I am looking for pics of the Menantico Lakes/Manumuskin area mine service on what is now the Bridgeton Secondary track, I think, of the former PRSL/WJS branch which I uderstand ran through Belleplain State Park and eventually connected to Woodbine. I used to hike down about that area a lot and am eager to build a model in o gauge of what the sand mines would have been like. I was in the SEPTA store and saw a copy o the PRSL book which had a vague pic of the area, but i dod not have the 40 some dollars on me to buy the book at that time nor have I ever seen a copy of that book in local libraries, which is discouraging. anyone here have anything they might be able to give me?
Railroad Forums
Bridgeton Secondary Track
- Discussion relating to the PRSL
Moderator: JJMDiMunno
I don't think it would be the Bridgeton Secondary that you are seeking. The line to the sandholes in Port Elizabeth area runs south out of Millville (on the east side of the Maurice River)
The line ran at one time all the way to Heislerviile via Menatico, Manumuskin, Port Elizabeth, Mauricetown, Dorchester, Leesburg then to Heislerville. At Manumuskin there was a junction where the line headed east to Bellplain, Woodbine, Woodbine Jct (connection with ACRR Cape May Branch) then on the South Seaville, Cedar Grove, Clermont then to Sea Isle City.
From Bridgeton ( on the west side of the Maurice River) the CNJ went to sandholes from Bridgeton Jct. to Shellpile via Fairton, Cedarville, Dividing Creek, Haleyville, Port Norris then Shellpile. The CNJ used to run a quite extensive operation of oyster trains from Shellpile to the New York markets. 80 cars per day loaded with oysters from Shellpile were common in the heyday of the Delaware Bay oyster fishery and at it's peak, Port Norris could claim more millionaaires per square mile than any other town in New Jersey.
There was also a line from Bridgeton at one time that went to Bayside via Bowentown, Sheppard's Mill, Greenwich then on too Bayside. This line branched off around Lanning Street just north of the CNJ Bridgeton Staion at Cohansey and Sharp Streets. The original intent of this line was to setup a car float operation across the Delaware Bay to connect with the B&O, but it never panned out.
Lotta lines, hope this helps some.
The line ran at one time all the way to Heislerviile via Menatico, Manumuskin, Port Elizabeth, Mauricetown, Dorchester, Leesburg then to Heislerville. At Manumuskin there was a junction where the line headed east to Bellplain, Woodbine, Woodbine Jct (connection with ACRR Cape May Branch) then on the South Seaville, Cedar Grove, Clermont then to Sea Isle City.
From Bridgeton ( on the west side of the Maurice River) the CNJ went to sandholes from Bridgeton Jct. to Shellpile via Fairton, Cedarville, Dividing Creek, Haleyville, Port Norris then Shellpile. The CNJ used to run a quite extensive operation of oyster trains from Shellpile to the New York markets. 80 cars per day loaded with oysters from Shellpile were common in the heyday of the Delaware Bay oyster fishery and at it's peak, Port Norris could claim more millionaaires per square mile than any other town in New Jersey.
There was also a line from Bridgeton at one time that went to Bayside via Bowentown, Sheppard's Mill, Greenwich then on too Bayside. This line branched off around Lanning Street just north of the CNJ Bridgeton Staion at Cohansey and Sharp Streets. The original intent of this line was to setup a car float operation across the Delaware Bay to connect with the B&O, but it never panned out.
Lotta lines, hope this helps some.
W.L Avis
Steam professional since 1974
Former Block Operator- PRSL
Steam professional since 1974
Former Block Operator- PRSL
When I get back to my house I'll check up into the PRSL name of the track, I have the track diagram schematics there. I can picture the book cover having a hardcover with a greenish shroud saying Pennsylvania Reading Seashore Lines. I can picture beng at the road where the line divides into the switch that went to Woodbine and the line that went to Dorchester and seeing hopper cars sitting at what appears to be the end of the track on the Woodbine side with a line of tanker cars running down the Dorchester line, but that would have been in Novemeber of last year. It seems like the local libraries have no good historical info about the area, especially Menantico, which is disappointing.
Maybe this will help:
From Timetable No.4 in effect June 14,1971
Manumuskin Secondary
Swift MP 39.9
Wood MP 40.0
Menatico MP 43.3
Manumuskin MP 46.4
Terminus MP 48.2
______________________________
Leesburg Secondary
Maumuskin MP 46.4
Port Elizabeth MP48.3
Mauricetown MP 49.9
Dorchester MP 51.1
From Timetable No.4 in effect June 14,1971
Manumuskin Secondary
Swift MP 39.9
Wood MP 40.0
Menatico MP 43.3
Manumuskin MP 46.4
Terminus MP 48.2
______________________________
Leesburg Secondary
Maumuskin MP 46.4
Port Elizabeth MP48.3
Mauricetown MP 49.9
Dorchester MP 51.1
W.L Avis
Steam professional since 1974
Former Block Operator- PRSL
Steam professional since 1974
Former Block Operator- PRSL
I have the Leesburg Secondary on a separate sheet, but not the Manumuskin, it just appears to be a part of th Millville line on the maps I have.
