Had a rail line from Smithville, TX to San Marcos, TX that had been abandoned for 4 or 5 decades. The roll date on the rails was around 1912. Today all new rail, ties and ballast with several trains a day. Just replaced the rail again a few months ago.
One of a railfan's favorite daydreams: an abandoned right-of-way coming back into use. Great video! Thanks for showing this, and I'm looking forward to the updates!
That section in Chatsworth with the trees in the tracks is not being restored. It is however owned by NJ Transit. The section being restored is from the Clayton sand pits in Woodmansie, about five miles north, through Lakehurst and is only about 13 miles in length.
Great Video! Nice to see these lines come back in service. Theirs one where I'm at that started back getting deliveries Feb 2016 after no trains running on it for 7 or more years.
Always fascinating to see abandoned tracks, like a railroad cemetary of history. Also very cool how times change and can bring back a dead RR line like this
They kind of did this up in western Massachusetts where I live. They reopened a virtually abandoned line thru Holyoke MA. It's a cool winding line right through the heart of an old industrial city.
There is a track with trees in and around the track in Tilton Illinois, I'd like to see them fix that but it probably wont. I'm glad that you get out there and film stuff like this for railfans like me to watch, Thanks!
That's pretty much how the rails through my city and the other suburbs of Boston looked years ago...Now they are running lots of commuter trains everyday...They even had people who built sheds and garages and pools near the rails and tried hard to fight but they lost.
rich sheehan - Anything short of formal abandonment with the Federal government is meaningless. The line is still considered part of the national rail network. The FRA doesn’t care if you built a pool on the property.
There is an abandoned railroad coming back by our house also, in North New Jersey. In the town of Andover in the county of Sussex. The line abandoned in 1984 was a passenger and freight line built in 1909 and is called the Lackawanna cutoff. They are in the process of rebuilding it from Morris Junction to Andover and also building a train station. The biggest job will be to repair the Roseville tunnel, so the project may take another year or two. I love to walk for miles on this old line. Sometimes you're really up high in the air on the huge fills, or deep in the ground on the large cuts. Now they are laying track and putting in new gravel (the men told me it was called ballast) so it is really changing.... definitely for the better!!!!! Thanks for your videos.
Having been a railroad fan (mostly the New York Central) since the early 60's, it pleases me to see some bringing back abandoned lines back into use again.
This appears to be the former Central Railroad of New Jersey's Southern Division from Lakewood to Winslow Junction. Parts of the line are owned by NJ Transit and other parts are owned by a company named Clayton who operates a quarry on the line and would rather ship via rail as their truck deliveries on local roads appear to be at capacity.
Awesome video Millenniumforce. always good to see railroads going back in service. Up in the White Mountains of New Hampshire,, we have the Mountain Division being restored after all service stopped there to St. Johnsbury VT in 1985. It started In Portland Me, and all the way to Grey, Hiram, and Fryeburgh ME. then through the NH towns of North Conway, Bartlett, Crawford, Faybayn, and Whitefield NH. It gets it's money funds from donated foundations, companys, people, and factories and businesses. It will take longer this way, but it saves on money and not begging for grants from the state or Government. I can't wait to see your first train go through there and my area of the Mountain Division of New Hampshire.
An abandoned NY, NH & H (The "Greenbush" Line) line was reactivated for commuter rail use about five years ago. In most states, there is a presumption that even though a rail ROW is not use, it may yet be reactivated.
I reflect upon the Rails in Whiting 1976, and even then the Rails were no longer used that far South. Further down the line in Pasadena the Rails were really showing signs of not being used for even longer. There was a Lakewood History Site that had a Picture of South Lakewood Railroad Station that was situated West Of Cross Street on Faraday Road. I can boot myself for not copying that Picture I spotted there. I am so elated to hear that the Rails are returning. I grew up in Parkways Pines Section Of Brick (GSP Exit 91) which 30 years ago was Lakewood Mailing Address. I could darn near throw a Rock from my Front Yard, and hit Ramtown Section of Howell. In the 70's 03:00 on some Mornings you are still hear the Freight Trains Blowing their Horn in the Neighborhood of Oak Glen Road near Squankum Road, going by the angles of where the Sound was coming from. I remember a few times the Train was approaching next to Agway County Line Road Lakewood (No Gates), and the Lights never flashed, and the Bells never rang, but like North Jersey (Glen Gardener) the Railroad Crossings were only X's up there so you had to look so you knew it was safe to proceed across them Tracks. I am waiting to see how those Homeowners in Farmingdale/Howell that bought Houses along those Tracks they thought were defunct are gonna be complaining when the Rails start up again.
