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  • CNJ Concrete Phone Booths

  • Discussion of the CNJ (aka the Jersey Central) and predecessors Elizabethtown and Somerville, and Somerville and Easton, for the period 1831 to its inclusion in ConRail in 1976. The historical society site is here: http://www.jcrhs.org/
Discussion of the CNJ (aka the Jersey Central) and predecessors Elizabethtown and Somerville, and Somerville and Easton, for the period 1831 to its inclusion in ConRail in 1976. The historical society site is here: http://www.jcrhs.org/

Moderator: CAR_FLOATER

 #879380  by 56-57
 
I'm curious to know if any of the later CNJ phone boxes still survive. I've seen in photos that the ones that lasted were painted red with a white stripe (a red baron box?)...

My apologies if this takes this off-topic, but I feel it dovetails in nicely with the phonebooth topic.

-Micah
 #879386  by GSC
 
Would these "Red Baron" booths be precast concrete, or some other material?
 #879834  by 56-57
 
You've got it!

I'm just wondering if any are left in place. Out of curiosity, out of a cool factor, out of an affinity for the CNJ..

I can think of a few steel LV phone boxes around my neck of the woods (NEPA), but none left that I know of from the CNJ. Perhaps some survive from the CNJ elsewhere..

-Micah
 #939735  by NYS&W142Fan
 
Today while working an occasional freight job, I noticed a CNJ Phone booth in the woods still standing with a metal chimney vent pipe. Next time I'm over there, will try to get a picture.
 #939866  by 56-57
 
Thanks Man!
 #940970  by David Hutchinson
 
The Reading had a concrete phone booth located on the Port Reading Branch at Metuchen, NJ. It was square and had a window on one side and a window on the door. The windows were about 11 inches wide and 30 inches high. The windows had chicken wire inside the glass as a reinforcement. Near the end, the windows were replaced by metal plates. The door was metal and there was a steel box inside for copies of the train orders writtens that had RDG CO. stamped on it. I was lucky enough to get this box. The booth came down after 1965 after a radio system was installed at Port Reading.
 #1002348  by raced1111
 
There used to be (and could still be) a couple of them along the Bel-Del between Phillipsburg and Milford. I haven't driven that way in a long time, and I never got a chance to look up close. Maybe that's where the one being restored came from. Not CNJ but relevant to the previous post.
 #1002720  by NYS&W142Fan
 
raced1111 wrote:There used to be (and could still be) a couple of them along the Bel-Del between Phillipsburg and Milford. I haven't driven that way in a long time, and I never got a chance to look up close. Maybe that's where the one being restored came from. Not CNJ but relevant to the previous post.
There are a couple along the Bel Del, one is near the crossing just North of Rigelsville on River Road. One is laying at the edge of the river near Kent, and then there is a CNJ booth still standing along the old CNJ Main line over in West Easton. It is about 1000 feet in from where Adamson/Main St duck under the line. This one still has the metal vent on top. Too bad the Phillipsburg Rail Historians couldn't retrieve that one and restore it. One note of caution, the lady that lives on the hill thinks she owns the whole area and yells at people. Also near the Phone booth, up on the hill is the concrete base of the old Water tower that was near the old turntable there. You can see the base on Bing Maps. The Phone Booth is just South/East from that.
 #1005920  by BuddCarToBethlehem
 
There's one in Bethlehem, near Moravian College. It's at the bottom of that hill/bluff where W. Elizabeth Ave turns into Mach Chunk Rd., and then turned west into Schoenersville Rd. Although I'm not sure if it was installed by the Lehigh & New England or the Jersey Central when they took over line in the '1960's. The bridge was replaced and relocated several years ago, and while the booth is still in the same location as 20 years ago, it's now at the end of a dead-end street (Mauch Chunk Rd.). However, you can clearly see it when driving east on Schoenersville Rd down the hill from the Eaton Ave. junction as you cross the bridge.
I always wondered if that was the original location. Not only is it about 100 yards or so east of the old L&NE line, to Bath and Martins Creek, but it's located on the opposite side of the creek from the tracks.

This Google Street view doesn't do it justice, but you can see the booth in the middle against the hill. The brush makes a good background.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Mauch+Chu ... 8,,0,-2.65

http://data.cei.psu.edu/pennpilot/era19 ... v_6_77.jpg
 #1018092  by Bethlehem Jct.
 
BuddCarToBethlehem wrote:There's one in Bethlehem, near Moravian College. It's at the bottom of that hill/bluff where W. Elizabeth Ave turns into Mach Chunk Rd., and then turned west into Schoenersville Rd. Although I'm not sure if it was installed by the Lehigh & New England or the Jersey Central when they took over line in the '1960's. The bridge was replaced and relocated several years ago, and while the booth is still in the same location as 20 years ago, it's now at the end of a dead-end street (Mauch Chunk Rd.). However, you can clearly see it when driving east on Schoenersville Rd down the hill from the Eaton Ave. junction as you cross the bridge.
I always wondered if that was the original location. Not only is it about 100 yards or so east of the old L&NE line, to Bath and Martins Creek, but it's located on the opposite side of the creek from the tracks.

This Google Street view doesn't do it justice, but you can see the booth in the middle against the hill. The brush makes a good background.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Mauch+Chu ... 8,,0,-2.65

http://data.cei.psu.edu/pennpilot/era19 ... v_6_77.jpg
I know the one you mean. There was a spur off the Lehigh and Lackawanna branch that serviced the paint mill complex. The spur crossed the Monocacy just north of the facility. That booth would have been right next to the spur.
 #1152369  by ironhorsehistory
 
Just wanted to thank everyone for all the great info. I know this post is somewhat old, but I did manage to followup on almost all the booths that had been posted here and got some great shots/info for my reproduction purposes.

Thanks once again to all who helped.