Great episode! I feel a NJT commuter route might be a good option for bringing service back up to Nyack, along with a separate branch for the somewhat congested Pascack Valley Branch.
You're right, but from what I've read from local North Jersey news sources there was a LOT of opposition from towns along the old Northern Branch, starting with Tenafly and moving north, to revitalized commuter operations. Why I'm not 100% sure but I believe traffic congestion on local roads leading to the stations was a concern and parking at those stations as well. Hence as planned now the commuter service won't go north of Englewood assuming it gets started at all. The 99th Environmental Impact Study isn't done yet. (That's a rueful observation, it seems as far as that project's concerned there's ALWAYS another EIS involved.) The opposition's a bit ironic since all those towns along the Northern Branch were literally children of the railroad to begin with.
There is an NJT proposal to extend the HBLR north to Englewood, towns north of that have expressed loud opposition to having it go any further. I guess they like traffic congestion. Not sure I'll ever happen because NJT really doesn't have the Billon dollars for it and the Feds keep asking for new a new EIS. What type of rolling stock to use has also been an issue. If they use DMUs like the River Line it'll require a transfer. To electrify will cost much more. It's a shame they can't seem to get this going.
@@ELAlcoRS3 I'll tell you something, as harsh as it sounds. In my humble opinion the process of obtaining environmental impact studies before any construction can begin has turned from a sincere effort to protect the environment into a flat-out scam run only for the benefit of the "environmental scientists" and the lawyers. I mean for crying out loud there's been a rail line there since 1859! And todays rail equipment's not going to belch smoke and sparks like the 1859 models! From wherever he is now Al Capone's looking at EIS's and thinking "Why didn't I think of a racket like that?"
@@ELAlcoRS3 True, there was very strong opposition to the Northern Branch Corridor Project in Tenafly (the opposition appeared to be less extreme north of it, but since Tenafly was so against it, they obviously couldn't extend past Englewood Hospital). However, this drama took place about eleven years ago, when NJT was going around getting towns' permissions to run the line through them. I'm not so sure what the reaction would be in Tenafly today, though it's worth noting that local Rotary Clubs have been working on a project called the Northern Valley Greenway (if I remember correctly), which is a rails-to-trails project. This is, for obvious reasons, a terrible idea, and would virtually extinguish any future hope of extension past Englewood Hospital.
Thanks for putting this together! I lived in Cresskill starting in 1968 and we used to bike up to Sparkill and watch the local freight turn around there. There were a good number of businesses with sidings between there and Englewood and the train often had several dozen cars. The New York section of the line in between the former Tappan Station and Blauvelt is now a paved rail trail.
@@Vixterminator I don't know if it was Bishops. The building has had various establishments-- the Oak Tree Inn, Tappan Inn, Finn McCool's, and more recently a sushi place. The station was on the opposite (North) side of the road, next to where the trail parking lot is now.
@@LarkOfTheWoods Thank you for replying to my question. I'm a little confused. The building that use to house Finn McCool's is along the tracks/rail bed but on the east bound side of Oak Tree Road, just to the right of what use to be the Oak Tree Road grade crossing. Was that the Tappan train station? Or was it located just north of that grade crossing where the parking lot is located? Thank you.
I would love to see both the Northern Branch, up to Nyack, NY, as well as the West Shore Line put back in service. Notice the environmentalists don't have a problem with buses, which sorely need to be taken off the roads due to their constant slowing down of traffic so they could make stops. Offset the loss of bus service with the NB and the WS lines. Buses give off loads of emissions. These are the same clueless types who don't want to restart service north of Englewood, NJ. The people in Tenafly, Cresskill, Demarest, Closter, Norwood and Northvale need to get their heads examined. These are the communities who are fighting to not have the Northern Branch and West Shore Lines restarted in their communities. There would less congestion on the roads in the Northern Valley. Elon Musk supposedly has created a boring drill that can due the job in half the time it currently takes for contractors to use their boring drill to open up tunnels in the Palisades to connect NJ with NY. Here's my proposal: Five new tunnels where the Northern Branch and West Shore Lines meet up, heading south in Ridgefield Park, NJ. Too close to the opening in the Palisades, so they would need to create a Bergen Loop style swing around to enter the 3 new tunnels I propose. The other two would be for an extension for the 7 Line Subway, in between Citi Field---Grand Central Station------42 street Port Authority Bus Terminal and then out to the Meadowlands Sports Complex. Three tunnels for the NB, WS, and Erie Lackawanna to share into and out of a new station to be built in the basement of the 42nd street Port Authority Bus Terminal. The other two tunnels for the 7 Line. Think of the # of people these three lines would serve into and out of NYC on a daily basis, without the need to clog the roads with buses that pollute the air. I would make all three lines catenary overhead wires. Bring back the NB, WS, and EL!
Great points you made! Another point unspoken is property values tend to go UP where there's reliable commuter rail which most property owners are more than happy with but I guess in North Jersey that's a moot point. Properties are expensive as hell to begin with. If they go any higher nobody's going to be able to afford them. I don't live up that way anymore but I'll go on line once in an while to see what's going on and what the houses are going for. Great heart attack material!
What a fantastic episode! Great job.
Great episode! I feel a NJT commuter route might be a good option for bringing service back up to Nyack, along with a separate branch for the somewhat congested Pascack Valley Branch.
