New York Division-Bergen Line - Part Deux!

[PennCentral670]

This autumn, Amtrak has run its annual Autumn Express this weekend. It was a wonderful experience for me and many train buffs in the area. The 2017 Edition made a loop around the Hudson River so I was able to catch it. But the question right now is, what will next year's 2018 Autumn Express be? Will it be on the Bergen & Graham Lines? Who knows? I bet it will get many people here especially you Minerman excited since you might ride it and maybe me as well if it happens.

[minerman146]

This autumn, Amtrak has run its annual Autumn Express this weekend. It was a wonderful experience for me and many train buffs in the area. The 2017 Edition made a loop around the Hudson River so I was able to catch it. But the question right now is, what will next year's 2018 Autumn Express be? Will it be on the Bergen & Graham Lines? Who knows? I bet it will get many people here especially you Minerman excited since you might ride it and maybe me as well if it happens.

That sounds like an awesome trip on Amtrack - Its been awhile since C&O 614 was on the Graham line. But I'll take a train just about anywhere.
I bet that was on fantastic trip on the Hudson!

[imphantum]

Minerman, I have a question that you might know the answer to.

Back when NYSW tan stack trains on the tier, I know these went to little ferry and not croxton, but how far did they run on the southern teir south (east) of Campbell Hall, and were they ever routed on the section you’ve modeled ie- from Campbell hall to croxton-little ferry? Also where did they branch off to their own route? Thanks

[minerman146]

Minerman, I have a question that you might know the answer to.

Back when NYSW tan stack trains on the tier, I know these went to little ferry and not croxton, but how far did they run on the southern teir south of Port Jervice, and were they ever routed on the section you’ve modeled ie- from Campbell hall to croxton-little ferry? Also where did they branch off to their own route? Thanks

imphantum,

From my research:

NYSW trains in the 1980s went through Port Jervis on the main line and then onto the Graham Line just West of Middletown New York. That would put them on our route as far South as Ridgewood Junction. I don't know if they ran to Croton on the Main or the Bergen County Line. Or if they went to Croxton at all. ( I have seen YouTube videos of a diverted NYSW train on the BCL that got off at Passaic Junction) So, we have all the track to do that run.

Also in the late 1980's Conrail didn't want NYSW on the Erie Main past Campbell Hall. What Conrail did was have the Susquehanna train go to the Maybrook Yard, move the engines to the back of the train and proceed South towards Warwick NY, on the old Lehigh and New England Tracks. (this is why I marked the bridge as "LNE" on the route and part of this track is installed).

Then in the late 90's early 00's, a switch was installed at "CP Hudson" so the NYSW could avoid the run around move at Maybrook. ( THIS track is also installed)

Love this question - I was thinking about this when I laid the track at CP Hudson AND when I built Passaic Junction.

*In case I didn't mention it before - I have track laid to Maybrook yard at its mid point as of last night.

[imphantum]

Thanks for the info, I think the old LNE tracks weren't rehabilited for the stack trains until late 1986, and Susie Q started running them in 1985. That gives a year or so that the NYSW might've ran on the Graham Line passed Campbell Hall, used it all the way to passiac junction which leads straight to Little Ferry. That would be the most logical thing for them to do, unless Conrail and NJDOT decided otherwise.

Also, the reroute you talked about, the NYSW train ran all the way down from Jervice to Passiac? I wonder if NYSW reroutes over the bergen are the norm if there's trouble on the old LNE. Nice find on the info

[minerman146]

Thanks for the info, I think the old LNE tracks weren't rehabilited for the stack trains until late 1986, and Susie Q started running them in 1985. That gives a year or so that the NYSW might've ran on the Graham Line passed Campbell Hall, used it all the way to passiac junction which leads straight to Little Ferry. That would be the most logical thing for them to do, unless Conrail and NJDOT decided otherwise.

Also, the reroute you talked about, the NYSW train ran all the way down from Jervice to Passiac? I wonder if NYSW reroutes over the bergen are the norm if there's trouble on the old LNE. Nice find on the info

Really, thank you for the question. To me, there is much more to the route than meets the eye and I am very sorry I cant built it all. I try to allow for possibilities in the future.
If you look at our route - you will see the track just talked about, Passaic Junction and also North Bergen Yard. The Susquehanna is really the last modern day link to the Erie that I have, and it has a nice old fashioned name and paint job too. A friend of the Bergen made some NYSW repaints of the Dash8 - I liked em so much .. I made a movie and set it to music! https://youtu.be/z9tURxLhLjE

And the video of Passaic Junction: NYS&W train 258 on Erie Main line at PC https://youtu.be/Oc3KQf6_KBE

The location should be familiar!

[imphantum]

And the video of Passaic Junction: NYS&W train 258 on Erie Main line at PC https://youtu.be/Oc3KQf6_KBE

The location should be familiar!

Well that solves the question right there! Haha. There’s more than enough modelled to get lost for hours on end.

[minerman146]

*Route Update* Its Thursday and time for this week's progress report. Last week we were discussing horse farms and I was trying to finish the West end of the route. As promised, I stopped in the Town of Wallkill. This week, I finished up by installing Interstate Route 84, adding a missing horse farm ( now called the "Pet Camp" a canine boarding facility with a half mile track) and touched up the terrain. Then, I laid down some big build sessions. The first corrected the 'forest of evil' in the NE quadrant of Campbell Hall which was noted in the post on Monday. The second session got track all the way through Maybrook Yard. For the work week, I have been planting houses along Neeleytown Road that runs North from Campbell Hall.

