Old rail line in Brick, NJ

A friend is in talks to pick up a commercial site in Brick, NJ in the vicinity of Rt 88. There's a utility running through a part of the property which in the agreement states that the utility has the ability to among other things, reactivation of railroad services. I'm not from area and wasn't aware of any rail lines ever going through Brick. I'm familiar with the Southern which is several miles away from the property. Found some info that there's an old trolley line. Not much info on it though. Any ideas on this one?

1947 USGS map shows what might have been a trolley line starting at Lakewood train station, running east, slightly south of rte 88 to start, marked Public Service Transportation co. It crosses what is now Rte 70 about a mile north of the 88 -70 (old Laurelton circle) junction. Guessing Lakewood-Point Pleasant light rail line. Would have to be 90 or more to remember it, and I aint that. Can't find it on earlier or later maps.

There is indeed some sort of utility pole right of way that goes between Lakewood and Point Pleasant. Seems like telephone poles that you commonly see at the side of railroad tracks.

I'm not sure if it was ever a railroad. Going back in HistoricAerials, there doesn't seem to be any indication of it ever having rails either via aerial imaging going back to the 1930s or any topographic maps either

Try this link to old USGS topo maps.
https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/topoview/viewer/ ... 5/-74.2052
If it works you will be looking at a Lakewood map. Click on it in the somewhere near Route 88 (Main St). A menu should open up on the right. Scroll up/down and click on "Lakewood 1947", then a little drop-down menu should show up, and then click on "Show". THen you should see the 1947 topo. Good luck.

In the 1947 map there is a Public Service (PSE&G forerunner) ROW coming off the Southern, starting at Lakewood station, then running east on the north side of the Metedeconk River, on the south side of what is now Rte 88 (Route 35 in the 1947 map).

Here is a Google Maps street view from Aspen Ct, about 500 ft south of 88, about 1-1/2 miles east of the Southern, from what seems to be the location of the ROW in the 1947 map. https://goo.gl/maps/F5mikEfERd8kKXzB8
It still looks like an active PSE&G ROW with high voltage lines (although when I traced them on Google Maps they didn't go all the way to the Southern, and just seemed to end at what's now Waverly Court about 1/2 of the way back to the Southern. And it is most a park now, so hard to imagine anyone reactivating anything in an area w/ no obvious customers.

Now that I look closer, what more likely could be of interest is the short section of the ROW north of Main St (route 88) going to the Southern connection. I think there was a siding there to serve a lumber operation that closed some time back (someone here will remember the name), and the siding was ripped out. I recall posts not too long ago. Although this is in Lakewood, not Brick Township.

Well, I might be way off, but we can all speculate based on the 1947 map.

JS

Looking at google maps satellite, the ROW is pretty obvious from where 88 and the parkway meet all the way east into Point Pleasant as a straight line. Jack Martin Blvd seems to occupy a part of it. Further west it disappears in the development. I suspect Public Service was just keeping their options open with the rail stuff; the trolley business didn't last but into the thirties.

Thanks all. I'll pass this info on. Never knew of this. I live a few counties north of the area but next time I go down to the Southern I'll take a sidetrip to see what's still there. Looking at the maps and Google Earth, there's still a bridge by the parkway and 88. Tracing it on the Google Earth, did the ROW have a wye in the area of 88 and Burrsville Rd. or is it just a coincidental alignment of the roads?

AceMac, what is your friend looking to do with this site?

Nothing to do with the railroad. Retail business with medical offices/facilities to supplement a hospital nearby. The property has an easement running through and he hit me with the railroad reactivation as a potential use of the easement. I don't live anywhere near there so I'm not familiar with the lay of the land or what's been there in the past.

CharlieL wrote: ↑Sun May 21, 2023 4:36 am Looking at google maps satellite, the ROW is pretty obvious from where 88 and the parkway meet all the way east into Point Pleasant as a straight line. Jack Martin Blvd seems to occupy a part of it. Further west it disappears in the development. I suspect Public Service was just keeping their options open with the rail stuff; the trolley business didn't last but into the thirties.