The book is called "PRSL In Color" and it does have a few pics of a train in the Manumuskin area in the late 1960s. I did some hiking down there a few years ago before I moved, they use the southern end of the line for car storage. The Port Elizabeth track is still in place for the most part and is officially "OOS". There were rumors of a plan to open a shipping port at the south end of the line, but they obviously never came to fruition.
When was the track that originally traveled to Woodbine junction through Belleplaine Forrest cut off/abandoneded? I have found mixed dates in my research recently, from the 1950s to the 1970s, with a variety of different reasons. Anyone here have a realistic or better date/explanation?
rrbluesman wrote:When was the track that originally traveled to Woodbine junction through Belleplaine Forrest cut off/abandoneded? I have found mixed dates in my research recently, from the 1950s to the 1970s, with a variety of different reasons. Anyone here have a realistic or better date/explanation?I believe 1949...that should be the segment between Manumuskin and Woodbine, which was last used by the Wildwood Mail Express, which was about all that used that following the PRSL merger in '33.
The segment from Woodbine to Sea Isle should have been retained for a little while after that, to serve some industry out there...can't recall what it was.
Mike DiMunno
~Mike DiMunno
CSAO Beesley Point Secondary - MP 8.69 (Magnolia, NJ)
Moderator: Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines :: Penn Central
CSAO Beesley Point Secondary - MP 8.69 (Magnolia, NJ)
Moderator: Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines :: Penn Central
JimBoylan wrote:Jim,JJMDiMunno wrote:The segment from Woodbine to Sea Isle should have been retained for a little while after that, to serve some industry out there...Woodbine Jct. to somewhere beyond Dennisville Rd. (South Seaville?), in a 1946 Employees' Timetable.
You're saying it was abandoned in 1946, or was still in service as of 1946?
Mike DiMunno
~Mike DiMunno
CSAO Beesley Point Secondary - MP 8.69 (Magnolia, NJ)
Moderator: Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines :: Penn Central
CSAO Beesley Point Secondary - MP 8.69 (Magnolia, NJ)
Moderator: Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines :: Penn Central
Ah I've got it now...
The segment from S. Seaville to Cape May, WJS was abandoned as a result of the merger in 1933.
The segment from Woodbine to S. Seaville was retained for some sort of industrial use, maybe sand? Abandoned 1946.
The segment from Manumuskin to Woodbine was abandoned in 1949 after the mail train stopped running.
Mike DiMunno
The segment from S. Seaville to Cape May, WJS was abandoned as a result of the merger in 1933.
The segment from Woodbine to S. Seaville was retained for some sort of industrial use, maybe sand? Abandoned 1946.
The segment from Manumuskin to Woodbine was abandoned in 1949 after the mail train stopped running.
Mike DiMunno
~Mike DiMunno
CSAO Beesley Point Secondary - MP 8.69 (Magnolia, NJ)
Moderator: Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines :: Penn Central
CSAO Beesley Point Secondary - MP 8.69 (Magnolia, NJ)
Moderator: Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines :: Penn Central
[quote="JJMDiMunnoWoodbine Jct. to somewhere beyond Dennisville Rd. (South Seaville?), in a 1946 Employees' Timetable.
You're saying it was still in service as of 1946?[/quote]
I don't have a General Order taking the segment out of service, just the 1946 timetable listing including special instructions for the portion and the grade crossing. Therefore, it must have still been in service then. I'll dig it up and print all it says.
This timetable does not list anything between 51st St., Ocean City and Sea Isle City, even though a new connection was built between 51st St. on the Reading and about 52nd St. & West Ave. on the PRR for the P-RSL consolidation. Hearsay eyewitness reports have it being used in 1941.
You're saying it was still in service as of 1946?[/quote]
I don't have a General Order taking the segment out of service, just the 1946 timetable listing including special instructions for the portion and the grade crossing. Therefore, it must have still been in service then. I'll dig it up and print all it says.
This timetable does not list anything between 51st St., Ocean City and Sea Isle City, even though a new connection was built between 51st St. on the Reading and about 52nd St. & West Ave. on the PRR for the P-RSL consolidation. Hearsay eyewitness reports have it being used in 1941.