New Jersey Museum of Transportation explained

New Jersey Museum of Transportation & Pine Creek Railroad Museum
Map Type:USA New Jersey Monmouth County
Coordinates:40.1601°N -74.1299°W
Location:Wall Township, New Jersey
located within Allaire State Park
Type:Railroad museum
Collections:See "Collections" for list
Founder:James Wright
Jay L. Wulfson
Pierre "Pete" Rasmussen
Parking:On-site

The New Jersey Museum of Transportation is a museum dedicated to the collection, preservation, and operation of historic railroad equipment. The organization runs excursion trains on a narrow gauge tourist railroad named the Pine Creek Railroad. The museum is independently operated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization[1] along with the Allaire Village and is locatedin Allaire State Park in New Jersey. The museum runs Easter Bunny Express trains in April, Haunted Halloween trains in October, and Santa Special trains on the weekends in December.

History

The origins of the New Jersey Museum of Transportation began with the purchase of a Baldwin 0-4-0T engine from the Raritan River Sand Company in 1952 by a pair of railroad enthusiasts. This first engine was named the Pine Creek No. 1 and was eventually sold to the Walt Disney company, where it was overhauled and renamed the #4 Ernest S. Marsh. The engine is still in use today at the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California, operating on the Disneyland Railroad, albeit rebuilt as a 2-4-0.

Initially a 2.5acres plot of land on Route 9 in Marlboro was purchased where the railroad was run as a tourist attraction, but in 1952 when the organization was facing large property tax increases the not-for-profit Pine Creek Railroad Division of the New Jersey Museum of Transportation was formed and the operations were moved to its present-day location in Allaire State Park.

While the Pine Creek railroad loop runs adjacent to the abandoned Freehold and Jamesburg Agricultural Railroad that skirts the park (now known as the Edgar Felix Bikeway), it was never part of that rail line right-of-way.

Collection

The following is only a partial listing of equipment that has been or is currently at the Museum.[2]

Original Owner Number TypeDate BuiltBuilder Acquired Sold Status Notes
Steam Locomotives
Raritan River Sand Co. 10 ?1950 1959 Off Roster[3]
Hope Natural Gas Company 3 ?1956 1960 Off Roster[4]
Raritan Copper Works 9 19241956 N/AIn storage [5]
Ely-Thomas Lumber Co. 6 1927Lima Locomotive Works[6] 1955 N/AIn Storage [7] One of the last narrow gauge Shays left in the world
Chiriqui Land Co. 46 19141969 N/AIn Storage [8]
18871959 N/AIn storage
117 19252005 N/AOn display [9]
Surry, Sussex and Southampton Railway261920Baldwin Locomotive Works2014N/AIn storage
Diesel Locomotives
Plymouth Locomotive Works (?)1B?Plymouth Locomotive Works?N/AIn Storage
Pouch Terminal Co.2B1929Mack Trucks Inc.1982N/AIn Storage
Marcus Sand Company5B1920 (?)Plymouth Locomotive Works?Operational[10]
12B?Jackson2005 N/AUnder Restoration [11]
US Steel39B-B1955General Electric1991N/AIn Storage
41Parts Only
45Operational
Alcoa701B1920sDavenport Locomotive Works?N/AIn Storage
United States Army7751B1942General Electric1977N/AOperational
Rolling Stock
United States Navy?Flat car1942 (?)United States Navy (?)1977 (?)N/AIn Storage
Raritan River Railroad7Caboose?Raritan River Railroad (?)1920s (?)N/AUsed as Office[12]
Newfoundland Railway502Coach1902?1960sN/AOperational
509In Storage
East Broad Top Railroad824Hopper?American Car and Foundry Company1967 (?)N/AStatic Display
Central Railroad of Pennsylvania (CNJ)22866BoxcarEarly 1940sAssociation of American Railroads1983 (?)N/ANot Operational
23193
24343
United States Navy331787Flat car / Excursion1942United States Navy (?)1977N/AOperational
Central Railroad of New Jersey91155Caboose1874New Jersey Southern Railroad1972N/AOperational
91245??N/AIn Storage

Grounds

Buildings on the grounds include the Allenwood Station (built by the Pennsylvania Railroad in the early 1940s for use in Allenwood, NJ), the Freneau Station (built by the Jersey Central in the early 1900s on the CNJ Freehold Branch), a Union Newsstand (built circa 1910 in Manasquan, NJ, purchased in 1969), a crossing shanty, a maintenance shop, a heavy equipment building, a car barn (used for storage of rolling stock), as well as an office (Raritan River Railroad #7).

Sunken engines

In 1985, two steam engines were found side by side and in an upright position by charter boat Captain Dan Lieb in 90feet of water 5miles off the coast of Long Branch.[13] Further identification of these engines occurred in 2004 when a team of diving and railroad enthusiasts working along with the History Channel production team investigated the engines. After viewing several digital images it was discovered, through the evidence of several artifacts on the engines, that they were Civil War-era Patentee Class 2-2-2T locomotives from between 1850 and 1855.[14] [15]

On September 25, 2004, the New Jersey Museum of Transportation was granted custody of the two engines by U.S. District Judge Joseph Irenas. The museum hopes one day to raise the relics for display and interpretation at the museum.[15]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: About Us . The New Jersey Museum of Transportation, Inc. . October 22, 2022 . en.
  2. Web site: Projects. New Jersey Museum of Transportation. 25 March 2015.
  3. Web site: Raritan River Sand Company No. 10. Projects. New Jersey Museum of Transportation, Inc.. 25 March 2015. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304002623/http://www.njmt.org/number_1.htm. 4 March 2016.
  4. Web site: Hope Natural Gas Co. No. 3. Projects. New Jersey Museum of Transportation, Inc.. 25 March 2015.
  5. Web site: Raritan Copper Works No. 9. Projects. New Jersey Museum of Transportation, Inc.. 25 March 2015.
  6. https://www.shaylocomotives.com/data/factsheet/sn-3314.htm Shop Number 3314
  7. Web site: Ely-Thomas Lumber Co. No. 6. Projects. New Jersey Museum of Transportation, Inc.. 25 March 2015.
  8. Web site: Chiriqui Land Co. No. 46. Projects. New Jersey Museum of Transportation, Inc.. 25 March 2015.
  9. Web site: Lehigh Valley Coal Company No. 117. Projects. New Jersey Museum of Transportation, Inc.. 25 March 2015.
  10. Web site: The New Jersey Museum of Transportation, Inc.. 2020-11-10. njmt.org.
  11. Web site: Jackson Model 4000 Track Tamper. Projects. New Jersey Museum of Transportation, Inc.. 25 March 2015.
  12. October 1939. United States of America on Behalf of Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, Canadian Car and Foundry Company, et al. v. Germany. American Journal of International Law. 33. 4. 770–772. 10.2307/2192895. 2192895. 246013181 . 0002-9300.
  13. News: Shiffman. John. Old trains discovered off N.J. coast are called 'real archeological find'. 25 March 2015. Philadelphia Inquirer. 19 September 2004.
  14. LuBrant. James. The Holy Grail of Railroading - A Most Unusual Find. 4 July 2007. 25 March 2015.
  15. Boyd. Ellsworth. Train Wrecked. Sport Diver. July 2005. 13. 6. 12. 25 March 2015. 1077-985X.