Bath, PA cement mill service no longer use rail?

carajul wrote:Did the cement belt track ever continue as a through route? It just dead ends now past an industrial park right at the edge of a farm field. But if you look closely at the farm field, you can sort of see an indentation where a row was...or appears to be. Unless my eyes are decieving me. Or did it re-connect with the LNE mainline near Penn Argl?

Past Stockertown the line went as far as Martin's Creek, where Alpha Cement was served, as well as connecting to both the DL&W (again) and PRR Bel-Del, which bridged the river just for this reason.

The connection to the L&NE main was through Bath, up over Summit Grade, to Benders Junction.

MJK

To me, this would seem one of the better chances for a railroad to dominate in a short haul market. Presently, a good amount of cement going as far east as Jersey City comes from the Slate Belt. And that's 1 driver moving 25 tons at a time. Open a transload somewhere, maybe on the old Boonton Line (Totowa Industrial) and blow from railcars into a storage tank or directly into trucks. The cement line local (not sure of the nomenclature) could drop 10 or 20 (or more) cars at Allentown Yard where the daily local could take it to Washington and then the HO-2 could spot it on the branch in Totowa for unloading.

Like I said before though, back when I got prices quoted, the railroad wanted double what the truckers were willing to haul for. For a line like the Boonton, that sees little enough traffic for this to not require any extra investment, it would seem a no-brainer for the railroad to at least try to make money. I suppose they have thier reasons.

Keystone Cement has been adding a new kiln and the associated support buildings at the site of the old plant. They've even added a new stone conveyor over Rt.329. Apparently they are still shipping cement by rail as they also rebuilt the spur under one of the silos and I've seen cars spotted there and they also have a Trackmobile on the property. Essroc and Hercules continue to ship by rail also.

SemperFidelis wrote:To me, this would seem one of the better chances for a railroad to dominate in a short haul market. Presently, a good amount of cement going as far east as Jersey City comes from the Slate Belt. And that's 1 driver moving 25 tons at a time. Open a transload somewhere, maybe on the old Boonton Line (Totowa Industrial) and blow from railcars into a storage tank or directly into trucks. The cement line local (not sure of the nomenclature) could drop 10 or 20 (or more) cars at Allentown Yard where the daily local could take it to Washington and then the HO-2 could spot it on the branch in Totowa for unloading.

Like I said before though, back when I got prices quoted, the railroad wanted double what the truckers were willing to haul for. For a line like the Boonton, that sees little enough traffic for this to not require any extra investment, it would seem a no-brainer for the railroad to at least try to make money. I suppose they have thier reasons.

There used to be a transload silo off Doremus Avenue near Newark's Ironbound section. It was located along the river near a large number of chemical distribution facilities that received mostly by ship from the gulf. The area was well connected to the rail and this facility may have received it's cement by rail, or by bulk ship/barge. The whole area had been undergoing a transformation w/ the new prison and alot of container shipping related facilities & the cement silo was removed...

NJ and dust emissions are not 'perfect together' and, unless Chris Christie guts the NJ DEP, they would cause problems for a cement transfer facility...Blowing cement directly from a PD railcar would be a messy proposition. Bottom drop cars and a chain conveyor would work if it was protected from the wind/rain. Add in NJ's famous NIMBY crowd and you have real problems.