Today I decided to talk a walk along the freight line which runs past about a mile from my house. As a kid I never knew much about it besides the fact that the crossing was located close by and once in a great while you'd get stuck when a train would pass. I also remember hearing the low moan of the horn at night if it was late and I couldn't sleep. For those of you familiar with the Hamilton/Bordentown area, the line comes up out of Bordentown and parallels Route 130 (or rather Route 130 parallels it) until just past East Windsor where most of the trackage has been torn up/paved over. South of this point, however, there are still some industries with sidings and/or spurs that depend heavily on rail service such as Agway, Yardville Concrete, Clayton Block, Sun Chemical, etc...
I stumbled upon another forum one day called www.railroad.net and started poking around in the New Jersey forums. Just an FYI there is lots of information about the various lines which crisscross the pinelands. Anyway, I found out that my "home line" which now known as the Robbinsville Industrial Line, operated by CSX, was actually part of the Camden and Amboy Railroad! The C&A was chartered in 1832 and started in Camden, running up the river to Bordentown, where it turned inland and ran northeast through Yardville (then called Sandtown), Robbinsville, East Windsor, Cranbury, Hightstown, etc...all the way to South Amboy. In fact, the John Bull, one of the first steam locomotives in the U.S., was built for the C&A.
It's pretty cool to have that kind of history in your backyard, but a little disappointing in a way as well. There's nothing really commemorating the fact that the beat up old freight tracks carry so much history, and the line itself is in bad shape in some spots along even the active part. Plus tractor-trailers threaten to take some of the business away from it as well. Right now freight trains only operate from midnight to 6 AM as it is since south of Bordentown the trackage is shared with NJ Transit for the River Line which travels the C&A right of way down to Camden. There's also been some talk of restoring the trackage all the way out to South Amboy once again, linking up with the Jersey Coast Line and/or the proposed Monmouth Ocean Line and running light rail between Trenton/Bordentown and points east. Sounds like a good idea to me not only for history's sake, but for the roads as well!
Looking northeast near Clayton Block's siding
Southwest toward Bordentown
Bridge over the mighty Crosswicks Creek
Steep drop to the water below
Looking west
And now east
Crosstie deterioration
The section of the line explored
All in all it was a very nice walk. If not for the drone from Route 130 and the evidence of partying/graffiti at the bridge, it was almost like being in a different time. Just walking through the woods with nothing but a railroad track as a sign of man's presence. It's a shame that the rails are such bad shape though. Now I know why the freight trains travel as slowly as they do. It would more than likely take a lot of rehabilitation to turn it into a light rail line, but a guy can dream right?
I stumbled upon another forum one day called www.railroad.net and started poking around in the New Jersey forums. Just an FYI there is lots of information about the various lines which crisscross the pinelands. Anyway, I found out that my "home line" which now known as the Robbinsville Industrial Line, operated by CSX, was actually part of the Camden and Amboy Railroad! The C&A was chartered in 1832 and started in Camden, running up the river to Bordentown, where it turned inland and ran northeast through Yardville (then called Sandtown), Robbinsville, East Windsor, Cranbury, Hightstown, etc...all the way to South Amboy. In fact, the John Bull, one of the first steam locomotives in the U.S., was built for the C&A.
It's pretty cool to have that kind of history in your backyard, but a little disappointing in a way as well. There's nothing really commemorating the fact that the beat up old freight tracks carry so much history, and the line itself is in bad shape in some spots along even the active part. Plus tractor-trailers threaten to take some of the business away from it as well. Right now freight trains only operate from midnight to 6 AM as it is since south of Bordentown the trackage is shared with NJ Transit for the River Line which travels the C&A right of way down to Camden. There's also been some talk of restoring the trackage all the way out to South Amboy once again, linking up with the Jersey Coast Line and/or the proposed Monmouth Ocean Line and running light rail between Trenton/Bordentown and points east. Sounds like a good idea to me not only for history's sake, but for the roads as well!
Looking northeast near Clayton Block's siding
Southwest toward Bordentown
Bridge over the mighty Crosswicks Creek
Steep drop to the water below
Looking west
And now east
Crosstie deterioration
The section of the line explored
All in all it was a very nice walk. If not for the drone from Route 130 and the evidence of partying/graffiti at the bridge, it was almost like being in a different time. Just walking through the woods with nothing but a railroad track as a sign of man's presence. It's a shame that the rails are such bad shape though. Now I know why the freight trains travel as slowly as they do. It would more than likely take a lot of rehabilitation to turn it into a light rail line, but a guy can dream right?
