New York Division-Bergen Line - Part Deux!

[minerman146]

I'm late to the party with your route but wow!
I only started running it a week or so back when i got the gp-35s with scenarios and i've not stopped since.
I've not even got out to your latest parts yet as i'm enjoying the Dundee spur so much.
I'm looking forward to your updates if i ever get that far

Wow - this must be mind blowing to see it as whole with 3 years work into it!
So you got the Travel By Train GP35 and saw the Dundee. That is an awesome section to work in. It is probably the most detailed and dense area of the route. My favorite unit has the big "E" on the nose! In case you are not aware, there are 2 routes: The Croxton Ordinary which is all the work on the main route as of 31 Dec 2016, the Bergen Line which continues to grow as we, hopefully, near completion. I am giving you the shout out as you appear to be a man who appreciates freight. This route is for you!

The Bergen Sports a 60 Mile Run to Croxton/Jersey City and from West to East the whole line runs like this:
Trees, Trees, Trestle, Trees, Trestle, Trees, Village, Trees, Highway, Trees, Village, Trees Village, Trees, Town, Trees Suburb, Suburb, Suburb, City, City, Marsh, Marsh, Marsh, River, Marsh, Big City and Really Big City.

Welcome aboard and enjoy!
MM

[FanRailer]

Haha, once it's to Port Jervis, it's gonna be a 2.5 hour long run xD. I can't wait to fall asleep at the controls and derail

[minerman146]

Haha, once it's to Port Jervis, it's gonna be a 2.5 hour long run xD. I can't wait to fall asleep at the controls and derail

Coffee - lots and lots of coffee .. and a bathroom a big, big bathroom . You will be fine.

[NStrains]

It's a beautiful Saturday morning on the Bergen Line!

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[minerman146]

Weekend Update:
The weather is very Summer like here Eastern Orange County, NY. I have about 3 hours in of route work this weekend. Its a break really. For the past 9 months, work has progressed from Hillburn, NY to Campbell Hall, NY extending the route approximately 30 miles of rich, deep rural scenery. I have been getting tired of working the trees and country lanes. So, it is time for a change of pace.

Saturday, I was watching a video of the Bergen. It is Matt P's first Train-Sim Live video from July 2015. In it, I became focused on Rutherford Station. As mentioned before, most of the Bergen has not been fully detailed. I spent an enjoyable 2 hours last night updating Rutherford from the end of the platform to the Carlton Hill Branch. This line is on my bucket list of things to complete on the Bergen. It is loaded with history and there are at least 2 chemical companies there, sidings, holding track, and a switch back. I seek out consignees, as you know, and put them on the route - because freight! You can look up Carlton Hill Station on Wikipedia and that will give a decent over view of the line and the reason why I would put this in. So, I think I am going to take a break from the Graham Line and work this Branch for a few weeks and see how it goes. Updates will continue as normal.

While the line had its last run in the 1990's it is still owned by NS and considered active track. The last 2/3 of it are just about completely overgrown today. I am amassing research of the branch, looking for commentary, images, track alignments to locate the best details to include to make it look like the place for all of you. In that research, I came across a poem by Joyce Kilmer, who wrote this in the 2nd decade of the 20th Century - (1909-1914). In it, Mr. Kilmer follows the original Erie main line - lets see if you recognize some of the places!

So without further adieu, the Bergen thread goes high-brow with poetry!

The Twelve Forty-Five by Joyce Kilmer

Within the Jersey City shed
The engine coughs and shakes its head,
The smoke, a plume of red and white,
Waves madly in the face of night.

And now the grave incurious stars
Gleam on the groaning hurrying cars.

Against the kind and awful reign
Of darkness, this our angry train,
A noisy little rebel, pouts
Its brief defiance, flames and shouts --
And passes on, and leaves no trace.

For darkness holds its ancient place,
Serene and absolute, the king
Unchanged, of every living thing.

The houses lie obscure and still
In Rutherford and Carlton Hill.

Our lamps intensify the dark
Of slumbering Passaic Park.

And quiet holds the weary feet
That daily tramp through Prospect Street.

What though we clang and clank and roar
Through all Passaic's streets? No door
Will open, not an eye will see
Who this loud vagabond may be.

Upon my crimson cushioned seat,
In manufactured light and heat,
I feel unnatural and mean.

Outside the towns are cool and clean;
Curtained awhile from sound and sight
They take God's gracious gift of night.

The stars are watchful over them.

On Clifton as on Bethlehem
The angels, leaning down the sky,
Shed peace and gentle dreams.
And I --
I ride, I blasphemously ride
Through all the silent countryside.

The engine's shriek, the headlight's glare,
Pollute the still nocturnal air.

The cottages of Lake View sigh
And sleeping, frown as we pass by.

Why, even strident Paterson
Rests quietly as any nun.

Her foolish warring children keep
The grateful armistice of sleep.

