My wife called me this afternoon as she drove down Route 166 in South Toms River and saw that the freight station was no longer standing. On my way home from work, I stopped by there and it's gone. All that's left is the hole where the foundation was.
Originally a passenger station, it was converted into a freight station by the CNJ. When the state built the new traffic pattern in downtown Toms River and widened Route 166 into South Toms River last year, I was concerned about the station's fate. But when the work was done, it still stood.
I don't know what happened, but there is a lot of wood pieces lying around the site. I think it may have been torn down. It would've been nice to have saved it, but I don't think that happened.
Here's a photo of the station from October 1998: http://octrainguy.com/TRfreightStation.jpg
So another piece of the CNJ is gone here in Ocean County. Aside from the ROW, there isn't much left of the ol' Barnegat Branch, south of the lead for the Ciba Geigy (Toms River Chemical) plant.
Originally a passenger station, it was converted into a freight station by the CNJ. When the state built the new traffic pattern in downtown Toms River and widened Route 166 into South Toms River last year, I was concerned about the station's fate. But when the work was done, it still stood.
I don't know what happened, but there is a lot of wood pieces lying around the site. I think it may have been torn down. It would've been nice to have saved it, but I don't think that happened.
Here's a photo of the station from October 1998: http://octrainguy.com/TRfreightStation.jpg
So another piece of the CNJ is gone here in Ocean County. Aside from the ROW, there isn't much left of the ol' Barnegat Branch, south of the lead for the Ciba Geigy (Toms River Chemical) plant.
