Ironbound area local freight

[Joseph DeLuisi]

I'm sorry to post twice but Darling Deleware all the way down Wilson Ave is a rail served facility. Is there a Wilson Ave Industrial Track? I read that in an article about Conrail Shared Assets in Trains a couple of years ago.

[Sir Ray]

Yes Benjamin Moore is still getting rail service on Lister Ave. and Bell Container at the end of Ferry St. Also Atlas Refinery on Lister Ave. State House Produce did receive rail service until a few years ago, and Hello Fresh has a siding. They are in the new buildings where the Newark Farmers Market used to be. There is also a brick yard on Wilson Ave that gets service and several chemical companies on Doremus Ave too. The same train that works the Manufacturers Branch I think.

Didn't they rebuild State House Produce a few years back? Wasn't that mostly a potato distributor - used to get 3-4 reefers around the turn of the century.
Where is the brick yard on Wilson - is it in the same location as the (former) waste transfer station, Doremus & Wilson? I think a lumber transfer yard is down there now.
Also while loooking around I noticed that on Google maps the remnant of the Newark Branch south of Christie St., what I believe was a vegtable oil place with tank car unloading back in the day now had a boxcar surrounded by lots of materials (again, even if the image date states 2020, this aerial view may be a few years old).
ETA: Darling Delaware all the way down Wilson Ave - OK, they are listed at 825 Wilson, and yes that is pretty much as far East as you can go on Wilson. But, the aerial view shows no direct siding, so are they unloading/loading with a track in the waste transfer yard or something?

[Joseph DeLuisi]

OK, this is what I was able to confirm today,. Atlas Refinery on Lockwood St does use rail, Statehouse Produce on Cornelia St where the farmers market was did use rail when the facility was first built around '08, they haven't used it in a few years. Epic on Avenue P everyone knows that they do, Benjamin Moore and the Wakefern (Shop Rite) Distribution center on Lister Ave do use rail as does Allied Extruders on the east end of Ferry St. The brick yard on Wilson Ave like I said before, I read about in an article in Trains about Conrail Shared Assets several years ago. I am still waiting to confirm a few other ones that I was told about including Hello Fresh. When I get the information I will be able to post it.

[Sir Ray]

Thank for the update.
So the brickyard was mentioned in a Trains article, no exact address given I guess. Couldn't find it using Google maps.
Searching around Google Maps, I am still somewhat confused as what sidings would service Hello Fresh. The building at the SW corner of Cornelius & Lister which was rebuilt in 2015 (Google images of 2012 show the older building, 2015 shows the new building under construction), anyway before it was rebuilt the building used to always have at least 1 or 2 mech reefers (of potatoes IIRC) - now I am not sure if it is serviced, but Google shows an empty siding.
Years no, Decades ago, what is labeled Newark Group Recycling on the SW corner of Lockwood & Euclid used to always have 2-3 boxcars stuffed with paper recycling, now Google shows nothing but an overgrown siding.
One more boring memory - this was decades ago, say late 1980s/early 1990s - Lomma on Albert Ave. used to have a siding into the building (fairly obvious when you see the large rail door under the overhead crane), and there was often a heavy duty flatcar parked inside (visible thru the open roll-up door or the window), which to me was pretty cool having only see such heavy duty flatcars in pictures.

[Joseph DeLuisi]

When I get more information I will post it. I got the info that I previously posted from the shipping/receiving department's or the management of the companies.

[Sir Ray]

Thanks Joseph.
I got a bit lost thinking back to my college railfanning days in the area in the late '80s/early '90s, when operations were already a shell of their former self. Got interested in the area (as I guess others did) after reading the MR article "Let's Model The Newark Branch" back in the mid-1980s.

[pumpers]

I’ll add another Thank You. Jim

[Joseph DeLuisi]

You're welcome, but it may take me several days. I'm quite busy this time of the year.

[Joseph DeLuisi]

Greetings, yes Bell Container does utilize rail for inbound shipping of various items. This was confirmed by company management. Also, I don't remember if Allied Extruders was mentioned (I think it was) and they also use rail. Both are on the eastern end of Ferry St.

[Sir Ray]

Didn't notice that this thread was bumped (always good), but it jogged my memory of a really interesting industry on the very southern fringe of the Ironbound which I don't think was mentioned before (at least I couldn't find it), and which was rail served at least till 2009 - Matos Mason Materials at 205 Clifford St. - witness this glorious 2007 Google Street view, at least 3 boxcars along the street-side siding. By 2012 street view the dreaded concrete barriers blocking the track are there, and in the 2019 view the place seems no longer to be called Matos Mason.
I first saw this place in the early 1990s, and even then I thought freight cars along the street and not fenced off were way too susceptible to lading 'shrinkage'.

[rscott417]

Really great information here. I've been hovering around google and Bing maps looking for industries to model for the new layout. Any other information on the magazine that had the "Let's model the newark branch" article?

[Sir Ray]

Any other information on the magazine that had the "Let's model the newark branch" article?

Issue info is easy: 'Let's Model the Newark Branch', Model Railroader-June 1986
Author: Vic Roseman,
The article itself was rather decent, included a useful map, proto images, and of course suggestions on " Modeling the Newark Branch". He also included the story about the boat that collided with the Hackensack Drawbridge in the 1940s (and allegedly backed up and hit it again) which severed the Newark Branch thru service.
Vic Roseman, BTW, has written numerous interesting articles about Tri-State area railroading over the decades for MR, Rail Model Craftsman, Model Railroading (back in the day) and others. He does pretty good modeling, and from an a turn of the century article he wrote for Model Railroading about converting a Walther's Power plant kit into an Art Dec Movie Palace loosely based on a Brooklyn prototype he mentioned he lived in Brooklyn (at least at that time.). He wrote a recent series of articles on REA and express traffic for RMC published at the beginning of the year.

[Joseph DeLuisi]

I believe Matos was the brickyard mentioned in the Trains magazine article about the North Jersey Shared Assets Area about ten years ago. So, Atlas Refinery on Lockwood St and Benjamin Moore on Lister Avenue was mentioned. The OI-10 or 12 does the Manufacturers Branch, then there's the Doremus Ave chemical companies that I think are on the old Bayshore Branch. Kuiken Lumber opened a new facility in that area last year that is rail served. There is more in the area that is hard to access or view.