CSX East Coast Route
North Jersey - Philadelphia -- Bound Brook - Delaware River
Introduction
This tour segment is a portion of a major railfan effort to provide a detailed self-guided railfan tour of the entire east coast CSX route from northern New Jersey (the Shared Assets Area) to the south of Miami, Florida. There are hundreds of miles of the East Coast Tour already completed, and a description of the overall tour is here. We begin this segment at the New Jersey Transit Bound Brook station. Why? Well, the area northeast of here is security intensive, and also very difficult to navigate for an outsider. So, we'll start within an area in the "country", although nothing up here is really very "country".
In November of 2006, this segment was extended from Hopewell down to the Delaware River south of West Trenton.
Contents And Navigation
Other Tours
For information concerning the other Frograil tours which have been put together, go to the Tour Guide. If you've never taken a Frograil tour before, you should visit this site and take advantage of the good advice and information contained within it.
Contributors To This Tour
Train Gifs. All train gifs used within this tour are from the Ed Bindler's train gifs site, which is here.
Peter Furnee: CSX logo
Andy Tejral:GPS locations and some corrections/updates.
Tony Hill: Frograil Webmaster and text provider for this tour, Bound Brook to North Trenton.
Help
If you'd like to contribute to this, or any other tour, please contact me at webmaster@frograil.com, and let me know what you'd like to do. We'll work together: You supply the data/info, and I'll do the HTML stuff and upload it. You'll get a chance to review the fruits of your efforts before the general public sees the finished product, so you can let me have your corrections, additions and changes.
Supplemental And Back-Up Data.
The Railroad -- History: The historical underpinnings of the various routes in central New Jersey are, to put it much too mildly, very complicated. Here is the boiled down version, and if any of you out there are railroad historians and would like to expand upon this data, please e-mail me here. A route into the New York City area for the B&O didn't exist until it forged an alliance with the Reading Railroad. Even though the route we'll be touring was a Reading line, we'll consider the predecessor to be the Reading/B&O. This route was always more about moving freight between Baltimore - Philadelphia - New York, than it was about high gloss varnish.
The Railroad -- Geography: We are touring a seeming anomaly, in that we're traveling thru a relaxed, country area squeezed between north Jersey and Philadelphia/Trenton. You'll see scads of bicycles on weekends, and scads of dump trucks and construction vehicles during the week. The railroad itself is pretty easy to follow, as there are few hills or curves. Indeed, if you look at a map, it's mostly a straight line from Bound Brook to Hopewell, and then straight south down to the Delaware River. Trees are in abundance throughout the area, and most railroad access points are heavily treed.
One thing you should keep in mind is that many of the roads in the area are old, as are the railroad overpasses. In this tour, there is only a single modern overpass with a pedestrian/bicycle shoulder. The rest are all narrow, nasty things, and far too dangerous from which to railfan.
The Railroad -- Operations: Between Northern New Jersey and West Trenton, the railroad is variously single and double tracked. It is freight only, with perhaps 12-16 trains a day. Usually, you won't see coal and other heavy bulk commodities, but expect lots of manifest and intermodal traffic. The traffic levels have picked up considerably since the Conrail break-up/merger back in 1999. Immediately north of the West Trenton commuter station, SEPTA electrified operations to and from Philadelphia begin, and the railroad changes dramatically. In this segment, we have barely tipped our toe into that water, so will have more information to give you as the tour is extended southward.
Tour Length: The overall length (i.e. the railroad timetable distance length) of the tour is about 29 miles, but I don't have a detailed timetable or station list, so we'll just use this educated estimate.
GPS Locations:GPS locations for the stops on this tour have been provided by Andy Tejral.
Abbreviations. I try to limit the number of abbreviations to very common terms, such as CSX and NS. However, some terms get used repeatedly and are given here to help you understand them.
AG. "At-grade" -- It may or may not be a railfan location, but you can be assured that the tracks and street/road are on the same level.
NAG. "Not at grade" -- Usually, a NAG crossing is a poor place to take pix, but not always. However, you should be warned if a crossing isn't at grade, and that's why I try to always clue you in.
NARL. "Not a railfan location" -- In my humble opinion, this location is not worth the visit; indeed, it is probably to be avoided. NARL's result from no photo access, dangerous conditions, or personal security considerations.