Very interesting discussion. Public Service Electric and Gas Company ("PSE&G") was incorporated in 1928 by PSCNJ and in that year all electric and gas properties and operations were transferred into PSE&G and the bus and railway operations into also newly incorporated Public Service Coordinated Transport ("PSCT"). Public Service Corporation of New Jersey, incorporated in 1903, was the parent holding company of both PSE&G and PSCT. In 1948, primarily due to compliance issues with the federal antitrust laws and the federal Public Utility Holding Company Act, the PSCNJ corporate structure was reorganized by abolishing PSCNJ with PSE&G continuing to directly own the electric and gas assets and owning the transportation company as a PSE&G subsidiary. PSE&G's closest electric service territory is 12 or more miles west of the location in the 1947 map and to my knowledge, PSCNJ did not own any trolley lines in that area, the lines owned by PSCNJ were essentially all in what became or was PSE&G electric service territory. Ocean County was and is served by Jersey Central Power and Light Company ("JCP&L") which was not part of PSCNJ, and JCP&L serves Monmouth County except for only a small portion of Monmouth County, i.e., Allentown Borough and Upper Freehold, Township which are in PSE&G service territory. Hence, there would be no reason for PSE&G to own or maintain an electric line anywhere in that vicinity, and the line shown in the recent Google Maps photo appears likely to be 34kV subtransmission which is commonly used by JCP&L but not used by PSE&G. I suspect that the line on the 1947 map is labeled incorrectly. I have seen errors in federal USGS maps. For example, the former CRRNJ coal dock area in Bayonne, NJ is labeled "Port Johnson" on the USGS map which is incorrect. The correct name is "Port Johnston", named after CRRNJ's first president John Taylor Johnston during whose term it was constructed in 1864. If anyone does have information tying the 1947 map's reference to PSCNJ I would be thrilled to see it. See the Bayonne coal port error near the lower left corner of the map: https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/ht-bin/tv_browse ... 32f5fa4dab

I was hoping Ken would check in here!

I posted about 30 minutes ago (I thought) but it hasn't shown up yet so I will try again.

Looking at the 1947 map I mentioned, if you go east the next map east is Point Pleasant 1947, which shows the same ROW running to the east, ending around Herbertville Ave about 4 blocks short of the Pt. Pleasant Canal and 1 block north of what is now Rte. 88. THat map labels the ROW as Jersey Central Light and Power. (note "Light and Power"). So probably the map makers weren't too careful about names as Ken suggests.

I also found this about the trolley: http://pointpleasanthistory.com/time_trolley.htm ,
see near the end. The whole thing was graded and power poles were put in, rail was laid partway and tested, but the trolley never did get finished, due to WW I and then the advent of cars.
JS

Speaking of the "Public Service" company and transport, going off topic a bit, my grandfather was a carpenter, and his first good job was at Public Service in Newark (in roughly the late 1920's time frame), building busses. Public Service bought basic metal truck frames (with cab, engine, wheels, drive train ...) from GM, and then PS carpenters built the rest: passenger area, seating, walls and roof, etc., all out of wood. He said it was a great job while it lasted. Then GM started selling the whole bus made of metal, and he was out of a job.

It was planned as a high-speed Shore-to-Trenton interurban line. Some ROW was surveyed and cleared, ties and rail delivered, news accounts of the day said how much progress had been made (little to none, althought the media of the day claimed it would be open and running in months) and the line never materialized. I think one of Joe Eid's trolley books explains it in detail. I'm not sure of the title, I think it was something like "Trolleys (or Rails?) across the Sand Dunes" or something similar.

Here's a link I found to the book GSC mentioned. It's a little early to think about my Christmas list, but may be not:
https://www.bricktwphistoricalsociety.c ... s/book.htm

Everyone, thank you for all the info. Very interesting stuff. I'd say there's no chance of this ever coming back to life but it's safe to say that this lots got a piece of history on it. Thank you all.

Ken W2KB wrote: ↑Mon May 22, 2023 1:04 pm Very interesting discussion. Public Service Electric and Gas Company ("PSE&G") was incorporated in 1928 by PSCNJ and in that year all electric and gas properties and operations were transferred into PSE&G and the bus and railway operations into also newly incorporated Public Service Coordinated Transport ("PSCT"). ...

Ken, I just sent you a private message. I hope it went through OK. Please take a look,
Thanks, Jim S

GSC hit the right answer on the head. It's an old Trolley ROW that was supposed to run out of Point Pleasant with the ultimate destination being Trenton. General plans and ROW acquisition only extended into Lakewood. A little bit of rail was laid (never used as best as records could tell) in Brick to entice investors but the whole plan died. The rail was pulled up in the beginning of WWI due to the need for steel.

I bought the Joseph Eid book (actually more of a glorified pamphlet) from the Brick Museum probably about 10-15 years ago. It was an extremely interesting read and covered a lot of the details regarding building and running trolleys in/around Pt Pleasant to service the Beach and the big hotels they had at one point and the eventual fading away. Even extending towards Bay head to ferry people coming up the Pennsy from their "Backroad" from Camden to Seaside and up to the Pennsy junction. Sounded like it was more of a "Toonerville Trolley set up.

They can never use the ROW thru Brick, even if they tried to tie it to the Southern in Lakewood because it has been built over in several places by housing and condominiums.