US Navy Earle Railroad

Have estate collection of 35mm color Kodak dupe slides (at least 36+ slides) taken in 1980 on NRHS fantrip at Earle. This is NOT the 'years-later' trip with smooth side coaches but the original 1980 trip with open window cnj-njdot coaches.

Anyone interested...selling as a set only.

Baldwin diesels VOs, sandy hook piers...lots of interesting navy rr train photos...all taken legally.

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Thanks.

They just finished redoing the Kings Hwy crossing and they took out the second track at the crossing like they've done with all the new crossing projects. They ran a test train today with an SW1200, a VO, and about 15 cars...

Was there a train going through at around 10 AM today? I was near BCC, and I heard a train whistle. Did anyone else hear/possibly see it?

Anyone know why they're removing the 2nd track from the grade crossings? Obviously, I assume increased costs/maintenance, etc.

Most likely. Earle isn't shipping weapons as much as it used to 40-50 years ago, so a second track is way more than needed, and an added cost.

They'll probably keep parts of the second track just in case, but I wouldn't be surprised to see them rip it up entirely for scrap metal.

I've heard that the second track is owned by the Army which would possibly be why they're not maintaining it like they do with the other track.

The who owns the other in-service track?

The active track is owned by the Navy.

A ship came into port today; expect trains to run for the next few days

Hey Donny, It would be nice if you caught a vid on this line. It is the least filmed railway in the world and the only footage there is by Christopher Espectio.

Not to bust your bubble, Erik, but recording military traffic these days may get you a visit from the authorities, please see
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Pre-9/11/01 was a different era, if you know what I mean....
Chris

Yeah, Chris, I knew that, and that's what I was kinda afraid of... last shot was in 2000 I think. So yeah... Rules have changed these days...

So sorry... now that I know that, I don't want anybody to get in trouble.

Just out of curiosity, has anyone been hearing rumors that NWS Earle wants to downsize or do away with the railroad operations?

Have not heard rumors. I doubt they would get rid of railroad service since they do deal with a lot of ordinances that need to be put on those ships, I'd imagine a single train carrying said ordinance ever so often is cheaper and safer than having a bunch of large trucks go on that pier and offload there. With the way things are going on the international stage, there may be some more traffic at NWS Earle's docks sooner or later...

In addition, DoD documents from the last 10-20 years have said that maintaining rail service on any bases with it is a must.

That being said the entire NWS Earle line used to be double-tracked. Almost all the crossings I am aware of are only for one track now, but the second OOS track remains. So, on the other hand, it wouldn't be the first time NWS intends to downsize their railroad operations if true.