Question about service road in Ridgefield park

Ok i was wondering the service road that leads from Mt. Vernon street the the crystal warehouse is private property? Or can you walk down it to take pics if there's trains at the NYSW facility there? I'ver wondered this for a while now.

Also is there anykind of set schedule of when there will be any trains running thru that area? I've gone down to the old statino and sat there for a good 90 minutes without seeing anything, but as soon as i leave and for about a good 2 hours i hear nothing but horns from my house which is about 1/2 mile away in Little ferry. It drives me nuts knowing i've missed alot.

Also, whats with the torn up siding along crystal warehouse? I saw them ripping up about a 100ft section of the siding along the fence and now its fenced off.

It's my understanding the road from Mount Vernon Ave to Crystal is entirely private property. An easy way to check would be to review the property map in the town hall

Lackawanna484 wrote:It's my understanding the road from Mount Vernon Ave to Crystal is entirely private property. An easy way to check would be to review the property map in the town hall

Well, considering that the road and another from the north end of Industrial Ave to Cross St along the golf course and under RT80 were rebuilt and modified to be a way out for people working, shopping (yes there is a small store called Goldmans Treasures) and using the golf course on that side of the tracks when trains block one or more of the crossings, has legal speed limit signs, hazard signs, and regular patrols by Ridgefield Park Police, I would say the road is open to public access. So far, I have driven down it several times with no problems. As for walking down it, thats not a smart idea. Although the road is supposed to be 10 MPH, people driving on it frequnetly drive well over 10MPH, and the road is quite narrow with no shoulder especially under RT46 and in Crystal Clear where it goes down to one lane. If you drive down the road, you might be able to get a quick shot or two at the NYSW engine facilty but you really cant hang around since there really isnt anywhere to park. Its not really photogenic anyway. The road's only good points is you can do a quick driveby to see what power is on the NYSW pit and its a shortcut between CP5/RT46 to the station since you can bypass downtown Ridgefield Park.

2005Vdub wrote:Ok i was wondering the service road that leads from Mt. Vernon street the the crystal warehouse is private property? Or can you walk down it to take pics if there's trains at the NYSW facility there? I'ver wondered this for a while now.

Also is there anykind of set schedule of when there will be any trains running thru that area? I've gone down to the old statino and sat there for a good 90 minutes without seeing anything, but as soon as i leave and for about a good 2 hours i hear nothing but horns from my house which is about 1/2 mile away in Little ferry. It drives me nuts knowing i've missed alot.

Also, whats with the torn up siding along crystal warehouse? I saw them ripping up about a 100ft section of the siding along the fence and now its fenced off.

There is no schedule on CSX or the NYSW. The CSX Riverline is notorious for running hot or cold with little in between. Many trains run at night. So yes there can be as many as four hours or more between trains. From what I hear where they have torn up that section of track on the NYSW, they are installing a coupled weigh in motion scale so they can weigh the garbage cars and get paid accordingly. Word has it the customers have been overloading the cars so much that for every few cars they ship they are getting onecarloads worth of debris shipped free. Not to mention the danger of hauling overloaded cars. Some time ago on garbage car snapped in two up in Warwick due to the overloading and perhaps the bad condition of the car itself. The remains of the car may still be sitting up there.

thanks for the feedback guys. i wish i could hang out down there later, but 11pm is kinda late to be hanging out at the station.

You have brought back an old memory. In the mid-70's at my summer job, we used to hide back at the then abandoned factory at the north end of this street, the Mt Vernon extension. Read a lot of books back there. Wasn't the CBS helicopter kept in the hangar immediately across the tracks on the south side?

some news helicopter is in the hanger there still. Not sure who though.

Thanks, then I'm not losing my mind. I think at one time there was a seaplane in that hangar as well.

i haven't seen that plane in years. It was down in that area, if not over at tracey's.

One warning though, be careful at the old station. I was there last Friday and i got kicked out. A worker at the Slattery Company said the platform is private property.

NYSW13000 wrote:One warning though, be careful at the old station. I was there last Friday and i got kicked out. A worker at the Slattery Company said the platform is private property.

It is always good policy to not hang around the station during business hours since there is very limited parking and noise such as scanners, loud talking and dogs barking is not welcome by Mr Slattery and his employees. If you decide you must go there during business hours to be VERY quiet take your shots and leave. Weekends and after business hours (6 or 7 pm) have been generally no problem, at least up to now.

During the morning hours, the stairs at the south end of the station offer a little bit of height and are way out of the company's line of sight.

i'de never go during business hours. And where are these stairs? i've never seen any.

After I got yelled at, I just moved to the woodchips by where the platform ends and I didn't get yelled at for standing there. So I guess anywheres but the platform is ok with them.

2005Vdub wrote:i'de never go during business hours. And where are these stairs? i've never seen any.

Back in New York Central days, the platform extended another 200 feet south, past the dumpster stockade. If you walk toward the hillside, you can see a complete flight of stairs from the end of the old platform up to the parking lot and sidewalk behind the Elks (?) building. There's even a nice railing.