You're right, but from what I've read from local North Jersey news sources there was a LOT of opposition from towns along the old Northern Branch, starting with Tenafly and moving north, to revitalized commuter operations. Why I'm not 100% sure but I believe traffic congestion on local roads leading to the stations was a concern and parking at those stations as well. Hence as planned now the commuter service won't go north of Englewood assuming it gets started at all. The 99th Environmental Impact Study isn't done yet. (That's a rueful observation, it seems as far as that project's concerned there's ALWAYS another EIS involved.)
The opposition's a bit ironic since all those towns along the Northern Branch were literally children of the railroad to begin with.
There is an NJT proposal to extend the HBLR north to Englewood, towns north of that have expressed loud opposition to having it go any further. I guess they like traffic congestion. Not sure I'll ever happen because NJT really doesn't have the Billon dollars for it and the Feds keep asking for new a new EIS. What type of rolling stock to use has also been an issue. If they use DMUs like the River Line it'll require a transfer. To electrify will cost much more. It's a shame they can't seem to get this going.
@@ELAlcoRS3 I'll tell you something, as harsh as it sounds. In my humble opinion the process of obtaining environmental impact studies before any construction can begin has turned from a sincere effort to protect the environment into a flat-out scam run only for the benefit of the "environmental scientists" and the lawyers. I mean for crying out loud there's been a rail line there since 1859! And todays rail equipment's not going to belch smoke and sparks like the 1859 models!
From wherever he is now Al Capone's looking at EIS's and thinking "Why didn't I think of a racket like that?"
@@ELAlcoRS3 True, there was very strong opposition to the Northern Branch Corridor Project in Tenafly (the opposition appeared to be less extreme north of it, but since Tenafly was so against it, they obviously couldn't extend past Englewood Hospital). However, this drama took place about eleven years ago, when NJT was going around getting towns' permissions to run the line through them. I'm not so sure what the reaction would be in Tenafly today, though it's worth noting that local Rotary Clubs have been working on a project called the Northern Valley Greenway (if I remember correctly), which is a rails-to-trails project. This is, for obvious reasons, a terrible idea, and would virtually extinguish any future hope of extension past Englewood Hospital.
Thanks for putting this together! I lived in Cresskill starting in 1968 and we used to bike up to Sparkill and watch the local freight turn around there. There were a good number of businesses with sidings between there and Englewood and the train often had several dozen cars. The New York section of the line in between the former Tappan Station and Blauvelt is now a paved rail trail.
Was the Tappan Station located where Bishops bar and grill use to be? Or was it on the other side of Oak Tree Road?
@@Vixterminator I don't know if it was Bishops. The building has had various establishments-- the Oak Tree Inn, Tappan Inn, Finn McCool's, and more recently a sushi place. The station was on the opposite (North) side of the road, next to where the trail parking lot is now.
@@LarkOfTheWoods Thank you for replying to my question. I'm a little confused. The building that use to house Finn McCool's is along the tracks/rail bed but on the east bound side of Oak Tree Road, just to the right of what use to be the Oak Tree Road grade crossing. Was that the Tappan train station? Or was it located just north of that grade crossing where the parking lot is located? Thank you.
I would love to see both the Northern Branch, up to Nyack, NY, as well as the West Shore Line put back in service. Notice the environmentalists don't have a problem with buses, which sorely need to be taken off the roads due to their constant slowing down of traffic so they could make stops. Offset the loss of bus service with the NB and the WS lines. Buses give off loads of emissions. These are the same clueless types who don't want to restart service north of Englewood, NJ. The people in Tenafly, Cresskill, Demarest, Closter, Norwood and Northvale need to get their heads examined. These are the communities who are fighting to not have the Northern Branch and West Shore Lines restarted in their communities.
There would less congestion on the roads in the Northern Valley. Elon Musk supposedly has created a boring drill that can due the job in half the time it currently takes for contractors to use their boring drill to open up tunnels in the Palisades to connect NJ with NY. Here's my proposal: Five new tunnels where the Northern Branch and West Shore Lines meet up, heading south in Ridgefield Park, NJ. Too close to the opening in the Palisades, so they would need to create a Bergen Loop style swing around to enter the 3 new tunnels I propose.
The other two would be for an extension for the 7 Line Subway, in between Citi Field---Grand Central Station------42 street Port Authority Bus Terminal and then out to the Meadowlands Sports Complex. Three tunnels for the NB, WS, and Erie Lackawanna to share into and out of a new station to be built in the basement of the 42nd street Port Authority Bus Terminal. The other two tunnels for the 7 Line. Think of the # of people these three lines would serve into and out of NYC on a daily basis, without the need to clog the roads with buses that pollute the air. I would make all three lines catenary overhead wires.
Bring back the NB, WS, and EL!
Great points you made! Another point unspoken is property values tend to go UP where there's reliable commuter rail which most property owners are more than happy with but I guess in North Jersey that's a moot point. Properties are expensive as hell to begin with. If they go any higher nobody's going to be able to afford them. I don't live up that way anymore but I'll go on line once in an while to see what's going on and what the houses are going for. Great heart attack material!
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Nah the last update we got was last year. NJ needs to redo the environmental assessment per the FTA.
Do a one where the trains race around please..