Trains and operations in Browns Yard

Pulled out of Builders General for the final time at 6:57 PM.

They will take a 1-2 hour dinner break before continuing onto Browns and possibly dropping a car off for Cary or Reed Pereine.

And with that, Conrail will pull off the Freehold Industrial Track after 46 years of continuous service.

Starting today, the Freehold Industrial Track and Southern Secondary are now operated by the Delaware and Raritan River Railroad, a subsidiary of Chesapeake and Delaware LLC.

SA31 might drop of C&D 1888 and the caboose in Jamesburg today, provided they’ve made it to Browns and that is the engine going to Freehold.

Don’t know where 2005 is but that engine (unfortunately) will probably be delivered to Red Bank at a later date.

Was down in Jamesburg this afternoon. No train but I did see them updating the crossing signs with the Delaware & Raritan River RR sticker and contact info. Here's the one at Gatzmer Ave.

https://imgur.com/a/UF8EeEV

I hope they btake over all the locals out of browns some day (especially the old RRRR track that is left) ......and paint their engines in the old raritan river paint scheme. Tongue in cheek.. I know...they have more to worry about than paint schemes...

planespotting wrote:Was down in Jamesburg this afternoon. No train but I did see them updating the crossing signs with the Delaware & Raritan River RR sticker and contact info. Here's the one at Gatzmer Ave.

https://imgur.com/a/UF8EeEV

That was quick.

2005 was third out on OI16/PR52-30.

What about 1888? And when are they transferring the engines to their respective lines?

1888 and caboose were on SA31-01 Friday, and was left on the Jamesburg Wye.

I take it they will park the engine there? As in run to Freehold from Jamesburg then go back?

pdtrains wrote: ↑Fri Jul 01, 2022 4:04 pm I hope they btake over all the locals out of browns some day (especially the old RRRR track that is left) ......and paint their engines in the old raritan river paint scheme. Tongue in cheek.. I know...they have more to worry about than paint schemes...

There's no way CR will let them take over everything out of Browns, there are still a lot of large unit trains that come out of Browns that bring a ton of revenue for CR and its CSX/NS owners. I think what we will end up seeing is CR waiting to analyze how DRRR does business on the FIT and SOUS while they repair the connection between Farmingdale and Freehold, and if all goes well, I can see CR giving rights for DRRR to come onto the Amboy Secondary and into Browns.

Not like there would be much of a choice otherwise, cause NJT wants no freight on the Coastline, meaning Red Bank yard won't be an option post-FIT/SOUS connection, and I don't think there's any reasonable space near the wye in Jamesburg for a sizeable yard, especially if traffic increases.

I’ve been getting some rather conflicting information regarding the future of Browns through my people. One says Conrail wants to keep it because of increased traffic to Dayton, another says they practically want to give it to C&D just to get rid of it. As to how much money Browns makes, I’ve heard it makes enough to cover the operating costs of all local trains out of the yard, but not profit. (Not that I would trust Conrail North Jersey to know what a profitable train is) Also they haven’t had any unit trains in years. Closest thing to that is the scrap metal trains to CMC Steel that SA22 handles.

JohnFromJersey, it’s funny you mention Conrail watching how C&D is gonna do down here before giving them anymore trackage. That’s something else I’ve been hearing…

Bracdude181 wrote: ↑Sat Jul 02, 2022 8:40 pm JohnFromJersey, it’s funny you mention Conrail watching how C&D is gonna do down here before giving them anymore trackage. That’s something else I’ve been hearing…

Just my speculation. DRRR is a new subsidiary of C&D, established this year, I don't think it makes much sense to go all-in at first. Not to mention, no point in DRRR taking over Browns when A) the FIT-SOUS connection isn't done, that will be too much on their plate for starting and B) DRRR is not allowed on the Coastline.

I'm sure DRRR wouldn't mind taking over Browns at some point, a Class I giving a pretty sizeable yard with decent traffic away to a shortline is like Christmas for them

Speaking of scrap metal, maybe CNC and Brick Recycling will deal with each other through the FIT and SOUS once that connection is done...

I think Brick Recycling was sending their heavy steel by rail to CMC anyways.

And yeah, I wouldn’t takeover Browns without Farmingdale to Freehold either.

I do not know how C&D will handle the additional trackage they have just gained operating rights on. Somewhere in the STB filing it says they’ll need additional financial assistance to handle upkeep of their entire network or something along those lines. I also know they still need an additional conductor. I think one of their guys quit late last year.

quote: "I do not know how C&D will handle the additional trackage they have just gained operating rights on. Somewhere in the STB filing it says they’ll need additional financial assistance to handle upkeep of their entire network or something along those lines. "

Seems to me the grant request at least implied a followup grant request.

After studying the Freehold Secondary via google satellite, it looks like a certain amount of trackage between Freehold and Farmingdale has been ripped up. While reconnecting with the Southern Secondary would make sense, it looks like it would be a costly venture. Curious to see who would foot the bill on that as I think C&D would have enough to spend money on just to maintain the serviceable portions of both lines.

The one push I could see with getting the Freehold and Southern secondaries reconnected is if Clayton finally started shipping sand again like has been talked about for years now. I'd imagine NJT has absolutely no interest in having that traffic on the Coastline being they don't like dealing with freight on any of their lines to begin with.