Delaware and Raritan River Railroad-General Discussion

Some of the long siding south of Marl Road is still there. Maybe use that for a runaround.

I agree. Put the runaround there.

JohnFromJersey wrote: ↑Thu Nov 16, 2023 4:21 pm Speaking of maps showing the new line, plotaroute's map shows the wye on it here...

Per Facebook, the trees along the tracks of Railroad Ave are gone - it looks like they will be taking out the rest of the brush that remains shortly. In addition, there is a gentleman in one of the Facebook groups (who I believe is also in the forum here) who said he has spoken to an employee of C&D who stated that the stack of ties at the Freehold Team Track is for "the runaround," but didn't say where the runaround is going - he also said that this C&D employee confirmed no train tomorrow. Also said that 2005 is "pretty much used up."

Now, this is purely speculative, but it I am convinced that they are going to double-track through Farmingdale and use it as a runaround. It will be a tight fit, but I have noticed the following things that have convinced me:

• First and foremost, the cutting of the trees around Railroad Ave much beyond where the wye will be.

• If any of you guys are familiar with Farmingdale, between Main St and Academy St, there was a pretty large part of the ROW next to the tracks that was often used for parking by patrons of local businesses. C&D did not start blocking off this part until fairly recently with "No Trespassing" signs

• This is something no one has really mentioned but I've noticed, but if you look northbound on the Southern Secondary from Main St towards Red Bank, next to the Country Farms, you can see that on the left of the tracks, they have done some moderate brush clearing. Before, there were absurdly tall weed trees growing in that spot, and that spot looks wide enough to put some tracks down.

• Lastly, the Main St and Central Ave lights have been broken for a long time - when they redid the Central Ave crossing, they did not fix the lights. It would make sense that they aren't touching the lights yet, since if they do put in a second track/runaround in Farmingdale, they would have to rewire the crossing anyway.

The only things I can think of that wouldn't support my speculation are:

• When they redid the Central Ave crossing, why didn't they set it up to be two-tracked?

• The runaround wouldn't even be half a mile long, it would be more about 0.4 miles long. It's unlikely that this line will need 1+ mile long sidings/runarounds anytime soon, but I'd assume with runarounds, longer is always better from the start

• They would have to cross the second/runaround track over the northbound leg of the wye, putting a diamond-like crossover on a curved piece of track near a switch, I'd imagine, would be a PITA

He pointed to the existing run-around on the Builders side of the yard when i talked to him.

Can't see them putting in a runaround that would foul Main St., Academy and/or Central Ave. In the old days it was single-tracked between Central and Marl Rd., double tracked everywhere else, including the northbound leg of the wye. I would think a runaround would go either east of Main St. or west of Marl Rd. (where one used to be).

If I were a betting man, and I’m not, my money would be on the old Marl Road runaround as well. Close to the soon-to-be wye, no encroachment or crossings, and the only potential complication being one bridge that would need to be restored IF they decided to restore it to its full length. The EPA might have an issue with them doing construction too close to whatever mess is still being cleaned up at the tar(?) plant, but it’s their ROW so…

That site should be cleaned up by now.

Bracdude181 wrote: ↑Fri Nov 17, 2023 6:37 pm That site should be cleaned up by now.

I never take anything for granted when it comes to crap like that. Even if it’s done now, it takes one bad soil sample to bring in the backhoes and disrupt everything nearby. I live next to a superfund that has had this happen several times.

Good point

Why was the Southern Secondary sort of rebuilt past lakewood around 2013? I noticed new crossings and signals through different dates on Google Earth.

Depending on the time and location, it was meant for sand trains to come out Woodmansie. So far nothing has come of it. Most recent repairs were at Union Ave in Lakehurst where NJSL put new crossing poles up. Other work included bridge replacement and repairs, though some bridges were better fixed than others.

Unsure but I remember hearing that all those LED indicator lights on the crossing relay cases were added as part of this.

Genuinely confused as to why any work happens south of Lakehurst, if there will never be any sand trains

JohnFromJersey wrote: ↑Sun Nov 19, 2023 7:01 pm Genuinely confused as to why any work happens south of Lakehurst, if there will never be any sand trains

I've posted this before most of the current users were not here, it was on the first pages created before RR.net bloomed.
The running joke around Clayton was that Danny Clayton who took over from his dad wanted a bigger lionel train set, so dad bought him a railroad. This came form a very good source and leaked lots of info to me during the time that this 13.3 miles of track was sold. Sadly he passed away about 10/12 years ago.

JohnFromJersey wrote: ↑Sun Nov 19, 2023 7:01 pm Genuinely confused as to why any work happens south of Lakehurst, if there will never be any sand trains

Use it or lose it grants. The sand trains aren't happening. It's been confirmed by so many different people it's just fantasy.

Tanker1497,
Who died 10/12 years ago? Danny, his Dad or your source?

JB-1 at Farmingdale 11:22 am