This line is going to be used for hauling sand out of pits in Woodmansie, just north of the 72 overpass. They have been trimming the brush for several years, but the track rehab has only been in earnest for less than two. The heavy equipment was pulled out 3 weeks ago, and I have only seen hi-rails since then. If NS ran a train there yesterday, it's news to me as I am less than 2 miles from the Lakehurst crossing. There is very little chance of any trackage going to Ft. Dix, though there is a spur going into NAS Lakehurst from when they hauled the plutonium contaminated soil out years ago. (I know it's Joint Base MDL, I use the old names for clarification.). I'll post updates on Railfan or here. I like your videos, and say hi to Jaw Tooth.
Glad to see it coming back. If we can restore all abandoned railroads across the country, it will reduce truck traffic on our highways. Trucks beat up our highways, cause more accidents, and contribute to more pollution and greenhouse gasses.
Is this the abandoned railways that you walked in a previous video? It is great to know that a railways is being repaired. It could be useful for freight services or passenger ones.In Argentina, we have many railways in that situation but there are politicians who are not concerned with repairing them , they want the properties for building private buildings. Thank you for posting this dedicated video. Take care and kind regards from Argentina
I lived near there up to about 10 years ago and you can still pickup coal pieces of a couple inches in size. Story is that a "friendly" engineer would work the train to have the cars sway enough to throw coal for the depression era.
I think that this is awesome, an abandoned rail line being rehabilitated and put back into service. We need to see more of this throughout the USA because trains are the most reliable and efficient transport mode to haul raw materials and manufactured goods. I would much rather commit hundreds of millions toward upgrading and expanding our rail network rather than squandering it on more unnecessary limited access superhighways like that extension of Interstate 69 from Indianapolis IN to Laredo TX. Building more highways will not solve our mobility crisis or reduce traffic congestion.
The NJ Transit is trying to do the same thing with the Lackawanna Cut-Off but it hasn't been fully restored yet they said it would continue in late 2016
There's some old track in some woods just outside of Dunn, NC where a small rail line used to run from Dunn to Erwin, NC back when the denim plant was going in Erwin. They've since took up the track & made a bike trail out of it. Though, some of the track is left sitting in the woods on a country road outside of Dunn.
I was going to add, that abandoned railroad tracks intrigue me, as in, where they lead to/go. I'll have a dream every now & then running & jumping on a flat car at the end of a train that's going slow and ride to wherever it goes. Which I'd so like to try in real life one day without getting hurt that is.
Wish more lines were brought back to life like this in Maine! They removed most of the branches and now a university here is working on making a clean burning ethanol which can be used in jet fuel made from bark and branches and leaves from trees. They need some way of making it close to the source. I think some of them may make a come back.
Did you check out the old PRSL Seashore Line? It ran from Lindenwold, NJ to Cape May, NJ. with some spurs that served other seashore cities. It was owned by the old Pensylvania-Reading RR and these days it's more of a sightseeing train. They still run the Budd RDC diesel cars on that track and there's a swing bridge over the Cape May Canal near Cape May. I grew up there and those are some great memories from the 1960s and 1970s.
I wonder if this is the same line that went thru Whiting in a forest area where in 1974 I went on a school outing and we stayed in a house right next to the track in the woods. I remember standing on the track and looking and the track went straight for a long way. Went down in a valley and back up. You could see the train coming for a long time. We always heard Fort Dix in thru the woods. I always wondered what became of that place.
Theres an abandoned section of the old B and O line here in Oswego, NY. It still has the old plates for the joints. So Im sure its been abandoned for 50 years or more.
Here in Toronto, and the GTHA (Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area) The government is faced with the issue that demand for commuter rail service is going up like mad, yet so much of our rail infrastructure was mothballed and sold off. Or the lines exist but have had rail removed and sold leaving an empty right of way next to active track. Of course finding the funding to rebuild is next to impossible. CN and CP have little interest in helping the public interest.