Photographic Considerations. As I've done in several other tours, I've attempted to rate the photo fields for all 4 quadrants of crossings detailed in the tour. The following format is used: NE2, SE1, SW 4, NW4, where you go clockwise around the quadrants from northeast to northwest, and numerical ratings, from 1 to 4, with a 1 being excellent, and a 4 being non-existent, are assigned. Note that I'm rating only photo field availability, not the photogenic qualities of the site. I'm a picture taker, not a photographer, and you guys who are good photographers will have to make your own determinations. Also, in trackside locations that are not crossings, I'll use an E3/W2 or N1/S3 convention, using just the compass directions and a photo rating.
WEBMASTER'S NOTE: I do not recommend, or even condone, walking along the tracks, as this means trespassing or exposing yourself to danger. You will have to be creative, in some instances, to avoid trespassing while getting to the detailed locations included herein, but you will either have to be creative or not visit those sites. At no point in this tour guide, or any other tour which is part of Frograil, is it recommended that you trespass or expose yourself to danger. If you are a fool and have a leg cut off (or worse), don't come crying to me: You have been warned. Trains are big, powerful, and often surprisingly quiet. Don't end up being a statistic.
Bound Brook - Delaware River, NJ -- Railfan Sites:
The Tour
Bound Brook -- NJT Station. From I-287, exit 13, go east into Bound Brook via Union Avenue. Take a right onto Hamilton Street, which will take you to the station. This is a very busy commuter station on the New Jersey Transit Raritan Valley Line. There is a lot happening at this place. Indeed, the two tracks (NJT/CASO, ex-Conrail, exx-CNJ/RDG/B&O) become today's Norfolk Southern main line to Allentown and the west. They separate from the NJT line southwest of the station. There is a third line that comes from due east, and that's a Conrail Shared Services Assets line from the Amboys and the southern parts of the New Jersey seaports. That line joins the two from the northeast south of the station area, and one line continues to the southwest, away from the westerly bias of the NS/NJT main. This line to the southwest is the one we'll be following towards Philadelphia and the south.
There are platforms north and south of the commuter tracks, so this is a fine place to see lots of trains. However, the platforms are fairly tight for photos, and this is really more a good place to just sit back and enjoy the show. [NOTE WELL: In late 2005, New Jersey Transit was developing a well-deserved reputation for harassment of railfans, especially those who wish to take pix. You may be required to register, and the Bound Brook police are likewise hassling railfans. If I were you, I'd avoid the platforms. As an update, in late 2006, NJT's record of tolerance towards railfans in general, and railfan photographers in particular, remains spotty. I still recommend avoiding the platforms.]
N40 33.697 W74 31.800
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Bridgewater -- Polhemus Road. North of the station, the main east-west road is variously named Lincoln/Talmadge/Main street. Continue west on it and go under I-287. Look for Chimney Rock on your right, which is Polhemus Road on your left. Take the left. This is a dead end into an industrial area, including the area of the Bridgewater Transfer. The latter receives (lots of) trucks with trash, and transfers that trash into 20-foot containers. These go south on CSX all the way to Petersburg, VA's CSX Collier Yard.
The CSX main has separated back near the NJT station, and is out of sight to the southeast. So why come over here? There is an immaculate SW-1 here, lettered TCCA, number 735. On Sunday, you can get an excellent, unobstructed picture of it, but during the week, you'll have to ask permission, and probably have to dodge several trash trucks in the process. This is not an area in which to hang out. The engine itself is an ex-Tankcar Corporation of America (with many other predecessors, including Amtrak -- hence the color scheme), and is older than almost anyone reading this tour guide. [Update: As of June 2008, Chris Hughes states that the engine is now in disrepair, and is covered with a tarp.]
Frograil thanks Eric Auganous for this supplemental information about the TCCA 735.
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Manville -- Yard South. Continue west on Main Street, which is also NJ-533. Watch the signs, and NJ-533 will turn 90° to the south. Take the turn, cross the double tracked NS main line, and then take a very hard left in the village of Manville onto Camplain Road. Follow Camplain and it will pass houses and come to an open, mown area on the northwest side of the tracks. You'll see cars on several tracks to the north. You are at the south end of Manville Yard, which is CSX's main yard between Newark and Trenton. There is some significant heavy industry in the general area, so the yard is quite active.
