Millstone Branch Exploration today Franklin Twp

[CarterB]

Old maps (1873) only show stations at Middlebush and Voorhees, although the 1940 aerial does mention Clyde along the ROW. Topo map shows a passing siding at Middlebush?

From Wikipedia, for what it's worth:
"Passenger service

The Millstone Branch boasted 12 passenger trains a day from East Millstone to New York City. Passenger stations, which were merely small wooden shacks, were located at East Millstone, South Middlebush Road, Clyde Road, Vorhees (now Route 27), and Jersey Avenue. All passenger service ended in 1929. However, the Jersey Avenue Park & Ride station operated by NJ Transit opened October 24, 1963 by the Pennsylvania Railroad and uses part of the old branch.[1] The last passenger station to survive was South Middlebush, which was razed in 1942. An empty patch of land still exists where the Clyde station stood just before the Clyde Road crossing. Although street signs and modern maps refer to it as "Clyde Road" older maps refer to it as "Clyde Station Road" - a reference to the once important railroad.[original research?] Just past the South Middlebush Road crossing, a telegraph pole can be found in the woods."

[carajul]

HERE ARE THE PICS!!!

What a sad sight.

First pic is looking across Clyde Rd xing toward E Millstone. Note crossing signs gone.

Second pic looking back toward Veronica Rd xing.

[carajul]

Here are pics of Amwell Rd xing by colonial park. Track here abandoned in 1972 track removed in 1978. Look close you can see the ties still there. There are also piles of spikes laying around!

First pic is looking away from Amwell Rd towards Colonial Park. Lots of ties here and row is very dicernable.

Second pic is looking toward Amwell Rd xing / E Millstone. The xing must have been on a hump in the road as the row is much higher than the current Amwell alignment.

[CarterB]

Any date nails in those ties?

[carajul]

Here is a pic of the Millstone branch and Middlebush pax station as it appear in 1948! Behind the station is Railroad Ave. The hump you can barely see in the bg is S Middlebush Rd. We are facing east with E Millstone behind us and New Brusnwick in front of us. The station was demolished 1 year later.

Looking at the rails things didn't look too good even by this date. Looks like very light rail and the vegatation sure shouts 'deferred maintenance'. The only thing moving on the rails was an occasional car to the rubber factory in E Millstone.

[ccutler]

Great photo!

I remember reading that the Millstone line used to go all the way to the Delaware River/south of Lambertville in the 19th century. Construction of the Reading undermined its economics west of Millstone, but there was a big fight over the Reading's right to cross the Millstone line's right of way.

[blackmaronj]

guys just an fyi i went to check out the east millstone area today and found most likely what looks like the original track that was apparently previously covered by trees (someone cut the trees down which uncovered the space) you can then see where the track ran from east millstone towards amwell rd crossing. Heres the location I was at:


its at the corner of bradley street ave and william street a bit off the road. Really cool stuff. then if you look north east you can see the identation of the original track bed and can follow it from that point.

[carajul]

There was actually a wye track configuration used to turn steam engines just west of the Amwell Rd xing in the woods. Abandoned by the late 1930s. The wye row was visible (barely) in the 1979 arials. I'm of the opinion that Penn Central sold the row from Elizabeth Ave westward. In 2001 those three huge houses backyards were built over the row and now you say all the trees are cut on the other side of the xing?!?! The row is perfectly intact leading up to Elizabeth Ave though, even near S Middlebush Rd the new housing tracts stop right up against the still-raised row with ties in place. The guy at NS emailed me and said CR only purchased the row up to Clyde Rd from Penn Central in 1976. I wonder who the hell ripped the rails out in the summer of '80 then. One of my friends in the area said the Amwell road xing was so bad by the late 1970s cars would bottom out and go booooom when you hit the tracks (although Amwell Rd is now flat you can tell when the tracks were there it was actually a large hump).

I don't know how to find out who owns land/real estate in NJ. The county says call the muni, the muni says call the county. No online service avail either.

[pumpers]

I don't know how to find out who owns land/real estate in NJ. The county says call the muni, the muni says call the county. No online service avail either.

If you know the street address, this site works well http://www.nj.com/news/bythenumbers/ Click on the "property ownership" link on the top near the center in blue. JS
EDIT: if you just enter the name of the street, and not a house/address number,it returns all the properties on the street, at least for my town. What is tricky is how it handles highways - I think it wants a street name and not just "Route 1"

[carajul]

That won't work for RR rows though as they don't have addresses. You would have to look at a plat map or something. Someone may have to take a run down to the Somerset County courthouse.

If anyone has any extra time on their hands find out who owns the row from Clyde Rd to E Millstone. Thanks!