November Chapter Membership Meeting.

West Jersey Chapter’s November membership meeting was held on Monday, November 28, 2022, at the Audubon Senior Center in Audubon, N. J., and was simultaneously broadcast via Zoom. WJC member and Railfan & Railroad editor Steve Barry presented a program on photos he has taken during 2022. You can play a recording of the presentation by clicking on the image or by clicking here. The length of the program is 55:37.

West Jersey Chapter YouTube Channel.

Thanks to member Scott Barnes, West Jersey Chapter now has a YouTube channel. Here you can find recordings of the presentations made at our recent Chapter membership meetings - all in one place! West Jersey Chapter also has a Facebook page. For your convenience, Facebook and YouTube icons, which link to these sites, appear in the footer of each webpage of our main and store websites.

October Chapter Membership Meeting.

West Jersey Chapter’s October membership meeting was held on Monday, October 24, 2022, at the Audubon Senior Center in Audubon, N. J., and was simultaneously broadcast via Zoom. WJC Vice President Fred Ciocciola presented a program entitled “A Penn Central Retrospective,” with photos in chronological order following the merger of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central System on February 1, 1968. The New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad (“New Haven”) was absorbed into Penn Central on January 1, 1969, and Fred showed PC images from southern New England as well. You can play a recording of the presentation by clicking on the image or by clicking here. The length of the program is 1:24:02.

September Chapter Membership Meeting.

West Jersey Chapter’s September membership meeting was held on Monday, September 26, 2022, at the Audubon Senior Center in Audubon, N. J. This was our first in-person meeting since the COVID-19 pandemic began. WJC member Russell Sharp visited us from Illinois to present a program about the Rio Grande narrow gauge freights in 1967 plus their last year of operation in 1968. The presentation covered the dual-gauge trackage from Alamosa to Antonito, the narrow-gauge mainline from Antonito to Durango, and the narrow-gauge branches to Farmington and Silverton. This meeting was not broadcast via Zoom, but we hope to have this capability for the October meeting. We did, however, record the presentation and made it available on YouTube. You can play a recording of the presentation by clicking on the image or by clicking here. The length of the program is 1:17:31.

Tuckahoe Transportation Heritage Festival

West Jersey Chapter participated in the 5th Tuckahoe Transportation Heritage Festival, held on the grounds of the former Atlantic City Railroad / Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines station, in Upper Township, Cape May County, on Saturday, September 24, 2022. WJC members manned our sales table, and acted as docents on railroad equipment recently restored, and currently undergoing restoration. Equipment on display included PRR parlor car Mineral Spring, several P-70 coaches, and CNJ observation car Tempel. Also present were former PRSL rail diesel cars (RDC-1) owned by Cape May Seashore Lines. Train rides and speeder (motor car) rides were offered to visitors. Photos by Dave Homer.

August Virtual Chapter Membership Meeting.

West Jersey Chapter’s August virtual membership meeting was held on Monday, August 22. WJC Vice President Fred Ciocciola presented a program on his May, 2022, trip to the Age of Steam Roundhouse in Sugarcreek, Ohio. You can play a recording of the presentation by clicking on the image or by clicking here. The length of the program is 13:15. This was followed by a selection of images of the PRSL from the recently acquired slide collection donated to WJC by Tom Jorgensen.

June Virtual Chapter Membership Meeting

West Jersey Chapter’s June virtual membership meeting was held on Monday, June 27. West Jersey Chapter member Paul Mulligan presented a program entitled "Mapping Railroads of Cape May," followed by some images of progress on restoration activity in Tuckahoe. You can play a recording of the presentation by clicking on the image or by clicking here. The length of the program is 1:21:39.

South Jersey History Fair

West Jersey Chapter participated in the South Jersey History Fair, which was held on the grounds outside the historic 1756 Gabreil Daveis Tavern Museum House, 500 3rd Avenue, Glendora, on Saturday, June 11. The event was sponsored by the Gloucester Township Historic & Scenic Preservation Committee. Exhibitors included authors, historic committees, and groups from across all of South Jersey. Several Chapter members and many visitors stopped by to visit. In this photo, WJC members Ron Baile and Dave Homer are manning the Chapter’s exhibit. Photo by John Burlage.

