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[KevinKorell]

NEWARK, N.J. — In response to the money lost when more than 300 trains were damaged by flooding during Hurricane Sandy, New Jersey Transit officials want to purchase 25 acres of land in Middlesex County to create a dry place to park trains in the event of a weather emergency, NJ Advance Media reports.  

NJ Transit officials are scheduled to vote Thursday to negotiate purchasing land and tracks to provide a place on high ground to move trains to from flood prone areas. Locomotives and railcars stored in two separate rail yards were damaged by flood waters following Hurricane Sandy in October 2012. For the full story, click here.

Keywords

commuter rail   flooding   Hurricane Sandy   locomotives   New Jersey Transit   railcars   

 

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[KevinKorell]

I thought that this was already a done deal.  There had been a previous story not long after Sandy about an empty yard along the Northeast Corridor in Linden, NJ that was supposed to be their shelter point if equipment had to be stored during a large storm event.  The yard is hard to miss on the east side looking from any Amtrak or NJT Northeast Corridor or North Jersey Coast Line train.

[KevinKorell]

The question of where the safe yard issue stood was brought up during one of our recent Trains Chat sessions within the past few weeks.   According to this, nothing yet has been done.  From nj.com  4/12/22:

 

 

   Almost a decade after Sandy, NJ Transit begins building a dry place to park trains    

 

 

Almost 10 years after Superstorm Sandy rolled over the Garden State, and sent flood waters surging into NJ Transit’s Meadowlands Maintenance Complex, damaging 343 trains and causing $400 million in damage, construction is starting on a dry “safe haven” place to park its equipment.

 

Update

[CNJRoss]

NJT news release

 

NJ TRANSIT AWARDS FIRST CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT ON MAJOR RESILIENCY PROJECT

  Delco Lead Project Will Provide Safe Haven for Rail Cars During Extreme Weather Events and Allow For Rapid Return to Service

 

April 13, 2022

 

NEWARK, NJ — The NJ TRANSIT Board of Directors today approved the first construction contract for early action work on the Delco Lead Storage and Inspection Facility project in New Brunswick which will create a safe-haven for rail cars and locomotives in case of a severe weather event. Equipment stored in this location will be positioned out of flood prone areas and optimally situated for rapid return to service on the Northeast Corridor, Raritan Valley Line and North Jersey Coast Line following the weather event. 

 

“NJ TRANSIT is committed to delivering reliable service to the thousands of customers who depend on it,” said New Jersey Department of Transportation Commissioner and NJ TRANSIT Board Chair Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti. “This project offers the necessary resiliency to ensure that reliability.”

 

“As climate change has increased the frequency and intensity of weather events in our region, this project will mean better, more reliable and resilient service for our customers,” said NJ TRANSIT President & CEO Kevin S. Corbett. “The Delco Lead project will improve continuity of service by allowing us to quickly restore service even after the most severe weather-related impacts.”

 

The contract with Union Paving for $6,080,015 is for the first construction phase of the project which will include preparing the site for the subsequent construction phase for the service yard, Inspection Facility, Delco Lead, and remaining County Yard Improvement Project elements.

 

In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, the County Yard and associated four-mile-long Delco Lead were identified as safe-haven storage locations for rail cars and locomotives as the land and yard are above the flood plain with relatively no adjacent trees. Strategically located along the Northeast Corridor, the Delco Lead Project will provide resilient storage for NJ TRANSIT’s rail equipment in the event the Meadows Maintenance Complex in Kearny, NJ and Morrisville, PA yard are evacuated. The Service and Inspection Facility will allow for the rapid inspection of rail equipment and its return to revenue service rapidly and efficiently following severe weather.

 

The early action phase of the Delco Lead project is anticipated to be completed in late summer 2023.

 

 

[KevinKorell]

This is obviously a different location than the aforementioned site in Linden.     County Yard is located where the small branch off the mainline hosts the Jersey Avenue station.  But there are plans to relocate this station to a site about a mile south also in North Brunswick to a planned community site that already is boasting a nearby future station.  I am assuming that the storage area would be on the site of the old Jersey Avenue station once it closes.

 

Also tied into this was a flyover track that would allow trains to terminate, turn, and originate from this location quickly so that they would not foul the busy Amtrak mainline while switching tracks.  Obviously this would also bode well for a storm storage track if trains could utilize this flyover.

