The Travis Branch is a branch of the Staten Island Railway in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, that operates from

Arlington Yard Arlington Yard is a freight yard located on the North Shore Branch right of way of the Staten Island Railway in Staten Island, New York, United States. It lies west of the former Arlington station, east of Western Avenue, and north of the St ...

to Fresh Kills, which is used for freight transportation along the

West Shore, Staten Island West Shore refers to the section of the New York City borough of Staten Island that borders the Arthur Kill, between the Staten Island Expressway and the Fresh Kills. The Arthur Kill shoreline north of the expressway—most commonly called Po ...

History

The

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Corporation opened a dock and tank farm along the Arthur Kill in 1928 and in order to serve it, the Travis Branch was built south from

into the marshes of the island's western shore to Gulfport. The small yard on the refinery property had a capacity for 150 tank cars. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) built wood trestles to carry the track over the many creeks that dissect the right-of-way to Travis. The branch was never electrified. At this time, the two West Shore branches were mapped to be joined together by the B&O. The West Shore Line between Arlington and Tottenville, would have allowed rail freight headed to Nassau Smelting and other freight customers on the Main Line to avoid the congestion of Saint George Yard and the frequent passenger train service on the North Shore, South Beach and Perth Amboy sub-divisions. This proposal was killed by the Great Depression. In 1958, the line was extended to Travis in order to serve the newly built Consolidated Edison power plant. It carried 100 car B&O

unit train A unit train, also called a block train or a trainload service, is a train in which all cars (wagons) carry the same commodity and are shipped from the same origin to the same destination, without being split up or stored en route. They are dist ...

s of coal from West Virginia to the plant. The wood trestle over Old Place Creek () was replaced in 1966 with a steel-deck girder bridge. The branch was mostly a single track line all the way to South Avenue. In the early 1980s, the power plant changed to coal delivery by barge. The branch was then abandoned and used for rolling-stock storage. A six-track former coal yard at the end of the branch once held coal hoppers. Whitchomb center-cab diesel No. 9 and three multiple-unit electric cars were being stored in the year for the

Trolley Museum of New York The Trolley Museum of New York, a non-profit organization, is located at 89 East Strand Street, Kingston, New York. The museum is open to the public on a seasonal schedule, but volunteer activities relating to the preservation of historic tran ...

. In 1990, the Whitcomb diesel and two of the cars were moved to the trolley museum's new home in

Kingston, New York Kingston is a city in and the county seat of Ulster County, New York, United States. It is north of New York City and south of Albany. The city's metropolitan area is grouped with the New York metropolitan area around Manhattan by the United ...

. ME-1 Car No. 353, deemed too damaged to move, remained a resident of Travis Yard until 2003, when it was scrapped in the revitalization of Travis Yard.

Current uses

In 2005, the Travis Branch was renovated and was extended from the old Consolidated Edison plant to the New York Sanitation

Fresh Kills Landfill The Fresh Kills Landfill was a landfill covering in the New York City borough of Staten Island in the United States. The name comes from the landfill's location along the banks of the Fresh Kills estuary in western Staten Island. The landfil ...

. Prior to reactivation in 2007, all the trestles on the branch were replaced with robust concrete bridges. Pratt Industries, a manufacturer of cardboard, has access to the railroad for shipments but has yet to use it. A new yard was built at Fresh Kills to serve the trash-transfer station there. The track along the branch was relaid along with the track extension, totalling to of new track. Regular service to the facility began in April 2007.

Unit train A unit train, also called a block train or a trainload service, is a train in which all cars (wagons) carry the same commodity and are shipped from the same origin to the same destination, without being split up or stored en route. They are dist ...

s made up of bright orange container flatcars serve the facility–sometimes up to five times daily. The line is part of Conrail Shared Assets territory, and both CSX and NS locomotives operate on the line. A wye was added between the North Shore Line and the Travis Branch. The portion of the line connecting the line to the east end of Arlington Yard is called the Travis Lead. Soon after service restarted on the line,

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Michael Bloomberg officially commemorated the reactivation on April 17, 2007.Archived
on December 23, 2007. On behalf of the

City of New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, the

New York City Economic Development Corporation New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) is a nonprofit corporation whose stated mission is to "leverage the city’s assets to create beneficial jobs that drive growth. This ensures equitable and sustainable development across al ...

formed an agreement with CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern Railway, and

Conrail Shared Assets Operations Conrail Shared Assets Operations (CSAO) is the commonly used name for modern-day Conrail ( reporting mark CRCX), an American railroad company. It operates three networks, the North Jersey, South Jersey/Philadelphia, and Detroit Shared Assets Area ...

to provide service over the reactivated line to haul waste from the Staten Island Transfer Station and ship

container A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...

freight from the

Howland Hook Marine Terminal The Howland Hook Marine Terminal, operating as ‘’’GCT New York,’’’ is a container port facility in the Port of New York and New Jersey located at Howland Hook in northwestern Staten Island, New York City. It is situated on the east ...

and other industrial businesses. The Travis Branch has a length of 4.41 miles, with milepost 0.00 being Arlington Yard. A proposed route alignment for light rail on the west shore of Staten Island would have the light rail go on the North Shore rail

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

to the Travis branch of the line, and from there, onto the median of the West Shore Expressway.

Station list

References

{{Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority Staten Island Railway Railway lines opened in 1928 Waste management infrastructure of New York City