Out of sight to the north of the yard, and off limits to railfans, is Port Reading Junction, where the Conrail Shared Assets Area officially ends from the east, and NS and CSX continue to the west and southwest, respectively.
This is an afternoon photo location, as there is good access from the west/northwest, but none from the east/southeast. There is a low chain link fence along the railroad's property boundary, but it really won't give you photographers much of a problem.
N40 32.660W74 34.847
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Hillsborough -- Sunnymeade Road. Continue south on NJ-533 and go south until just before the road goes under the tracks in Weston on a NAG/NARL. Take a right onto JFK Boulevard, and continue southwest of the tracks, which are very close but treed in. The road will veer to the west away from the tracks and become Weston Road, which in turn will swing to the south as Sunnymeade Road. You'll eventually come to an honest-to-goodness AG crossing. Park on the north east quadrant, before going over the tracks.
Photo ops aren't super-dooper, but at least you can get a shot or 2 off: NE3, SE3,SW2, NW2. There are intermediate signals at the NE quad. Be aware that NJ-533 is a very busy street, so keep your wits about you. The crossing is MP QA54.3. Chris Hughes has made a correction to the information concerning this location.
N40 30.855W74 36.742
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Skillman -- J&J. Sunnymeade Road will T at Hamilton Road, and you should take a right to head back towards the tracks. Hamilton goes over them on a NAG/NARL, so take a left on North Willow Road before the overpass. The bad news is that we have now entered a stretch of several NAG/NARL's, and we'll just have to bypass them. The good news is that there are better places ahead, so just be cool.
North Willow Road will T at NJ-514, where you should take a right, which will lead to another NAG/NARL. Continue west over the overpass, and take a left at US-206. You're now going almost due south, and you'll pass Homestead Road, which leads to another NAG/NARL. Further south on US-206, you'll pass Hillsborough Road, which has another NAG/NARL crossing. Finally, you'll reach the community of Belle Meade, where US-206, takes a 90° turn to go south and up and over the tracks on another NAG/NARL. Rather that taking that big turn, however, take NJ-601 straight ahead before the overpass, and follow it thru the countryside. This road will eventually turn 90° to the south, pass Dutchtown Harlingen Road (site of yet another NAG/NARL). Believe it or not, you're going to soon come to a real AG crossing!
Go past the industrial spur for 3M (?) and about a mile further on, just before crossing the tracks via NJ-601, you'll see the entrance to the Johnson & Johnson campus to the right. Park between the road into J&J and the crossing. Be careful not to get the J&J security folks interested in you, so use some common sense when parking. Photo ratings are NE1, SE2, SW3, NW2. These are the best so far on this tour! The mile point is QA47.39 -- over 7 miles since the last AG crossing!
N40 26.169W74 41.749
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Skillman -- Hollow Road. Continue south on NJ-601, which will make 2 90° turns to head due south to an intersection with NJ-602. Take a right and go over the NAG/NARL [Note Well: This bridge is an ugly, narrow one with a 10-ton weight limit.] just before the community of Skillman. NJ-602 will become Camp Meeting Avenue, and will T at Hollow Road. Take a left to go south on Hollow Road. You'll shortly cross the tracks at a pretty decent location: NE3, SE1, SW3, NW3. The morning shots from the southeast are pretty darned good. This is MP QA44.20.
N40 24.795W74 43.235
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Stoutsburg -- Spring Hill Road. Continue south on Hollow Road until it T's at NJ-518, and take a right to head west. When you get to Spring Hill Road, take a right to go north to the tracks. Photo ratings show a so-so crossing: NE1, SE3, SW3, NW2, but if you know something's coming, this will get you trackside pretty quickly.
Parking is a problem here, and you are rather close to the tracks, so take your shot and move on.
N40 24.446W74 43.894
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Stoutsburg -- Province Line Road. Go back south to NJ-518, take a right, and then take the next major right turn at Province Line Road. There will be a county-change sign here, as the road is the boundary between Somerset and Mercer counties. This will take you to the best spot since we started this tour segment at Bound Brook. The crossing rates as: NE1, SE2, SW2, NW1.
