upcoming railroad repair?

[BarrensMike]

Hey all.

Was on my way to Lebanon forest for an afternoon hike today (8/30/2012), I took the scenic route in (via Pasadena Rd.) and drove past this sign at the Savoy Blvd./Pasadena Woodmanse Rd. - Mt. Misery Rd./Clay Mine Rd. intersection stating "On or about 9/10/2012 this RxR will be closed for repair. Plan alt. route." (from my panoramio page):
http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/78032382.jpg

just curious if anybody knows what this is about. I thought pretty much all the RR's south/west of Lakehurst are abandoned; why are they going to repair a RR that hasn't been in use for about 40 years?

 

[manumuskin]

Perhaps they are removing the tracks where they cross the road?I don't remember those tracks being real rough but they may be removing them.There have also been rumors of bringing those tracks back into operation for a tourist train.I hope this does not happen but who knows?

 

[BarrensMike]

Ha! Imagine that, "Now folks, if you'd look to your left you'll see a tree & another tree. And coming up on your right, that would be... why yes, it's another tree."

Yeah, "repair" is most likely code for "removal". Although, you're right, the tracks there aren't rough at all, so it seems unnecessary, but that's the way it goes most often...

I drove past a couple of large dumptrucks on that road today as well (coming from the sand/clay [?] mines that are there). I thought maybe they'd be repairing the tracks for them, but even if that was the case, where would they be planning on using it to go to?... it would require quite a bit of repair work along miles & miles of those rails before they reached anywhere worthwhile, I think - mind you, I have no idea what I'm talking about, so I could be completely wrong.

 

[manumuskin]

I just thought of this.What if it is a slavage operation for the steel?I often thought of all the money all that steel would be worth.That stretch along Woodmansie road has to be the most accessible stretch of track so perhpas they would start there?

 

[46er]

That entire stretch was cleaned up about 1-2 years ago, all downed trees and junk removed, grass cut from the track roadbed. The RR crossing on 530 in Whiting was also upgraded. I would guess the crossing at the intersection of Mt Misery/Pasadena/Savoy roads will be upgraded and is what the sign is for. A different sign had been there for some time. At the time the other work was done it was thought it was to prepare the RR line for moving material for the new Hudson River tunnel project, but that has since been cancelled. I can't recall the name of the RR company that had the work done.

 

[Boyd]

Perhaps this is it? http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/threads/anyone-hear-this-ridiculousness.4753/

 

[46er]

Perhaps this is it? http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/threads/anyone-hear-this-ridiculousness.4753/

I tend to doubt that. There was a gamblers train that left from Newark and was soon cancelled since no one used it. It's faster for them to speed down the Pkwy. I have seen no work at all done on the tracks from the sand mines to Chatsworth, and I doubt the old bridge over 72 would hold. But if the guv-mint is involved, anything is possible.

 

[Boyd]

That thread wanders across a variety of topics. This is what I was thinking of

Word on the street is that they are doing it to get the big sand trucks off the road. The southern sand plants would use it. But, Claytons apparantly owns some of the track from Woodmansie North, so how they react to the competition is going to be interesting. I don't mind the trains running again. The pines would survive that I think.

 

[Teegate]

I asked someone who may know. If I get any info I will post.

Guy

 

[GermanG]

All conjecture aside, I think this is one of those cases where we are not going to know until we know, unless someone out there really does know, but then again, who knows? One possibility not mentioned is routine maintenance required due to the status of the line. While I’m not aware of the specific status of this part of the line, there is a big difference between being out of service and being officially abandoned. If merely out of service there may be minimum repairs required from time to time to maintain that status. I remember repairs being made to the siding that went from the so-called "Barnegat Branch” to Builders General in Toms River long after the last time that siding was used. The grade crossing lights over Rt. 37 also had to be kept in working order because if that siding were to be used, the train had to pull across the highway and then back into the open turnout due to how close it was to the highway.

