CSAO Southern Secondary Archives

Black Friday Interruptus

Conrail

Oh, no, not today, I don’t have time for this. This is Black Friday after all and I just want to get home after a day of shopping and eating and drinking and shopping. Well, Conrail Shared Assets crew SA-31 has other plans this afternoon. Due to the Thanksgiving holiday yesterday, their normal Thursday afternoon run has shifted to Friday today, inconveniencing dozens and dozens of people just before sunset. People shouldn’t be surprised by a train in this area, the Raritan & Delaware Bay Railroad first laid rails through here in 1858. Of course, those were simpler times and people moved a bit slower, as did the horse & buggy upon which they travelled across town. In the year 2021, the train is just a nuisance as people dart to and fro in their modern day personal chariots, trying to stuff 25 hours of existence into 24 hours of any given day. Please, slow down and rest for 5 minutes as the train passes before you; give thanks for what you have and give thanks to the railroad for the transportation afforded, and enjoyed by, your ancestors long before the automobile was even invented.

Image recorded November 26, 2021

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Streets On Fire

Conrail

The freeze and thaw routine of winter weather can cause numerous issues on a railroad. Frequently, electrical continuity is not possible due to oxidation of the steel rails leading to a condition referred to as ‘rusty rails’ (a common railroad term). On this lightly-used line the train can not complete the electrical circuit and the gates & flashers will not activate properly. When this occurs, the conductor must protect the grade crossing with short burning (usually 5 minute) flares, or ‘fusees’ as they are known on the railroad. On this cold and snowy February day in Shrewsbury, NJ, the conductor has performed his duties according to rule 138c in the rulebook (Malfunction of Automatic Highway Crossing Warning Devices) and has thrown several fusees to warn oncoming vehicular traffic, giving the illusion of the streets being on fire in this scene about an hour after sunset. This Conrail Shared Assets train is on it’s regular Thursday afternoon run, but without it’s regular Browns Yard crew (SA-31). A shortage of crews based in Sayreville, NJ, has necessitated borrowing a crew from Metuchen Yard in Metuchen, NJ so this movement carries the symbol of ME-2 as it makes it way southbound on the Conrail Southern Secondary with additional lumber for Lakewood, NJ, some 20 miles away.

Image recorded February 11, 2021.

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A stroll through Red Bank

Conrail

Red Bank, NJ, is a cool little town, and has had rail service since 1855 or so, when the Raritan & Delaware Bay (the second railroad in the state, after the Camden & Amboy) began surveying here. The Central Railroad of New Jersey eventually assumed control of the line, and Red Bank would become the northern point on the CNJ Southern Division mainline, which extended to the Bridgton area in extreme southern NJ. After Conrail reorganized the railroads of the northeast in 1976, this route was cut in half, with the northern portion running from Red Bank to Lakehurst, and the railroad abandoned from Lakehurst to Winslow Junction (except for a 13 mile stretch under private ownership from Lakehurst to Woodmansie). The northern portion of line is still active today as the Conrail Southern Secondary, although trains presently only go as far as South Lakewood, served by the once-weekly Conrail Shared Assets Operations local SA-31. The crew is seen here strolling through the south end of Red Bank, crossing Newman Springs Road & approaching MP 39; business has been good lately, with trains of 10-15 cars on many trips, but the train today consists of only 3 cars for two customers on the line. Hopefully this is just a brief winter slowdown, and traffic levels will return to normal soon.

Image recorded January 22, 2015.

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Once dormant, now active again

Conrail

On the now 150 year old ex-CNJ Southern Division mainline, business had dwindled to a customer or two in the late 20th century. Things did not look good for this once proud high iron to southern New Jersey as recently as 2009, but, as everyone knows, there is nothing constant but change. Conrail Shared Assets Operations local SA-31 has operated on this line since Conrail proper assumed rights from the CNJ in 1976, and the line has seen hard times in the last decade & a half. With change rearing its ‘positive’ head, for a change, the current Southern Secondary has seen a significant increase in traffic in 2014, much to the delight of the local economy, and to local railfans as well.

The weekly Thursday afternoon runs have seen trains of 12+ cars for the past year, compared to runs of 1 to 5 or 6 cars previously. This days consist had 17 cars, with 14 lumber loads destined for the lines largest customer, Woodhaven Lumber in Lakewood, as well as 2 empty gondolas for loading at Brick Recycling, another ‘once dormant, now active again’ business in Howell, NJ, and one boxcar full of brick products for Extech Building Materials. The Extech (formerly Atlantic Building Supply) siding, pictured here, had lain dormant for several years, but started receiving inbound loads again back in 2011, and has been a regular drill since then. Conrail Shared Assets crew SA-31 is seen here spotting the loaded car on the Extech siding, after having pulled the empty boxcar just moments ago. With the continued business from Extech, and the new business from Brick Recycling, just a half-mile north of here, the future looks bright for the Southern Secondary, almost forgotten about just a few years ago.

Image recorded October 30, 2014.

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The usual Thursday stroll

Conrail

On a surprisingly sunny Thursday afternoon (most Thursdays in NJ are cloudy), Conrail Shared Assets local train SA-31 heads down the CR Southern Secondary (the old CNJ Southern Division) in Eatontown with a short consist for Lakewood, NJ. This was a main freight route for the Central RR of NJ, running from Jersey City to extreme southern NJ, from the late 19th to mid 20th century, hosting at least two trains a day. Many years ago, there was a passing siding at this point on the line, with the north switch located just about where NS 5283 (GP38-2, ex-CR 8081, nee-PC 8081, blt 2/73) is positioned in this photo. In November of 1953, CNJ train SJ-2 derailed 21 cars at this spot, with a few even climbing the embankment to the left, and it is thought that the switch contributed to the accident.

There will be no problems for the crew today, as they take their very regular Thursday stroll down the Southern; in fact, if you wake up & don’t remember what day it is in this area, you will know it’s Thursday if you see the local going by. The train is never big, and never fast (10 mph restriction on this line), but there is much rr history in this area dating back to the 1850s, and it’s good to see the line still in operation into the 21st century.

Image recorded on August 15, 2013

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