JCRR marker

[Teegate]

I walked the rails today a couple of miles from Carranza road and was reminded of the cement foundation that held the rail markers for the conductor. I had taken pictures of them years ago, and can't seem to find them. Does any of you who have walked a substantial portion of the track lately know if there is a complete marker left for me to photograph?

Here is a photo of the cement foundations. The top section was metal and was about 3 feet high. It was square and I believe it tapered to a point at the top.


Also, which section of the track is it that is not complete, that must be navigated around?

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/teegate/marker.jpg

Guy

 

[JeffD]

I've only walked small portions of the JCCR. I've walked on it from Quaker Bridge Road, heading towards Carranza Road, and a little in both directions from Carranza Road. There was one other area where I walked, but forget where it was, where there were sections where you had to get off the trail. Maybe it was somewhere between Carranza and Chatsworth. That doesn't narrow it down too much. But I noticed very close to Carranza road the tracks were blocked by trees growing right in the middle of the rails. Also, I didn't notice any rails at all at the old crossing in Chatsworth as I drove by since last summer. Isn't there a member who walked all the way from Atsion to Chatsworth? Maybe he could tell you, Guy.

 

[Teegate]

Jeff,

They have removed the rails even at Carranza road. It is strange going there having remembered when the trains were running them. You could look down the tracks and see cars crossing them at intersections miles down.

Guy

 

[ed]

I think I saw the concrete footings around Pine Crest, back in the mid 90's. They were on the southern side of the tracks. I don't recall anything 3 feet tall, just footings and some embedded rebar.

The tracks were removed near Chatsworth when the irrigation ditch was dug from Chatswoth lake to the bogs. You can't walk the rails into Chatsworth anymore. Last time I tried it (1998) I had to backtrack and find a trail to take me out to Chatsworth road. Now we shorten the trip and park on the road leading to Apple Pie Hill (by the brick columns).

Back in the very early 70's I used to canoe from Chatsworth Lake to Chips Folly on the Mullica. That was before the irrigation ditch was dug, I think there was another trestle over the outflow from the lake. Sounds like another fun exploration, hike the tracks from Chatsworth toward Carranza to find the other trestle.

It would probably be difficult to canoe from the lake now, since alot of the water is diverted to the bogs. I wonder if that was legal, and cutting the tracks. Does the railway still own the right of way?

Ed

 

[Teegate]

Ed,

Reading your other posts I believe you have walked from Chatsworth to Atsion and have not seen any complete ones. So I will have to search from Atsion to the White Horse Pike, or Chatsworth and points North. I will do that throughout the year as time permits.

Guy

 

[VTowner]

I recently walked the JCRR from near Buzby's in Chatsworth to Atsion, and I didn't see any signs in place. I did see a piece of a sign on the ground somewhere between Chatsworth and Carranza, but there was no post. I'm not sure exactly what it was because it looked like a VERY heavy piece of metal. When walking from Chatsworth to Atsion, it was just after a break in the tracks for a dirt road near some possibly cranberry-related buildings. (As an aside, I'm not sure how much of the trip is on private property, so use your judgment.)

As far as where the tracks are out, the only two places that will disrupt your travel are between Carranza and Chatsworth. There are two points where you'll need to find ways across streams where the trestles are gone. I was able to get around the first one by jumping over a narrow section near a bog flood gate, then carefully making my way through a little swampy section to get back to the tracks. There was no easy way across the second creek, and I wound up taking off my shoes and socks, walking across in a shallow section, then stopping for a snack to dry off before continuing. Although the actual tracks are not contiguous for the rest of the trip, there's no point where you can't at least walk a trail just to the side of the tracks.

 

[VTowner]

Have you looked around the area between Pasadena and Rt. 72? There is a whole lot of JCRR stuff around there. I'll never be able to describe this, but do you know the part where the siding splits off from the main track there along Pasadena road? The switch there still WORKS. I couldn't believe it. It's such great engineering...I'm not very strong, but I can with little effort move hundreds of pounds of steel with that switch. And it't still pretty smooth for how long it's been neglected and abused.

On the switch, there's a square connector that turns 90 degrees when you move the switch. I imagine that there was a marker on there at some point that let the engineer know which way the switch was set, but it's probably long gone.

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "rail markers" but there's a lot of interesting stuff back there. I found the switch when I was first looking for the Terra Cotta factory. If you take Pasadena Road from 72, I think it would be in a clearing on your right before you have to make the dog leg over the tracks.

