Ferroequinology Questions in South Jersey

Ever since the reorganization of RR.Net, I lost the Ferroequinology forum. If its still out there, I apologize for posting this here and the moderator can shift this thread over if he likes.

Last weekend, My wife and I decided to head to the Columbus Farmers market on Rt 206. We headed southwest on Cnty Rt 537 and then in Jobstown, we turned northwest onto Columbus Jobstown Rd to head over to the market. We had travelled this way numerous times before but as I was glancing off at the woods about 20 feet off the left side of the road, I noticed the ground contours seemed to stay pretty straight and level. I noticed this for about a mile and then about 1500 ft before RT 206, the contour hooked towards the road, apparantly crossed over, and seemed to follow a tree line north into the distance.

My wife and I continued on to the market and then returned via the same path so I could get a second look. It did indeed appear to be a rail ROW, albeit heavily overgrown and not much remaining and by what I would guess was atleast 60-70 years since a train probably ran along it. The ROW was wiped out in several places where new development and buildings were.

I got home and pulled up the area on Google Earth. Lo and behold, Google verified it was indeed a rail ROW and actually had a line on the map showing where the entire "branch" ran. One of the roads off of Columbus Jobstown Rd was named "Folwell Station Rd". So at one time, it must have seen passenger traffic. Upon deeper map review, the branch appears to run between Roebling on the Delaware River where it used to connect with the main line (Camden and Amboy?), near Newbold Island and drops south easterly to Columbus where it turns more easterly and passes through Jobstown and Lewistown to eventually join the old Pennsy ROW immediately south of FT Dix at the Lewistown Juliustown Rd and Ft Dix Rd intersection. Google shows there was a Wye at that junction.

Google Earth is Great! The ROW would have been difficult to see on standard Aerial photo maps. That fact that Google Earth still shows the entire rail line with a black line on the Satellite photos made looking this up so much easier.

Now, does anyone have any info on this cross-county branch between Ft Dix and Roebling? I do appreciate anyone who could enlighten me to this former line that apparently only served a couple of farming communities or was used as a connector between mainlines. If it provided passenger service at one time, I would bet this rail line originated in the late 1800's.

Sounds like the Kinkora branch of the PRR -- it went from Kinkora (near Roebling) on the C&A, down to intersect the the Pemberton and Heightstown (which was the line going up from Pemberton through Ft. Dix). At one point I think it also continued in a SE direction to meet the PRR line from Mt. Holly through Whiting to the shore, but don't have my references around to check. Can't tell you when it was built or was abandoned though.
I think I read recently that road work on 206 was being done (or planned) to remove the rise in 130 over the old ROW , but don't repeat that til someone else confirms.
JS

Everyone's correct, the line was abandoned and torn up by PennCentral, except the part East of Ft. Dix went much earlier. When Trolley Valhalla moved to Jobstown in 1971, the line was still intact, and they had dreams of using it. The U.S. Rte. 130 bridge has been replaced with provision for a rail-trail under the highway. The "tunnel" under County Rte. 543, Main St. in Columbus, was filled with dirt in the 1980s.

The Columbus (Kinkora)& Springfield RR (nee Kinkora & New Lisbon){constructed 1871-72} and bankrupt predecessor Delaware and Atlantic RR {incorporated in NJ 1834} {operated circa 1839-49} [* see note below] went from Kinkora through Columbus, Jobstown, Lewistown, (where it crossed the Pemberton & Hightstown) and at one time continued SSE to join the Pemberton & New York RR at about 1/3 mile East of New Lisbon. It crossed North Pemberton Rd (Pointville Rd) at about 1 mile WSW of Juliustown Browns Mills Rd. (a bit West of Ash St on the Base) It crossed Pemberton Browns Mills Rd just East of Springfield Rd about where Fenwick Ln is now.

In latter years, of course, was the Pennsylvania & Atlantic (PRR) then was cut off at Lewistown, (sometime before 1912??) Conrail then abandoned (circa 1982) Parts of it are planned for the Kinkora /Pemberton rail trail.

See: http://mapmaker.rutgers.edu/1872Atlas/B ... thTopo.jpg

* note “The Delaware and Atlantic railroad, used principally for the transportation of timber, commences on the Delaware, opposite Newbold Island, passes through this village (Columbus) in crossing the township, and terminates at or near Greenwood, in the south part of Hanover, on the Rancocus.”

Historical Collections of the State of New Jersey (1844)

There are some references that this began as a horse drawn railroad using strap rail. later built over by the CK&S

This is a perfectly good topic for this forum- I enjoy learning about long-lost rail lines!

-otto-

I want to thank everyone for their info and welcome anyone else to contribute. I will echo Otto's comments in that I am fascinated by these old lines. I find it amazing how extensive our infrastructure was considering the level of technology and construction back then.

