From the PRSLHS forum:
From: Richard Balassaitis [mailto:
[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, June 23, 2011 2:18 PM
To: '
[email protected]' Subject: Buzby Brothers - Westville, NJ
...
Some folks had questioned whether this really was the Buzby Brothers concrete facility in Westville, NJ.
(Buzby Brothers were listed as having a private siding in Westville on “The Reading Modelers” 1954 Freight Shipping Guide.)
... I grew up in Westville (2 blocks from the photo) and vaguely remember the plant as a kid.
Brakemen guarding the roadway, as setouts to the siding were made, was a common traffic disruption on Gateway Blvd. in the early 1950s.
... I only vaguely remember the building (behind the steam engine) but would check next time I was in Westville to verify the location.
No building exists there now but I did find remnants of a building foundation in the midst of the overgrowth.
I believe it was a bait shop (or at least the billboard above the building advertised bait) and a boat launching area to timber creek was located on the other side of the PRSL mainline.
So I do believe this is the correct location for the photo.
Westville has converted the site to a pleasant picnic grounds on the bank of the creek where Buzbys once stood.
The photo shows where Gateway Blvd splits into separate N/S lanes after coming over a traffic bridge over Big Timber Creek.
The Brooklawn circles are on the other side of the Timber Creek bridge.
To the right of the photo was the Westville power plant the PRSL used to electrify portions of the PRSL mainline through Woodbury and southern points.
To the left of the photo, the road now further splits to go to Routes 130/295 and route 45 through Woodbury.
Route 47, Delsea Drive (DELaware River to the SEAshore), come through town on the other side of the PRSL main.
This network of roads (as the name Gateway Blvd suggests) underscore why Westville, NJ used to refer to itself as the Gateway to South Jersey.
The PRSL coming through town and diverging to 3 separate routes at Woodbury also underscores the area as a traffic (rail and roads) gateway to southern NJ.
I have been to the Westville library to try to research this, but for an old established town the resources are meager.