PENNSYLVANIA

PENNSYLVANIA-READING SEASHORE LINES

The Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines was born of consolidation of the Pennsylvania Railroad lines and the Reading Company lines in southern New Jersey in 1933. Since most directly paralleled each other to within a few feet, it made sense during the depression years to eliminate the duplicating trackage. The PRSL was owned 2/3 by the PRR and 1/3 by the Reading.

The PRR main to Atlantic City became the main passenger route, while the Reading line was downgraded east of Winslow Jct. and served in later years as the primary freight line. The Reading lines from Winslow to Tuckahoe and Cape May and Wildwood were largely Reading trackage. I will not get into a definitive history here, but will just show some of my photos taken of the lines from the mid-1970's to early 1990's.

First we will travel the former PRR passneger route from Lindenwold to Atlantic City. All PRSL passenger trips were covered by a small fleet of Budd RDC cars. There were twelve purchased originally, with two wrecked over the years. Thankfully, most of the remaining ten cars have been saved and now reside down in the Cape May area. See the link below for further information on this and current operations on all former PRSL lines .

After the PRSL closed their Camden waterfront terminal, all passenger trains began in Lindenwold. This was the end of the PATCO lines. PATCO is a subway type operation running from center city Philadelphia, over the Ben Franklin Bridge and through several suburban New Jersey communities. The current New Jersey Transit operations to Atlantic City will be covered in a later page.

A typical pair of RDC cars ready to head to Cape May on the weekend shore train. During the summer months, the PRSL ran a train Saturday and Sunday from Lindenwold to Cape May and Ocean City. The RDC cars would split at Tuckahoe with one car going to Cape May and the other to Ocean City. More on this below.

Here a weekday commuter trip to Cape May swings off the main at Winslow tower in 1980.

Freight action at Winslow is on page 2.

A single car commuter train enroute to Atlantic City stops at Hammonton.

The position light signal belies the PRR heritage of this line. Hammonton, 1980.

In 1986, the local freight service was operated by the Shore Fast Line. The colors and the name come from an old trolley operation in Atlantic City. For few shots near Pleasantville, click here.

The next stop east of Hammonton is Egg Harbor City.

The elevated station at Absecon was built shortly after the 1933 consolidation.

Departing Absecon, next stop is Atlantic City.

The very impressive Atlantic City Terminal Building served as the bus depot after the railroad moved to a very small station west of this building in the early 1960's. The terminal is now gone. Today you can hardly recognize this location. New stores, hotels and the A.C. Convention Center all sit in the area once occupied by the railroad.

Several RDC cars wait out the weekend at the Atlantic City terminal.

The old yard tower became the railroads office. Some old PRR boxcars sit along side the tower.

By 1979, several former CNJ RDC cars joined the PRSL fleet. Service was discontinued around 1982.

Local freight service was operated by the PRSL fleet of Baldwin switchers. 6017 in Atlantic City, 1975. As noted above, the area is completely changed today. This exact spot is the location of the Convention Center.

Trains to Cape May and Ocean City

Flying through Estelle Manor, NJ at 70 mph, is the summer weekend train from Lindenwold to Ocean City and Cape May.

The highlight of the line is the junction point at Tuckahoe, NJ. Here a manned tower controlled the switches for the Ocean City branch, which is also where the Beesley's Point power station is located. That is the destination for the coal and oil trains. The branch today beyond the Beesleys Point spur is abandoned. The line to Cape May swung south toward Rio Grande and remains intact.

The GP-38's were built with dual cab controls so a long hood leading unit was not uncommon. Here a short train from Beesleys Point heads west toward Camden. 1975.

2004 heads to the power plant. Photo courtesy Gary Madden.

It is 1979 and the train is a Conrail train with some former CNJ Budd cars added, but the appearance is very much PRSL. Today the four RDC cars will go through to Cape May as the conductor gets his orders.

A single RDC car waits on the Ocean City branch for connecting passengers.

A quick flurry of activity at Tuckahoe as passengers change trains, then off they both go and quiet returns to this small town.

10th street, Ocean City was the largest station on the branch and the last stop. The lone RDC waits out the weekend on this quiet winter day. One train from here and from Cape May operated on a commuter schedule to Lindenwold during the week. They combined and split at Tuckahoe the same as the weekend summer trains. The entire branch is now abandoned.

Cape May Courthouse station. This is a separate town from Cape May itself. 1979.

Wildwood Junction. The remains of the semaphore signals still stand. 12-30-79.

Wildwood, NJ. The old NYC commuter cars were to be part of a restaurant, but I believe they are long gone. 12-30-79.

Rio Grande station.

Cape May, NJ

Arriving in 1973 Winter layover, 1979

Today the lower part of the Cape May branch is operated by the Cape May Seashore Lines Railroad. As noted above, they operate almost the entire remaining fleet of original PRSL Budd cars. Summer trips run between Cape May Courthouse and the Cape May station shown above. New extensions as far as Richland are now offered. Cape May is a wonderful place to visit and worth a family outing if you can get down there.

Visit the CMSL web site at: www.capemayseashorelines.org

What does the PRSL look like today? Visit www.SJRail.com for the answer.

To the second half of the PRSL ( Mostly freight operations )

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