NJ's Best Amusement Park Trains

Last night we took the kids to the boardwalk at Point Pleasant which brought back memories of the old beach train at Jenkinson's Pavilion. As I remember it, passengers would board the train at the amusment park. The train would then head north and, somehow (I can't remember the exact route) go past the boardwalk and onto the beach near the pier that housed Jenkinson's Pavilion.

Another great amusement park train is the one at the Turtleback Zoo which travels along the shore of the resevior.

Anyone remember the exact route of the Jenkinson's beach train? I seem to remember the original tracks being washed away during a 1980's northeaster.

Any other great amusement park trains in New Jersey?

Last night we took the kids to the boardwalk at Point Pleasant which brought back memories of the old beach train at Jenkinson's Pavilion. As I remember it, passengers would board the train at the amusment park. The train would then head north and, somehow (I can't remember the exact route) go past the boardwalk and onto the beach near the pier that housed Jenkinson's Pavilion. . . .

Anyone remember the exact route of the Jenkinson's beach train? I seem to remember the original tracks being washed away during a 1980's northeaster.

No nor'easter seriously damaged the tracks, which were buried in about 3 feet of sand every year at the end of the season. In reality, the Beach Train met an ignoble end. It was old, parts were impossible to replace and was a money loser. Thus, the owners wanted it gone. The last operator subcontracted the train and kept it going as long as he could. In the end, he had to give it up or face starvation.

As for the route, it originally ran from a "station" next to the southern Jenk's Pavilion to a station on the inlet side of the north or Inlet Pavilion. Later, the tracks were cut-off to a spot just south of the Inlet Pavilion. I don't know exactly why this was done, but I always suspected it had something to do with improving the beach aesthetics for the condos built along the inlet by the owner of Jenks.

The south end station was stub end with arriving trains heading in. Departing trains backed out to a switch that allowed access to a loop track to head north. At one time the "mainline" was three rail with a passing area midway. The last several years one rail was removed and true single track survived to the end. If I recall no passing siding was installed as only one train was running.
The last time I rode the lead engine truck derailed on the south end loop. The rerailing was handled in a expedient manor with a onboard prybar; guess this had happened before.................

When Riverview Beach Park, Pennsville, closed in 1968, Salem County dairy farmer Bob Stanton and friends bought the train and track. Some of it still remains.

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I never knew about the train at Point Pleasant!
My favorite was - and still is for sentimental reasons - the little train in Keansberg (down the Jersey shore) which has been in operation for at least 40 years. I think its still the same equipment! Just an oval of track, NOTHING FANCY, but quite charming. At one time it was in the FCL (purple) scheme, I believe. I still have home movies from the 1960's when I was a little kid, of me riding around on this thing. Its still there and still operational - as is that whole little amusement park. I should go down there and snap some pics. By the way, the enging looks like an "E-unit" and the cars match nicely. They are open on top and you sit on/above it. VERY cute. The train is gas powered, i believe, and requires and adult operator in the "cab".
BigDell

My personal favorite was the Centerville and Southwestern, which ran on the dairy farm of Henry Becker Co. in Roseland, NJ, until its demise in 1971(or 72?). This railroad's equipment has been saved and resurrected in Philipsburg, NJ, but I will always have the memory of my parents taking my sister and I there and putting us on the train while they did their shopping. Henry Becker sold the property for development into what has become a corporate industrial park, and sadly Henry Becker, the last operator of the farm/dairy company passed away within the last year, but not before seeing his C&SW equipment revived, albeit in a different location.But the memories I have from that whole operation have stayed with me all this time!

rcbsd45 wrote:My personal favorite was the Centerville and Southwestern, which ran on the dairy farm of Henry Becker Co. in Roseland, NJ, until its demise in 1971(or 72?). This railroad's equipment has been saved and resurrected in Philipsburg, NJ, but I will always have the memory of my parents taking my sister and I there and putting us on the train while they did their shopping. Henry Becker sold the property for development into what has become a corporate industrial park, and sadly Henry Becker, the last operator of the farm/dairy company passed away within the last year, but not before seeing his C&SW equipment revived, albeit in a different location.But the memories I have from that whole operation have stayed with me all this time!

RcbSD45,

The Centerville & Southwestern ended service in the summer of 1972 or so....My granfather took their kids(my mother) to ride the train during the last year of operation....They took a 5 min or so 8mm film of the steamer and the other railroad equipment and the farm itself. I believe the steam engine survives today, but it is on display in some museum in Michigan...

It is so hard to believe that there was a 500+ acre dairy farm located in EssexCounty not too long ago.....