Here in Minnesota, BNSF effectively abandoned a 30 mile spur, it was offered to the state for free. But the state said it didn't want it. So they sold it to the adjacent landowners for pennies on the dollar. Now the state wants to buy it back for a bike trail. But it is going to cost more than $16 million.
check out this site where you can see one of the last trains to cross the hwy 72 bridge before it came abandoned in 1975. www.abandonedrails.com/Lakewood_to_Winslow_Junction
It's just all work. Nothing the railroad and the sub contractors can't handle. Usually, the railroad's themselves don't rebuild the line, they just maintain it.
Last we heard was it was being restored for hauling sand out of Woodmansie pit. The brand new upgraded crossing signals have been in place for a few years. Heard it was some type of federal mandate.
Can't be. The date on the picture must be wrong. Can you tell me where I can see the picture? I might be able to put a better date on it, based on the rolling stock.
I went back and did a little research on the South Jersey Railroad. There isn't a whole lot of information. According to information on Pediaview.com, these tracks were taken over by Conrail in 1976. These tracks were severed from the main line in 1978. I know these tracks were not used for many years previous to that. One interesting fact, that may tie in with your referenced image is the removal of some derailed rail cars that had been sitting along side these tracks for many years. The "train wreck" was located about 2.5 to 3.0 miles east of the Route 72 bridge. Both the local and state governments were putting pressure on the railroad to remove these attractive nuisances. Conrail removed the wrecked cars in the period between 1976 and 1978 before disconnecting the line all together from the mainline.
Found it. Picture and the date the train crossed the bridge is 1975 CNJ engine #2506 crosses over Route 72 in 1975 on this now-abandoned line. (1975, submitted by John Gaston) www.abandonedrails.com/Lakewood_to_Winslow_Junction
In most states it's a legal presumption that a disused railroad line can be reactivated. This happened recently in Massachusetts when the MBTA reactivated the Greenbush commuter rail line on former NY NH & H right of way that was disused since the early sixties.
In Scandinavia, the government owns the rails, and private companies operate trains on them, through some sort of lease arrangement. If a railroad quits operating, the rails stay, and in many areas, they are used by locals and visitors for rail bikes and other human powered vehicles. I think motorized is prohibited.
take a look at colebrookdale railroad this rail road has been forgotten by time and is running today since 2014 that rail road may be older than most tourist rail roads in Pennsylvania
Wonder if there is a new freight customer coming online or if the Joint Base is going to get rail service again. That used to be served by Union Transportation Co. until 1979. The gas tax just went up by 23 cts., so maybe there will be heavy passenger rail?
JAMES MARK I wonder if you are aware that Union Transportation was the operator of the last Pennsylvania steam locomotive an 0-6-0. Sorry don't recall the engine number.
Are you aware the Blue Comet Derailed in Chatsworth August 19th 1939? Mother Nature dumped over 13.5 inches of rain in Four Hours, a portion of the Railway washed out. Five Cars where involved, and it took 3/4 of a Mile for the Engine to stop after the incident. The injured were transported to Burlington Hospital (Virtua Now)
Does anyone know or think if they’ll restore this all the way to the former jersey southern portion and go all the way to Vineland? It would be cool to see that, but there’s something cool about the abandoned line going through Wharton. Would hate to see the history lost in pulling it and putting down new track and cutting away all the trees that grew over 40 something years.
here is one www.buckscountyherald.com/news_stories/4-28-16/Black-River-Western-Railroad.html and here is there web link www.blackriverrailroad.com/alexauken-division
We really need are industry back to what it use to be in this country, Nafta was a huge mistake made by Bill Clinton that took so much manufacturing and train use out of our country it's truly pathetic and Obama was not much better, thank God for Trump, hope to see more train tracks back in use!
when i was a kid, CNJ used to run a train down that line from jersey city to bridgeton every night. it was called JS-1 southbound and JS-2 northbound. the crews swapped off in lakewood, it had a matched pair of ALCO RS-1's on the front and stopped in elizabethport to add and cut cars off of it.
that's going to be a hell of a lot of work all the way to winslow jct. Looks like adjacent land owners have actually built upon the right of way in a few places
Had a rail line from Smithville, TX to San Marcos, TX that had been abandoned for 4 or 5 decades. The roll date on the rails was around 1912. Today all new rail, ties and ballast with several trains a day. Just replaced the rail again a few months ago.
One of a railfan's favorite daydreams: an abandoned right-of-way coming back into use. Great video! Thanks for showing this, and I'm looking forward to the updates!
