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  • Belle Mead station

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Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New Jersey

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 #226971  by Bobby S
 
Was taking the scenic route up 206 from S. Jersey when I saw on the map I would pass right by the station or "remnant" of one. It sure looked beat up. I did see a post about this station a little bit ago. If they rehab this line for passenger service, will they rehab this structure as well? I mean the parking lot is horrendous. Doesn't seem like a whole lot of parking? Anybody have the latest on this line to West Trenton or is this one of those "NO MONEY FOR PROJECTS" list items? LOL

 #227006  by transit383
 
The existing station could be used with a large parking area built on the right side of Route 206SB after crossing the tracks. It wouldn't be practical, however, to re-open this station. The Route 206 bridge over the tracks is on a dangerous curve and the road is congested already without a train station there. Here is a pic I took from the Route 206 overpass. A new station located farther south on Route 206 would be more efficient.

 #227073  by themallard
 
transit383 wrote:The existing station could be used with a large parking area built on the right side of Route 206SB after crossing the tracks. It wouldn't be practical, however, to re-open this station. The Route 206 bridge over the tracks is on a dangerous curve and the road is congested already without a train station there. Here is a pic I took from the Route 206 overpass. A new station located farther south on Route 206 would be more efficient.
I believe a read somewhere that NJDOT plans to rebuild that bridge one day, and if service is restored a new station will be built with more room for parking.

 #227108  by transit383
 
themallard wrote:I believe a read somewhere that NJDOT plans to rebuild that bridge one day, and if service is restored a new station will be built with more room for parking.
The bridge over the tracks on CR-514 (Amwell Road), a few miles north of the US-206 bridge, is currently being rebuilt. IMO, the Route 206 bridge needed to be rebuilt and the roadway realigned much more than the Amwell Road bridge.

 #227138  by CJPat
 
I think 206 has been realigned before. You can see the remains of a bridge abuttment over the railroad about a couple of hundred yards south of the current 206 bridge. It appears to have originally connected to CR-601 (Belle Meade-Blawenburg Rd.) right at the dog leg and Butlers farm stand. It makes sense that the dog leg was originally a T intersection.

Of course, I don't know for sure if that bridge was for 206, but it kind of made sense due to the straight lines involved. The current 206 bridge looks to date from around the 1940's (guess) so that "hwy" re-alignment, if that is what it was, was a long time ago.

 #227185  by pumpers
 
About 10-15 years ago, after the state DOT wanted to turn 206 through
Montgomery (that's the township that starts at Belle Mead
and goes south to Princeton) into a 4 lane highway and the town
objected, there was a big deal struck. The deal was that
206 would be realinged (and I think turned into 4 lanes) from
SOmerville through Hillsboro. THere was supposed to be a new
206 and a new bridge over the tracks east of the current bridge.

There is a new (10 years old?) BIG condo development south of the
tracks and east of 206 (I forget the name), but they left a ROW
open in the middle of it for the future realigned 206. The new 206 was
suppoosed to connect to the old one maybe 1/2 mile south of the tracks,
I forget exactly. The deal was for allowing this, 206 would not
get widened through the rest of Montgomery.

I don't live in Montgomery any more, but from what I hear, the
town is backing away from the deal -- all those people in the condos
don't want the road of course, even though they were all
supposedly told about it when they bought, and these people are "votes". I don't know where exactly it stands now. JS

 #227500  by JLo
 
The Rt 206 by-pass is still on the NJDOT construction plan. It has been modified to eliminate some exits and entrances to reduce sprawl. Montgomery is still fighting it like crazy.

As part of the restoration of West Trenton service, Hillsborough is supposed to get a new station serving its "town center" near Amwell Road. IIRC, the station at Belle Mead is not to be reopened.

 #227547  by themallard
 
According to this map the Belle Mead Station will be south of Rt 206, and there will be another station north of it in Hillsbourough, as well as stations in Hopewell, I-95 behind the Merril Lynch complex, and West Trenton.