Steve

>>It is so hard to believe that there was a 500+ acre dairy farm located in EssexCounty not too long ago.....


We used to be a BIG dairy state... Man, things have sure changed...



Anyway - didn't Great Adventure have a train ride within it at one time? I'm trying to remember....
BigDell

Anyway - didn't Great Adventure have a train ride within it at one time? I'm trying to remember....
BigDell

I recall when they first opened there was an outdoor 'O' or 'G' scale layout that was quite extensive. It only lasted a few years and was removed, it was located to the left of the main entrance once you got in. Not too sure about an actual train ride though, unless you count the Runway Train .

It was a HUGE G scale layout.

When GA first opened, they had a train ride with four Crown 4-4-0s, propane fired, over in the general area of Congo Rapids. I think the gauge was two foot. The cars were open flats, and had air brakes, which came off a truck compressor chain driven from the lead driving axle of the engine. House air for fire-up and initial main reservoir charging, of course.

At the time, one of the corporate owners/investors in GA (and I think this was before Six Flags) was Penn Central, through one of it's real estate companies. So if you want to stretch a point, "Yes, Virginia, there were Penn Central steam locomotives.

I have no idea what happened to the equipment. I went there once or twice in the early to mid 70s, didn't go back for years, and when I went back with my kids (late 80s or so), the only train ride
was the plastic thing in Bugs Bunny Land.

Too bad it's gone, but with the insurance situation today, and the fact that GA relys on kids for all of their ride operator positions, it probably would have been an accident waiting to happen. (My opinion, of course, but I have teenagers, and see how some of their friends act, and feel well qualified to make that statement.)

When GA first opened, they had a train ride with four Crown 4-4-0s, propane fired, over in the general area of Congo Rapids. I think the gauge was two foot. The cars were open flats, and had air brakes, which came off a truck compressor chain driven from the lead driving axle of the engine. House air for fire-up and initial main reservoir charging, of course.

Thats it! I remember!!!! I knew there was some sort of train.... back in the 70's, I was still in high school. wow.......
I'd love to know what happened to the equipment. It was actually a nice little ride. I remember it was near the water...

Interesting point. Most of those rides are indeed run by kids as a summer job. That eliminates the possibility of any rides with a "skilled operator" at the controls. Just a lot of computer programming and engineering. The actual operation of the ride would just be a start/stop switch for the operator... Hmmmmm...

Anyway, thanks for the info on the GA train!
BigDell

Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange had a great little train ride, the engine was a mini 440 "general" style steam engine with open coaches, in fact they had at least 2 train sets in total and the ride went along the shore of the water shed. If memory serves me the coaches on the one train set were orange, and the other set were blue. I say this in the past tense, but does Turtle Back Zoo (and this train) still exist????

Speaking of Great Adventure, there was a small train ride there in the early years, and it rode a loop around it's "kiddie land" type area.

GA was first planned by the then Pennsylvania Railroad and Food Fair Stores as a mega housing development a sort of latter day "Levittown"
on the edge of the Pine Barrens, and the plan was to have it served by PRR trains from at least Philly. When this whole sceme went bust, they then turned to the idea of a mega amusement park, and brought in Warner LeRoy as the design partner. In the Safari Park the guard rails were surplus rails from the never built rail extension to the site.

Ken

The Turtleback Zoo trains had Erie Lackawanna decals on the engines when I was a kid (mid '60s). There were two trains, one red and one blue. I think those old engines were still kicking around in the backshop as of the early '90s.

My personal favorite was the train at Bertand's Island on Lake Hopatcong. I think it was sold a few years before the park itself closed at the end of the 1982 season. I walked around the abandoned grounds a few years ago and the crossings over the walkways had been paved over as if the rails had been removed, suggesting the park had continued after the removal of the railroad. I Googled Bertrand's Island and could come up with no photos of the train, although there are a few of the park in general.

Idiot Railfan wrote:The Turtleback Zoo trains had Erie Lackawanna decals on the engines when I was a kid (mid '60s). There were two trains, one red and one blue. I think those old engines were still kicking around in the backshop as of the early '90s.

My personal favorite was the train at Bertand's Island on Lake Hopatcong. I think it was sold a few years before the park itself closed at the end of the 1982 season. I walked around the abandoned grounds a few years ago and the crossings over the walkways had been paved over as if the rails had been removed, suggesting the park had continued after the removal of the railroad. I Googled Bertrand's Island and could come up with no photos of the train, although there are a few of the park in general.

Ah, yes, the Turtleback Zoo. That brings back memories. I think they still have a train there but I am not quite sure.