N40 24.273W74 44.253
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Hopewell -- Station. Backtrack to NJ-518 (now Hopewell Rocky Hill Road), take a right, and head towards Hopewell, the largest town we've encountered since leaving the Bound Brook general area. This is an affluent area, at least the homes going up in new subdivisions seem to be huge. You can take a right onto Hopewell Amwell Road, but the crossing is a nasty 10' 10" underpass, and it's definitely NARL. Therefore, just go on in to the town. Take Hamilton Avenue north to Railroad Place/Somerset Road, and you'll see the station. And what a station it is!
Viewing on both sides of the tracks is limited, at N3/S3, but the station itself is the attraction. With barely 2,000 souls, you'd probably expect the typical small town station, but this thing is a 3-story Victorian masterpiece. It will knock your socks off.
N40 23.492W74 45.752
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Hopewell -- Louellen Street. From the railroad station, continue west to Greenswood Avenue, take a left, and then a right onto Broad Street, which is the main street thru Hopewell. Look for a major street on your right that comes in on a broad oblique angle. This is Louellen Street. Take it to the right, cross the tracks, and park immediately past the tracks on the left.
This is the only AG crossing for quite a distance, so if you like track-level shots, this will have to do all the way to West Trenton. Fortunately, it's a very good photo location, at NE1, SW2, SW1, NW1. Note that the street is almost dead east-west, but the railroad is northeast-southwest. Louellen is quite busy, so be careful. The MP 42 marker is just west of the crossing.
Between Louellen Street and the Chester River there may be no grade crossings, but there are some interesting things to see, and a few decent spots to watch trains and take pix.
N40 23.234W74 46.337
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Pennington -- Station. Between Hopewell and Pennington, there are NAG/NARL's at (in order) Vandyke Road, Stony Brook Road, Pennington Hopewell Road, and Titus Mill Road. It's worth mentioning that there is a defect detector visible just southwest of the Titus Mill crossing. It is, however, inaccessible for photos.
You left Hopewell via Broad Street, which became Pennington Hopewell Road at the city line. It will end at NJ-31, below Marshalls Corner. Go south on NJ-31, and as you just begin to enter the Pennington area, take a left onto North Main Street. Cross the tracks, and you'll be very close to the tracks, but the area is NARL. Continue, now southbound, on Main, and watch for a minor street to the right -- Railroad Place. Take this right, and swing around to the grand, 3-story ex-Reading stone depot.
There are relatively new apartments or condos to the north across the street from the station. Just south of those buildings is a large dog-walk/park/open area that is great for taking pix of the front of the station, but it is definitely an AM winter shot, as the leaves will kill the photo op in warmer weather. To my untrained eye, the station is either very similar or identical to the Hopewell Station. However, it is currently home to several apartments, and is in excellent condition. Take your pix, but remember that people are living in the structure, and it's not just an architectural curiosity.
N40 20.015W74 47.636
Pennington -- Franklin Avenue. Continue south on Railroad Place, cross Franklin Avenue, and park to the right. At one time, Franklin crossed the tracks here, but that must have been long ago. Today, it is obviously the site of a great deal of foot traffic, and there are some minor photo ops on both sides of the tracks, especially when the leaves are gone. The ex-station to the north is really the draw in this part of Pennington, but you can't get any train pix from it -- and that's why this location is on the tour. If you have to get trackside in a hurry, this is the place.
Pennington -- Delaware Avenue. Continue south on Green Street, take a right on Delaware Avenue, and find a safe place to park, either east or west of the overpass. This is a major street in the area, and it carries a great deal of traffic. The overpass itself is modern, and it has safe off-street areas for photography. The tracks are very much north-south here, so you're pretty much limited to southbounds. In leafy times of the year, there is a rating of N3, but in cold weather, it's a solid N2. I rate photos to the south as S4 at all times of the year, because of lighting problems.
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West Trenton -- West. Continue west on Delaware Avenue, to a left onto NJ-31. You'll cross the railroad on a NAG/NARL, and come to a crossroads with Ingleside Avenue. Take a right, and at Washington Crossing Pennington Road, take another right. Go over the tracks on a NAG/NARL, and go all the way to Scotch Road, at a place named Harts Corner. Take a left; this road will go over I-95, and then wander around the outer (eastern) perimeter of the Trenton Mercer Airport. You'll then go over the railroad again on a NAG/NARL, and bend 45° to go straight south in the community of Ewing.
