Roselle Park station

Roselle Park

The Roselle Park station from the platform. The station depot is in the parking lot below.
Location 24 West Lincoln Avenue at Chestnut Street,
Roselle Park, NJ, 07204
Coordinates 40°40′02″N 74°16′00″W / 40.6672°N 74.2666°W / 40.6672; -74.2666Coordinates: 40°40′02″N 74°16′00″W / 40.6672°N 74.2666°W / 40.6672; -74.2666
Owned by Norfolk Southern Railway
Line(s)
  Raritan Valley Line
Platforms 1 island platform
Tracks 2
Connections NJT Bus: 94 and 113(S)
Other information
Fare zone 7
History
Opened April 30, 1967
Traffic
Passengers (2012) 845 (average weekday)[1]
Services
Preceding station   NJ Transit Rail   Following station
toward High Bridge
Raritan Valley Line

Roselle Park is a New Jersey Transit railroad station in Roselle Park, New Jersey. Located on Conrail's Lehigh Line, the station is served by Raritan Valley Line trains direct to New York Penn Station, Newark Penn Station, Raritan, and High Bridge.

The station is on West Lincoln Avenue between Chestnut Street and Locust Street in the Borough of Roselle Park. The station is just across the street from a bus stop on Routes 94 & 113 at West Lincoln and Chestnut.

History

The station is located at milepost 16.0 on the Conrail Lehigh Line. This is the former Lehigh Valley Railroad mainline, built in 1832 by LV subsidiary Newark & Roselle Railway. The second station to stand on the property, it was built in 1967 during the Aldene Plan. The project was a joint project between the railroads, NJDOT, and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey which elevated trackage above ground level to eliminate grade crossings and rerouted Central Railroad of New Jersey trains (one of NJ Transit's predecessor railroads) to Pennsylvania Station in Newark, New Jersey rather than the CNJ's aging Jersey City terminal in Jersey City, New Jersey.[2]

When bankruptcy struck the Central Railroad of New Jersey, the CNJ was forced to fold into the Consolidated Rail Corporation on April 1, 1976. On that date, the New Jersey Department of Transportation took over commuter rail operations. In 1981 the State of New Jersey created New Jersey Transit to oversee all commuter operations, rail and bus, in the state. Since then, NJTransit has continued to operate and improve services on the Raritan Valley Line.

In Spring 1997, negotiations began for the joint purchase of Conrail by CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway. The Surface Transportation Board officially approved the acquisition and restructuring of Conrail on July 23rd, 1998. The approved restructuring plan transformed Conrail into a private, non-common carrier switching and terminal railroad that operates on behalf of its owners, using rolling stock and locomotives supplied by its owners. Property was divided using a system of railroad heritage, bringing ownership of the route and Roselle Park station to Norfolk Southern Railway. The purchase, often referred to as the "Conrail split" by railroaders, was made final on April 1st, 1999.

Currently, the station is served by 53 weekday and 36 weekend New Jersey Transit trains. The station also sees the passing of between 25 and 35 freight trains per day.

Station platform design

The station platform design is that of a center island platform. Eastbound and westbound trains are capable of operating on any track the Conrail North Jersey Train Dispatcher chooses at any time. This is called NORAC Rule 261. No specific track serves a specific direction. Locals refer to the vortex winds created by two simultaneous passing trains as "Vertigo".

Direct Service To Pennsylvania Station New York and Hoboken Terminal

In March 2014, New Jersey Transit began providing weekday only direct service, known as a "one seat ride" to Pennsylvania Station New York on a limited off-peak basis using their new Bombardier ALP-45DP dual mode diesel/overhead electric locomotives. Originally, only four rounds trips were available mid-day. New Jersey Transit expanded the service in January 2015 into the weekday peak periods during the commute. A total of 9 "one seat ride" round trips Monday through Friday currently operate.

For many years, direct trains to Hoboken were available on weekends. In 2012, New Jersey Transit ceased weekend operations to Hoboken Terminal on the Raritan Valley Line. Currently only one eastbound train remains to provide weekday only direct service to Hoboken early morning, with no return trip. There are currently no plans to re-expand service to Hoboken.

Freight operations

The station has a gauntlet track (a slightly shifted-over track) on the track 2 side that allows freight trains to pass the high level platform safely. Currently, freight operations past the station are operated by Conrail, CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway. The route has become a critical artery in transcontinental transportation, particularly for intermodal, retail and petrochemical traffic. Tonnage over this route reaches as far west as Chicago and Los Angeles, south to Atlanta and Jacksonville, and east to Vermont and Maine.

In culture

Roselle Park station has long served as a meeting place for locals, especially for railroad enthusiasts. The unique perspective given by the center island platform is a favorite among railfans. The current station has served as a witness to history on numerous occasions, with the passing of U.S. military artillery bound to and from Vietnam, both Gulf wars, and Afghanistan. In 2004, the station saw the passing of major political leaders when Union Pacific Railroad operated a special train with vintage equipment to the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia. The station was also among the locations seen along the route in the 2012 CSX Transportation "Juice Train" commercial, and sometimes serves as a quick supply stop for the annual operation of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus trains.

Listening in

Operations through Roselle Park are controlled by the Conrail North Jersey Train Dispatcher on a frequency of 160.86000Mhz (AAR Channel 50). West of Roselle Park, NJTransit trains operate on a frequency of 161.23500MHz (AAR Channel 75).

References

  1. ↑ "QUARTERLY RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANALYSIS". New Jersey Transit. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 27, 2012. Retrieved December 31, 2012.
  2. ↑ "New Jersey Transit Raritan Line". world.nycsubway.org. Retrieved 2013-07-13.

Media related to Roselle Park (NJT station) at Wikimedia Commons

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.