wolfboy8171981 wrote:I beleive the line has no active customers left. This would be the only way around Delair Bridge to get to Paviona.
Yes, I have been waiting for the day when Delair goes out of service for some emergency, and the only way to service south Jersey is over this stretch -- I wonder if there is a set of actual contingency plans on how this would be done. (Unfortunaltely probably at night because the line is dedicated to light rail River Line in the day.).
Technically, I don't think the tracks you saw this were ever part of Bel-Del -- as was pointed out, coming east through Trenton Station on the NEC, the Bel Del started just east of the Trenton station at Fair interlocking where the Bel Del curved to the left, (between what is now Perrine and Sheridan Ave. , eventually doing almost a 180 degree turn and crossed the canal (later Route 1) at a bridge between Perry and Southard Sts.
http://broadway.pennsyrr.com/Rail/Prr/M ... k/fair.gif
Anyway, just before the bridge over Route 1(or the old canal), there track going down to Bordentown diverged from the Bel-Del to the left.
http://broadway.pennsyrr.com/Rail/Prr/M ... beldel.gif (labelled "South Trenton Br. to Bordentown"). (ALso note the East Trenton (edit: "Enterprise") branch, which ran up on the north/west side of the canal (I think using the old towpath) going towards Princeton (where Route 1 is now), eventually reaching up around Carnegie Rd in Lawrence)
Note coming off the Bel Del just opposite the this line to Borndentown were quite a few tracks ("Coalport" yard ), including one track which ran northeast along the canal for about a mile and then curved back into Mlllham Junction with the NEC,about a mile north of Trenton Station. The scrap dealer Trainlawyer refers too might be at the northeast end of this section of this part (once called "Millham Branch"?) just before it curves back to the NEC.
http://broadway.pennsyrr.com/Rail/Prr/M ... illham.gif
The Bel Del is gone but this line from Millham Junction and the line to Bordentown are now connected as one line.
A side note on the canal and what is filled in. It is an interesting story (I think). The canal was built to get stuff from Philadephia to the NY Harbor (which is connected to the Raritan Bay) without going in the Altlantic Ocean. Boats can only make it to South Trenton on the Delaware. The main canal started there and went up through Trenton and then through Princeton to New Brunswick. The high point was right where the Bel Del RR bridge crossed the canal. So to get water there to flow downhill to New Brunswick and to SOuth Trenton., a "feeder canal" was built to supply water, coming from up north on th Delaware about 20 miles, north of Stockton. This "feeder" was upgraded eventually to handle traffic, I guess driven a lot by coal from PA to NY). Anyway, when the canal traffic was long finsihed and they were building route 1, the canal in the Princeton area (and maybe others) was being used as a source of drinking water supply (it is Delaware river water). So they could not fill in the feeder canal or the part of the main canal heading towards Princeton/New Brunswick, but there was no reason to save the section in south Trenton (or maybe it was already filled in???) So the canal is really filled in south/west of this Bel Del RR bridge, but north/east of this bridge the canal is still flowing under Route 1 -- it emerges back out a mile north by Mulberry St). So the feeder canal and the main canal section from Trenton to New Brunswick combined is now the poplular Delaware Raritan Canal park and hiking/biking towpath . If it hadn't been for this drinking water use, maybe the whole thing would not longer exist??
And there was a recent announcment that Conrail is either selling or granting an easement to the park for land which I assume is adjacent to the Millham Branch, from the Bel Del bridge up to Mullberry St., so hikers and bikers can get from one end of the canal towpath over this missing section. . The bikers coming from north of Trenton (e.g. Stockton/Lambertville direction) will use the old Bel Del bridge to cross route 1, then use the new easement, and cross back under route 1 at Mulberry st, I think using the existing underpass, to get back on the towpath on the other side.
http://www.nj.com/news/local/index.ssf/ ... _link.html. From the article it seems the Milham branch will remain in service adjacent to the new path (so some day we can see those Delair Bridge detours go through!!!!)
JS