Eventually, Scotch Road will intersect with Parkway Avenue. Take a right, go under the railroad on yet another NAG/NARL, and at the major intersection with Grand Avenue (unsigned or poorly signed), take a left. and immediately before going under the tracks,You will see the West Trenton SEPTA station; take a left (an extremely hard one) onto Railroad Avenue. This is the most "railroady" spot on the entire tour segment. But before describing the railroad aspects of the location, I need to point out a great restaurant for you.
Perhaps 1/4 mile north on Reading, you'll see a large restaurant surrounded by parking areas. This is Freddie's Tavern, and it has been a neighborhood staple since 1933. The food is excellent, and the service is solid, but most impressive, it's obvious that the restaurant enjoys the support of many, many regulars. We ate there for lunch, and we highly recommend it. It's right across the street from Trent tower, but you can't see trains from inside the restaurant.
Now, with full tummy, we explore the area west of the tracks at the West Trenton station area. In the November 2005 issue of Railpace Newsmagazine, Gary Pancavage had an excellent article entitled "Documenting CSX Operations at West Trenton." I strongly recommend you get a reprint of this article, as it is most excellent, and gives more detail than what I include within a Frograil Tour.
Between our last look at the railroad, up in Pennington, there has been a major change, and both the "look and feel" and railroad operations have changed dramatically. East of the street/west of the tracks, from the restaurant south, is a wye that handles electrified commuter trains in and out of Philadelphia. This is the northern limit of the Southeast Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA) system. The south leg of the wye is just to the south. From this point on, rail activity, at least during rush hour weekday periods, is dominated by SEPTA traffic.
Because the line is now electrified, there are steel vertical towers holding the overhead wire supporting beams. The vertical members are fairly far apart, however, so there is plenty of opportunity to get decent photos of CSX action. The north-to-south play card of "photoprop structures" is as follows: "Trent" tower, which is in excellent condition, and it easily photographed; CP TRENT, which is the electronic tower that controls all movements in and out of the wye, as well as north-south CSX moves; a large, long commuter parking lot (which will be jam packed all of every weekday, so photography from the parking area is no-go until weekday evenings and weekends); and finally, the west platform and shelter area for passengers.
Throughout the area, there are plenty of places west of the tracks for excellent photos. There are no photo ops from east of the tracks in this area, as you have to cross them to take pix. See the next location for some suggestions for photography from the east side of the tracks.
The northern area of what I've just described is the place to take pix. Stay well back until your target is near, and then get right back away from the grassy area. Overall, this is an excellent place to relax and watch trains. And Freddie's is right across the street.
N40 15.486W74 48.925 (West Trenton SEPTA Station)
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West Trenton -- East. Drive back out Reading Street to Grand Avenue, turn left, and go under the tracks. Almost immediately, turn (very hard) left to go up to the fine ex-Reading Station. Apparently, this is now occupied by a private corporation, and is posted for private parking only. You can easily take pix of the fine structure from way back in the parking lot, but this area is NARL, at least during the week. It is probable that there are locations north of the station itself, but I did not personally go up there. Gary Pancavage shows a "Photo Op" diamond on the east side of the tracks, just north of the West Trenton station.
West Trenton -- Delaware River. Depart the ex-Reading station, and take a left onto Grand Avenue, which may now be called Sullivan Way. At Lower Ferry Road, turn right. This is a very interesting road -- indeed, it's a throwback to a much earlier era. The Trenton Country Club will be on your left. DRIVE SLOWLY!! Look for the remains of the Delaware and Raritan Canal on your right. The long gone ex-PC, exx-PRR line from Trenton to Milford, NJ followed the canal's right of way on the latter's west bank. If you have time to do a little exploring, it might be interesting.
Continue on to a T with NJ-29/River Road. Overhead, and grandly marching across the Delaware River, is the concrete arch bridge into Pennsylvania. I did not scout out specific photo locations along the north bank of the river, but they obviously exist, as evidenced by Mr. Pancavage's photo in Railpace. You'll want to drive along River Road both east and west, to find locations to park, walk, and take photos.
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Because of the constraints of time, I was forced to end the tour here. I'm by no means very familiar with this part of the country, let alone an expert, so any constructive criticism, additions, etc, would be greatly appreciated. e-mail me here.