Delaware and Raritan River Railroad-General Discussion

The even bigger question is.... where are they sending their sand now? They can't just be sitting and waiting for the rail line to open. How many present truck customers could be switched to rail service from Clayton? That would give a good indication.

ppbhist wrote: ↑Tue Oct 25, 2022 6:01 pm The even bigger question is.... where are they sending their sand now? They can't just be sitting and waiting for the rail line to open. How many present truck customers could be switched to rail service from Clayton? That would give a good indication.

As far as the trucks go, some goes to Clayton’s nearby concrete facilities, some of it I think goes to Cambridge Pavingstones in Lakewood for them to make bricks. Not sure where the others go.

Word is Clayton was looking into sending the sand to their place in Lakewood by rail. Cambridge could get it in by rail. Clayton in Freehold is next to the tracks. They could do it too.

Clayton also says this on their website:

“Clayton Sand Company not only meets the needs of our ready mix concrete and concrete block plants, but it is also known within the construction industry as a reliable supplier of high-quality sand, gravel and specialty products throughout the Tri-State area. Our products meet ASTM, AASHTO, NJDOT, NYNJPA, NYSDOT, PENN DOT, and USGA standard specifications. Custom processing is available to meet specific project specifications.”

Anyone hear/see RB-1 today?

Rails have been quiet all morning here in Lakewood.

Ok. Thanks for letting us know.

I’ll be monitoring the Coast Line frequency later to see if SA31 goes down to Red Bank today. They did Dayton and picked up JB-1s empties yesterday.

Marl Rd crossing has been going for awhile

Yesterday, Wednesday Oct 25, the tamper was sitting running on the Southern right at the FIT switch. It was lunch time and the operator was inside. Nothing else seemed to be going on.

Forest3670 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 26, 2022 1:37 pm Marl Rd crossing has been going for awhile

Almost all the crossings on the Southern should be replaced. They are all ancient, and have had years of very poor and cheap maintenance/repairs done to them.

Actually, the Route 9 crossing in Lakewood was completely rebuilt by CSA about 3 years ago. The flashers are also pretty up to date. The next crossing to the south, James Street, even has gates to go along with the flashers. On the other hand, the Route 88 crossing in Lakewood is really bad, with flashers dating from the 1950s. I agree, some crossings are acceptable, but most are probably obsolete.

JohnFromJersey wrote: ↑Tue Oct 25, 2022 9:25 am

NY&LB wrote: ↑Tue Oct 25, 2022 8:51 am And of course where does the sand go? Oh, wait. I forgot it's is for the tunnel construction although there is no known place for the loaded sand cars to unload, etc.

There are other customers for sand besides some tunnels, if that's even happening. There are multiple concrete and asphalt plants that surround the SOUS and FIT, as well as the fact that back in the CNJ days, sand from the Pinebarrens was shipped as far south as Baltimore.

I seriously doubt Clayton and NJSL would continue to maintain Woodmansie-Lakehurst, if they weren't positive that they would be generating some sort of traffic when the owners of Lakehurst-Lakewood (C&D/CR/NJDOT) re-opened that said portion.

What other customers or potential other customers surround the Freehold or Southern? If it's the one that I'm thinking of they wouldnt be getting materials from their competitors. As much as I would like to see more business for us on these lines, most of these businesses do not use rail service and don't have a need for it.

Let's get away from this back in the day mentality and start looking forward. Yes, back in the days past the pine barrens was open game to anyone. Now its protected. I'm sure that Clayton is going to run out of sand at some point and they'll be restricted as to how much they can mine into a protect area.

Lewis St / Maxwell Rd ( the street changes names at the crossing which was also the site of the Eatontown Station as well as the junction with the line that went east to Branchport) crossing is closed this week - they are fixing that crossing which was pretty bad.

@AceMacSD From what I’ve heard Clayton intends to keep the Woodmansie Sand pit open until they can mine no more, and apparently what’s there now is enough to keep the pit going for 25-30 years ish? After that they’ll probably shutter it. I agreed in saying the Pinelands Commission probably won’t let them open another put out there.

A few of my people have told me Clayton found a couple customers interested in getting sand by rail from them but as yet no one has named said people…

No trackside info from me tomorrow. Tested positive for Covid so I gotta stay home for at least several days.

If I hear anything from my people I’ll post it.

AceMacSD wrote: ↑Wed Oct 26, 2022 9:13 pm What other customers or potential other customers surround the Freehold or Southern? If it's the one that I'm thinking of they wouldnt be getting materials from their competitors. As much as I would like to see more business for us on these lines, most of these businesses do not use rail service and don't have a need for it.

What's the customer you are thinking of?

AceMacSD wrote: ↑Wed Oct 26, 2022 9:13 pm Let's get away from this back in the day mentality and start looking forward. Yes, back in the days past the pine barrens was open game to anyone. Now its protected. I'm sure that Clayton is going to run out of sand at some point and they'll be restricted as to how much they can mine into a protect area.

The Pine Barrens became protected in the late 70's, the sand trains were going strong on the Southern until the late-mid 90's. Yes, being protected prevents expansion, but Clayton doesn't seem to need expansion right now, and I doubt they are close to exhausting their sand pit if they continue to show interest in train service by maintaining 13 miles of rail they own.

Bracdude181 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 26, 2022 9:44 pm @AceMacSD From what I’ve heard Clayton intends to keep the Woodmansie Sand pit open until they can mine no more, and apparently what’s there now is enough to keep the pit going for 25-30 years ish? After that they’ll probably shutter it. I agreed in saying the Pinelands Commission probably won’t let them open another put out there.

A few of my people have told me Clayton found a couple customers interested in getting sand by rail from them but as yet no one has named said people…

You should ask for names from those people.

Bracdude181 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 27, 2022 2:16 pm No trackside info from me tomorrow. Tested positive for Covid so I gotta stay home for at least several days.

If I hear anything from my people I’ll post it.

Feel better!

Todays's SA-31:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvwRnmNV1Mc