info wanted for medford / haddonfield branch

can anyone enlighten me about the haddonfield/ medford branch?
dates in and out of service , station stops.etc.
does the medford /mt holly segment still exist?

Philadelphia Marlton & Medford RR

incorporated Jan 1880
construction began April 1880
trains operated between Haddonfield and Marlton by July, 1881
service to Medford began October 1881

According to the October 1, 1907, PRR timetable, The PM&M had stops at Haddonfield, Freeman, Orchard, Springdale, Locust Grove, Cropwell, Marlton, Elmwood Road, Melrose, and Medford. All except Haddonfield, Marlton, and Medford were flag stops.

In January 1885, operation of the PM&M was incorporated with that of the Camden & Atlantic. The PM&M was terminated as a separate corporation in 1896 when the PM&M, Camden & Atlantic, West Jersey Railroad Co, and three other short lines were merged to form the West Jersey & Seashore. The PM&M became the Medford branch of the WJ&S, which was controlled by the PRR.

The last passenger train ran on Sept 24, 1927. The Medford Branch was officially taken out of service Nov 2, 1931

I'm not an expert on the PM&M. All of this info came from the PM&M book published by the West Jersey Chapter-NRHS. An order form can be downloaded:
http://www.nelliebly.com/westjersey/wjbooks.htm#medford

or you could buy a copy at the Chapter meeting on Saturday Feb 26 at 1 PM, Haddonfield Borough Hall, second floor. The program will be Chapter members' PRSL slides.

[truth in posting statement]: I'm vice president and membership chairman of the West Jersey Chapter-NRHS

Bob Vogel

railbird wrote:can anyone enlighten me about the haddonfield/ medford branch?
dates in and out of service , station stops.etc.
does the medford /mt holly segment still exist?

In addition to all the great info Bob provided above, I can tell you that the Mt. Holly - Medford segment no longer exists either. This was abandoned sometime in the late 70's or early 80's...

According to the final system plan for Conrail, there were only 180 carloads per year being generated by this line in 1973...that's awfully low. That's less than 4 cars a week...it was recommended in the final system plan that the line be abandoned, as upgrading to keep things safe would be too costly and result in an annual loss of $57,846 (as of the 1973 report).

Interestingly enough, however, while they did not recommend that the Medford Branch would be viable for inclusion in Conrail, they did in fact consider the Grenloch Branch from Bellmawr to Glendora to be good enough to keep, and this 1.6 mile long segment generated only 118 carloads per year.

However, in the end, both were abandoned around the same time. The Grenloch Branch was finished south of Bellmawr around 1982 or so, and the Medford Branch was gone around then, or might have already been gone...but neither were abandoned when Conrail came into existance in 1976...

I'd also like to make note that the Medford Branch was in fact Penn Central territory (and PRR before that), and technically was never under control of the PRSL...

Mike DiMunno

PS: About that final system plan: I find it very interesting, once again, that the committee determined that the CNJ Southern Division warranted retention after Conrail was created, but CR abandoned it two years after they came into existance anyway...I just find it interesting how they pretty much ignored the recommendations of the committee...but this is really a topic for another forum at another time...

Gentlemen, Thanks for all the good info.
Ive been looking at the old row coming out of the east of haddonield for a few years now and ive always wondered how far it went. was mountwell park once a wye for this rr and is the small bldg. in the park an old rr bldg. ?
Im currently trying to identify the locale of the old row between hadnfld and cherry hill. I have a few hunches as to where the tracks may have crossed rt 561 ., Ill let you know how i make out in this investigation.
Bob , I most certainly will try to check out the next mtg on 2-26.

Mike , I found your recent exploration of audubon and surrounding area very interesting. I esp. enjoyed your pic of the narrow gauge row in the streambed
Thanks again fella's
bird

I remember the wye in 1969, already diconnected from the P-RSL. Employee Timetables 8 and 10 of 4/28/63 and 4/25/65 require that the "Wye" track crossing Center St. at Haddonfield be flagged. This was probably the "tail" of the wye.
N.J. Rte. 70 in Burlington County is mostly on the old railroad bed. West of there, the odd diagonal side street hints that it was laid parallel to the track. Some maps show the East-West sidings in Medford as P-RSL and the North-South tracks as Penn Central.