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CJPat wrote: ↑Sun Feb 19, 2023 9:52 am I believe Ocean Grow was some kind of Co-Op between Ocean County and their sewage plants and some private entitity that processed it into "fertilizer" or most likely a "Soil Ammendment" (there are very specific regulations regarding when you can call something a fertilizer). The legal trouble came up because the County was challenged in court as unfairly competiting directly with the other private companies generating the product. The end result was basically a cease and desist order. I don't recall the specifics like how much and from what time period to what time period.I do remember hearing that the rail traffic OceanGro was somewhat major. A shame they had to stop, if only they came to an agreement where they would sell the sewage (or whatever) to the other entities that believed they were being treated unfairly - maybe even more rail traffic would have been generated that way
CJPat wrote: ↑Sun Feb 19, 2023 9:52 am I may be wrong about SA-35 making it's way down to Lakehurst, but when I first starting reading Railroad.net in the late '90's (before I chose to join as a member), my knowledge factor was fairly low and I recall getting confused by the existence of two job numbers. The only true difference I recalled was SA-35 typically came down thru Freehold while SA-31 came down thru Red Bank. Perhaps SA-35 only went as far as Golds, but like AceMacSD was recalling, he noted it was SA-35 bringing the ammo cars to Earle's yard (at least that one time), so they must have come up thru Farmingdale.That would make sense if SA-35 delivered ammo via coming through Farmingdale from Freehold. I'd assume that's because NJT didn't want live ordinance coming down the Coastline, where it would pass by stations and trains full of commuters, not very safe!
CJPat wrote: ↑Sun Feb 19, 2023 9:52 am I believe Ocean Grow was some kind of Co-Op between Ocean County and their sewage plants and some private entitity that processed it into "fertilizer" or most likely a "Soil Ammendment" (there are very specific regulations regarding when you can call something a fertilizer). The legal trouble came up because the County was challenged in court as unfairly competiting directly with the other private companies generating the product. The end result was basically a cease and desist order. I don't recall the specifics like how much and from what time period to what time period.
I may be wrong about SA-35 making it's way down to Lakehurst, but when I first starting reading Railroad.net in the late '90's (before I chose to join as a member), my knowledge factor was fairly low and I recall getting confused by the existence of two job numbers. The only true difference I recalled was SA-35 typically came down thru Freehold while SA-31 came down thru Red Bank. Perhaps SA-35 only went as far as Golds, but like AceMacSD was recalling, he noted it was SA-35 bringing the ammo cars to Earle's yard (at least that one time), so they must have come up thru Farmingdale.
JohnFromJersey wrote: ↑Sun Feb 19, 2023 3:37 pm That would make sense if SA-35 delivered ammo via coming through Farmingdale from Freehold. I'd assume that's because NJT didn't want live ordinance coming down the Coastline, where it would pass by stations and trains full of commuters, not very safe!Per my guys at Earle and with military backgrounds, the ammo aside from small items such as bullets, aren't shipped "live" until they are put into a canon or onto a jet for use. The components are moved separately to prevent any issues. My guys at Earle said that it was a disaster over there that changed how the ammo was shipped.
I believe even back in the PRR/Penn Central days, they would also deliver the ordinance to Earle from coming off the FIT and onto the SOUS into Earle. I don't ever remember hearing that it was the CNJ that delivered weapons to Earle.
Bracdude181 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 18, 2023 2:34 am Fort Eustis will have CSX move equipment from there to other rail served bases but that’s about I think.Per my contacts, Fort Eustis is the military's training base. They don't provide any rail service aside from training. Movement outside is limited to equipment coming and going for training purposes.
Redfish wrote: ↑Sat Feb 18, 2023 1:29 pm The NS locals were based in Croxton or E-Rail and I don't remember any of the ex-Conrail guys who ended up on NS in North Jersey were ever qualified on the Southern Secondary. They may have been good to Browns Yard but that's it. Maybe they got Shared Assets guys to pilot them down.I knew a few guys who went to NS after the split. Most are gone now. Not sure if they were ever qualified down in those parts. But given the NS mentality, if you were piloted once, you were then qualified. Don't think it flies on NJ Transit though.
AceMacSD wrote: ↑Mon Feb 20, 2023 11:48 amWhat does it take to be qualified on most railroads?Redfish wrote: ↑Sat Feb 18, 2023 1:29 pm The NS locals were based in Croxton or E-Rail and I don't remember any of the ex-Conrail guys who ended up on NS in North Jersey were ever qualified on the Southern Secondary. They may have been good to Browns Yard but that's it. Maybe they got Shared Assets guys to pilot them down.I knew a few guys who went to NS after the split. Most are gone now. Not sure if they were ever qualified down in those parts. But given the NS mentality, if you were piloted once, you were then qualified. Don't think it flies on NJ Transit though.
AceMacSD wrote: ↑Mon Feb 20, 2023 11:23 am Those competitive advantages can hurt a business. Just as Ocean Grow had to cease and desist, such can happen to a company that touts their "rail access" whereas the little guys can't use such access.I believe that the cease and desist order was issued because the proponent and controller of the arrangement with Ocean Grow was the government entity. Were an ordinary business to use and advertise "rail access" to attract and maintain customers, there would be no legal basis for the little guy competitors to obtain judicial relief in the form of a cease and desist order or otherwise.
AceMacSD wrote: ↑Mon Feb 20, 2023 11:23 am There were a lot more jobs at Browns before the split.Was this due to NS and CSX deciding to do away with what I assume were jobs with smaller carloads, or was it a result of a change in the business environment of Central NJ at the time?
CharlieL wrote: ↑Mon Feb 20, 2023 6:37 pm I believe that back in the day (40s, 50s) the central also served Earle through a connection along the Raritan river, as did the Pennsy through trackage rights on the southern.That was the CNJ Seashore Branch IIRC. It ran up from Matawan to the Highlands, and eventually going to Sandy Hook. Around the 40s and 50s is when it started getting cut further and further back, before it was abandoned completely between Matawan and Highlands sometime in the 80s, and is now the Henry Hudson trail. Did not know that it served Earle, I did know it served Fort Hancock.
Railcar1 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 20, 2023 3:54 pmWhat does it take to be qualified on most railroads?Take some train rides on the territory, take a test with a road foreman or back in the 90's, a guy from the rules department. I was always given the option of a written test or a oral exam. The Conrail written test was awful. It wasn't line specific. Just generic, sometimes confusing questions. The oral exam was better, it was simply talking about the railroad from point a to point b, where the signals or DCS station signs were located, breaks in the rail (the location of switches), rules in effect, speeds, etc. The people who gave the test actually knew the railroad back then and would ask questions like "where do you stop for coffee on the SA-35?"
