Then and Now.....The Accident of the Blue Comet Train
- Thread starter Teegate
- Start date
There's six years worth of discussion on the site. A lot of really good stuff is back a few pages.
I'll vouch for the six years of great stuff. I've been reading and digging into it for a couple hours per night for the past six weeks. Its been an exciting journey reading into the history of that various areas. My personal favorites have been the well written and photographed day trips the contributors have put together.
Thanks to all of you who chase this passion and are kind of enough to share all of this incredible history and detail of the Pines.
Thanks to all of you who chase this passion and are kind of enough to share all of this incredible history and detail of the Pines.
Awesome! I just noticed this thread. I have been to the area and had never knew where the exact spot was. Thanks Nik, for bumping it up. And thanks, Guy for the great detective work and photos!
Might as well revive this old thread with this small article.
http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/loc...:+BurlingtonTimesNews+(Burlington+Times+News)
Guy
http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/loc...:+BurlingtonTimesNews+(Burlington+Times+News)
Guy
Short article that does not say much, but thank you Guy for reviving this thread! One of my favorite places in the Pines...
There are some places you can go back to a million times! The site of the Blue Comet Wreck, the site of the Bear Swamp crash, the old logging machine in the Great Swamp, Hampton Furnace, the WP stone and many many more.....
"The Pines may not consume you....but their history will"
There are some places you can go back to a million times! The site of the Blue Comet Wreck, the site of the Bear Swamp crash, the old logging machine in the Great Swamp, Hampton Furnace, the WP stone and many many more.....
"The Pines may not consume you....but their history will"
BTW Gipsie, I noticed you posted once on another site asking for information on the Swamp Monster (logging machine). I did not respond because I thought that info was still on this site. Recently, I looked for it and noticed that all of my research was no longer here, or at least I could not find it. So, if anyone is interested in me posting it again I will dig it up and get it to you.
Guy
Guy
Was it this perhaps? http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/get-togethers-events-trip-reports/6402-swamp-monster.html (made me a little sad to see those photos and posts from Jim...)
Also this: http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/get...ip-report-shiver-me-timbers-blow-me-down.html
TeeGate said:
Also this: http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/get...ip-report-shiver-me-timbers-blow-me-down.html
TeeGate said:Swamp Monster Update
I have a timeline on when the Swamp Monster was abandoned, and it was much later than I had thought it might have been. In April and July of 1977 there were serious fires in the pines, with one being east of Paradise Lake in the Great Swamp which burned for a week. Many of the cedars still in good condition fell over because the fires burned under the ground and destroyed the roots. Steve (Behr655) noticed the downed trees in aerial photo’s, and members of PBX visited there in our “Shiver Me Timbers and Blow Me Down” Hike in 2006 that you can read about in this thread.
The area in question.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=39.67...pn=0.011396,0.023196&t=k&z=16&iwloc=addr&om=1
About 120 acres were then put up for bit to have the cedars removed. The contract was won by Paul Harmanson who owned a saw mill in Mt. Holly. He hired Leon Stevens who owned Stevens Landscaping in Sickerville to harvest the trees, with the state receiving $54.320 for the wood. It was decided that because of the harsh terrain, the wood would be cut, placed on sleds, and pulled to dry ground with .......... a bulldozer. Sound familiar! Harvesting began in the fall of 1977, but complications caused them to stop. (Hmmmm) It resumed in January of 1979.
This was slow and costly, so a new plan was devised where a helicopter would remove the wood in place of driving it out. It was estimated that the vehicles could remove 60 cords a week, and the helicopter could do that in one day. The helicopter flew out of Hammonton airport each day of the operation.
All of the cedars removed were dead trees, and all the live tree’s were not touched. To insure the proper trees were removed, a blue line was painted on the tree’s at the division line between dead and live tree’s. This photo illustrates that perfectly.
It is apparent from this info the reason why there are so many downed tree’s still there, is because even though these tree’s fell in the fire because the roots were damaged, they must have still been alive and were not up for harvesting. You can see them clearly here as Steve noticed when planning the hike.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=39.67...74.683975&spn=0.001424,0.002899&t=k&z=19&om=1
Using the helicopter caused some hazards, especially where occasionally a log would let loose. Everyone would run for cover as to not be crushed by it. One worker from the 15 man shift was injured by a chainsaw, and was airlifted by the helicopter to the lawn of Kessler Memorial Hospital in Hammonton for medical help.
They averaged about 5 acres per week, and the process was expected to be finished by the fall of 1979. Some of the wood had started to rot requiring them to get it done quickly. In the end the wood was worth over one million dollars with you and I getting $54,320 of it.
Guy
Boyd,
Yes, that is most of it. I do also have the article in the Batsto Citizens Gazette that I believe is not included in all of the info you posted. I know I posted it on one occasion but I have not found that either. I have been sidetracked the last few days.
