Railroad Forums 

  • Salem County Line - Swedesboro to Salem - Operated by: West Jersey, SRNJ, US Rail, SMS

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

Moderator: David

 #1408667  by von schlieffen
 
No work occuring on the Mantua Creek bridge visible from Kings Hwy. I live right up the street. It must be the one just south of US 322 and North of downtown Swedesboro. I think that's the Racoon Creek? That's the only other waterway crossing on the Conrail-owned section. I agree, this line will see abandonment shortly.
 #1409462  by rr503
 
I just saw the SRNJ GP9(?) parked north of the turnpike bridge. The last time I was by there (Thursday) it wasn't there. Anyone know anything about this?
 #1409542  by glennk419
 
If you look at the Google Maps view of the intersection of Kings Hwy. and Ogden Road ( actually Ogden Rd and the RR crossing ), the Geep can be seen spotted adjacent to Grasso Foods in a shot from July 2016.
 #1453049  by riffian
 
Steve Barry has a blurb in this month's "Railfan and Railroad" about this line. He noted there is only one remaining customer on this line, that being the feed mill in Woodstown and they only get a couple of cars per month ("a couple of dozen cars annually"). The State of New Jersey has provided a $3.5 million grant to improve the trackage down to the port in Salem for potential new business. The State Assemblyman for the area is quoted (with extreme optimism) that there is a big future for the line, both in freight and weekend scenic rides. South Jersey is not noted for its scenic beauty and Salem, although with some nice downtown architecture, is essentially a small town ghetto. I guess you have to wish them luck, but it appears to me that it is another case of throwing good money after bad.
 #1453667  by von schlieffen
 
I'm not sure if the pole treatment plant receives cars anymore, it's been a while. The glass plant is shuttered and so is rail service to Mannington. The Salem port operation only services one large ship, a weekly freighter to Bermuda and back.

There is one additional customer on the conrail-owned portion of the line, just north of route 322. It's called Garmar Industries and they build specialty pallets and shipping crates. The old stick rail was recently torn up in the Woodbury area on this line and replaced with welded.

Salem county is unfortunately a very economically depressed part of the state; however I disagree that it is lacking in scenic beauty.
 #1508550  by rr503
 
StreetView shows some of the track work at the Port of Salem. Wouldn't be surprised if none of it is ever used, though...

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.577016, ... 312!8i6656" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Of note, they seem to have reinstalled the lead track to whatever this facility ( https://www.google.com/maps/@39.5773909 ... a=!3m1!1e3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ) is.
 #1511195  by riffian
 
$3.5 million of the taxpayer's money to rebuild a line that has no shippers and has no prospects of developing any. But hey, people are going to flock to South Jersey to ride the tourist train on this line.
 #1511273  by Sir Ray
 
riffian wrote: Wed Jun 12, 2019 12:13 pm $3.5 million of the taxpayer's money to rebuild a line that has no shippers and has no prospects of developing any. But hey, people are going to flock to South Jersey to ride the tourist train on this line.
This is puzzling me a bit - have the tracks been rehabilitated such that they are usable to the port/industry (as the county claims), or are they unsuable as Empire Blended claims. If the tracks are indeed usable, is Empire just looking for an excuse to get out of contracts?
 #1511277  by WashingtonPark
 
The track looks mighty bad in many areas. Whether that is just cosmetic work that needs to be done or a real problem with 10 MPH track on weed compromised ROW remains to be seen. But if I was looking to send 30 cars a week on that line, it's physical appearance would have me worried about how reliable the service would be.
 #1567275  by nomis
 
SMS is getting the lease for the Salem County owned portion of the Salem Branch. It will be for Maintenance and Operation, starting April 1st, 2021 though March 31, 2031 with one 10 year renewal option to take out operations until 2041.

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