Anyone know of a newer video of this? (Where the trees are no longer in the tracks)
That section in Chatsworth with the trees in the tracks is not being restored. It is however owned by NJ Transit. The section being restored is from the Clayton sand pits in Woodmansie, about five miles north, through Lakehurst and is only about 13 miles in length.
I think it's great that railroad enthusiasts are documenting Trains and Railroad info. Thank you for your passion!!
Good to see an abandoned line coming back.
Great Video! Nice to see these lines come back in service. Theirs one where I'm at that started back getting deliveries Feb 2016 after no trains running on it for 7 or more years.
Always fascinating to see abandoned tracks, like a railroad cemetary of history. Also very cool how times change and can bring back a dead RR line like this
They kind of did this up in western Massachusetts where I live. They reopened a virtually abandoned line thru Holyoke MA. It's a cool winding line right through the heart of an old industrial city.
There is a track with trees in and around the track in Tilton Illinois, I'd like to see them fix that but it probably wont. I'm glad that you get out there and film stuff like this for railfans like me to watch, Thanks!
That's pretty much how the rails through my city and the other suburbs of Boston looked years ago...Now they are running lots of commuter trains everyday...They even had people who built sheds and garages and pools near the rails and tried hard to fight but they lost.
Thats sad but werid idk why
rich sheehan - Anything short of formal abandonment with the Federal government is meaningless. The line is still considered part of the national rail network. The FRA doesn’t care if you built a pool on the property.
In a time when rail lines are closing down, it's great to see one opening up!
There is an abandoned railroad coming back by our house also, in North New Jersey. In the town of Andover in the county of Sussex. The line abandoned in 1984 was a passenger and freight line built in 1909 and is called the Lackawanna cutoff. They are in the process of rebuilding it from Morris Junction to Andover and also building a train station. The biggest job will be to repair the Roseville tunnel, so the project may take another year or two. I love to walk for miles on this old line. Sometimes you're really up high in the air on the huge fills, or deep in the ground on the large cuts. Now they are laying track and putting in new gravel (the men told me it was called ballast) so it is really changing.... definitely for the better!!!!!
Thanks for your videos.
WOW. Lakehurst, NJ. Awesome, that's where the Hindenburg went down. I flew out of an air field in Ft. Dix, NJ. to Iraq back in '05.
Nice to see tracks back in service after many years Thanks for sharing ! ! !
Having been a railroad fan (mostly the New York Central) since the early 60's, it pleases me to see some bringing back abandoned lines back into use again.
Love all of your vids. Been a railfan since childhood.
This appears to be the former Central Railroad of New Jersey's Southern Division from Lakewood to Winslow Junction. Parts of the line are owned by NJ Transit and other parts are owned by a company named Clayton who operates a quarry on the line and would rather ship via rail as their truck deliveries on local roads appear to be at capacity.
Awesome video Millenniumforce. always good to see railroads going back in service. Up in the White Mountains of New Hampshire,, we have the Mountain Division being restored after all service stopped there to St. Johnsbury VT in 1985. It started In Portland Me, and all the way to Grey, Hiram, and Fryeburgh ME. then through the NH towns of North Conway, Bartlett, Crawford, Faybayn, and Whitefield NH. It gets it's money funds from donated foundations, companys, people, and factories and businesses. It will take longer this way, but it saves on money and not begging for grants from the state or Government. I can't wait to see your first train go through there and my area of the Mountain Division of New Hampshire.
Train lovers are always such superb physical specimens.
I pass by this bridge every summer! Nice catch.
I'm actually very suprised that a 30 year old abandoned rail line is being restored for future rail service
That's happened here in MA.
Is it gonna be a tourist railroad?
There is an old mine line in the Bluefield, WV area that has been abandoned for a bit longer time that is being readied to become a tourist line.
What happened in MA?
An abandoned NY, NH & H (The "Greenbush" Line) line was reactivated for commuter rail use about five years ago. In most states, there is a presumption that even though a rail ROW is not use, it may yet be reactivated.
i live very close to this railroad i cant wait to see it run again
Really do you know me XD
Frank Dougherty I live pretty close the that also
Cool
What's the story behind the rebuild, who's doing it and why?
Love your videos!!! I used railroad ties when I landscaped my property. They are HEAVY and flat wore out a few chains trying to chainsaw cut them.
