date, along with redecking a few small bridges, installation of new ties and upgrading crossing signals as well. Construction is expected to continue through 2017. On the Southern Division, The state of NJ announced sometime back, and was reported here previously, a grant for the NYS&W of $ 6.2 million for the rehabilitation and replacement of the drawbridge at the entrance to the Little Ferry terminal at MP 10.73, adjacent to the Bergen Turnpike crossing at Ridgefield Park, NJ. The bridge dates back over 100 years and has been in need of repair for some time. The grant was to come from the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund, a fund used normally for the maintenance of the state’s transportation infrastructure. However, like other projects slated for work under the TTF, they all came to a halt in June of 2016 when the fund ran out of money and the project was put on hold. This also affected another project related to the NYSW, an overpass in North Bergen NJ to eliminate the 69th street crossing over the NYSW and CSX tracks. FALL 2016 OK folks, after what seemed to be a somewhat lengthy absence, it’s time to get caught up on the activities of the railroad we all follow. There’s plenty of news this time, so settle back and take it all in……. OPERATIONS The railroad has been anything but quiet since this column appeared the last time. The Northern Division is seeing the Utica main being rehabilitated, there has been track work on the Southern Tier (CNYK) and Southern Division, and there’s been some traffic adjustments and fluctuations as a reflection of the overall economy. To start things off, the Utica Line has seen significant track work to repair the numerous washouts form the past several years. A multiyear effort to restore service along New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway's (NYSW) Utica main line will continue this year into 2017 starting with the removal of brush and other obstacles along 45.5 miles of right of way in Chenango County, N.Y. NYSW's Utica Main Line was taken out of service after flooding in 2006 ruined the track. In 2011, the CCIDA obtained $772,000 in funding from the New York State Department of Transportation toward the rail line's repairs. That funding leveraged an additional $4.7 million in federal funds. The NYSW, Chenango County, Development Chenango Corp. and CCIDA are providing a total of more than $400,000 to complete the nonfederal match. When completed, the project will allow restoration of NYSW service between Binghamton and Utica, and will provide freight customers with access to both the Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX lines. Frontier Railroad Services LLC of New Stanton, Pa., will begin the brush clearance which will allow access to damaged sections of track that are scheduled for repair during the 2016 construction season, said Chenango County Industrial Development Agency (CCIDA) officials in a press release. Starting in the Sherburne area, workers will fill washouts, resurface bridge decks, and make other repairs. The project's final phase will involve replacing several thousand crossties and reactivating crossing signals, agency officials said. Progress has been made in rehabbing several crossings to 13 After several months of legislative horse trading, a compromise for funding was reached between the Governor and the legislature. The compromise called for an increase of 23 cents/gallon to the state’s gasoline tax. This took effect in New Jersey effective November 1st, 2016. As part of the deal, a public question was placed on the ballots on Election Day which would in effect lock the revenues raised from the tax into the transportation trust fund ONLY, thus creating a dedicated fund that can’t be diverted to other alternate state spending. Now with the funding matter solved, it’s a matter of time before the drawbridge gets the work it needs. Work should start sometime in 2017. Stay tuned. As for the other operations and related news, the summer of 2016 saw significant tie replacement on the Southern Tier (“Central New York Railway” east of Binghamton), with several work trains operated and parking at Narrowsburg, MP 122, on several occasions. Signal work was also done, preparing for the eventual coming of Positive Train Control (PTC). This included the installation of new interlocking signals at CP SPARROW, just west of Port Jervis, among other locations. Elsewhere on the Southern Division, there was several grade crossings that received upgrading of pavement and signals, and sometime this spring, the railroad will have installed and placed online several new defect detectors. The new detectors, which will check for hotboxes and dragging equipment, were being installed along the Southern Division mainline at several locations in the fall of 2016. While not final, it’s believed the locations will be at Maywood, Campgaw, Smith Mills, Newfoundland, Sparta and Pelton Road, Warwick, where the railroad meets end to end with the M&NJ. Currently, there is just a high car detector at MP 11.1 in Ridgefield Park (normally not turned on), and at MP 63, Sparta, just past Sparta Jct under the Route 15 overpass. The next detector after that is on the Southern Tier at MP 71, about 17 miles east of port Jervis. As these will be radio alarm (“talking”) detectors, it should make it easier to actually follow one of the trains over the main. As for other areas of operations, The Sparta local, the SJ-1 was abolished earlier in the year but re-established in September. They still get their cars from the SU-100 and the outbound cars get picked up usually by the 100, taken to Little (Continued on page 14)
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