paper complex in Garfield, the line's major customer in later years, has been totally demolished and new condos built in its place.