Saturday, October 31, 2009

Brushcutting at Lakehurst - follow-up

Last Tuesday, Oct. 27, we posted a question about the brushcutting along railroad tracks near Lakehurst, NJ. We now have an answer via another posting on CRRNJ in Yahoogroups.

This item was in a recent Trains magazine newsletter:

New Jersey branch gets new life

Published: Thursday, October 22, 2009

HAMMONTON, N.J. - A new affiliate of Cape May Seashore Lines has begun working to reopen an ex-Central Railroad of New Jersey branch to Woodmansie, N.J., New Jersey Business has reported. The New Jersey Seashore Lines will operate the line, which hasn't seen a train for more than 20 years.

Anthony Macrie, the railroad's president, said his company has begun work on removing trees from the right-of-way, which is owned by Clayton Cos., operator of a quarry near Woodmansie. The 13-mile route, once part of CNJ's Long Branch to Bay Side, N.J., line, will connect to the Conrail Shared Assets Area at Lakehurst, N.J. Macrie said the quarry will be a major customer.

Clayton bought the line in 1985, after Conrail abandoned it. Short line Ashland Railway operated the line for a time in the late 1980s.

Cape May Seasore Lines currently operates a rail line on New Jersey's southern tip between Cape May and Tuckahoe.