 #227599  by Mercer&Somerset
 
A new 206 bridge is in the works--it will be built a few hundred feet south/west along the tracks from the old one. I saw the plans at a Montgomery Township planning workshop back in November. The new bridge will be built regardless of whether the bypass ever gets built (Montgomery wants the bypass to reconnect with 206 in Hillsborough, while Hillsborough and the state want it to reconnect in Montgomery).

Also, when the new 206 bridge is built, the old one (having been deemed by the state of no historical significance) will be torn down.

Now, on to the trains! If service is reactivated, the new Belle Mead station would indeed be constructed further south/west along the line than the current (former?) one. The large tract of land south of the tracks and west of 206 will soon be developed, and the town is hoping to create a "transit village". The preliminary plans showed a parking area and station building on the south side of the tracks.

As for the old station, everyone in town wants to save it, but no one has any idea about what to do with it. I myself wouldn't mind fixing it up, settling down a la "The Station Agent", but it's owned by the state (I checked a few years back) :(

 #227602  by WestTrentonFan
 
Hi all..It has been a long time since I have posted. Anyway, the condo/apartment complex you are referring to in Belle Mead is called Pike Run. There is indeed a ROW for the future alignment in this complex. I lived there for two years when i was first married. I was never told that this space was for a planned 206 alignment. We assumed it was preservation.

I used to go to sleep to the sound of freights on the West Trenton Line, and could actually see the line from my balcony overlooking the lake. RIght before I moved out, they built more condos, obscuring my view of the trains. Sure made it easier to move out....
 #235521  by themallard
 
Some new info on the Route 206 Bridge @ Belle Mead Station:
DOT plan calls for delaying Rt. 206 bypass until 2008

...The replacement of the Route 206 bridge over the CSX railroad in the Belle Mead section of Montgomery also is slated for 2008. That project calls for $17 million to replace the existing 85-foot span with a new 138-foot bridge, plus realignments to Route 206 and County Route 601.

The bypass would reroute traffic on the present stretch of Route 206 south of Somerville Road to a new highway to the east. The bypass would divert traffic from the present Route 206 through downtown Hillsborough and open up industrial development in the eastern part of the township...
Courier News

 #235574  by Mercer&Somerset
 
Glad the old bridge is getting a reprieve, at least for now. I was down there the last weekend of March--the station was looking worse than I remember. The boards covering the door had been removed and it looked like the walls in the interior had been smashed up a bit.

 #235622  by transit383
 
Mercer&Somerset wrote:Glad the old bridge is getting a reprieve, at least for now. I was down there the last weekend of March--the station was looking worse than I remember. The boards covering the door had been removed and it looked like the walls in the interior had been smashed up a bit.
The interior of the station is now fully exposed with the boards covering the northern doorway removed, allowing anyone to enter the station. I took a few steps in, saw the damaged interior walls and stepped right out, as I did not want to venture in any further due to anyone or anything that may be living inside. The damage wasn't too extensive, but it won't be getting any better anytime soon. A shame...
 #1095719  by estatik
 
October, 2012:

The new bridge is complete and the station is still there, though the smaller one on the south side is missing a giant section of the wall, making exterior and interior one and the same.

I "discovered" this station while driving up 206 from Princeton and seeing that the driveway down to the station was clear, I pulled in and explored. I took many photos. The main building appeared to be sealed up tight, though the roof damage will rot it in very little time. Considering the roof is slate, I highly doubt it will be fixed or patched satisfactorily enough to keep the elements out. I'm going to guess that freeze/thaw got the better of the wall on the small station's wall, as the hole is far too big to be vandals. The wooden benches lining the walls appears to be in fairly good condition, all things considered.

On the Wikipedia page for Belle Mead, it says the station is likely circa 1913, which means that it has just about reached 100 years old. Not bad considering the last 30 or so years of it have been abandoned years..

Here is a photo I took, showing both buildings: http://www.flickr.com/photos/estatik/8104199373/