User:Djflem/SIR/NJ

1970 MTA acquires SIRT Trackages right to SIRailway Corp/Delaware Osegto to carry 1986 ICC ruling no longer a "railroad", but a inteurban rail, not subject to RLA https://www.leagle.com/decision/19881855859f2d99611696

abondonment 1990 historical resources

Cranford Junction


Cranford Junction is a disused rail junction and no longer extant rail yard in Cranford, New Jersey, U.S. It is just north of Cranford, a New Jersey Tranist railroad station on the Raritan Valley Line. The junction originally connected the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) and the Staten Island Railway (SIR), a division of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O). It was originally constructed by the B&O's Baltimore & New York Railway from 1889-1890 with the intention of gaining access to the waterfront of Port of New York and New Jersey

From the junction the B&O line ran for approximately 6.5 mi through the Union County communities of Roselle Park and Linden, and Elizabeth. Just east of Cranford Junction is Staten Island Junction, a crossing and connection of the SIR and the Lehigh Valley Railroad, now the Conrail Lehigh Line. At Linden, another junction was built with the Pennsylvania Railroad main line, now the Northeast Corridor. The Linden Yard lies west of east of the junction. The line then crossed the northwestern corner of Standard Oil’s Linden Refinery (now ConocoPhillips' Linden Terminal/Bayway Refinery). At the Arthur Kill, the rail line crossed the New Jersey-New York state line on the Arthur Kill Bridge (predecessor of the 1959 Arthur Kill Bridge) to Staten Island, New York, where it continued as the SIR North Shore Branch and to Saint George Terminal.

On November 1, 1980, Chessie System merged with Seaboard Coast Line Industries to form CSX Corporation. However, the Chessie image continued to be applied to new and re-painted equipment until mid-1986, when CSX introduced its own paint scheme. The B&O and C&O were not legally merged out of existence until 1987, when the company's official successor, CSX Transportation was founded.

The last run on the 12.2 mi line from Cranford Junction to St. George was April 21, 1992, after which it was abandoned.

In 1994 the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) and New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDE) purchased the two sections of line in their respective states.

In 2001, NJDOT, in conjunction with Union County engaged the Morristown and Erie Railway (M&E) to repair the tracks and operate service along the former SIR line between Linden and Cranford. The first M&E train ran on on July 13, 2005.

The intention was that Union County would work to revive freight service on the former Rahway Valley Railroad route from Summit to a connection with the former Staten Island Railway and Conrail at Cranford, New Jersey. The M&E would be the operator of any reactivated Rahway Valley line service from Summit to Cranford. Operation of the Rahway Valley line from Summit to Cranford would allow the M&E to access their operations at the Bayway Refinery in Linden via a more direct connection using trackage rights over the Morris and Essex lines and would provide freight service to customers along the Rahway Valley, which was abandoned in 1992. It would also allow interchange with the recently reactivated Staten Island Railway freight connection to New Jersey.

Norfolk Southern Corporation (NS) and CSX Corporation (CSX) acquired Conrail on June 1, 1999, it became a switching and terminal railroad, for its joint owners, known as Conrail Shared Assets Operations (CRCX). In 2007, CRCX expanded its North Jersey Shared Assets Area operations to include Staten Island.

Reshaping Conrail in New Jersey http://www.conrail.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Upgrading-Conrail.pdf

Conrail Shared Assets Operations (CRCX) Staten Island Railway line (NOSL) operates at the eastern end of the line from to Staten Island over the Arthur Kill Bridge. The line is part of ExpressRail, which carries intermodal containers and other freight from Arlington Yard and the Howland Hook Marine Terminal. The line, in conjunction with the the Travis Branch, also carries containers from the Staten Island Transfer Station at the site of the former Fresh Kills Landfill.

The bridge was repaired. Conrail 2006

in 2007,https://www.nycedc.com/project/staten-island-railroad-reactivation

Conrail/Express Rail
Conrail Shared Assets Operations (CRCX) Staten Island Railroad line (NOSL) from to Staten Island over the Arthur Kill Bridge to Cranford runs for approximately 6.5 mi It was originally constructed by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad from 1889-1890. Soon after crossing the bridge it junction the Chemical Coast, aka Garden State Secondary. It ends at Cranford Junction, which junctions with the Conrail Lehigh Line, also used by the Raritan Valley Line.

Announced in 2004. Freight service on the western North Shore Railroad right-of-way (ROW) at Howland Hook was revived in 2005. For the first time in 16 years a train crossed the bridge on October 4, 2006, a single locomotive which would take on switching duties. Rail at the marine terminal was reactivated in 2007 with the completion of the single-track Chemical Coast connector.


 * http://www.conrail.com/history/ Brief History of Consolidated Rail Corporation
 * http://www.nytimes.com/1999/06/01/business/conrail-chugs-off-into-the-sunset-csx-and-norfolk-southern-take-over.html
 * http://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/11/nyregion/restoring-rails-staten-island-plans-for-economic-revival-stretch-along-15-miles.html
 * https://books.google.nl/books?id=eOSsCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA124&lpg=PA124&dq=Conrail+travis+branch&source=bl&ots=g38alQPsY1&sig=y0QaH4TjBJKU8gHKjtC3iiUCgaw&hl=nl&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjlxqrg2pjZAhVEDewKHQY0DYIQ6AEIXDAK#v=onepage&q=Conrail%20travis%20branch&f=false

40.65668°N, -74.29349°W