May Virtual Chapter Membership Meeting

West Jersey Chapter’s May virtual membership meeting was held on Monday, May 23. WJC member Pierre Lacombe presented a program on the building of the Camden & Amboy Railroad between South Amboy and Bordentown. It has been popularly held that the stone sleepers used to support the rails were quarried at Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, New York. A retired professional geologist, Pierre debunks this notion through a thorough analysis of the sleepers remaining along the line. Yes, some of the stones were quarried at Sing Sing, but most of the stones were quarried at locations within 20 miles of the railroad.

Westville - Glassboro Driving Tour

Ten West Jersey Chapter members took a driving tour of the former West Jersey Railroad mainline between Westville and Glassboro on Saturday, March 21, 2022, stopping at many places along the line to inspect the current facilities and to note the remains for former facilities. Participants received a 24-page booklet covering the history of the line prepared by Chapter Historian John Burlage, with assistance from Scott Barnes, Dave Homer, and Brian Yates, and Brian distributed a seven-page handout containing supplemental material on various aspects of the line. John gave a brief history of the line just prior to the tour, and Brian and Scott served as docents at the tour stops. Dave showed photos from the past at many of the stops, and had an ample supply of cold water for everyone. Scott arranged to have have the beautifully restored 1893 Wenonah station opened, which is where the tour group took its lunch break. After lunch our group explored the abandoned right-of-way of the original railroad through Wenonah. The Glassboro station was also open, courtesy Rich Drobil. Photos by Kyle Paine, Dave Homer, and John Burlage.

If you couldn’t make the tour, no problem! You can purchase a copy of the tour booklet through our website Store.

April Virtual Chapter Membership Meeting

West Jersey Chapter’s April virtual membership meeting was held on Monday, April 25. WJC President Dave Homer presented a program entitled "Photos from a Box," which includes images from a box of photos donated by Chapter member Jerry MacDonald. In addition, Dave showed some miscellaneous photos, and pictures of the Hainesport Industrial Railroad, including some night scenes. You can play a recording of the presentation by clicking on the image or by clicking here. The length of the program is 58:27.

March Virtual Chapter Membership Meeting

West Jersey Chapter’s March virtual membership meeting was held on Monday, March 28. Rich Jahn of the Anthracite Railroads Historical Society presented a program featuring rarely seen rail images from the late Walter Schopp. Walt never shared his images and only since his passing has the ARHS been sharing some of them. Those who knew Walt know that he got around a great deal and took a lot of classic images of railroads in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and many other places. You can play a recording of the presentation by clicking on the image or by clicking here. The length of the program is 1:29:51.

15th Annual "Lines on the Pines" 2022

West Jersey Chapter participated at the 15th Annual “Lines on the Pines” festival held at Stockton University in Galloway Township. This festival celebrates everything Pinelands, and participants include authors, artists, craftsmen, historians, and musicians. WJC’s exhibit focused on the railroads which served the Pinelands, including the Jersey Central’s premier Jersey City to Atlantic City train, The Blue Comet. WJC’s participation was quite successful, and we picked up two new members.

December Virtual Chapter Membership Meeting

West Jersey Chapter’s December virtual membership meeting was held on Monday, December 27. WJC member Mike Brotzman presented a program on his many Mid-Winter SEPTA Trips, entitled "20 Years of SEPTA Mid-Winter Madness." In 2001 Mike organized a SEPTA fan trip in the week between Christmas and New Year's for members of an internet transit forum. The trip was so successful that he has repeated it every year since. This program explores the history of the event along with a selection of photos from each one.

November Virtual Chapter Membership Meeting

West Jersey Chapter’s November virtual membership meeting was held on Monday, November 22. WJC member Brian Yates shared South Jersey (and a few non-South Jersey) rail images he has scanned from the Francis Palmer Collection that the Chapter acquired a few years ago. The program featured a lot of images of South Jersey train stations and some trains that we haven't seen before. Some of the collection/scans are from photos from Frank Kozempel (and others).

Camden County History Alliance Meeting

West Jersey Chapter President Dave Homer and Vice President Ron Baile narrated a program entitled Vintage South Jersey Railroad Freight Stations / Shelters / Signals / Stations: A through Z on behalf of the Camden County History Alliance. The pictures presented were contributed by many individuals and organizations, and the subject material encompasses the area shown on the above map. You can play a recording of the presentation by clicking on the map or by clicking here. The length of the program is 1:37:26.