I reflect upon the Rails in Whiting 1976, and even then the Rails were no longer used that far South. Further down the line in Pasadena the Rails were really showing signs of not being used for even longer. There was a Lakewood History Site that had a Picture of South Lakewood Railroad Station that was situated West Of Cross Street on Faraday Road. I can boot myself for not copying that Picture I spotted there.
I am so elated to hear that the Rails are returning. I grew up in Parkways Pines Section Of Brick (GSP Exit 91) which 30 years ago was Lakewood Mailing Address. I could darn near throw a Rock from my Front Yard, and hit Ramtown Section of Howell. In the 70's 03:00 on some Mornings you are still hear the Freight Trains Blowing their Horn in the Neighborhood of Oak Glen Road near Squankum Road, going by the angles of where the Sound was coming from.
I remember a few times the Train was approaching next to Agway County Line Road Lakewood (No Gates), and the Lights never flashed, and the Bells never rang, but like North Jersey (Glen Gardener) the Railroad Crossings were only X's up there so you had to look so you knew it was safe to proceed across them Tracks.
I am waiting to see how those Homeowners in Farmingdale/Howell that bought Houses along those Tracks they thought were defunct are gonna be complaining when the Rails start up again.
This line is going to be used for hauling sand out of pits in Woodmansie, just north of the 72 overpass. They have been trimming the brush for several years, but the track rehab has only been in earnest for less than two. The heavy equipment was pulled out 3 weeks ago, and I have only seen hi-rails since then. If NS ran a train there yesterday, it's news to me as I am less than 2 miles from the Lakehurst crossing. There is very little chance of any trackage going to Ft. Dix, though there is a spur going into NAS Lakehurst from when they hauled the plutonium contaminated soil out years ago. (I know it's Joint Base MDL, I use the old names for clarification.). I'll post updates on Railfan or here.
I like your videos, and say hi to Jaw Tooth.
Thanks for the information
Andrew Sinatra 171
Hopefully by the time I go back up there in April.
will be in that area around April 13, 14, 15
Andrew Sinatra i
Glad to see it coming back. If we can restore all abandoned railroads across the country, it will reduce truck traffic on our highways. Trucks beat up our highways, cause more accidents, and contribute to more pollution and greenhouse gasses.
Is this the abandoned railways that you walked in a previous video? It is great to know that a railways is being repaired. It could be useful for freight services or passenger ones.In Argentina, we have many railways in that situation but there are politicians who are not concerned with repairing them , they want the properties for building private buildings. Thank you for posting this dedicated video. Take care and kind regards from Argentina
HI! I look forward to this years update. I used to be on THE LONDON UNDERGROUND here in The UK.
Thanks for this video, dear Alan.
I lived near there up to about 10 years ago and you can still pickup coal pieces of a couple inches in size. Story is that a "friendly" engineer would work the train to have the cars sway enough to throw coal for the depression era.
I think that this is awesome, an abandoned rail line being rehabilitated and put back into service. We need to see more of this throughout the USA because trains are the most reliable and efficient transport mode to haul raw materials and manufactured goods. I would much rather commit hundreds of millions toward upgrading and expanding our rail network rather than squandering it on more unnecessary limited access superhighways like that extension of Interstate 69 from Indianapolis IN to Laredo TX. Building more highways will not solve our mobility crisis or reduce traffic congestion.
I could be wrong, but I think, that is an old Jersey Central line.
The NJ Transit is trying to do the same thing with the Lackawanna Cut-Off but it hasn't been fully restored yet they said it would continue in late 2016
Great footage Millennium Force! Id like to see this happen! Keep us posted! Well Done!
keep us updated on the progress!
There's some old track in some woods just outside of Dunn, NC where a small rail line used to run from Dunn to Erwin, NC back when the denim plant was going in Erwin. They've since took up the track & made a bike trail out of it. Though, some of the track is left sitting in the woods on a country road outside of Dunn.
great vid nice to see old lines back open
I was going to add, that abandoned railroad tracks intrigue me, as in, where they lead to/go. I'll have a dream every now & then running & jumping on a flat car at the end of a train that's going slow and ride to wherever it goes. Which I'd so like to try in real life one day without getting hurt that is.
Wish more lines were brought back to life like this in Maine! They removed most of the branches and now a university here is working on making a clean burning ethanol which can be used in jet fuel made from bark and branches and leaves from trees. They need some way of making it close to the source. I think some of them may make a come back.
