Trains and operations in Browns Yard

can someone please explain to me on the lines and the trains and lines that run in and out of browns yard?

also, how they get onto the freehold secondary?

1--East to West...
2--Rails and switches.....Welcome aboard!

South Amboy (Brown's Yard) sits along the Amboy Secondary, which runs northeast (railroad direction east) and southwest (railroad direction west). There are two ways out of Brown's Yard:

1. If the SA-31 is going to Red Bank / Lakewood, they will exit the yard by going Railroad East. It will then need permission to travel down New Jersey Transit's North Jersey Coast Line from South Amboy through Matawan, Hazlet, Holmdel, and Middletown. Just south of the NJT station in Red Bank is the switch to enter Conrail's Southern Secondary. This line extends through Shrewsbury, Eatontown, Tinton Falls, Howell, Farmingdale, Lakewood, and Lakehurst.

2. If the SA-31 is going to Freehold, it will go railroad Railroad West through Spotswood, Helmetta, and Jamesburg. At Jamesburg there is a fancy bit of trackage called a "wye" (pronounced like the letter "Y") that allows the train to enter the Freehold Secondary. The train will then proceed through Monroe, Manalapan, Englishtown, Freehold Borough, and Freehold Township.

Back in the olden days, this line through Freehold was called the "Freehold & Jamesburg Agricultural Railroad". It continued through Howell, Farmingdale, and Wall, and connect to the New York & Long Branch Railroad (NY&LB - now the North Jersey Coast Line) at Sea Girt.

As you may have read on this board, there is a stretch of track between Freehold and Farmingdale that is out of service (meaning that it is unsuitable for trains to travel over it). East of Farmingdale, the track has been torn up, and part of it was made into a trail in Allaire State Park. If you look at a satellite photograph, you can still make out the old right-of-way.

As a bonus explainer: there was another line that ran from Freehold Borough up through Marlboro to Matawan, where it would connect to the NY&LB just west of the current NJT station. The rails have been torn up from this line, and it is now part of the Henry Hudson Trail.

Be careful when exploring these areas. Remember that the right of way (and most of the land adjacent to it) is private property. Not only do you need to worry about trains, but you also need to be mindful of unstable turf, and of wildlife (from ticks and chiggers to foxes or feral dogs). You may also encounter other people, and they may not be as friendly or interested in the railroad as you are. Don't travel far from the road alone. And if you're anywhere near Earle, be careful not to stray onto federal property.


If I've made any factual errors, please correct me.

thanks, that helped clear up any questions, but if they were going to enter the chemical coast, how would thay go about that? through NJT? what is the sayeveille running track used for, as i have seen trains quiet freqently on that line, on their route to browns, and is their any place i can pick up a legit map of the lines in NJ?

Tommyverrochi wrote:thanks, that helped clear up any questions, but if they were going to enter the chemical coast, how would thay go about that? through NJT? what is the sayeveille running track used for, as i have seen trains quiet freqently on that line, on their route to browns, and is their any place i can pick up a legit map of the lines in NJ?

1. In order to enter the Chemical Coast Secondary from Brown's, trains need to cross over the Raritan River. They use the North Jersey Coast Line bridge between South Amboy and Perth Amboy. The Amboy Secondary connects to the NJCL just south of the bridge, and the connection to the Chemical Coast Secondary is about a mile North (Railroad East) of the NJT Perth Amboy station.

2. The Sayreville Running Track is connected to the Amboy Secondary by the Gillespie Running Track. The Gillespie Running Track connects just North (Railroad East) of Brown's. There is a handful of customers on the Sayreville Running Track, which are serviced by the SA-02. This crew goes as far west as Milltown.

3. I can't be much help with maps. I do have a large collection of maps, but they are old, disorganized, and might not make sense if you don't already know which lines are active and which aren't. I can recommend Multimodalways.org, but other than that, I think Google is your best friend.

This one is pretty good too:

http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... 27&t=55309

I know there are more threads on this topic too. The search feature works wonders.

I think getting an old railroad map may do wonders. Even with alot of lines OS.

Tommyverrochi wrote:what is the sayeveille running track used for, as i have seen trains quiet freqently on that line, on their route to browns, and is their any place i can pick up a legit map of the lines in NJ?

As far as the Sayreville/Gillespie Running track goes A bit of pre history can be found here...http://www.raritanriver-rr.com/

Got a quick Q about the trackwork near the Raritan River. Is there still a wye where it joins the NJCL? (CHURCH and ESSAY?)

I think so but theres others here would certainly know.

Raritan Express wrote:Got a quick Q about the trackwork near the Raritan River. Is there still a wye where it joins the NJCL? (CHURCH and ESSAY?)

Yes, now that the Church Running track has been rebuilt by NJT and is back in service, the wye is whole again.

For those who don't know the track layout, the Church Running track is a switch off of Track 2, just east of South Amboy Station. the Church Running swings up and over the Coast Line on a bridge. It heads west, and meets up with the Essay Running track, which itself diverts off of Track 1 at Essay Interlocking ("up the hill") and meets up with Church Running track right around the SubStation that is up there. About a train length or so past that switch - a couple of hundred Feet west is "CQ" which is a DCS station sign, and the dividing point inbetween NJT and CR control.

the Essay Running track is wired and it is in service to just east of CQ, but the Church Running track doesn't have any wire.

Both the Essay and Church Running tracks are controlled by the Coast Line Dispatcher, all the way to CQ.

Is there any reason why theres still wire there? I have only ever seen Diesel equipment there. Is this a hold over from when it was electrified the enite way to Browns?

What train goes up the old Perth Amboy industrial track and what time does it run?

Didn't want to bring this into either the Southern Sec. or FIT threads. I'm trying to get the facts straight on the Browns Yard area so I have a few questions:
1.) According to Mapquest, the yard office is located in Old Bridge and not Sayreville. Is this correct?
2.) What is the border of Sayreville and Old Bridge? Bordentown Ave? or the Amboy Sec.?
3.) After leaving the yard to the west, would the next border be the South River bridge which splits Old Bridge to the east and East Brunswick to the west?

It appears the bridge is pretty much the dividing point for all three with the northeast side being Sayreville, the southeast being Old Bridge, and everything to the west being East Brunswick?

Sound right?

Thanks in advance!