Delaware and Raritan River Railroad-General Discussion

I think twice a week service is a great improvement for starters. How would u like to have a carload of merch that u need for customers sitting at browns yard for up to a week before delivery. Time is money.

Bracdude181 wrote: ↑Tue Jun 14, 2022 8:36 pm Will only be an improvement if Woodhaven can get more cars per train than what they get now. Especially since they have that second track in there that they added when Conrail refused twice a week service.

Woah. Waitaminnit! 17 cars a trip x 2 times a week is 34 cars a week, as opposed to the max of 17 cars a week now. If Woodhaven can empty the cars in 3 days. As I understand it, their track can only handle 17 (or 18) cars at a time. From Woodhaven's point of view it's not how many cars per train, It's how many cars per week.
That's presuming they need more than 17 cars per week. Their average is more like 10 or 12.
I suspect if they need more cars, D&RR would try to make it happen with extra trips.
But it's still Conrail dependent, Browns to Redbank , at least until Freehold-Farmingdale opens.

I suspect that some ppl here dont understand business, Its not a matter of how many cars per week.....its transit and delivery time. U probably think that lumber yards just store piles of lumber for fun, and wait for it to sell. A lot of lumber is pre-ordered, or sold as soon as it arrives. The longer it takes a carload of lumber to get to its destination, the longer a customer has to wait, the longer it takes to get delivered, and the longer it takes to get paid.

While lumber is not a perishable, and not a just-in-time manufacturing part...getting 7 cars twice a week is always better than getting 14 cars once a week. Just from a logistics point, if nothing else, its easier to deal with 7 cars twice a week.

And other carload freight customers , who only get cars occasionally, will REALLY appreciate twice a week service.

pdtrains wrote: ↑Wed Jun 15, 2022 12:12 pm I suspect that some ppl here dont understand business, Its not a matter of how many cars per week.....its transit and delivery time. U probably think that lumber yards just store piles of lumber for fun, and wait for it to sell. A lot of lumber is pre-ordered, or sold as soon as it arrives. The longer it takes a carload of lumber to get to its destination, the longer a customer has to wait, the longer it takes to get delivered, and the longer it takes to get paid.

While lumber is a perishable, and not a just-in-time manufacturing part...getting 7 cars twice a week is always better than getting 14 cars once a week. Just from a logistics point, if nothing else, its easier to deal with 7 cars twice a week.

And other carload freight customers , who only get cars occasionally, will REALLY appreciate twice a week service.

My point, poorly expressed perhaps, was that more trains are better than more cars per train. At max for example, shipments probably arrive sooner and capacity also increases. I personally have been affected by long waits at Woodhaven (for small orders, 1 or 2 windows at a time). I'm sure Woodhaven would appreciate more deliveries per week.

pdtrains wrote: ↑Wed Jun 15, 2022 12:12 pm I suspect that some ppl here dont understand business, Its not a matter of how many cars per week.....its transit and delivery time. U probably think that lumber yards just store piles of lumber for fun, and wait for it to sell.

True. By way of another example, there are significant capital costs to maintaining inventory. I am very familiar with a large coal fired electric generating station that originally stockpiled 120 days of coal. The financing cost of such stockpiling amounted to several million dollars per year. The station owner changed to a 90 day stockpile and later a 60 day stockpile thus cutting inventory costs to the benefit of utility ratepayer customers. The company also changed from rail to ocean barge delivery which was slightly less expensive, but significantly was far more reliable then on time performance by Conrail which allowed for the 60 day coal inventory stockpile without sacrificing electric delivery reliability.

CharlieL wrote: ↑Tue Jun 14, 2022 4:40 pm If true, already an improvement in service for Woodhaven, and possibly Extech and Lairds.

Don't forget, Marjam gets cars from time to time! Usually, it's infrequent and only one or two, which is definitely due to the only once-a-week service CR offers. I wouldn't be surprised if Marjam starts to get 2-4 cars a week due to this increased frequency.

Would Laird's and Extech get more cars in one go, or would they just stick to one or two cars on delivery days?

CharlieL wrote: ↑Tue Jun 14, 2022 8:12 pm If, as stated earlier on the southern secondary thread, Brick isn't serviced because NJT doesn't want scrap cars on it's tracks (the NJCL), then Brick won't get serviced, until at least Freehold-Farmingdale is reactivated. Presuming Brick still wants it. I have no idea how much they handle.

Was that ever confirmed? It's possibly true, but I don't think we ever got confirmation that NJT doesn't allow it. I have also heard that Brick Recycling wasn't happy with the once-a-week service CR offered. In any case, Brick could allow even more transloading off of their sidings if they don't opt for service, a nice side hustle for them.

jdh823 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 15, 2022 12:16 am I HIGHLY doubt any new customers will come in right away or within the first few months.