For what tremendous errand's sake
Are we so blatantly awake?
What precious secret is our freight?
What king must be abroad so late?
Perhaps Death roams the hills to-night
And we rush forth to give him fight.

Or else, perhaps, we speed his way
To some remote unthinking prey.

Perhaps a woman writhes in pain
And listens -- listens for the train!
The train, that like an angel sings,
The train, with healing on its wings.

Now "Hawthorne!" the conductor cries.

My neighbor starts and rubs his eyes.

He hurries yawning through the car
And steps out where the houses are.

This is the reason of our quest!
Not wantonly we break the rest
Of town and village, nor do we
Lightly profane night's sanctity.

What Love commands the train fulfills,
And beautiful upon the hills
Are these our feet of burnished steel.

Subtly and certainly I feel
That Glen Rock welcomes us to her
And silent Ridgewood seems to stir
And smile, because she knows the train
Has brought her children back again.

We carry people home -- and so
God speeds us, wheresoe'er we go.

Hohokus, Waldwick, Allendale
Lift sleepy heads to give us hail.

In Ramsey, Mahwah, Suffern stand
Houses that wistfully demand
A father -- son -- some human thing
That this, the midnight train, may bring.

The trains that travel in the day
They hurry folks to work or play.

The midnight train is slow and old
But of it let this thing be told,
To its high honor be it said
It carries people home to bed.

My cottage lamp shines white and clear.

God bless the train that brought me here.


Joyce Kilmer

[minerman146]

Well it appears that the "High Brow" Poetry post killed the thread and the rest of the WIP too. I really thought the poem was completely germane... looks like a big fat no...

Listen up! We do history here on the Bergen and the big, fat ghost of the Erie Rail Road, haunts these digital rails. If I am not getting my Erie on, what's the point of building. And let me tell you, when I post ... its relevant. (Getting to the point takes me a while so patience boys ... patience)

So, I decided to take a break from the pastoral farm land of Orange County, New York and get back to Bergen County, New Jersey. This here route has a name for a reason! (to provide cover if I don't go 89 miles - that's another story). So, now I am down on the Carlton Hill Spur. This was supposed to secret 'hi' sign for all the closeted Erie fans out there ( all three of you) but I'm telling the rest of you kids, in case you think I am playing with the deck of 51, (bonus points for musical reference), so when you get the next update you know where to go.

CARLTON HILL - remember the name!

In my travels of elevation guesswork. I have to first research, measure, find pictures and videos and do all kinds of crazy stuff so I can lay some track on these near to dead lines. It is a pain, but I do it ... for the Erie. So I am hanging down in East Rutherford adoring all the olden glory and I gotta figure out elevation. I got it ! I had to cross the Passaic River and go to Passaic NJ to find a flat spot where the tracks when over so I could get a measure between Jackson Ave in E. Rutherford and I found it a Main and Lafayette in Passaic. Now I know that the rails on the Passaic River Bridge are 37 feet above sea - level! With this problem solved, I can rest assured that my elevation are very close. So, I got cracking on my Carlton Hill Spur. Let me tell you, this is gonna be a sweet spot for some consignee switching. It will be all 1970s down there. I can get away with this because the MNCRR and NJT boys never leave the main to go down sidings. So, you true believers out there get to immerse your self in the sweet golden sunshine of the past.

Now for the sad part of the story. Its tough for me to touch the past this way. I get a bit sentimental about what was and can be no longer. I started thinking about Passaic and the Erie Main running through that busy Jersey town prior to the merger and for a few years after that. The sad part is that they tore the whole thing up in 1963 and dismantled the bridge. And it breaks my heart that I cant build this thing for you guys, because running a two track mainline down the main thoroughfare of a substantial city is ... freaking cool! Am I right? And to boot, my grandmother used to take the train from Port Jervis to Passaic to go school clothes shopping for my dad and his sisters. By the by, she used her EMPLOYEE PASS for the ride! That's right I said it! I have Erie Street creds - uh, one generation removed, but that is not the point.

So what is the point?

To make up for my thread killing poetry by posting a image from the past ... of 1963 ... of part of the work train that helped to remove old Erie Main from downtown Passaic.

TrackRemoval3.jpg

Westbound_Main_1963.jpg

And when you ask "why Carlton Hill"?
History man ... it's history!

[NStrains]

Don't worry Minerman, the poem didn't kill the thread! I thought it was pretty interesting, which says a lot coming from someone who flunked English one year in high school because I hated reading/writing poems .

I've personally been trying to figure out where this branch line ran/will be running. I can see a nice line of trees where it would have left the main and heads towards the Passaic River.

Glad to hear you are taking a break from the rural landscape grind and getting back into some more super detailing and historical additions. Although I am happy to see the track work that has been done near Campbell Hall .

[minerman146]

NS, While it is a spur today, Carlton Hill was THE Erie Mainline prior to 1960.
What will be done with this 1.16 miles of track, I hope, will be worth the effort. I am compelled to insert the forgotten into this route at every opportunity. I promise, you will love switching cars here and I will enjoy each image you take of your trips!

