Eastern Railroad Discussion > CSX River line capacity improvements

CSX announced today 18 miles of additional track will be added over the next three years. Projected growth in crude oil intermodel and ethanol have brought this on.

Could you please define "River Line" for me?

Carl Shaver
Lombard, IL

The one and only river line in NY

The ex-New York Central "West Shore" along the Hudson is CSX's River Line. I presume this additional track will be in the form of lengthened or added sidings.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/13 17:18 by toledopatch.

Here is a link to the CSX announcement:

http://www.csx.com/index.cfm/media/press-releases/capacity-project-announced-on-premier-river-line/

In the case of Haverstraw, I believe that CSX plans to extend the siding North from CP35 at Haverstraw on up to Fort Montgomery so that it would be doubletrack from CP33 at Haverstraw North to CP45 at the North end of the current Fort Montgomery siding.....I don't know how they will address clearance issues in the Fort Montgomery Tunnel though.....Dave Williams



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/13 17:54 by dwi189.

CSX has been doing a lot of work expanding sidings, fleeting trains, etc on the River Line. I don't know exactly how many more trains, but it seems the weekly count is at least 50% higher than it was in late Conrail days. Even without the coal trains.

NWRailfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The one and only river line in NY

this response is from someone who enjoys mapping and locations who scratches his head at some threads that have photos with little or no location detail ... some people don't realize when they're posting maybe because of haste or for whatever reason that everyone on here doesn't have the mindset of knowing every railroad track map or track history ... if a location is not specifically referenced in a posted thread sometimes there are many other segments with the same name like several track segments that are named River Line throughout the US and since there are people who aren't familiar with every piece of railroad laid it's always a good idea when posting a thread to give specific details in reference to location like city/town and/or state so interested uninformed people don't have to ask ... just sayin ...

Original New York Central River Division ran from National Jct. near Hoboken, NJ, to Kenwood Jct., just south of Albany, NY. Most of line south of Selkirk, NY, was double track, with a four-track section between Dumont, NJ, and North Bergen, NJ (except for two tracks at the Little Ferry drawbridge). Line was single-tracked after passenger service ended 12/59.

John

Maybe a little OT but in the referenced CSX press release is this paragraph:

"...In addition, CSX continues to invest in terminals, clearance projects and other initiatives to prepare for near- and long-term growth in the Northeast Region, including Philadelphia’s Trenton Line where clearance projects are under way. These projects complement other network capacity improvements including ongoing construction of the National Gateway to clear a route from Mid-Atlantic ports to the Midwest for double-stacked containers...."

Isn't the Trenton Line already cleared for domestic double stacks as of a few years back?

The Trenton Line was only cleared from New York/ New Jersey to the Woodbourne Connecting track onto what is now the NS Morrisville Line. South of Woodbourne to Philadelphia is where the clearance projects are taking place on the Trenton Line.
For what it is worth The RiverLine is a NJT lite rail line from Camden to Trenton, NJ
Gonut

Gonut1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> For what it is worth The RiverLine is a NJT lite
> rail line from Camden to Trenton, NJ

Noted, although in this case the OP prefaced the term with "CSX", so that should avert any confusion with that NJT property.

What's the deal with that often being written as River LINE, anyway. Is LINE an acronym for something on NJT?

Gonut1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Trenton Line was only cleared from New York/
> New Jersey to the Woodbourne Connecting track onto
> what is now the NS Morrisville Line. South of
> Woodbourne to Philadelphia is where the clearance
> projects are taking place on the Trenton Line.
> (snip)

Yes.

Several of the old highway bridges over the CSX (former Reading Company) line in NJ have been rebuilt with higher clearances. I believe the Hillsborough Road bridge might be the last of the current series. Several of the older grade crossings have been retained, and I've heard they will be improved but I don't know if this means four way gates, better and flatter approaches, or what.

Thank you..."West Shore" told me all I needed to know.

Carl Shaver
Lombard, IL

Adding 18 miles of second track in these three locations will go a long way toward making a mostly double track railroad along the former West Shore.

At Ravena, the siding south from 132 currently ends by the town pool, but the alignment is in place for another seven miles of track, which would connect with the current three mile siding which starts at CP 121 and heads south through Coxsackie to CP 118. That's about 14 miles of continuous double track, with just one expanded public crossing.

There's a gap down from 118 to 106 on the south side of Catskill NY (Catskill is the location of the high trestle and a one time short line connection) where a long siding provides access to cement plants at Alsen. There's room to bring the Alsen siding north toward Catskill, eating up some of the 12 miles. There's also room to bring the south end of the siding farther south, toward Saugerties, consuming some of the current 10 mile gap there.

I may have an opportunity later this week to swing by Haverstraw and see what prep work has been done.

It's pretty amazing to see how a single track line with passing sidings has gradually become a mostly two track line with occasional five and ten mile gaps.

Have they done anything to fill the big gap between New Bridge Road (CP 10) and West Nyack?

John

DocJohn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Have they done anything to fill the big gap
> between New Bridge Road (CP 10) and West Nyack?
>
> John

I took a ride up that way to see what's going on along the rails.

No change south of CP22, although it looks like the Orangeburg siding could be updated and restored to use without a lot of effort. That would add about two miles of double track, allowing for some new rail between 22 and 21 or thereabouts. Not a big improvement, but something additional.

Although CSX maintains vigilance against trespassers, ATV drivers, etc on its well groomed service roads south of Orangeburg, I'd suspect that re-installing a second main track could be a very contentious project in these affluent neighborhoods and protected watershed properties. South of the watershed, it could be a little easier, as the right of way is mostly protected and clear down to 10.