Since my consulting firm did the valuation of the out-of-service Staten Island Railway trackage before it was sold to the State of NY, and since I worked for NYCTA when we sent our geometry car to test the Staten Island Railway, I can provide a little detail.
As noted earlier, the Staten Island Railway was built by the B&O, which operated electric third-rail commuter service on it for many years. In fact, the cars were almost identical to BMT 67-foot cars, and at one time there were plans for a tunnel to connect to the BMT Bay Ridge line (current route of the "R" train). Two routes were electrified: St. George ferry terminal to Tottenville, and St. George along the north shore to somewhere around Sailors' Snug Harbor. The north shore electrification was removed many years ago (early 50s), but when we inspected the trackage the occasional long tie could still be seen. High-level concrete stairways and tracks still exist at a number of locations.
Chessie System sold the St. George to Tottenville line to NYMTA in the 1970s, which is when the modified R44s were purchased for the passenger service. Chessie continued to provide freight service, but eventually (early 80s?) freight traffic dried up. The last rail vehicle to cross the AK lift bridge and run along the north shore trackage was our geometry car, with somebody walking ahead of it through the grass to verify that rails were in fact still in place. The car did make it to and from SIRT.
CSX leased the Travis Branch (the trackage next to the West Shore Expressway) to Susquehanna in the mid-1980s when there was a test burn of coal at the ConEd Travis Plant. Susie Q hoped for regular coal traffic, but alas, Mario Cuomo, then the governor, refused to grant permission to burn coal on a regular basis. All the coal that had been brought in was put back in hopper cars by front-end loaders, and taken away by Susie Q, and that was the end of freight service (c. 1987).
Then NY state bought the line, and the Port Authority paid to put the AK drawbridge over the Arthur Kill back in service (late 90s). This was to serve the Howland Hook container terminal. But there was some uncertainty over which route freight would follow, and there was a delay of several years until it was finally decided to build a new connection between the Chemical Coast Secondary and SIRT on the west side of AK. Container traffic for Howland Hook will now move through the Portside facility in Port Newark/Elizabeth. Conrail will provide switching service to get it to/from Howland Hook via the new connection. The former SIRT over to "XC" tower on the former CNJ is, I think, still out of service.
And that's the story. There may be a revival of north shore commuter service, but that's still just talk. There may also be a trash transfer station constructed at the former Ivory Soap plant. But Travis won't be burning coal again anytime soon, apparently.
As noted earlier, the Staten Island Railway was built by the B&O, which operated electric third-rail commuter service on it for many years. In fact, the cars were almost identical to BMT 67-foot cars, and at one time there were plans for a tunnel to connect to the BMT Bay Ridge line (current route of the "R" train). Two routes were electrified: St. George ferry terminal to Tottenville, and St. George along the north shore to somewhere around Sailors' Snug Harbor. The north shore electrification was removed many years ago (early 50s), but when we inspected the trackage the occasional long tie could still be seen. High-level concrete stairways and tracks still exist at a number of locations.
Chessie System sold the St. George to Tottenville line to NYMTA in the 1970s, which is when the modified R44s were purchased for the passenger service. Chessie continued to provide freight service, but eventually (early 80s?) freight traffic dried up. The last rail vehicle to cross the AK lift bridge and run along the north shore trackage was our geometry car, with somebody walking ahead of it through the grass to verify that rails were in fact still in place. The car did make it to and from SIRT.
CSX leased the Travis Branch (the trackage next to the West Shore Expressway) to Susquehanna in the mid-1980s when there was a test burn of coal at the ConEd Travis Plant. Susie Q hoped for regular coal traffic, but alas, Mario Cuomo, then the governor, refused to grant permission to burn coal on a regular basis. All the coal that had been brought in was put back in hopper cars by front-end loaders, and taken away by Susie Q, and that was the end of freight service (c. 1987).
Then NY state bought the line, and the Port Authority paid to put the AK drawbridge over the Arthur Kill back in service (late 90s). This was to serve the Howland Hook container terminal. But there was some uncertainty over which route freight would follow, and there was a delay of several years until it was finally decided to build a new connection between the Chemical Coast Secondary and SIRT on the west side of AK. Container traffic for Howland Hook will now move through the Portside facility in Port Newark/Elizabeth. Conrail will provide switching service to get it to/from Howland Hook via the new connection. The former SIRT over to "XC" tower on the former CNJ is, I think, still out of service.
And that's the story. There may be a revival of north shore commuter service, but that's still just talk. There may also be a trash transfer station constructed at the former Ivory Soap plant. But Travis won't be burning coal again anytime soon, apparently.