[ErikGorbiHamilton]

Hey Miner, I was following the old mainline north to where it joins in to the current alignment in Passaic and I noticed this remnant:

Old Station.jpg

It appears to be a 3 (Maybe 4?) track stub station? What was this?




~Gorb

[minerman146]

Gorbi,

That is actually Patterson, NJ. And what your looking at are the elevated tracks at Patterson Station. 2 Miles West is Hawthorne where my work starts on the Bergen. If you head East about 6 miles is Passaic. Along the way you can see the old road bed, with some track and sidings, so you can trace the old Erie Main right to Carlton Hill

Looking at the scenery here, it reminds me why I took the easy way out and did the Bergen County Line!

[minerman146]

Gorbi and NS,

These images should give you an idea of the change that is in store for Carlton Hill. This shows it in operations. All images are raw, as I am still adjusting the structures and have removed the foliage to work.

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[minerman146]

Weekend Update Time:
It has been mighty quiet on the WIP page - Summer is upon us at last. Work on the Bergen has been ongoing each day, but with less hours. We are only getting about 2.5 hours of work in a day at this point. I pulled a 4 last night, but the days of 4 hour sessions during the week are likely over. Work is bleeding more and more into my free time and even interrupting after hours before midnight. I feel like I have been pushing my luck all this time to do my day job and build this here route. I am not stopping. Yet.

We passed up on this weeks release as we didn't have enough of either the Graham line done or of Carlton Hill to release. This weeks update will be late Thursday or early Friday morning. Then I loose production time on Friday, Saturday and most of Sunday. This means that any June 30th update will be pretty thin as well. I am so close. Close to Campbell Hall. Literally!

With my Weirs Chocolate Malted in hand, I travelled hither and yon through Washingtonville to get this this sacred spot!

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MP65.5 is at the East edge of the Platform.

In our next shot, here is a view of some glorious EL SD45s on approach to the signal before the overpass for the LNE (Almost 50 years earlier - )

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This is the extent of my scenery as of this afternoon. So many trees, so far, so wide - I am hating the trees, let me tell you! We have not been slacking, we do the trees!

Back to our field trip:

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So not only is Campbell Hall at stop on the MNCRR but this is the end of the line for Norfolk Southern freight service. The cool part is this is where NS interchanges with the M&NJ. The sad part is this place is a dump! (I'll get over it) But, its got all kinds of crap strewn all over the place (YOU, will love it!) But the most cool part is that in my world this WYE goes to the Pine Bush Branch AND Maybrook for the good old NYNH&H! And as mentioned previously, we got about 10 modern day consignees for your switching enjoyment. if you look in the distance, you can see the track rise and curve to the north towards Maybrook.

On to the next image - HISTORY!

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So, what we got in this picture is a lot of nothing if you don't know what you are looking at. Were facing West. On the left, we have a signal box and at this VERY point was where the branch line from Middletown NY crossed right over the Graham Line. Odds are this is where MQ was, a very nice little tower, similar to the one at Waldwick. You can see how the track ran and heads right towards Maybrook. VERY COOL. What I could do with this 50 years ago... sigh. Moving from left to right, now were in the center where the track heads out to infinity. If you blow the image up you see the outlines of an iron bridge. THIS bridge crosses over what was the main line for the NYO&W (the first class 1 RR to go bankrupt back in 1957). Last, and slightly to the right is the 4 track yard and the Western leg of the Campbell Hall wye. We will be doing the Wye and we will be going to Maybrook and Walden.

Here is the map so you can see where we are and how far to go.

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2.2 miles of scenery to get to Campbell Hall - that's it!

[NStrains]

It's getting so close!!!

[minerman146]

*ROUTE UPDATED*
The Minermen present:

Route Update Number 170
New York Division-Bergen Line 9.9.0.7: MQ

Additions: Begin re-work of the Carlton Hill Branch. Extend Scenery to MP63. Add Wye and Yard at Campbell Hall - "MQ"

Fixes: Rework US Ink in East Rutherford

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I am lucky I got anything done the past 2 weeks. For the curious there are 2 short freights to drive around at Carlton Hill and Campbell Hall. I used them to test the track. They have drivers so you can click on them and cruise around.

Have a great weekend - I am out of town for the next 3 days!

[minerman146]

*ROUTE UPDATED*
The Minermen present:

Route Update Number 170
New York Division-Bergen Line 9.9.0.7: MQ

Additions: Begin re-work of the Carlton Hill Branch. Extend Scenery to MP63. Add Wye and Yard at Campbell Hall - "MQ"

Fixes: Rework US Ink in East Rutherford


I am lucky I got anything done the past 2 weeks. For the curious there are 2 short freights to drive around at Carlton Hill and Campbell Hall. I used them to test the track. They have drivers so you can click on them and cruise around.

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Have a great weekend - I am out of town for the next 3 days!