I noticed on the old map that Carter B referenced that the depiction of the line was more "generalized" as opposed to going for sheer accuracy regarding the route. For example, as the route passes south of "downtown" Columbus, the map depicts the route as relatively "straight" on through to Jobstown and to Lewistown and on. It doesn't even show the ROW as being anywhere near the Columbus Jobstown Rd but passing through the "Rancocas Stables" property (which was a MAJOR American Thorobread ranch at the turn of the century). I wonder how much more "Artistic License" was applied by the mapmaker?

Here's some 1885 USGS topo maps which are better

New Lisbon area:
http://historical.maptech.com/getImage. ... g&state=NJ

Lewistown/Columbus area:

http://historical.maptech.com/getImage. ... g&state=NJ

Looks like it ran down the West side of a gully/stream bed about 0.3 miles East of Springfield Rd/ Pemberton Browns Mill Rd New Lisbon (39° 57' 58"N, 74° 37' 25"W (NAD83/WGS84) and across the North Branch of Rancocas Creek. Gully area is wooded and maybe undisturbed enough on both sides of Rancocas Creek that you might be able to find ROW remnants.

Hi all-

I also just recently learned that these tracks crossed 543 in a tunnel. I always looked at the grade there and was like how the hell did a train climb that steep of a grade up to the crossing. Never even crossed my mind of a tunnel. Anybody have any pics of this tunnel before it was filled in? A co-worker of mine says he remembers seeing them working on that back in the day. Also, theres a small place on Railroad Avenue there called Lippincotts, I believe, and they have some rails out front and a Crossbuck. I`m assuming that came off this line. Pretty cool. Take care everyone -Chris L.

This line is well depicted in my 2005 edition of the DeLorme map of NJ, as well as the line which went under I-195 down through Cream Ridge and on down to New Egypt. I remember the ROW where it crossed Rte 537 is pretty obvious - not far south (technically west) of the 537/539 intersection.

That is an interesting crossing on Cnty 537 for the Union Transportation RR. The Row is down in a "trench" but only about what looks like 8 feet deep. The road way was either heavily filled in to eliminate a dip or had some kind of bridge that would have had a heck of a hump to it. Looking at the road, both of those possiblilities don't look right.

Ive wondered that same thing just about each time I crossed over that spot on 537........... If it was a bridge and they did regrade it, they did a heck of a job, as the Monmouth County Road department usually isn't that good! Maybe Burlco did it? hahhhaa

There was a bridge over the Union on 537, but it came out in the early 1980s. I commuted from MAFB to Linden, and later Somerville back then, and used to follow the ROW on some back roads. Somewhere between 537 and Cream Ridge there was a large wood bridge, small trestle, which may still be there. I haven't been down that way for years-

EDM5970 wrote:There was a bridge over the Union on 537, but it came out in the early 1980s. I commuted from MAFB to Linden, and later Somerville back then, and used to follow the ROW on some back roads. Somewhere between 537 and Cream Ridge there was a large wood bridge, small trestle, which may still be there. I haven't been down that way for years-

Did the bridge over the ROW on 537 have a flat grade, which means they removed the approach grades to the bridge (would have required a lot of soil removal) or did the bridge have a hump in the middle to provide the necessary clearance for the train?

I would guess that the soils from the bridge approach were used as the backfill in the "trench"

Hi all-

CJPAT, you`d be amazed what a little regrading can do lol.....two similar and nearby examples i can think of include 1) where the Pemberton branch used to cross Shreve St (turns into Railroad Ave.) in Mount Holly. 2 guys I work with remember that x-ing having a huge hump up to get over it, and now the road has been "flattened" Its the same scenario as 537, just in reverse. The roadbed is a little higher now than the roadway. 2) Also, route 70 used to cross over the same line on a bridge, which has long since removed and filled in, but it doesnt appear high up enough to have gone over the RXR, they probably lowered that a little too. Take care -Chris

What amazes me is that they managed to remove the bridge and left NO traces of anything, in a hill and surrounding grading, or even bumps in the road!

While I am way to young to remember there being a bridge there, the only thing I can compare it to is the removal of the bridge over the Southern Secondary on Shrewsbury Ave in Shrewsbury Township (yes i believe it is actually located in, or on the boarder of tiny Shrewsbury Township). this was such a major project and took a while. A temporary road was built adjacent to the bridge and fill approaches to it. once the road was done, the bridge was shut down and the fill removed adn the bridge demolished. Then a new grade crossing was built where the bridge was and the road widened to 4 lanes. Yes, I know that was probably much more of a massive structure than what was on 537, but still..........(as a side note, the bridge over the SS on 537 still stands, and is pretty much identical to what existed on Shrewsbury Ave)

Back to 537, that is a major throughfare from NE Jersey to SW Jersey (or should I say "East Jersey and West Jersey hahah) ive never been able to see any remants of at least a temporary road or anything around the site. I know its been years since the bridge was removed, but there are houses/farms at that location, its not like its in no wheres land! And I was detoured off 537 through that area once due to a tree down and it was not a quick detour!!!! Maybe they closed the road when they did it?

I guess maybe one of the clues of the re-grading is that the concrete roadway's expansion joints under the asphalt aren't there in that stretch, like on so much of the rest of the road........