Atsion Turntable

Kevinhooa

Kevinhooa

Explorer
Mar 12, 2008
332
25
41
Hammonton, NJ.
www.flickr.com
Turntables

TeeGate said:
Kevin,

Your photo's also show the one location where the actual ties still show in their original location. And the ditch you photographed is no longer there. It has been repaired and the pipes have been pushed into the woods nearby. That is Salter's Ditch and is man-made. If you look on topo or aerial maps you can see how they used it to add water to what is now Atsion Lake.

Salters Ditch – "'In 1786, a canal was dug from the Mechescautuxen Creek to Atsion River a little above the ore lands belonging to the Batsto Furnace, in order to get a greater head of water over the dam from which Atsion forge obtained its power. Whenever the floodgates were opened the lands below the dam were inundated and the ore diggers were forced to stop
work.' A seven year-long lawsuit ensued. (Early Forges + Furnaces, p. 169)." Joseph Salter
M 83.90.568.

Follow it north and south.

http://maps.njpinebarrens.com/#lat=39.7373728237224&lng=-74.75945234298706&z=16&type=k&gpx=


Now you need to find the Whiting turntable which is half still there.



Guy
Click to expand...

Hey Guy,
thanks for that info. I didn't know that's what that was used for. Pretty crazy how sometimes things don't look like much and then they end up with a whole history and a crazy story behind them. Yeah, Whiting is a neat place and I'm sure one day, I'll poke around in the woods near there.

Kevin
 
R

rforce1024

New Member
Oct 2, 2024
14
1
NJ
H
Jerseyman said:
Guy:

As you note, railroads used turntables to turn locomotives, but seldom used them to turn cars unless you are talking about self-propelled cars, which the R&DB, VRR, and the NJS did not use. Passenger cars featured "walkover" seats--seats where a trainman could reverse the position of the back to allow passengers to ride facing forward.

Although today we think of the rail route through the Pines as one continuous railroad, remember that beginning in October 1870, Atsion served as a junction point between the New Jersey Southern Railroad and Charles K. Landis's Vineland Railway. The turntable and the engine houses (two total) belonged to the Vineland Railway because Atsion represented the company's northernmost terminus. Contrarily, the NJS had the option to turn locomotives at Jackson Junction (now Atco) or to run in reverse back up to Manchester (now Lakehurst), where the NJS maintained its primary shop complex including a roundhouse and turntable. However, I'm sure the NJS engine crews took advantage of the VRR's turntable on occasion.

Good job, Guy, finding the center pivot block and the landscape features representing postbellum railroading in the Pines! I hope you and Jessica enjoyed the exploration opportunity.

Best regards,
Jerseyman
Click to expand...
Hello.. I went back to atsion to see the old abandoned railroad, I tried looking for the turntable as everyone mentioned but I did not find it..
If you don't mind me asking would you or anyone know exactly where it is? Sorry to ask but Im interested in abandoned material.. thank you.
 
Teegate

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,886
8,592
Were you there early this morning around 10:15? I saw a vehicle parked there off of 206.
 
Teegate

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,886
8,592
Unless you have a GPS you are just going to have to roam around. So park at 206 and walk up the tracks about 400 feet. Then walk East about 250 feet to the turntable. The turntable had higher ground built up on the way to it so look for what may be higher ground on the east side of the tracks. It has been maybe 18 years since I have visited so I can't tell you exactly how to get there.

The tracks in the map follow the longer arrow.

turn.jpg
 
R

rforce1024

New Member
Oct 2, 2024
14
1
NJ
Thank you.. I was in atsion a few hours ago, just got home. It's been a long time since I was there myself. I wanted to see if the tracks were still there and the one trussle that crossed over the outflow from atsion lake.
I pulled up some maps from this site especially the wye where the tracks split. You can't see any signs of the timbers that the tracks say on but you could see where the tracks would have been.
I would have thought at least they would have kept the switch or junction piece of track off the track that's is seen today. I parked near the furnace and walked the tracks and area heading to 206 where the wye would have been but seen nothing.. I didn't check
I didn't check or walk around on the left side of tracks and that's where the turntable was according to your picture.
I will probably go back up tomorrow again when I have more time.. got a late start today.
 
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