by Jtgshu
I was doing a little research today on the Seashore and Freehold Branches in and around Matawan and I came up with a few questions that I wanna ask some of you fellas (and ladies!)....
1) how long did MR tower last and when was it torn down? Was it remoted at some time or did it last until the electrification and reconstruction in 1982/3?
2) What kind of signals were used at MR? Ive seen a pic of signals coming off the Freehold Branch an the Main (current track 1 im assuming) where there is a mast with two signals (one for each track) was it a similar set up for the main tracks both east and west, or were they individual poles, or where they on a signal bridge? And what kind of signal came off the Seashore? Was it like the one coming off the Freehold Branch? In the "Trail of the Blue Comet" it shows all the tracks and industies that had service in the Matawan area (amazing!) - were they all part of the Interlocking and interlocked? What type of signals were used, all CNJ color lights with the veritcal colors (and verical heads for interlocking signals, and staggered heads for automatics) and the big black shields or semaphores or a combo of both? Ive seen older pics of semaphores, did any last or was everything changed to color lights?
I looked at Historic aerials and in particular, the 1979 pictures are amazing, still shows a lot of the old trackage, but the later shots show the major changes that took place in the area. Where those changes forced by the NJT reconstruction, or were they all just sort of occuring at the same time.
Im trying to design a layout for the Seashore and Freehold Branches and Matawan is going to be a major part of it, and Id like to get some more info of some of the changes, and how things were and how they got to what it is today. Of course, pictures and stories would be great as well
1) how long did MR tower last and when was it torn down? Was it remoted at some time or did it last until the electrification and reconstruction in 1982/3?
2) What kind of signals were used at MR? Ive seen a pic of signals coming off the Freehold Branch an the Main (current track 1 im assuming) where there is a mast with two signals (one for each track) was it a similar set up for the main tracks both east and west, or were they individual poles, or where they on a signal bridge? And what kind of signal came off the Seashore? Was it like the one coming off the Freehold Branch? In the "Trail of the Blue Comet" it shows all the tracks and industies that had service in the Matawan area (amazing!) - were they all part of the Interlocking and interlocked? What type of signals were used, all CNJ color lights with the veritcal colors (and verical heads for interlocking signals, and staggered heads for automatics) and the big black shields or semaphores or a combo of both? Ive seen older pics of semaphores, did any last or was everything changed to color lights?
I looked at Historic aerials and in particular, the 1979 pictures are amazing, still shows a lot of the old trackage, but the later shots show the major changes that took place in the area. Where those changes forced by the NJT reconstruction, or were they all just sort of occuring at the same time.
Im trying to design a layout for the Seashore and Freehold Branches and Matawan is going to be a major part of it, and Id like to get some more info of some of the changes, and how things were and how they got to what it is today. Of course, pictures and stories would be great as well
On the RR, "believe nothing you hear and only half of what you see"
John, aka "JTGSHU" passed away on August 26, 2013. We honor his memory and his devotion to railroading at railroad.net.
John, aka "JTGSHU" passed away on August 26, 2013. We honor his memory and his devotion to railroading at railroad.net.