If anything you might see increased cars going up and down but anything new would take time.

I think they can get "new" customers, aka previous customers that still have a siding connection of some sort, to use the line very fast at the very least. I can't see them not picking up one or two completely new customers within a year of them taking over the line. As said before, C&D and its subsidiaries are pretty aggressive when it comes to finding new customers; with inflation and the cost of goods rising, they are gonna need more money to pay for things the grant and their initial investment that aren't covered by that now.

In addition, twice a week service looks very appealing.

CharlieL wrote: ↑Wed Jun 15, 2022 9:47 am Woah. Waitaminnit! 17 cars a trip x 2 times a week is 34 cars a week, as opposed to the max of 17 cars a week now. If Woodhaven can empty the cars in 3 days. As I understand it, their track can only handle 17 (or 18) cars at a time. From Woodhaven's point of view it's not how many cars per train, It's how many cars per week.
That's presuming they need more than 17 cars per week. Their average is more like 10 or 12.
I suspect if they need more cars, D&RR would try to make it happen with extra trips.
But it's still Conrail dependent, Browns to Redbank , at least until Freehold-Farmingdale opens.

I'm not sure if Woodhaven gets all their inventory by rail, or if they get more inventory delivered by truck. I'd imagine that since Woodhaven does a lot of business, and have a lot of inventory space, a once-a-week train doesn't deliver all of their inventory - I doubt it's most. As stated by @pdtrains, relying solely on that once-a-week shipment would cause some pretty serious timing and delivery issues for not just the company, but its customers. Now that you can get 34 cars a week spread over two days, you can probably get more inventory by rail, and save a lot of money as it's cheaper to buy in bulk by rail, than buy in smaller quantities by truck... Especially with fuel prices and staffing issues these days.

I also think Woodhaven gets the cars unloaded pretty fast - I don't see how a large operation like them wouldn't be able to unload a 17-18 car max train in a day or two. They have a second siding inside their property. I'd imagine if they don't use it anymore, it would make switching inside Woodhaven easier? I can't see them removing it.

Ken W2KB wrote: ↑Wed Jun 15, 2022 5:06 pm True. By way of another example, there are significant capital costs to maintaining inventory. I am very familiar with a large coal fired electric generating station that originally stockpiled 120 days of coal. The financing cost of such stockpiling amounted to several million dollars per year. The station owner changed to a 90 day stockpile and later a 60 day stockpile thus cutting inventory costs to the benefit of utility ratepayer customers. The company also changed from rail to ocean barge delivery which was slightly less expensive, but significantly was far more reliable then on time performance by Conrail which allowed for the 60 day coal inventory stockpile without sacrificing electric delivery reliability.

Ah, another example of CR's mediocre service chasing away customers.

Heads up!

Chesapeake and Delaware 1888 has left the Dover and Rockaway River en route to Allentown. Most likely en route to the new operation.

Bracdude181 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 16, 2022 6:04 pm Heads up!

Chesapeake and Delaware 1888 has left the Dover and Rockaway River en route to Allentown. Most likely en route to the new operation.

Looks like they are starting sooner than expected? I know the takeover is June 19 (3 days from now), but other people were saying we shouldn't expect anything until July 1 and beyond.

If they get it here before the 19th then today might be the last SA31…

Caboose #133 looks like it's coming too.

Wait, is this for Freehold or the Southern???

Someone on Facebook claims the Caboose has an active waybill for Freehold. Nothing has been said about 1888, yet.

I really hope 1888 is going to the Southern. Or at least one of the 53 numbered engines. 2005 and 2006 can stay at Dover and Delaware forever.

And ever

And ever

1. If today was the last day of the SA-31/38 on the Southern, then it's really the end of an era. I did see quite a lot of people go out to watch the train in spots I've never seen people watch them before, so it seems likely that today was it. Bittersweet, but probably for the best - if there's going to be an exchange 2x a week in Red Bank for DRRR, things are already looking better without CR in the picture.
2. Is DRRR going to use the Caboose for revenue operations, and not use EOT? Unless they are going to use it for some sort of mobile operations, that would actually be very cool to see.
3. When are 1888 and Caboose #133 supposed to get here? I'm assuming Sunday the 19th if they are already en route.
4. What engine(s) are we gonna get?? If 133 is coming at the same time as 1888, I'm going to assume they will both be for the FIT.
5. Should we expect sometime in the next few days that the Southern has just the engine(s?) come down to park somewhere in Lakewood as a sort of "test run"? Or will it stay in Red Bank until the first interchange happens?

And is 1888 to be used Jamesburg - Freehold, or Red Bank - Lakewood? Or both, which would be quite awkward before the two are connected.