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Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New Jersey

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 #1569721  by Tanker1497
 
I read an artical from middle 1800's it kinda has the same type name.
"Freehold Secondary

The Freehold Secondary is a active rail line in New Jersey, the portion which is in use runs from Jamesburg. But this portion has been out of service since the early 2000s. The Freehold and Jamesburg Agricultural Railroad was incorporated to connect Freehold with the Camden and Amboy Railroad in Jamesburg. The first section between the aforementioned towns was opened to traffic, the line was extended to a connection with the Northeast Corridor. A firm known as the Squankum and Freehold Marl Company built track from Freehold to Farmingdale, between Farmingdale and Sea Girt was built by the Farmingdale and Squan Village Railroad Company which was incorporated. Its line was leased to the Freehold and Jamesburg, the line between Jamesburg and Monmouth Junction was sold to the Camden and Amboy Railroad. In the Board of Directors Election held, the company's trackage has been operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad. Operation continued and prospered under the Pennsylvania Railroad, the line famously hosted dying President Garfield.

The line's passenger trains were a favorite with railfans because of their use of Doodlebugs, freight service continued after the end of passenger service. Conrail took over the operations of seven northeastern railroads, unlike other routes that it operated, Conrail did not abandon the remaining portions of the Freehold Secondary. The line went to Conrail Shared Assets, cSAO kept the entire line open. Conrail Local Freight WPSA-31 runs on Monday and Wednesdays to Freehold to serve the remaining customers on the line."
 #1569736  by R&DB
 
Tanker, I stand corrected on the name. I forgot Squankum. Marl (a type of clay used as fertilizer) was mined in what is now a lake just North of Main St in Farmingdale. There was another mine along Timber Swamp Brook in what is now Howell Golf Course. There were others throughout the Manasquan River watershed. Marl mining phased out after chemical fertilizers were developed.
For those not acquainted with the area, Squankum is an area of Howell Twp. South of Farmingdale.
 #1569760  by JohnFromJersey
 
R&DB wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 5:13 pm Tanker, I stand corrected on the name. I forgot Squankum. Marl (a type of clay used as fertilizer) was mined in what is now a lake just North of Main St in Farmingdale. There was another mine along Timber Swamp Brook in what is now Howell Golf Course. There were others throughout the Manasquan River watershed. Marl mining phased out after chemical fertilizers were developed.
For those not acquainted with the area, Squankum is an area of Howell Twp. South of Farmingdale.
That lake in Farmingdale is rumored to have a narrow gauge steam locomotive at the bottom of it. Rumor has it, during a dry summer, you can see the smokestack poke out of the water.
 #1569967  by Bracdude181
 
A friend of mine saw that Conrail was inspecting the relay box at the Route 37 crossing the other day. No work was done to the crossing.

Might have to go out there and check the line out when I get the chance. I’ll have some pictures of the crossing work on Bimini Drive when that kicks off too.
 #1570022  by R&DB
 
I’ll have some pictures of the crossing work on Bimini Drive when that kicks off too.
My wife says there is a sign stating that work will begin May 2 2021, next Monday.
 #1570235  by R&DB
 
No. The crossing work at Bimini is due to residents complaints due to poor condition of the road surface at the crossing. It was planned for last September but got delayed.
 #1570256  by Bracdude181
 
Kind of odd that they will repair the crossing in a manner that would allow for rail traffic. I wonder if there’s some sort of state requirement for this in case someone wants to put the line back in service.

Regardless, here’s some pictures of how the crossing looked as of yesterday. I’ll have some more pictures when they finish the work.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/jAXgJ5WR3HRVPJGL8
 #1570276  by R&DB
 
I don't have explicit knowledge of this, but I think this is one of those State 'rail bank' lines. In other words it is OOS, not abandoned. So since it MAY be used in the future they will maintain it. After all there is that HUGE industrial site om the North side of RT-37 not to mention a lumber yard and a propane facility that both still have sidings.

Just a thought, since the State owns the track/Row, do they get a piece of the profit of each load hauled over the Line? If so, how much %?
 #1570278  by Bracdude181
 
To my knowledge Conrail owns the TRIT and the abandoned ROW from Downtown Toms River to Mountain Millwork behind Builders General there.

The railbanking thing makes sense but at the same time, Winslow Junction to Woodmansie is also considered railbanked I believe, and nearly all of the crossings between those two areas are gone.

Perhaps C&D has shown interest in the line and has asked that’s its preserved for a small time period?
 #1570285  by JohnFromJersey
 
Bracdude181 wrote: Sat May 01, 2021 9:11 pm To my knowledge Conrail owns the TRIT and the abandoned ROW from Downtown Toms River to Mountain Millwork behind Builders General there.

The railbanking thing makes sense but at the same time, Winslow Junction to Woodmansie is also considered railbanked I believe, and nearly all of the crossings between those two areas are gone.

Perhaps C&D has shown interest in the line and has asked that’s its preserved for a small time period?
People do talk a lot about Ceiba-Geigy being an excellent spot for a rail transloading facility.
 #1570301  by Bracdude181
 
@JohnFromJersey Plenty of land out there for a mid-size terminal, and there’s quite a few people south of there who could use it. Many of these businesses are along Route 9 south of Downtown Toms River. They deal with commodities we see being moved by rail in Central Jersey. There’s a few big ones like Point Bay Fuels in Toms River, Empire Blended Products in Bayville, All Chemical Transport in Lakewood, Suffolk Redi Mix in South Toms River, and a few others I can’t remember at the moment.

There’s also alot of places in Lakewood that deal with Intermodal, so perhaps they could make use of this?

https://railrunner.com/
 #1570543  by Bracdude181
 
A friend of mine spotted work beginning at Bimini Drive today. He saw a lot of red vehicles so it sounds Railroad Construction is doing the job.

Can’t get up there till Thursday, but I’ll get some pictures when I do.
 #1570550  by JohnFromJersey
 
Bracdude181 wrote: Tue May 04, 2021 7:57 pm A friend of mine spotted work beginning at Bimini Drive today. He saw a lot of red vehicles so it sounds Railroad Construction is doing the job.

Can’t get up there till Thursday, but I’ll get some pictures when I do.
Interesting. Could this mean something more?
 #1570597  by Bracdude181
 
@JohnFromJersey It’s anyone’s guess as to what this means. I personally hope it means someone wants this line open soon, but we have to wait and see. I’ll get some pictures tomorrow.
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