South Amboy Thawing Sheds Demolished

I noticed the Thawing Sheds that used to serve the Coal Docks in South Amboy are no longer standing. Does anyone know when they were demolished or if there are plans for the site?

A ferry terminal and parking lot is proposed for the area to the immediate north of the thawing sheds. This project has been in the planning and design stages for the past 2 years. I understand that the long term vision is to build a waterside transit village community (public-private partnership type development) on the site of the coal thawing sheds, but I was under the impression that Conrail and or the aggregate loading company still owned the land under the thawing sheds and that the sheds would be in place until this project obtained some public funding. The loss of the South Amboy thawing sheds without any historic archival recordation or documentation is especially tragic since the former Reading Railroad coal thawing shed at Port Reading is scheduled to be demolished with the next few months.

Are any of the other structures at Port Reading due to be torn down? Any idea what is going to be done there?

A commercial property development company has acquired the property and has received local approval to grade the property and built a number of warehouses and service roads. The landside buildings, the coal thawing shed, pier office, boiler house, fire pump house, storehouse, and utility shed are scheduled for demolition. The NJ Historic Preservation Office (NJDEP) has evaluated the McMyler coal dumper as a historic structure eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places and is seeking to have the structure stabilized for in-situ preservation or reconstruction at another waterside site with some public access for historic interpretation. The non-profit organization Preservation New Jersey has listed the coal dumper as one of New Jersey's 10 most endangered historic properties. If you visit their web site, you can find some basic information on the effort to save the coal dumper from demolition.

I have some good pictures of the sheds before they were demolished. I will try to locate them and scan them in. One picture shows numerous Cantenary lines still in place and only one track going down to the NJCL through the new parking lot.

Metalrailz: Yes, that "one track going down to the NJCL through the new parking lot" connects the Amboy Secondary to the NJCL. It's still used for freight movements out of Browns Yard to go down the NJCL and onto the Southern Secondary (all the way down to Lakehurst NJ). I think they make about two round-trips a week.

Love to see the pics you have of the thawing sheds!