Help identifying a branch in NJ

Folks,

Looking to find information on the branch that ran from Pavonia Jct (camden) to Seaside Park, NJ.

Towns along this line include:

Merchantville,
Maple Shade,
Moorestown,
Hartford,
Mount Holly,
South Pemberton,
New Lisbon,
Upton,
Whitings,
Keswick Grove,
Crossley,
Toms River.

Also, some other questions,

1.) Medford Jct. Besides the PRSL, what was in Medford that was so important? Did the PRSL and the PRR actually connect in Medford?

2.) Vincentown Branch? From Ewansville to Vincentown... Again, importance?

3.) Browns Mills Branch? I am guessing there was a mill there, hence the name, what kind of mill was it that would be important to get its own branchline?

4.) Island Heights Branch? Interesting to cross the inlet just to get to 1 town...

5.) Safe to assume that the CNJ crossed the PRR at grade in both Whitings and Beachwood?

Finally, when did all these lines become abandoned for both passenger and freight services?

Thanks in advance,

http://web.mit.edu/spui/www/temp/nj.pdf shows this branch; it was built as the Camden, Moorestown, Hainesport & Mount Holly Horse Car RR, Burlington & Mount Holly RR, Pemberton & New York RR, and Philadelphia & Long Branch Ry. The west half later became the Camden & Burlington County RR and the east half the Philadelphia & Atlantic RR (?).
http://historical.maptech.com/getImage. ... g&state=NJ shows a connection in Medford, and the 1900 CT1000 agrees:

6.3 Medford (Junc Medford Br)
6.3 Medford (J. J. Rogers)
6.6 Medford (Station)

18.5 Medford
18.6 Medford (Kirby Bros)
18.8 Medford (Junc MHL&M RR)

To answer the question and to add to the previous post:

This line was once a branch line of the PRR. More information is at the 12th post at http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=503. Look for Philadelphia and Long Branch.

This line also went through Upton. You can find a street sign on Rte. 70 going west from Whitings labeled "Upton Station" even today, located just east of the power lines that currenly occupy the old railroad right-of-way.

There are streets named "Pennsylvania Ave" in Beachwood and Pine Beach, which show where the railroad once was. Look at http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?lo ... tohistory= for more info. Lastly, US Route 9 from the Parkway east to Rte. 166 is built on the old PRR roadbed, as can be seen from the aforementioned link.

1.) Yes, there was a through connection in Medford. The original line was the Mt. Holly, Lumberton & Medford, built 1869, followed by the Philadelphia, Marlton & Medford, built 1880-1881. According to an article online on the PM&M, it was built so that the Camden & Atlantic (later WJ&S line Camden-Atlantic City) could interchange with the PRR. After both lines fell under PRR control, the PM&M was left handling scarce local traffic and was abandoned in 1927. Passenger service from Mt. Holly to Medford ended November 27, 1926 and from Haddonfield to Medford September 24, 1927. The Haddonfield-Medford line was abandoned November 2, 1931.

2.) The Vincentown Branch was built to serve marl pits. The last passenger train ran September 24, 1927 and the line was abandoned October 1, 1927.

3.) The railroad spur was built relatively late (1890), as the original founder of Browns Mills (I think under some other name) disliked the railroads; I think it may have been something of a resort for a time, and they had other industries besides milling. Look for some of the Henry Charlton Beck books on forgotten towns in Southern New Jersey, which should have more information on Browns Mills. Passenger service ended October 24, 1925 and the line was abandoned October 31, 1925.

4.) Island Heights was primarily a resort community at its inception, as best I can tell.

5.) The crossing at Whitings was at grade, and the crossing at Beachwood apparently so from old topo maps.

Some of this line is still active and a few stations are still intact. The Merchantville station is in good shape though the tracks were torn up a few years ago as the current connection to the Mt. Holly Line (Pemberton Secondary) is now by way of Delair. The Maple Shade Station, the Moorestown Station and the Mt Holly Station still see trains a couple times a week. You can get pictures of CSX or Conrail locomotives right in front of the Mt Holly Station on Monday afternoons around 3:30 or so. Beyond that the tracks are gone though about ten miles further east the Pemberton station has been restored. I don't know if any other stations are still there on this line.

Photos of a recent train on the "Back Road" at the east end of Moorestown:

http://community.webshots.com/photo/111 ... 7739AOYchs

http://community.webshots.com/photo/111 ... 8045xUAStU

http://community.webshots.com/photo/111 ... 8438fYwkdZ

and a colorful train in Mount Laurel in December 2001:

http://community.webshots.com/photo/306 ... WpvBPImRmi

First Barnegat wrote:To answer the question and to add to the previous post:

This line was once a branch line of the PRR. More information is at the 12th post at http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=503. Look for Philadelphia and Long Branch.

This line also went through Upton. You can find a street sign on Rte. 70 going west from Whitings labeled "Upton Station" even today, located just east of the power lines that currenly occupy the old railroad right-of-way.

There are streets named "Pennsylvania Ave" in Beachwood and Pine Beach, which show where the railroad once was. Look at http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?lo ... tohistory= for more info. Lastly, US Route 9 from the Parkway east to Rte. 166 is built on the old PRR roadbed, as can be seen from the aforementioned link.

I did notice the signs for Upton Station many times but never bothered to go back there. Are there any remains left in Upton?

I also noticed that right across the stree from the Upton Station sign there's another sign that says Rail Way, I believe.

Ken

Hi all,

Check out OCTrainGuys web site. Full of information on the PRR line going to Seaside. http://www.octrainguy.com/PRRline.html

He even has some pictures of what remains of the bridge/pier over the bay!

-Tom