NEWBIE: Belleplain RR Station

I am a 'newbie poster' here, so please pardon me if I misuse railroad terms.

My name is Heather Tucker and I live in Belleplain, NJ. I married a "local boy" last year and started doing his family tree (genealogy is one of my loves, but that's a story for another time...). Apparently, his family hasn't left here since the early 1800's which led to my interest in all things Belleplain!

I know there was at one time a railroad passenger station in Belleplain that closed around 1944-1950's. I was able to get a photo or two from the vertical files at the Cape May County Library, but my little "Belleplain RR Mystery" needs more than that. Recently, the Dennis Township Historical Society was gifted a desk that may have come from the Belleplain RR Station. They were also recently given some paperwork belonging to a Samuel G. Mason, who was the railmaster (correct/incorrect term?) in Belleplain from sometime after 1887 to 1906. He was then transferred to Pleasantville by the railroad and remained there until his retirement in 1942. He then returned to the same house he had sold 36 years earlier in Belleplain until his passing.

And since I can't seem to get right to the point (LOL)...how can I find out what happened to the passenger station, what happened to the contents and who were the 'railmasters' of Belleplain while it was in operation? Also, where was the passenger station located? Any info would be very much appreciated!

Thanks a bunch, I would love any help I can get :) And I am open for any rail excursions in this area...how about Halberton? :D

Heather in SJ
(where the gravy is brown and the sauce is red!)

I believe the tracks through town (Belleplain) were part of the rail line that ran through to Sea Isle City from Camden to Sea Isle City via Vineland and Woodbine.

I'm sure one of the folks from South Jersey can better fill in the details. Keep your eyes towards this site. You should get quite a history lesson about South jersey railroads if you do.

See ya all later.

The Rising is correct. The West Jersey & Seashore was a part of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company's Cape May Division, which covered much of far southern NJ from Camden

The line ran from the Camden Wharf through Newfield, Vineland, Milville, Belleplain, and Woodbine, to Sea Isle Jct. From there, the line divided, with one fork going to Ocean View, Sea Isle City, and Ocean City. The other fork headed to Cape May Court House, Wildwood Jct, Rio Grande, and Cape May.

The location of the station should be available on the town's tax maps, or on the county's road and rail maps. If the current map doesn't have a location, ask to view a map from the 1940s or 1930s. Because the right of way is usually linear on tax maps, widening for stations, freight houses, major shippers, etc, the location of a station is often apparent.

In 1910, there were 20 trains daily through Belleplain. The town just upline, Mamumskin, was the branch off point for the Maurice River Branch of the Pennsy.

Heather--Where is (was) Halberton?--My last name is Halbert and my father mentioned a town called that but could not find it or could not find any information about it. You can e-mail me offline if you wish since I do not believe there is a railroad connection to it LOL--Thanks

http://historical.maptech.com/getImage. ... g&state=NJ shows the old Belleplain station; it was a bit to the east of the main road.