Cape May Seashore Lines is a
short line railroad in southern
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
. It offers two excursion services: a round trip between
Richland and
Tuckahoe and a round trip between
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico.
The length of the Rio G ...
,
Cold Spring Village, and
Cape May City. The track is owned by
NJ Transit and leased to the Seashore Lines. Connections are provided with
Conrail
Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...
's Beesley's Point Secondary, owned jointly by
CSX
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
and
Norfolk Southern, at the north end in Tuckahoe. Tony Macrie has been president of the Seashore Lines since he formed the railroad in 1984.
CMSL operates both
freight trains and
excursion trains.
History
Predecessor lines
The line to Cape May was built in 1863 by the
Tuckahoe and Cape May Railroad
The Atlantic City Railroad was a Philadelphia and Reading Railway subsidiary that became part of Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines in 1933. At the end of 1925 it operated of road on of track; that year it reported 43 million ton-miles of rev ...
, and operated by the
Philadelphia and Reading Railway's
Atlantic City Railroad and later
Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines (PRSL). At one time, the rail line was known as "The Steel Speedway To The Shore”. Eventually it became part of
Conrail
Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...
, which ended passenger service on the line in 1981, ended freight service on October 10, 1983 and sold the line to New Jersey Transit as their Cape May Branch.
Establishment of CMSL
The Seashore Lines was founded by Tony Macrie (CEO) in January 1984. Regular train service between
Cape May Court House
Cape May Court House is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Middle Township in Cape May County, New Jersey, United States. and Cold Spring Village began in 1996. Service was extended in Cape May City in 1999 after repairs to the
swing bridge crossing the
Cape May Canal
The Cape May Canal is a waterway connecting Cape May Harbor to the Delaware Bay, at the southern tip of Cape May County, New Jersey, Cape May County, New Jersey. There is a long history of unfulfilled plans for a canal across Cape May. available ...
were completed.
In 2005, mechanical issues with the Cape May Canal swing bridge prevented trains from entering the city of Cape May. Although the bridge was repaired a year later, a severe storm in April 2007 damaged the tracks and left locomotives stranded in Tuckahoe. Passenger train service between Rio Grande and Cape May City resumed on October 12, 2009.
New Jersey Seashore Lines
New Jersey Seashore Lines (NJSL) is a subsidiary of Cape May Seashore Lines. New Jersey Seashore Lines was created by Cape May Seashore Lines in conjunction with the Clayton Sand Co. in
Chatsworth. Using state and federal grants New Jersey Seashore Lines has rehabilitated of track between
Lakehurst and the Woodmansie section of Chatsworth (which itself is part of
Woodland Township), where Clayton operates a sand mine. New Jersey Seashore Lines had originally planned to operate rail service to transport sand and gravel from Clayton and serve the needs of any other customers that might need rail service along the line. The line was originally owned by the
Central Railroad of New Jersey and was once part of the route of the famed
Blue Comet. South of Woodmansie the tracks are abandoned leaving no connection from the south. Neither CMSL, their subsidiary NJSL or Clayton Sand Co. have released any information on the current or future plans for the line and if or when operation may begin.
Lines
*
Richland-
Tuckahoe Station
Tuckahoe station is a commuter rail stop on the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem Line, located in the village of Tuckahoe, New York. It is 16 miles (25.7 km) from Grand Central Terminal and travel time there is approximately 39 minutes. As of ...
,
Tuckahoe
*
Rio Grande Station,
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico.
The length of the Rio G ...
-
Cape May
Current Service
The Seashore Lines currently operates excursion trains on 15 miles of
Conrail's Beesley's Point Secondary between Tuckahoe and Richland. Current passenger train operations include the Valentine’s Express, St. Patrick’s Express, Easter Bunny Express, Ice Cream Express, and the Santa Express service. Train sets primarily consist of the railroad's two
GP38
The EMD GP38 is a four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between January 1966 and December 1971. The locomotive's prime mover was an EMD 645 16-cylinder engine that generated . The company built 70 ...
diesel locomotives and six passenger cars. The Seashore Lines operates occasional passenger excursions for the
Buena Vista Township / Richland Village Festival, as well as the Annual Tuckahoe Transportation Heritage Festival.
Freight Service Expansion
In November, 2021, the Seashore Lines filed with the
Surface Transportation Board
The Surface Transportation Board (STB) of the United States is a federal, bipartisan, independent adjudicatory board. The STB was established on January 1, 1996, to assume some of the regulatory functions that had been administered by the Intersta ...
to operate freight rail service on the former Conrail Beesley's Point Secondary Track between
Winslow Winslow may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Winslow, Buckinghamshire, England, a market town and civil parish
* Winslow Rural District, Buckinghamshire, a rural district from 1894 to 1974
United States and Canada
* Rural Municipality of Winslo ...
and
Palermo
Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...
