Conrail (former CNJ) Harsimus Branch - Abandonment (Freight rail line next to Rt 1/9 after Skyway)

Does anyone know what the construction on both sides of Route 78 is for? The work is being done by Railroad Construction of Paterson.

May just be highway road work. RR construction does more than just RRs.

Imagine if it were restoring the severed CNJ though...that'd be a step in the right direction

I think they are building weigh stations for trucks, rest areas, or both, with one in each direction. RRC also did a lot of pile driving work for some of the bridges on I-295 around Cherry Hill.

RCC has an electrical contracting company, too. Diversification is the name of the game today-

Railroad Construction is more than just railroads. Here is a list a services from their site:

• Railroad track design, drafting and layout
• Roadway, drainage design and drafting
• Excavation, drainage and roadway construction
• Track inspections
• Track maintenance
• Track removal
• Track rehabilitation
• Timber-decked bridge rehabilitation
• Grade crossing installation and rehabilitation
• Signalization of highway and industrial grade crossing
• Timber cribwall construction
• Contract surfacing using high production equipment
• Switch point, frog and joint build-up, Orgotherm, boutet and thermit welding
• Bonded non-insulated and insulated joint installation
• Track material sales
• Equipment rental

Railroad Construction is more than just railroads

Taking that out of context slightly...in general, that is quite true, especially historically speaking. The New York Central RR built the Miller Elevated Highway in Manhattan (now demolished due to deferred maintenance), the Erie Railroad built the I-87 overpass in Suffern, and most of the Pennsylvania Turnpike (I-76) was built by the South Pennsylvania Railroad.

The 'orphan' CNJ infrastructure is disapearing. When I take Rt. 78 back to my parents, I get off at Bloomsburg & head down towards Waren Glen & the old camel hump wooden floor bridge is gone and the road passes at grade. The area has been developed and there is a 'historical' marker mentioning the CNJ. I'm sure other sites have done the same or are considering removing what the 'locals' think are abandoned eyesore/ infrastructure/hazard railroad leftovers...NIMBYs all over.

This could be an entirely new topic area
What railroad companies built that are not railroad.
Two come to my mind:
The Jersey City - Kearney Rt.7 bridge built by the Penn.RR
and the Jersey City "Underpass" approach to the Holland Tunnel built by Public Service.

The CNJ ROW is intact at Warren Glen, only the bridge was removed because of structural deterioration. The ROW was declared a historical landmark which is supposed to preserve it in perpetuity.

The Jersey City - Kearney Rt.7 bridge built by the Penn.RR

The Wittpenn Bridge? I don't think so. Unless you mean the Conrail Shared Assets lift bridge adjacent to it.

Yes, that is the one I am talking about.

There are three bridges in the area. From the north, Rt.7 / Wittpenn Bridge. Right along side of it about 15 feet lower, the Conrail SA bridge, originally P.R.R. freight line from Meadows Yard into Jersey City. Then about 300' south the PATH (NY/NJPA) bridge originally used by the Hudson and Manhattan subway into New York and P.R.R. passenger trains into Jersey City. Before some asks, Yes, subway cars and K-4/GG-1s ran on the same tracks.
All three bridges were designed and built at the same time by PRR engineering and construction departments.
I am assuming that the Penn. RR did not build the Wittpenn Bridge out of generosity. The State probably financed it. But the earliest bridge at this location built by the New Jersey Railroad had to provide provisions for vehicular (horse drawn) traffic.
AS for the Wittpenn Bridge it is scheduled for replacement. It is structly sound, it is RR designed, built like a brick s---house. It is totally lacking in any modern highway safety. It is the site on numerous accidents. The lanes are undersize, 10' or less. It has a curve in the west bound approach that is so sharp there is no way a truck can avoid taking up part of the second lane. The lift section is at an angle to the road surface. When built, it had street car tracks in the center and road surface on the side.
That curve mentioned, is in a through truss section. A little hard to explain. Through truss, with a curve. truss members on one side are not the same as on the other side, an unbalanced structure. I was once told that it may be the only one in the world. I was also told that figuring out the stresses on the truss members of this unbalenced bridge was a regular test for engineering students.

The Wittpenn Bridge also carried the PSCNJ double track trolley tracks. If one looks very carefully at the overhead and the road, there are a couple of indications of that. The actual rails were removed some 10 to 15 years ago or so.

Not to ruin the thread but to the original question if what you are seeing built is near Stewartsville, it is a weigh station for trucks on I78. Not popular with the locals, of course when their houses were built several years ago it was not popular with the prior locals.

bob

AndyB wrote:All three bridges were designed and built at the same time by PRR engineering and construction departments.
I am assuming that the Penn. RR did not build the Wittpenn Bridge out of generosity. The State probably financed it.

The New Jersey Highway Department designed and built what came to be known later as the Wittpenn Bridge. It shares common piers with the Pennsy's Harsimus Branch bridge, which was designed and built by PRR enginering staff. Both structures were built concurrently, with the PRR bridge opening one day before the Wittpenn Bridge.

What was the completion/opening date for the Wittpenn Bridge? NYCRoads.com lists it as sometime in 1930.