 

[Teegate]

I have been to the Pasadena Terra Cotta factory many times and know the area well. I did not explore the tracks much in that area so I am going to ask a few questions. What do you mean by dog leg? If I am heading on the road from the bridge on 72 toward Pasadena, it curves around Woodmansie and returns back to the track. It continues until you must make a right and cross the tracks. Then continuing left takes you to Pasadena. Which area is it in that I have described, or is it farther down past Pasadena?

Also the rail marker I mentioned bolted onto the cement foundations that are in the picture I posted.

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/teegate/marker.jpg

Notice the two bolts anchored into it. There was a square metal post that was about 6 or 8 inches square and about 3 feet tall that bolted to it. The top of the post tapered into a point with what I remember to be a flat top about 1 inch flat or so. Basically a pyramid looking something like the Carranza Memorial. This was some sort of notification to the conductor. Either a mile marker or a road intersection marker.

If you walk the tracks from Carranza to the wooden stakes, walk on the left side and you will come to the cement foundation in the picture above. I believe it is closer to the stakes that to Carranza. They are located all along the tracks at different places. At least they were years ago. Some of them may have been taken along with the metal tops.

If you ever stumble onto one, even the foundation, could you keep a record of where you found it. This could give me an idea as to whether they were located at intersections or not, allowing me to figure out where I should look farther down the tracks from the pines for them. I really want to get a photo of a complete one.

I know either my friend or I took a photo years ago, but I do not have it and I have contacted him with no reply as of yet.

Guy

 

[VTowner]

I'm not positive about exactly where it is, but it's before the second turn that you described, when you actually cross the tracks. As I recall, it's quite obvious if you're coming from 72 because there's a big clearing on the right and a whole lot of room to pull your car off safely and the tracks are in plain view. Maybe I'll go out there this weekend and get you better directions. It's one of those things where I can find it with no problem but can't describe it. There was a lot of modern junk in the immediate area (including the nearly complete skeletal remains of a motorcycle) but there's also a lot of extra track and ties around there.

I stumbled on that area before I was heavy into hiking, so I may get my hiking buddies to walk that stretch of track with me sometime and explore it a little more thoroughly. I'd love to know what was there that required a siding.

I've walked the tracks a quite a bit, but I've never seen a marker like you're talking about. I may have seen the bases (sorry, I don't know where off hand) but I probably just thought they were random broken off chunks of reinforced concrete. If I happen to notice them from now on, I'll make a note and let you know.

 

[Teegate]

Thanks Chip. I may get a chance to travel out that way this weekend also. It is almost an hour ride just to get there so I am never sure if I will have the time.

I will also try again to contact my friend and see if he has that photo.

Guy

 

[BobM]

Ed,

You canoed from Chatsworth Lake to Chips Folly on the Mullica? Do you mean you actually canoed all the way through that network of bogs to the West branch of the Wading River, and then on to the Mullica? That had to be a hell of a trip; 9 to 11 hours long, right?

What was the section right below the lake like?

 

[ed]

We would leave Friday evening, even in the dark, find dry ground and start again next mornimg. We took our time, spent Saturday night out also, and got picked up Sunday. This was done at the end of May, lots of water. We used a long wooden canoe, heavy, but never thought it was a problem. Oh to be in my early 20's again.

It was suprisingly easy going below the lake, especially since probably no one else ever did it or cleared it. Just drag it over a log now and then. It would probably be more difficult now that alot of the water has been diverted, but maybe not so bad with a light kayak.

Once we crossed to the east of rt 563, we entered the bogs. That was easy going, since it was "dredged". Right before rt 563 above Speedwell it got very dense, more like a swamp than a river. We stayed in the deepest water and came out at the more southern bridge at 563. We carried our gear north up rt 563 to the other bridge and continued on.

I'll have to get my pictures out from that trip. Some of the strongest memories ore of thunderstorms and the friends we made at the Lower Bank bridge.

 

[westyvw]

I know exactly the spot you are talking about. Back around 1970(+/-) a JCRR train derailed at that location. There were 5-6(+/-) 'sand hopper' cars scattered along the tracks on their sides. I believe the siding was constructed there and a crane on a flatbed car was brought in to remove the large pieces of the derailed cars that they cut up. When the cars were removed, so was the siding. Only the large clearing remains. My father belonged to the Sportsmen's Fish & Game Protective Assn of NJ back in the 50's & 60's. Now refered to as just the Sportsmen's club, it is the first club you see at Woodmansie when you come in from Rt. 72 (the 'modern' cinderblock club). As an early teen, I remember walking down the tracks (NE) from the club to the wreck and climbing in and out of the overturned cars. I remember doing this a few different times and that it took them quite a few weeks to clean it up. There were mounds of pure white sand that spilled out of the cars all along that section of track.