[CNJRoss]

Progressive Railroading, 9/19/24

 

NJ Transit OKs contract to build 'safe-haven' storage for rail cars, locomotives

 

Rendering shows the future 'safe-haven' facility for rail cars and locomotives to be stored during extreme weather events.

Photo – New Jersey Transit

 

New Jersey Transit's board yesterday approved a nearly $500 million contract to begin construction of the future Delco Lead Storage and Inspection Facility project in New Brunswick along the Northeast Corridor.

 

The project is designed to create a "safe-haven" facility for storing rail cars and locomotives during extreme weather events, agency officials said in a press release. The approved contract also includes funding for the construction of a new service and inspection facility on the adjacent grounds to quickly inspect and return the equipment to service once a weather event has passed.

 

The board entered into a contract with George Harms Construction Co. Inc., of Howell, New Jersey, in the amount of $497,977,585 plus 10% for contingencies, for the reconstruction of 4 miles of the existing Delco Lead track, and the construction of an adjacent track – approximately a mile long – from County Yard to North Brunswick.  . . .

 

Continue here. 

[CNJRoss]

NJT news release

 

NJ TRANSIT ADVANCES RAIL CAR “SAFE HAVEN” STORAGE AND INSPECTION FACILITY PROJECT TO SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCE RESILIENCY

 

Delco Lead Project Includes Five Miles of Electrified Track and New Service and Inspection Facility Along Northeast Corridor in New Brunswick to Provide Resilient Storage Location for Rail Cars

 

September 18, 2024

 

NEWARK, NJ – NJ TRANSIT continues to advance a resiliency project that will create a safe-haven for rail cars and locomotives during extreme weather events and allow the agency to more quickly resume service following a weather event. The NJ TRANSIT Board of Directors has approved a contract to initiate the construction phase of the Delco Lead Storage and Inspection Facility Project. The project is part of NJ TRANSIT’s Resilience Program and calls for the creation of an additional storage location for rail cars and locomotives that will provide greater protection against future flooding. The centrally located Delco Lead along the Northeast Corridor in New Brunswick will allow rail cars and locomotives to be safely stored and protected from flooding during extreme weather events. The approved contract also allocates funding for the construction of a new Service and Inspection facility on the adjacent grounds to quickly inspect and return the equipment to service once a weather event has passed.

 

“With the Delco Lead Storage and Inspection Facility Project, NJ TRANSIT is taking proactive steps to protect our rail assets from the growing threat of severe weather,” said NJ TRANSIT President & CEO Kevin S. Corbett. “This project will ensure that our rail equipment remains safe, while allowing us to more quickly resume critical rail service following an extreme weather event.”

 

With today’s action, the Board authorized NJ TRANSIT to enter into a contract with George Harms Construction Company, Inc., of Howell, New Jersey, in the amount of $497,977,585.35, plus 10 percent for contingencies, for the reconstruction of four miles of the existing Delco Lead track, and the construction of an adjacent track – approximately one mile long – from County Yard to North Brunswick. County Yard and Delco Lead, due to their location above the floodplain, provide an ideal storage location for rail cars during extreme weather events. 

 

Additionally, the contract includes the construction of a 1,250-foot-long Service and Inspection Facility. The new facility will be used for inspection and light maintenance of trains, spare parts storage, two 12-car inspection tracks, and five 12-car storage tracks. The new facility will allow for the rapid inspection of rail equipment and its timely return to revenue service following an extreme weather event. 

 

In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, the County Yard and associated four-mile-long Delco Lead were identified as safe-haven storage locations for rail cars and locomotives as the land and yard are above the flood plain with a minimal number of adjacent trees. Strategically located along the Northeast Corridor, the Delco Lead Project will provide resilient storage for NJ TRANSIT’s rail equipment in the event the Meadows Maintenance Complex in Kearny, NJ and Morrisville, PA yard are evacuated. 

 

A crew quarters and employee parking lot at County Yard will also be constructed as part of the project.

 

 

[KevinKorell]

Who would have thought that it would be almost 12 years since Sandy before we see such progress?   

 

And while it makes sense to have this facility along the busiest line, the NEC, it is less convenient for the other lines, particularly the Hoboken Division and Atlantic City.   I wonder if the Waterfront Connection is still navigable as a connection between the Hoboken Division / Meadowlands Maintenance Facility, and the Northeast Corridor -- since it seems to be no longer in use for revenue trains.