 

[Teegate]

I heard back with no real proof. But this did happen there.

There was a bad accident there. No one got hurt but two young girls crashed at that end and a fire ensued thereafter.

 

[46er]

I heard back with no real proof. But this did happen there.

There was a bad accident there. No one got hurt but two young girls crashed at that end and a fire ensued thereafter.

There is also roadside cross down by the turns near the sand mine entrances and deer club. I'll be headed down that way tomorrow. If the road will be closed there should be a sign on the 72 side.

 

[46er]

Passed thru there this morning. The signs are on both sides of the track crossing. The crossing itself has asphalt covering the track. My guess would be they will be removing the asphalt and bringing the crossing up to date. That crossing is on the active freight line in Ocean County. The signs that were at that location and the RT 72 intersection are now gone; apparently they were for road repairs.

A bit of info from a RR forum that has been following the same thing since 2005.

Re: CNJ being cleared from Woodmansie > north

by bluecomet45 » Sun Jun 10, 2012 10:15 pm
Greetings to all,

This my first post here and while not overly newsworthy, it is something. In the Asbury Park Press legal notices dated 6-8-12 a notice was posted indicating the State of NJ is planning to upgrade the Bullock Road crossing. The DOT has determined it is a candidate for replacement much the same as Diamond Road and Route 530. The Route 530 crossing work was merely part of the general road work still ongoing there. The notice says that once the State DOT guru approves the work, bids will be announced. Bullock Road is where Pasedena Road crosses the track at the Ocean-Burlington County line just north of Woodmansie.
FWIW, I am the owner of the www.thebluecomet.com web site and I appreciate the visits and comments regarding my site. If anyone has a question about a photo or such, please feel free to reply here. Owing to some personal issues I have not been able to work on the site very much recently. I hope to catch up soon. Thanks.

bluecomet45

 

[mudpie]

I heard back with no real proof. But this did happen there.

There was a bad accident there. No one got hurt but two young girls crashed at that end and a fire ensued thereafter.

Check with Raven she might know more. It went thru a few people before it got to me. Did you Google it? Usually accident s are in the paper or internet.

 

[Jersey Jeff]

thebluecomet.com is a fantastic Web Site with lots of info and photos of South Jersey railroading. Unfortunately, the site was recently taken down and the owner is unsure if he lost many of his photos that were posted at his site.

 

[Buck]

They are upgrading the crossing in anticipation of Clayton running sand trains. In the spring they did the same in Whiting at Diamond Road and at 530. The forum cited by 46er above has been following this pretty closely as well. The senior communities in Whiting have been concerned about this and it has been the topic of conversation at township council meetings and in the police department. I don't know the time frame, but it seems like a good idea to get some of the dump trucks off the road.

http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/thr...from-woodmansie-to-lakehurst.3059/#post-29805

http://www.manchestertwp.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/April-23-2012.pdf

 

[BarrensMike]

Wow, thanks everyone for replying! I didn't realize just how long talks/attempts of repairing that RR have been going on for (and how long people have been speculating about it).

Here's a little visual update from today, if anybody's interested:
http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/78842555.jpg


Also, yeah, that bluecomet website was pretty incredible (sad to see it down for the time being). I came across it a couple of years ago and was blown away at just how many great photos the owner had accumulated over the years.

 

[Boyd]

Also, yeah, that bluecomet website was pretty incredible (sad to see it down for the time being).

You can find archived copies of it here, but not all the links and images are available. http://web.archive.org/web/20110202105806/http://thebluecomet.com/

 

[manumuskin]

if they weren't planning on bringing the tracks back into use they would have taken up the rails and just patched the road and there would have been no more tracks there.This tells me they are either plannig to bring them back into service or there is a possibility there.

 

[fierodoug]

Crossing came out real nice. I was there taking pics yesterday afternoon too, but you beat me to posting them. A lot of people driving around the greenwood forest area yesterday, could not beat the weather.