Guy
Yes, that is most of it. I do also have the article in the Batsto Citizens Gazette that I believe is not included in all of the info you posted. I know I posted it on one occasion but I have not found that either. I have been sidetracked the last few days.
Guy
Here is the article for the logging operations where the Swamp Monster is at and nearby. You may have to click on them to make them bigger or smaller. I have posted these before so some of you may have viewed it. Also, they are compliments of the Batsto Citizen Commitee newsletter. They say we can use them any way we choose as long as we give credit.
http://teegate.njpinebarrens.com/09012010/log1.jpg
http://teegate.njpinebarrens.com/09012010/logging.jpg
Guy
http://teegate.njpinebarrens.com/09012010/log1.jpg
http://teegate.njpinebarrens.com/09012010/logging.jpg
Guy
March visit
After viewing the video, Delux: The Tale of the Blue Comet, Deepexplr and I were compelled to visit the wreck site . We parked at the end of Apple Jack road, which had it's own assortment of stuff.
We proceeded up the dirt road and in a short distance entered a foot path on the right which took us to the tracks. Heading west we began to see alot of discarded ties. We then cane upon the infamous culvert which couldn't handle the heavy rains that fell that August in 1939.
A brake shoe.
An old pole
Someone had gone to alot of trouble to block the tracks with trees but it was no problem.
We also found a snare in the downed trees placed where one would walk when heading down the tracks to the wreck site. The snare had no ID tag. I also found another wire attached to another downed tree.
We took a near by side trip where we saw this.
A good day out in March,
Ed
After viewing the video, Delux: The Tale of the Blue Comet, Deepexplr and I were compelled to visit the wreck site . We parked at the end of Apple Jack road, which had it's own assortment of stuff.
We proceeded up the dirt road and in a short distance entered a foot path on the right which took us to the tracks. Heading west we began to see alot of discarded ties. We then cane upon the infamous culvert which couldn't handle the heavy rains that fell that August in 1939.
A brake shoe.
An old pole
Someone had gone to alot of trouble to block the tracks with trees but it was no problem.
We also found a snare in the downed trees placed where one would walk when heading down the tracks to the wreck site. The snare had no ID tag. I also found another wire attached to another downed tree.
We took a near by side trip where we saw this.
A good day out in March,
Ed
While at the scene of the Blue Comet crash site, Ed and I found the Geocache. Here are some pictures. Also, I took a few pictures of the rail that has the manufacturer and what looks like the date of manufacture. I don't know enough about this process so can someone tell me if that is the date when the rail was produced.
Awesome, great pics. I just watched "Deluxe" as well, and had planned to do this hike today but something came up. Hope to do it this coming week before the Lines in the Pines event. I was planning on hiking in from pine crest, as the house at the end of applejack did'nt look very "friendly" to visitors when I was checking out the areas.
The man in the last house is not happy with all the traffic I believe so just make sure you park on Parker property. Do this soon because once it warms up I can tell you that area is terrible with ticks and mosquitos. Ben and I along with the man in my above photo's had a rough time of it that day.
BTW, Robert Emmons who made the video found out about the location from me telling the man in the above photo's where it was. I learned of the location from Jerseyman. The man in my photo's made the geocache and Robert learned of it. Robert asked to go with that man and the man asked me to go along. I skipped the invitation and recommended that Jerseyman be contacted to get the true facts of the story.
Guy
BTW, Robert Emmons who made the video found out about the location from me telling the man in the above photo's where it was. I learned of the location from Jerseyman. The man in my photo's made the geocache and Robert learned of it. Robert asked to go with that man and the man asked me to go along. I skipped the invitation and recommended that Jerseyman be contacted to get the true facts of the story.
Guy
I parked on the left hand side of the road, across from his property, about 100 feet , him being the person that doesn't like people. There is a clearing and my jeep was not bothered. It was an easy walk from there. After visiting the site I will watch the DVD again to gain a better perspective of things.
It is a neat site to visit. You can always park near Rt. 563 in Chatsworth and walk South from there. I believe the milepost is roughly .7 miles from where the tracks disappear into the woods behind the old station there. The station and water tower base are neat to see, and there is the Wading River trestle also along the line in that vicinity.
Guy, this is such a nice report. You've inspired me to begin working on a report of an accident between Lakehurst and Toms River in 1918 which killed my great-grandfather. I have a newspaper article but to identify the exact location I believe I would need to refer to an official accident report either from the JCRR, ICC (if they existed then) or local police. There was also an inquest and a man was charged (I'll provide more when I complete the report). Can you refer me to a source that may have JCRR or ICC reports in this era. I think I know where to go for police/court reports if they exist. Any guidance would be much appreciated. Thanks!