South Jersey

The area in pink in that picture would be better since it’s right across from the intermodal dock. I say have a warehouse and rail transload there, or fix up the old rail yard on the other side of town and do it there since there’s already a warehouse there. Only problem is the route the trucks would take to get to port from there. The roads are pretty narrow…

CharlieL wrote: ↑Mon Feb 14, 2022 3:25 pm Wow! More past studies. If half the money spent on studies had been allocated to actual rail instead, all this stuff would have been done.

It's the American way

Sadly yes. Talk is cheap, that’s what they’d rather do.

The kinda talkin they do (all these studies) ain't anywheres near "cheap" !

JohnFromJersey wrote: ↑Mon Feb 14, 2022 7:51 pm

CharlieL wrote: ↑Mon Feb 14, 2022 3:25 pm Wow! More past studies. If half the money spent on studies had been allocated to actual rail instead, all this stuff would have been done.

It's the American way

I wonder what in the world could possibly be brought to Salem to be shipped out that couldn't be more efficiently done at the new multi-million dollar marine terminal in Paulsboro 20 miles up the river which is only being used by Holt right now. Plenty of room for expansion there and much easier to get to.

@WashingtonPark Good question. As to why there’s any intermodal through Salem at all, Bermuda Islander Shipping Co has this to say about Salem on their website.

“The Port of Salem, new to Bermuda’s importers at that time, is located on the Northeast U.S. coast with ideal proximity to Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City. It offers direct access to road and rail service without the time-consuming and expensive delays associated with the larger East Coast ports.”

But is that the only reason? What does Salem have that this place in Paulsboro doesn’t? Hmmmm…..

I will also say that Paulsboro seems to mainly deal with hazardous materials rather than the general merchandise/food that’s handled at Salem.

Bracdude181 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 15, 2022 5:14 pm I will also say that Paulsboro seems to mainly deal with hazardous materials rather than the general merchandise/food that’s handled at Salem.

At the new Paulsboro marine terminal with multiple tracks that Sweeney built for Holt the basic commodity is steel slabs, and with the situation in the Ukraine right now I don't know how much longer he's going to be unloading Russian steel.

WashingtonPark wrote: ↑Tue Feb 15, 2022 4:27 pm

JohnFromJersey wrote: ↑Mon Feb 14, 2022 7:51 pm

CharlieL wrote: ↑Mon Feb 14, 2022 3:25 pm Wow! More past studies. If half the money spent on studies had been allocated to actual rail instead, all this stuff would have been done.

It's the American way

I wonder what in the world could possibly be brought to Salem to be shipped out that couldn't be more efficiently done at the new multi-million dollar marine terminal in Paulsboro 20 miles up the river which is only being used by Holt right now. Plenty of room for expansion there and much easier to get to.

Salem is one of the oldest ports in New Jersey and the country. Pretty sure they prop it up due to that and only that, as people would get upset if a piece of history suddenly shut down.

Paulsboro is much better and bigger port with far better rail options.

Salems economy hasn’t been good for the last several years either. Perhaps the big investment project is yet another attempt to change that? The track leading to the port was fixed up a few years ago.

Was at Rowan on Thursday - I'm assuming I saw MI-61 go through campus at around 5:45 PM.

Man, were they hauling a**! What's the max speed on the line? It has to be at least 25MPH. I'd estimate there were probably 30-40 cars. The lead engine was a high nose, and was in Operation Lifesaver livery. It also had a very distinctive and loud horn, you could hear it for 5-10 minutes before it actually came through.

It's a shame we don't see this kind of regular action on the Southern.

That was MI-61. Track speed through there is 25. Would you happen to know what the number was of the operation lifesaver unit?

The Southern was like that up until the early 2000s.

MI-61 passing through Rowan University at 5:45, again. Now that I know the rough time they come through, I will try to get some shots when I'm here again Thursday

CORRECTION: I started hearing it at 5:45. Whatever horn it has is very loud and has long range. It is going through Rowan just after 5:50

Might be NS 5225 and NS 3044.

MI-61 has been sitting in Millville for over an hour….