Again - this whole area is steeped in Railroad History and its amazing that this line, actually part of it, has been in service since 1866. You can read about it here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallkill_Valley_Railroad and view a route appropriate image (which we modeled of course).

And again - another moment of good fortune enabled me to have field trip (yesterday October 18th) to a location that is currently in production on the route. My interest is keen on the roadbed and how it transitions to the woods and foliage.

20171018_NeelytownRoad.jpg

This photo looks to the South. For the curious, the garbage can is currently modeled on the route. I have more pictures which I am withholding until I reproduce the scenes and then we can have some fun and compare. It should be apparent we research the heck out this line for your railroading enjoyment. I must add this - these two spurs are bit more busy than I was aware of. This is my second visit and I saw active trains on both. And we get another interchange route to add to our list: The Middletown and New Jersey RR. (owned by the East Penn Railroad) I look forward to the work of our resident re-painters here to make the dream a reality. Also this is legitimate Conrail Territory.

But wait - that's not all. We got track laid all the way to Maybrook, which happens to be Erie and Erie Lackawanna track which interchanged with the NYNH&H later PC, until the latter burned the bridge that went over the Hudson River in Poughkeepsie to destroy every other railroad in the North East. Actually they were after the Erie, but PC management had to wait until they could hide as "management" under the government controlled cloak of Conrail to finish the job they started. The more I work around Maybrook the more the memories come back from final years of the EL. But Maybrook isn't Erie', its New Haven, and it was one very impressive Western terminus.

Lets read what Wikipedia has to say: For much of its existence six class I railroads interchanged traffic at the yard with the New Haven Railroad. In 1956 the yard saw 19 arrivals and 18 departures of which 14 were operated by the New Haven, eight by the Lehigh and Hudson River Railway, seven by the Erie Railroad, four by the New York, Ontario and Western Railway, two by the Lehigh and New England Railroad and two by the New York Central Railroad. Why are we NOT doing the 1950's?

As a true friend of the Erie - The New Haven - has my unwavering admiration and appreciation.


Route update tomorrow - Carry On!

[NStrains]

I can only imagine how this area probably looked from a bird's eye view back then! I'm really starting to get the picture of just how many different lines cut across this region.

[minerman146]

*Route Updated*

Route Update Number 182
New York Division-Bergen Line 9.9.1.7: Neelytown Road

Additions: Complete Scenery Extensions West of Wallkill River to Route 211, add Neelytown Road, and Quary Road. Add super-elevated track to Maybrook, New York

Fixes: Correct Forest in NE quadrant of Campbell Hall

*This is a minor release that does not complete a new section/scene area

[minerman146]

Making Progress-game not exploding...

20171024000236_1.jpg

[minerman146]

Ok how about this one?
From the porch of a house on Neelytown Road, looking across the track of the Montgomery Branch onto Erie Street.

20171024235058_1.jpg

When we get to Montgomery and Walden - the houses are this close to the track.

[minerman146]

A new consignee was just built in Maybrook, NY and will be included on the New York Division Bergen Lines "Maybrook" Branch for the M&NJ.
I just KNEW building this branch was going to be a good idea! September 6, 2017 (From the Times Herald Record)

TOWN OF MONTGOMERY – Fuel transporter and processor Crestwood Services celebrated Wednesday in Montgomery as the company officially opened a mammoth new rail-to-truck propane terminal to serve a 75-mile radius that includes New York City.

With 330,000 gallons of propane storage, the roughly $10 million terminal off Henry Henning Drive is the second largest in Houston-based Crestwood’s 10-site coast-to-coast network, and it’s the company’s biggest propane-specific terminal.

“It was all about location, location, location,” said Andy Ronald, Crestwood’s vice president of business development. “The site is perfect. There are no neighbors, other than Eastern Alloys, and it’s isolated but it’s not because of its proximity to I-84 and I-87.”

General contractor Superior Energy Systems, of Cleveland, broke ground on the project in November 2016, and more than 100 workers built what the firm called one of the biggest terminals in America. The 20-acre site has been open since July, with more than a dozen employees staffing it Monday through Friday.

On a typical winter day, the propane wholesaler expects to offload up to 48 rail cars daily to ship between 600,000 and 800,000 gallons of the fuel. Each 9,500-gallon tanker truck will enter and exit in just 25 minutes.

Middletown and New Jersey Railroad is currently shipping the propane. The fuel’s journey begins after it’s mined from shale deposits in Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and Canada, and it ends by heating homes and food.

Crestwood.JPG

*Wow this is super-exciting - I need M&NJ/ESPN repaints STAT!
One more thing .. now when the Bergen Crashes after an update - it will now explode in a fiery, orange ball too!

[ex-railwayman]

Without squashing your enthusiasm Adam, this is an ultra modern facility, isn't it? Subsequently, we couldn't run any EL locos, or, Conrail, up there, authentically.

However, for modernistas, it's a lovely facility and another consist to run on the Bergen, what we would need are some freeware LPG tank cars, I wonder if someone could reskin the default Kuju tankcar accordingly, that would be just the job.

Cheerz. Steve.

[NStrains]

It's so new that it doesn't even appear on Google Earth yet! Should add quite a bit of traffic to the branch.