Great video! Thanks for posting it!
Great video! Nice to see an old railroad come back to life
GREAT THING TO SEE TRAINS COMING BACK!
Did you check out the old PRSL Seashore Line? It ran from Lindenwold, NJ to Cape May, NJ. with some spurs that served other seashore cities. It was owned by the old Pensylvania-Reading RR and these days it's more of a sightseeing train. They still run the Budd RDC diesel cars on that track and there's a swing bridge over the Cape May Canal near Cape May. I grew up there and those are some great memories from the 1960s and 1970s.
Sometimes old abandoned railroads are turned into tourist railroads.
I'm still sad we up here in Maine lost the Maine Eastern to Morristown and Erie (In NJ) because our DOT are idiots. Good to see something like this.
I wonder if this is the same line that went thru Whiting in a forest area where in 1974 I went on a school outing and we stayed in a house right next to the track in the woods. I remember standing on the track and looking and the track went straight for a long way. Went down in a valley and back up. You could see the train coming for a long time. We always heard Fort Dix in thru the woods. I always wondered what became of that place.
Theres an abandoned section of the old B and O line here in Oswego, NY. It still has the old plates for the joints. So Im sure its been abandoned for 50 years or more.
Super video, Keep up the good work, I enjoy your videos.
I used to live near there. Now am in California, so this sort of helps me keep up.
Here in Toronto, and the GTHA (Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area) The government is faced with the issue that demand for commuter rail service is going up like mad, yet so much of our rail infrastructure was mothballed and sold off. Or the lines exist but have had rail removed and sold leaving an empty right of way next to active track. Of course finding the funding to rebuild is next to impossible. CN and CP have little interest in helping the public interest.
Really neat to see! Thanks!
Here in Minnesota, BNSF effectively abandoned a 30 mile spur, it was offered to the state for free. But the state said it didn't want it. So they sold it to the adjacent landowners for pennies on the dollar. Now the state wants to buy it back for a bike trail. But it is going to cost more than $16 million.
check out this site where you can see one of the last trains to cross the hwy 72 bridge before it came abandoned in 1975.
www.abandonedrails.com/Lakewood_to_Winslow_Junction
Millenniumforce this video is 6:11 long just like N&W 611.
It's just all work. Nothing the railroad and the sub contractors can't handle. Usually, the railroad's themselves don't rebuild the line, they just maintain it.
Cool video! Thanks for sharing!
What is the update on this railroad A haven't heard anything since A last seen this video about a year or two ago what's the process on the project?
hey Alan I'm glad to see your doing better. I love watching your videos. How is your recovery going?
The Blue Comet used to ride those rails and actually de railed a mile outside of Chatsworth in 1936.
OUT STANDING VIDEO GLAD TO SEE THIS
I love riding my motorcycle through Chatsworth!
well that looks like great news hopefully it's gonna be a tourist railroad.
Last we heard was it was being restored for hauling sand out of Woodmansie pit.
The brand new upgraded crossing signals have been in place for a few years. Heard it was some type of federal mandate.
That line in Chatsworth was abandoned at least back in the late 1960s. We used to ride our dirt bikes on that track back then.
On the internet there is a picture of a train crossing the highway 72 bridge heading towards Chatsworth back in the mid 80's as the last train
Can't be. The date on the picture must be wrong. Can you tell me where I can see the picture? I might be able to put a better date on it, based on the rolling stock.
I went back and did a little research on the South Jersey Railroad. There isn't a whole lot of information. According to information on Pediaview.com, these tracks were taken over by Conrail in 1976. These tracks
were severed from the main line in 1978. I know these tracks were not used for many years previous to that. One interesting fact, that may tie in with your referenced image is the removal of some derailed rail cars that had been sitting along side these tracks for many years. The "train wreck" was located about 2.5 to 3.0 miles east of the Route 72 bridge. Both the local and state governments were putting pressure on the railroad to remove these attractive nuisances. Conrail removed the wrecked cars in the period between 1976 and 1978 before disconnecting the line all together from the mainline.
I will try to find the article
Found it. Picture and the date the train crossed the bridge is 1975
CNJ engine #2506 crosses over Route 72 in 1975 on this now-abandoned line. (1975, submitted by John Gaston)
www.abandonedrails.com/Lakewood_to_Winslow_Junction
In most states it's a legal presumption that a disused railroad line can be reactivated. This happened recently in Massachusetts when the MBTA reactivated the Greenbush commuter rail line on former NY NH & H right of way that was disused since the early sixties.
