The New York & Long Branch

also known as the North Jersey Coast Line

Page 2

We will begin page 2 in Red Bank and head south toward Bay Head Jct.

  Former CNJ GP40P 4108 rolls to a stop at Red Bank in 1978 running on the eastbound track.

   F40 4129 does the same during the overhead wire construction in 1987.  Note the new paint on the station.  Several CNJ depots were constructed to the same plan including Red Bank, Matawan, Fanwood and a few others long gone.

      "Bank" tower controlled the junction of the Southern Division with the NY & LB.  The original New Jersey and Southern mainline crossed the NY & LB on diamonds here and continued to the Raritan Bay at Port Monmouth.  This track was removed some time after World War 2.  Bank tower survived to the mid-1980's when NJ Transit rebuilt the yard and junction for their use.

  ALP-44 4403 passes the site of Bank tower in 1999.  This train is heading to New York.

  PC E8 4324 leads a midday three car train south of Red Bank in 1975.

    Midway between Red bank and Little Silver is the White Road grade crossing in Shrewsbury.

      Little Silver, NJ.  Images from February 1979.

     Below Little Silver, the railroad crosses Parker Creek and enters a portion of the Fort Monmouth Army base.

          Several images from what I believe is Fort Monmouth courtesy of Ron Montgomery.  The Army kept several hospital cars there for many years.  If these locations are incorrect, please let me know.

    A pair of E8's on each end of the 1977 shuttle train cross Overpeck Creek.  This was at one time a movable bridge.

     Just below the bridge is the junction of the track to the Monmouth Park Race Track.  Special trains ran from New York during racing season as recently as the early 1980's.  NJ Transit discontinued this service but the trackage remains intact to the grandstand.

       A CNJ and a Penn Central train pass the racetrack area in 1975.

             At the Route 36 grade crossing was the former Branchport station and junction.  A early CNJ ( New Jersey & Southern ) line from Eatontown crossed the NY & LB, which was built later, and ran to North Long Branch and up along the ocean to Highlands, NJ.  The right of way of this old line remains open today thanks to a power pole line.

  The NY & LB is dead straight from the Route 35 crossing below Red Bank to Long Branch.  A current view as a train nears Long Branch.

  This Long Branch station was built in the 1950's to replace an old wooden building.  It was demolished in 1986 to make way for the new yard and station when the electrification was extended to here.

Several views of the new Long Branch yard.  Including the former Amtrak E60's, a MARC unit on loan and 4437 on the summer train from Suffern, NY to Bay Head.  Most views from the late 1980's.  This is the end of the electrification.  Today, trains run hourly plus added rush hour service.

     The newer ALP-44 units as viewed from the Bath Avenue crossing. A safe railfan location.

  4100 about to enter the yard at the Bath Avenue crossing.

  4128 at Brighton Ave., Long Branch.    4110 at Cedar Avenue, Long Branch. 1987

  In 1974, CNJ 3676 passes under the Park Ave overpass just above the Elberon Station.  The old bridge abutments once carried a trolley line over the NJCL tracks.

    NJT 4123 passes the same location in 1987.     4129 going under the Park Ave. bridge.

  A very rare picture of a Conrail local freight between Cedar Ave., Long Branch and Elberon.  The train was enroute to Bradley Beach with two cars of newsprint for the Asbury Park Press printing plant.  The CNJ referred to this train as the Bradley Beach turner.  The newspaper moved their operations to Freehold some years ago.  The last freight customer below Red Bank was a lumber yard in Little Silver, however they have not received anything via rail in some time.

  Elberon Station in 1974.  This building burned down about ten years ago. A smaller but similar station has replaced this one.

  Two southbound ( westbound by timetable ) trains at Elberon. 

  4251swings around the reverse curve between Elberon and Deal as viewed from Norwood Avenue.

  F40 4129 splits a pair of CNJ type signals at Deal.  The station stop at Deal was dropped in the late 1960's.

    4327 heads south approaching the town of Allenhurst.

  The Allenhurst station in 1980.  Sadly, it was torn down and replaced by a mundane office building. Gary Madden photo.

  Fortunately, the small shelter on the southbound side remains.    A CNJ work crane in 1974.

  4101 northbound approaching Allenhurst after crossing over Deal Lake.

    A former PC E8 leads several old PRR P70 coaches over Deal Lake on a cold day in 1978.

    4110 in old CNJ and new NJT colors at North Asbury Park.    The North Asbury Park station still exists, but is no longer a station stop.  It is located at the Sunset Avenue crossing.

  4123 heading south through Asbury Park.  Virtually every street crosses the railroad at grade.  

  The old Asbury Park station shown just before its demolition.  If it looks familiar, Lionel Trains made a station in "O" scale based on this building.

  4110 stops at the new station.    4129 heads south from Asbury Park . 

A Conrail local to Bradley Beach passses the station area in 1987

Bradley Beach was the site of a small yard used primarily to serve the Asbury Park Press newspaper printing plant.

Conrail 7873 works the plant in 1987              7658 sits in the yard                         7870 backs in the clear for an early rush hour train.

  In 1976, the American Freedom Train spent three days here behind former Reading T-1 2101.

       Images at the Bradley Beach station.  It has been restored to as new condition!

    4110 crosses the small trestle just above the Shark River draw bridge.  A new steel bridge is here now.

  A NJT F40 heads toward Newark crossing the Shark River bridge between Belmar and Avon-by-the-Sea.

  A pair of Penn Central E8's head toward Bay Head at 'Shark'.    NJT 4113 in a more current view.

  CNJ 3682 leads a southbound over the bridge and into Belmar in 1975.

  During the electrification construction between South Amboy and Matawan in 1982, a set of E8's, one on each end of the train, served as a shuttle between Matawan and Bay Head.  This was not a push-pull operation, rather the lead unit was simply pulling the train.

  4123 crosses the 16th Avenue grade crossing in Belmar.

     Two NJT trains on the north end of Spring Lake.

  4325 in the NJT interim color scheme roll to a stop at the Spring Lake station.

  Crossing the small pond between Spring Lake and Sea Girt.

               Other views of the area below Spring Lake.

  Sea Girt station is no longer used as a stop. This stop was discontinued along with Deal and North Asbury Park in the 1960's.

   Just across the tracks from the Sea Girt station is the old concrete marker denoting the junction of the New York & Long Branch and the Pennsylvania Railroad branch to Farmingdale, Freehold and Jamesburg.  This line was originally known as the Jamesburg Agricultural Railroad.  The portion from here to Farmingdale was abandoned and converted into a hiking and bike trail. 

  Back on the CNJ train from Newark in 1974, we meet an eastbound Penn Central train near Manasquan.

      Manasquan station.  Sadly, this old building burned down several years ago.

One of the highlights of this line is the Manasquan River bridge.  It is one of four movable bridges on the North Jersey Coast Line.

                A fan trip behind a trio of E8's 

    A public timetable for the lower end of the line for 1976. (173k)

Go to page 3, ( Point Pleasant and Bay Head Jct. ).

Go to page 1,  ( Rahway to Red Bank )

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