I'm sure it was easier to go across during heavy afternoon rush hour when NB is bumper to bumper.. the other side not so much

Yes through 2008 the last customer on the branch still had rail service. I believe it got down to a once a week basis when operations across Route 17 were discontinued

Wow thank you! I used to work at Hackensack in 1999, but I don't remember seeing one. I left that area soon after, so I had no idea there was service into 2008!@@northjerseyaerialrail9597

@@jackwilliams5474it’s a state highway, you’re taking your life in your hands

@@Cape-Dweller Dude, I'm not sure why you're replying to me. I was asking a question about trains not taking my life in my hands or whatever LOL!

Lived 40 years down there and never saw one cross. You're fortunate.

What kind of train was it?

What kind of train was it?

Did you really? I didn't see one in 2000's

At 2:25 that would have been just across the street and heading east (left) from there. Also long gone

Changing times unfortunately for the railroad

Ugly is right. The circus hasn't come through since it was the continental airlines arena and I'm sure it was years earlier that the circus train stopped coming to town

I lived by the Lodi DMV then. They parked the trains back there

Must have been a bitch to flag those crossings !😡

Unfortunately so

Would have been very interesting to see today!

Thank you!!

Would really like to see a train here!

Thank you!!

Thank you, certainly will be a lost part of history there

They're gone.

Which is why railroad ROWs should be nationalized. It's a selfish mindset of "Well, we don't want it or refuse to invest on repairs. But NO ONE ELSE CAN HAVE IT EITHER!!" Norfolk Southern (NS) rented the Newark Branch & Boonton line within Newark city limits to a trucking firm. They literally buried the tracks under 2 feet of gravel & paved over it in spots. Especially after Westrock cardboard went to all trucks & SETON's closure years earlier. NS RR refused to serve the Riverside industrial park & asphalt plant along rt 21. Leasing the ROW to truck storage. Well, guess what? A two massive distribution warehouses are now being built alongside the buried ROW. The same with SRR lodi br. As soon as the tracks are pulled, watch some massive industrial complex come up.

@@larroyo1973 exactly. Then the rr will cry well we don’t have any money for new tracks etc, we need grants or tax payer money. Honestly it’s all a scam. Rails to trails - the rr sales to the city, city pays the rr with tax money, city uses free grant money to make a dirt trail while hiring their buddies. Sad.

@@mortrob8371 they ripped up ALL THE TRACK?!?!

Several fires/hazmat incidents over the years had the borough chomping at the bit to shut down rail traffic one by one customer at a time

Thank you for the information! I had no idea about the spam across the Saddle River to the paper plant. Any further details on that end?

I grew up two blocks from where the Lodi Branch in Lodi, crossed Main St. and entered Washine Chemical. Me and my friends would ride the train out to Modells on ESsex St. Then in the late 80's I got hired while trespassing at the Roundhouse in LF and made dozens of trips down the Lodi Branch.

Came full circle from those childhood rides! Very funny!

Right! All the way down to where Shop Rite is today across Main St

Any evidence of anything like that there?

Gone along with the rails now. All crossing equipment was removed a week or so after I recorded this unfortunately. Thank you though!

@@northjerseyaerialrail9597 well at least you tried…

Thank you!

Thank you, appreciate it! The borough of Lodi there also tightened restrictions on industrial businesses after a fire a chemical fire a few decades ago. They were pleased to see industry leave

@@northjerseyaerialrail9597 about 6 months ago lost a large malt plant in West Milwaukee that was good for 40 cars a day. It sounds so screwy that today the biggest industries using rail in Milwaukee is a cement transload facility and a scrap yard and 2 GP9s on CP now cover all yard assignments plus the local to Sturtevant at nite. Even in the early 1970s it was still 38 assignments weekdays

@@paulbergen9114 wild.. Different time, more common sense in moving America and more emphasis on American industry

I’m going to see if I can a crossing part when they take them down

Thank you!

Great information and thank you for the corrections. I figured that the tracks definitely never crossed the Saddle River

Actually,where the trucks used to cross Main St.,into the Malinrokt Chemical Factory,they went straight back to the Saddle River,then turned South along the Saddle River,crossing Arnot St.,into United Peace Dye Works, what is now the rear parking lot of The Lodi Police Department.My father,Mike The Russian,was working for The Lodi Water Works, and,was a former builder of The New York World's Fair Complex, and a fearless Iron Walker, somehow got permission to rip up and scrap those Railroad Tracks, and,The Boro of Lodi even lent him their trucks,backhoe,etc! He was in with former Mayors Bombace and Paci.I do remember that he got hurt doing this job,as well.

Those rails then went though the entire 11+ acres, and ended at Kruger Brothers Paper Company.

We used to hop the train at main street by Lodi Lumber, many times, the caboose, and ride out to Modells over Rt17 to play pinball, then walk the tracks back home.

From my understanding, the frequency was down to some type of "as needed" status with the remaining customer or two

Thank you! I'm actually not quite sure who owns the property of the old railroad right of way at the moment. My assumption would be the state, but as of the end of 2021 the abandonment of the line was complete therefore the railroad no longer has any work or equipment on the land there whatsoever. My only guess if there's heavy machinery there now, would rails being removed by the state but I haven't been by in a long time. Also highly unlikely that the state would sorting into action and spend the money to rip up the rails when they could just be left there

U never Know.

Thanks George. The branch splits and ends just prior to Garibaldi Ave. There is an industrial spur across the tracks opposite the inspection station that's still there if that's what you're referring to?

@@northjerseyaerialrail9597 yes that’s it. Thanks

The tracks were cut recently and the rails crossing Rt 46 were removed. Trackage is in place prior to that for car storage purposes yes

Already halfway done. Stay tuned in a month or so 🤙🏼

@@northjerseyaerialrail9597Alr bet 👍

That was a signal control box for the route 17 crossing heading north on the branch line towards the highway

Last year of use as far as I can find was 2009 including then infrequent moves across Route 17 into Lodi

@@northjerseyaerialrail9597 ok, thanks

@@northjerseyaerialrail9597 Around 2007 I probably last saw it. I have been in the area my whole life and only twice saw it cross 17. It was a pretty cool sight to see when it did cross. It was a strange timing too b/c it was in the mid afternoon.

@@northjerseyaerialrail9597 On Marsellus Pl in Garfield (close to River Rd.) there was a line that went across the street. They ripped up the rail but the path it took still exists (somewhat). The strange thing about this is I remember part of that rail going through the parking lot of a Jews for Jesus church (this is now part of the parking for the new Walmart they opened - the church was torn down I believe). The rail that went thru the lot was definitely abandoned but I the line that crossed the road was active. Do you know anything about this line?

@@sugarphantom7837 I believe that would have just been an industry lead or short spur off of the Bergen County Main Line to a long gone business or facility located near where Walmart is today. I'm guessing that the tracks ran east on the south side of the dog park before crossing the road?

It was officially abandoned in 2021, though a train has not gone down the branch in years

Nope as of today it’s getting ripped up

Like he said before me, no chance at all in the foreseeable future