Then and Now.....The Accident of the Blue Comet Train

[Teegate]

I believe the big wreck was east of Woodmansie as you say. There may have been other which may have been the one Pan photographed.

Guy

 

[ericsanjuan]

What, great reports in this thread. Very glad I was pointed to this forum. Happened to be talking on another forum about a regional history book I wrote and someone pointed me here. Since a portion of the book deals with the Blue Comet (among other topics), I gravitated towards this thread.

The photos and fields reports, the great research ... you guys are fantastic. Reminds me that I sit behind a desk WAY too much and need to start getting back out in the woods again. Thanks for all the great work. I have a feeling this forum will give me a LOT of reading.

 

[strom]

I believe the big wreck was east of Woodmansie as you say. There may have been other which may have been the one Pan photographed.

Guy

 

[strom]

hi guy, glad to see youre still writing............................my arthritis is finally making me feel old..................i thought it wasnt going to happen until i hit 80................next year......................the only wreck i know of is the one just west of chatsworth station.............but apprently as you write,there probably was more.............what date was the one in woodmansie.........press on, strom.............barnegat

 

[Teegate]

Sorry to hear about your problems Strom. My mom suffers from that also and that has me worried about my future. It is distorting my mom joints to the point her legs, ankles, wrists, and knees are a problem. Basically, every joint is a problem.

Guy

 

[bobpbx]

I don't know why none of us had thought of it before, but check out the 1970 historic arials just east of Woodmansie. I could swear that is a jumble of railroad cars in a bed of new sand.

http://www.historicaerials.com/

 

[Gibby]

Add one more vote for a jumble of railcars. What are the chances of that being caught on an aerial photograph? Pretty cool.

 

[Teegate]

Looks that way to me also. See attached.

 

[Pan]

Wow - amazing find - but is that a different wreck from the one I photographed in 1971?

 

[Teegate]

So because of Bob's post I started looking for the 1939 Blue Comet accident location, but the 1940 aerials stop just short of the location by about 50 feet. Just our luck! In any event, the 1940 aerials do show the empty Union Lake (Chatsworth Lake) from the dam breaking which washed out the bridge (Bridge 74) on the JCRR.

 

[Dogfish Charlie]

It's been a while but getting back to the wreck, The Woodland Township Historic Society has acquired a milepost 86 and placed it with the Blue Comet marker at the intersection of Rt 532 and Savoy Blvd. Not much information from where it was obtained, anyone have an idea?

 

[Teegate]

It's been a while but getting back to the wreck, The Woodland Township Historic Society has acquired a milepost 86 and placed it with the Blue Comet marker at the intersection of Rt 532 and Savoy Blvd. Not much information from where it was obtained, anyone have an idea?

They had to have acquired the top portion with the numbers in some way from the man who years ago posted photos of it in his back yard. How that occurred I don't know. Or, there were others like that in other parts of the county and they acquired one of those tops.

 

[Dogfish Charlie]

They had to have acquired the top portion with the numbers in some way from the man who years ago posted photos of it in his back yard. How that occurred I don't know. Or, there were others like that in other parts of the county and they acquired one of those tops.

I figured that they may have gotten at least the cap from the back yard one you mentioned, it appears authentic. The original post and base is still close to where it belongs as it was in your earlier photos.