(erielack) 140-year-old Chester Branch gets $5M renovation

[Todd Hollritt <thollritt_@_yahoo.com>]

  A 140-year-old active freight line in Morris County is being rebuilt for the future. 

The Chester Branch railroad, a four-mile short line in Roxbury chartered in 1867, is undergoing a major overhaul believed to be its first total rehabilitation.
 
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   The $5 million project, funded with federal stimulus money, involves a complete removal of ancient rotted ties and obsolete tracks and installation of a stone ballast drainage bed and modern heavy-duty tracks and ties on the line owned by Morris County.
Constructed in the heyday of railroads to haul iron ore, the Chester Branch extended from Lake Junction near Wharton to Chester. It was one of various short lines of the former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western railroad, and later Conrail. In 1983, two local businesses that relied on the line acquired it from struggling Conrail to prevent the northern segment, from Wharton to Horseshoe Lake, from being dismantled.
One of those businesses, Holland Manufacturing, eventually became sole owner until donating the line last year to Morris County. The significance of the Chester Branch for Holland, which dates to 1958 and has 90 employees, cannot be overstated, said company owner Jack Holland. That’s because the firm receives via rail commodities, such as corn starch, that are used in adhesives in sealing tape and laminating paper. The ingredients arrive in 160,000-pound train cars from Indiana and Texas, and if the firm had to truck in such commodities, it would have been out of business years ago, Holland said.

"The importance of the rail is monumental," Holland said. "Freight from truck is cost-prohibitive. Without those commodities (via rail), we would basically be out of business. We would not be competitive if we did not have the rail line to bring in the commodities we use to make our products."
   The Chester Branch is the third short line owned by the county. In 1986, the county bought two former Conrail short lines, the High Bridge Branch and Dover & Rockaway Railroad. All three are operated by the Morristown & Erie Railway, based in Morristown, under management agreements with the county.
Maintaining existing industries, businesses and jobs - and hopefully attracting more - as well as reducing truck traffic on local roads and highways, have all been longstanding goals of county ownership of the shortlines.
"Since one rail car is approximately equivalent to four tractor trailers, the efficient use of this rail line also has the potential to reduce truck traffic along major roadways in the county," Freeholder Director Gene Feyl said of the Chester Branch.
Steve Friedland of M&E agreed, saying, "The impact on traffic, if the rail wasn’t there, would be absolutely noticeable."
Other local businesses along the Chester Branch also may link up. Kuiken Brothers Company, which recently bought the former Wickes Lumber yard off Route 10, is expected to use the Chester Branch, while County Concrete. also off Route 10, also would have access. Feyl also noted that an upgraded Chester Branch also would serve the former Westinghouse site, now called Beta Corporate Park, in nearby Randolph, and could help attract businesses there. Rebuilding the Chester Branch is … well, on track, and targeted for completion in November. With the pungent odor of creosote ties permeating the air, a large crane claw lifts several ties at once and places them on the stone bed. Workers then position the planks and tie plates to secure the rail. The crane lifts and places steel track rail segments that weigh 136 pounds per every 3 feet, as compared to the thinner former rail track weighing 80 pounds per 3 feet, and the new sections are bolted together with
 splice joints.
   Because the line is still active, workers must periodically install a transition piece to join the new higher section with old low section, to allow Holland to receive shipments. Train drivers marvel at the difference of riding atop the new rails.
"It’s built to last," said Joe Caparso of Clifton, the job foreman with contractor Railroad Construction Co. of Paterson. "This line will stay in good shape for years to come."
 
Todd ~




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