CR on the Southern Secondary

After the derailment pictures today. I hope they do more work and clean up on the site. Cant wait to see April showers in that muddy section of Track. No Ballast ?

The track seems better now than it was on the south side of Central Ave but the repairs where the rail cracked? Well, the crack is gone and there’s new ties at least…

Those ties will not last long without ballast. At least put in composite or concrete ties if they are gonna continue to sit in dirt, good grief

Speaking of Ciba-Geigy, they got railroaded when a) the company that operated the site before them did the most/worst polluting BY FAR and b) AFAIK all the pollution was from when it was legal to do things that way.

IIRC Ciba-Geigy was a pretty big customer of the Southern/TRIT until almost the very end, however, I am not sure how much traffic they received when they went bust in 1992.
I know they received the most traffic under the predecessor to Ciba-Geigy/during the CNJ days.

They were pretty busy when it was still under Tom’s River Chemical. There was pictures on the now defunct Blue Comet website.

When Ciba Geigy took over they had plans for 50 car trains to come in once a day and the entire TRIT was rebuilt in anticipation. Sadly the plan fell through when they found out NJT wouldn’t allow such long trains of hazardous materials on the Coast Line past South Amboy.

(GEE, I WONDER HOW THEY COULDVE SOLVED THAT ISSUE.)

Also, as bad as the track is at Central Ave, there’s areas that are much worse. When you get a chance, go and look at the tracks on top of the bridge just south of Squankum Road. You will be shocked by what you see!

Bracdude181 wrote:They were pretty busy when it was still under Tom’s River Chemical. There was pictures on the now defunct Blue Comet website.

When Ciba Geigy took over they had plans for 50 car trains to come in once a day and the entire TRIT was rebuilt in anticipation. Sadly the plan fell through when they found out NJT wouldn’t allow such long trains of hazardous materials on the Coast Line past South Amboy.

(GEE, I WONDER HOW THEY COULDVE SOLVED THAT ISSUE.)

!

At that time they could have brought NJT to the ICC and pled their case that this was an unfair restriction.

@CR7876 Indeed. Farmingdale to Freehold would’ve helped too but I don’t see why Conrail didn’t do that. There’s also that 1984 agreement between NJT and Conrail that says NJT can’t unreasonably interfere as well.

Aside from the weight of the train the only real argument NJT could’ve really brought to the table was safety concerns. These trains were gonna run between 5-7 days a week and they were gonna be up to 50 cars long. The Coast Line runs through heavily populated areas. God forbid a derailment occurs it would be a complete disaster. But even so, I’m sure Conrail could’ve worked with NJT in that regard.

Ciba Geigy not being able to get the trains they would have needed was a contributing factor to why they left. Although I believe it was mainly due to just how unbelievably contaminated the site was because of what Tom’s River Chemical had been doing. Nowadays BASF owns the site but does not manufacture anything. They are cleaning the groundwater and will continue to do so for at least another 20 years. (Yes it’s THAT BAD)

The last time service to the site was gonna be attempted was in the early to mid 2000s when talks began of moving the contaminated soil out by rail, similar to the outbound nuclear waste trains from Fort Dix at the time. The decision was ultimately made to treat the soil on site and return it to the surrounding environment.

Regarding service between Freehold and Farmingdale . Remember that the Southern being a CNJ line was served out of Red Bank and the Freehold PRR/PC. By the time Conrail was formed, CR was still servicing the Southern out of Red Bank. By the time service moved from Red Bank to Browns, the section of track was already pretty bad. Also remember that there were still customers on the NJCL past Bank into the 90's, going via NJCL made operational sense.

Regarding Ciba, I was a child in Toms River in the late 80's- 90's. I suggest reading " Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation" by Dan Fagin. https://www.amazon.com/Toms-River-Story ... zYTitTBJ-0

It really spells out that period in time in our area. The Local Community and the DEP really put an end to Ciba.

I don't know if this is going to affect freight ops but the Coast Line is single tracked for the foreseeable future between Hazlet and Red Bank due to a truck striking and damaging the Laurel Ave bridge.

A friend tells me that bridge bridge hit by trucks is a rather common occurrence? I’m not sure.

We will have to wait and see if SA31 runs.

From the North Jersey Coast Line twitter page:

“North Jersey Coast Line and Northeast Corridor temporary schedule adjustments are in effect for the next six to eight weeks to accommodate major repair work to the Laurel Avenue Bridge in Holmdel.”

Doesn’t sound good…

Bracdude181 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 30, 2022 9:03 am Ciba Geigy not being able to get the trains they would have needed was a contributing factor to why they left. Although I believe it was mainly due to just how unbelievably contaminated the site was because of what Tom’s River Chemical had been doing. Nowadays BASF owns the site but does not manufacture anything. They are cleaning the groundwater and will continue to do so for at least another 20 years. (Yes it’s THAT BAD)

Did they get trains period, or since they were not allowed to get as many as they wanted, did they simply just use trucks instead?

CR7876 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 30, 2022 12:29 pm Regarding service between Freehold and Farmingdale . Remember that the Southern being a CNJ line was served out of Red Bank and the Freehold PRR/PC. By the time Conrail was formed, CR was still servicing the Southern out of Red Bank. By the time service moved from Red Bank to Browns, the section of track was already pretty bad. Also remember that there were still customers on the NJCL past Bank into the 90's, going via NJCL made operational sense.

Wild that the Red Bank yard will (temporarily) come back for the transfer between C&D and CR. Is there a chance any customers below Red Bank on the Coastline will use freight again? Or will NJT make sure that never happens again, CR, C&D or otherwise?

CR7876 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 30, 2022 12:29 pm Regarding Ciba, I was a child in Toms River in the late 80's- 90's. I suggest reading " Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation" by Dan *. https://www.amazon.com/Toms-River-Story ... zYTitTBJ-0

It really spells out that period in time in our area. The Local Community and the DEP really put an end to Ciba.

I had a teacher in high school who grew up in the area during that time, so I have heard quite a bit about the campaign to get the place shut down. I also knew someone whose wife passed away from cancer, and she grew up in one of the housing developments behind the plant...

Bracdude181 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 31, 2022 12:30 pm From the North Jersey Coast Line twitter page:

“North Jersey Coast Line and Northeast Corridor temporary schedule adjustments are in effect for the next six to eight weeks to accommodate major repair work to the Laurel Avenue Bridge in Holmdel.”

Doesn’t sound good…

Good Lord, did this truck hit the bridge going 80 miles an hour????

Permission on Church 2:29 PM

@JohnFromJersey I’m not sure how things were under Ciba Geigy. I just know they wanted their major trains and at one point they left. I think they had still had trains in there up to a certain point, maybe the 90s?

Permission to open up 2:36 PM

Lined and Locked normal 2:59 PM