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TRAINS

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WHEN REAL TRAINS RAN IN WILDWOOD CREST

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WHEN REAL TRAINS RAN IN WILDWOOD CREST

Rail service to the Wildwoods was begun in the early 1900s. By 1909, a single track extended south on New Jersey Avenue from the Andrew Ave. station in Wildwood to the Wildwood Crest station which was located on New Jersey Ave. at Sweetbriar Rd.  Dual tracks extended south from the Wildwood Crest station and terminated below Palm Rd. A sweeping turn-around spur extended west on Forget-Me-Not Rd. to allow trains to turn and face north, as shown on the Sanborn Map from 1910, on the left side of this page.  Note that New Jersey Ave. was known as Philadelphia Avenue at that time. The area of Wildwood Crest south of Rambler Road was undeveloped, and an inlet, known as Turtle Gut, connected Sunset Lake and the Atlantic Ocean.

In the 1920’s, Turtle Gut Inlet was filled in, making it possible for the south end of Wildwood Crest to be developed and rail service to be extended farther south. The extended line ran along Bayview Drive into Lower Township, to Two-Mile Landing where a turn-around loop allowed trains to drop off and pick up fishermen at the docks and turn around and return north.  A present-day aerial photo of the Two-Mile area shows the remnants of the looped trackbed.

The steam locomotive photo from the early 1950s shows a passenger train on New Jersey Avenue, between Fern Road and Palm Road; and two Pennsylvania Reading Seashore Lines diesel locomotives are pictured in the Cold Spring freight yard which ran along Bayview Avenue in the area just south of Sunset Lake in Wildwood Crest.

Another 1950s photo shows the business district in Wildwood Crest, looking north from Sweetbriar Road, with the single track running along New Jersey Avenue, and a scaled-down, later version of the Wildwood Crest station.

An iconic photo, probably from the 1930s, of a family at the original Wildwood Crest train station.
Circa 1956 – At the Cold Spring freight yard along Bayview Avenue in Wildwood Crest, looking north towards New Jersey Avenue.

OTHER PHOTOS OF RAIL SERVICE IN THE WILDWOODS

TRAINS

HOME PAGE

LAYOUT OVERVIEW AND   RR TRACK PLAN

LAYOUT PHOTOS & VIDEOS

WHEN REAL TRAINS RAN IN WILDWOOD CREST

PENNSYLVANIA READING SEASHORE LINES

MY RETIRED LIONEL LOCOMOTIVES