TeeGate said:
Guy,
Thanks for the links. Sounds tempting but I will wait until the CNJ Festival in September to see what I can find. Several years ago I picked up the Trail of the Blue Comet for only $55; I've seen them go as high as $70.
Thanks to your directions, I found the CNJ switch near Pasadena. It was a little tough to move but it worked. I also noticed the marking of Conrail with the date of 1984.
I also met Trish at Old Halfway and back at Marilyn's.
Here was my trip with pictures to follow:
I was talking to the owner of the hardware store on Union Avenue Lakehurst. He tells me that is father has pictures of the Blue Comet when it passed there many years ago.
I found the bridges about 100 feet down the trail as it split into two. I then proceeded to Upton Station Rd and Rail Way. Unfortunately, there was nothing to find except a real scary road that leads back to a Body Shop. One of the trucks back there looks like the one used in the movie "Jeepers Creepers".
So I proceeded down the Southern Secondary to Brooksbrae/Pasadena where I saw the concrete marker that shows the border between Ocean and Burlington County.
I then went down a little further and found a switch that still works. The date o the switch is 1984 and it has the Conrail marking.
Heading down Savoy Blvd, I took a walk on the bridge that crosses over RT72. Some of those ties are really showing their age.
Continuing down Savoy Blvd to Chatsworth, I saw a plant there which was a customer of CNJ; you can see the track cross over to this abandoned factory.
I then headed to Atsion and then went down Hampton Road. I found High Crossing and where I believe was Atsion station.
I then went back on to RT206 and crossed over to find Parkdale and Elm and on to Winslow Junction.
These tracks are less visible in this area then anywhere that I've seen in the Pines.
At Winslow, there was some mechanic in he train starting it up and letting it run for ten minutes before shutting it down.
I went to Angelo's Deli and Liquor store to see if I can talk to the owner as I did about 5 years ago. At that time, the son told his father that I was looking for Winslow Junction. When the father returned, he had pictures of the terrible accident that occurred there in the early 1920s. Unfortunately, the store was vacated and had signs up that the store was for sale.
Not a bad day seeing as I found pretty much everything I was looking for.
I also hear that some owner of an excursion train has submitted to some state agency the right to bring an excursion train to run from somewhere in Whiting to Chatsworth. I hear the paperwork was submitted about four months ago. How nice would it be to see a train there again.
One question I did have is there is some factory that is located on Savoy Blvd that appears to have been a customer of Conrail as I can see the track cross the road. Does anyone know what they manufactured there?
Ken