Nothing a chainsaw won't fix.
Looks like New Jersey Seashore RR is going to take control of this line. At least on the gate sign it looked like it said New Jersey Seashore RR
Nicely done!
Usually after about four or five years, they’re toast. Especially here in new joke state where they can’t wait to make “walking trails” out of them.
Good presentation. How did you find out about the line, when you are so far away from your base. Where is your "good lady"
In Scandinavia, the government owns the rails, and private companies operate trains on them, through some sort of lease arrangement. If a railroad quits operating, the rails stay, and in many areas, they are used by locals and visitors for rail bikes and other human powered vehicles. I think motorized is prohibited.
take a look at colebrookdale railroad this rail road has been forgotten by time and is running today since 2014 that rail road may be older than most tourist rail roads in Pennsylvania
wow, lovely diamond crossings
This line has actually been abandoned sense 1976 when CNJmearged with conrail.
Hope the engine has a cowcatcher on it. Some biggins on the tracks.
Wonder if there is a new freight customer coming online or if the Joint Base is going to get rail service again. That used to be served by Union Transportation Co. until 1979. The gas tax just went up by 23 cts., so maybe there will be heavy passenger rail?
It's for NJT
JAMES MARK
I wonder if you are aware that Union Transportation was the operator of the last Pennsylvania steam locomotive an 0-6-0. Sorry don't recall the engine number.
I love your intro and the video millenniumforce!!!!
This is really cool!
Are you aware the Blue Comet Derailed in Chatsworth August 19th 1939? Mother Nature dumped over 13.5 inches of rain in Four Hours, a portion of the Railway washed out. Five Cars where involved, and it took 3/4 of a Mile for the Engine to stop after the incident. The injured were transported to Burlington Hospital (Virtua Now)
Does anyone know or think if they’ll restore this all the way to the former jersey southern portion and go all the way to Vineland? It would be cool to see that, but there’s something cool about the abandoned line going through Wharton. Would hate to see the history lost in pulling it and putting down new track and cutting away all the trees that grew over 40 something years.
Looks like south NJ pine barrens.
The sleepers (ties on that track at 3.24 will be shot to pieces but the rails will probably be reusable , just get a rail grinder over them .
30 years later, the restoration begins.
Good job, love the UA-cam shirts.
Black River and Western is starting up the Lambertville to Flemington line again also ..
Douglas White Do you have a link where this can be confirmed?
here is one www.buckscountyherald.com/news_stories/4-28-16/Black-River-Western-Railroad.html and here is there web link www.blackriverrailroad.com/alexauken-division
I love trains!
nice video. Aca en argentina. a las vias la sacan cuando pasan dos o tres decadas sin uso. saludos.
Great video!
Sounds like some business opening up down the line who needs rail service.
Alan.did you ever notice the train bridge over Palm River east of US 41 how badly rusted it is?
Looks like the rails needs replaced too, or will they run a railgrinder here?
We really need are industry back to what it use to be in this country, Nafta was a huge mistake made by Bill Clinton that took so much manufacturing and train use out of our country it's truly pathetic and Obama was not much better, thank God for Trump, hope to see more train tracks back in use!
what are they relaying track for? what are they going to haul?
youre in new jersey?!? do you plan on stopping near philadelphia?
This was taken over the summer
aw dam, thanks!!!
when i was a kid, CNJ used to run a train down that line from jersey city to bridgeton every night. it was called JS-1 southbound and JS-2 northbound. the crews swapped off in lakewood, it had a matched pair of ALCO RS-1's on the front and stopped in elizabethport to add and cut cars off of it.
Great friend...like
Hello my friend! Been a while since I've seen any of your videos & commented (All good of coarse!)
Please keep me updated on this line.
New updated video on the line should air in the beginning of December
Well....there goes the biking trail!
what are the railroads going to be servicing?
Wish they could do this in Milwaukee or atleast remove the old grade crossings, it's hell on my front suspension
that's going to be a hell of a lot of work all the way to winslow jct. Looks like adjacent land owners have actually built upon the right of way in a few places
A lot of lines were abandoned by merger of Others
Exactly right a lot of erie lackawanna lines by me were abandoned when conrail took over