, a distance of approximately 30 miles. Service began in
February of 2022.
2012 vandalism
On March 1, 2012, the Seashore Lines received a telephone call from the
New Jersey State Police
The New Jersey State Police (NJSP) is the official state police force of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a general-powers police agency with statewide jurisdiction, designated by troop sectors.
History
As with other state police organization ...
, advising them that theft of track material had occurred on their Cape May Branch in
Dennisville. This is the Seashore Lines’ main line between Tuckahoe and Cape May City. The investigating trooper informed them that several individuals associated with the theft had been arrested and charged with indictable offenses. Arrested on Monday, March 5, were a father and son team from the
Villas
Villas may refer to:
Places
* Villas, Florida, United States
* Villas, Illinois, United States
* Villas, New Jersey, United States
* Las Villas, a region of Spain
* Las Villas (Cuba), a former Cuban Province
* The Villas, a housing estate in Stok ...
section of
Lower Township, New Jersey, along with a third individual from Rio Grande.
Several days later, Macrie and two Seashore Lines employees conducted a detailed track inspection of the entire area of the theft, which consisted primarily of the removal of
tie plates and
spikes. This inspection concluded that the area of the theft encompassed approximately 6,800 feet (1 1/4 miles), or 75 percent of the total number of tie plates and spikes in that particular section of track. In their actions to remove the tie plates and spikes, the perpetrators also damaged and destroyed numerous cross ties.
Excursion trains did not run during the summer of 2012 due to the damage from the vandalism. The company occasionally offered rides to the public on
railroad speeder vehicles along several miles of undamaged track on the Cape May Branch. As of early 2022 Rio Grande-Cape May service remains suspended.
Beginning in 2020 Seashore Lines partnered with a railbiking company. The railbike trail uses approximately 4 miles of track between the welcome center near Cape May Station to just before the bridge at Cape May Channel. In March 2022 members of the Cape May city council began negotiating with the owner of the tracks, the New Jersey Department of Transportation, to remove the trackage around the station for conversion to a walking trail.
Roster
The Seashore Lines owns and leases a large roster of equipment:
*Three
EMD GP38
The EMD GP38 is a four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by Electro-Motive Diesel, General Motors Electro-Motive Division between January 1966 and December 1971. The locomotive's Prime mover (locomotive), prime mover was an EMD 645 16-cyli ...
's, two leased from
GATX
GATX Corporation is a railcar lessor that owns fleets in North America, Europe, and Asia. In addition, jointly with Rolls-Royce Limited, it owns one of the largest aircraft spare engine lease portfolios. It is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. ...
, one leased from LLPX. Two of which are ex.
PRSL #'s 2011 and 2012, respectively.
*Eight of the 12 original PRSL
Budd Rail Diesel Car
The Budd Rail Diesel Car, RDC, Budd car or Buddliner is a self-propelled diesel multiple unit (DMU) railcar. Between 1949 and 1962, 398 RDCs were built by the Budd Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The cars were primarily adop ...
s (RDC), two of which are restored and in operating condition (M-407, M-410).
*Restored
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk Co ...
(LIRR) Tavern Lounge car "Good Vibrations".
*
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
(PRR) coaches "Braddock Inn" and "Mineral Springs". Braddock Inn has been restored for service.
*Restored
New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...
(NYC) coach & tavern lounge No. 38.
*Restored
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison, Kansas, Atchison and Top ...
(ATSF)
Pullman Company
The Pullman Company, founded by George Pullman, was a manufacturer of railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Through rapid late-19th century d ...
Observation Lounge car "Vista Valley".
*several P70 coaches, including the last two surviving PRSL P70 coaches.
*four
caboose
A caboose is a crewed North American railroad car coupled at the end of a freight train. Cabooses provide shelter for crew at the end of a train, who were formerly required in switching and shunting, keeping a lookout for load shifting, damag ...
s, including the last remaining PRSL caboose.
*an
RS3m, formerly PRR 8481, wearing
Conrail
Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...
blue.
*
Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) observation car, "Tempel", used on the famed train "The Blue Comet", and wearing Comet colors of blue and cream.
File:Seashore Lines car M 410.JPG, Seashore Lines RDC car M 410
File:Seashore Lines car M 407.JPG, Seashore Lines RDC car M 407
File:Passenger car 1706.JPG, PRR P-70 Passenger car 1706
File:Tuckahoe 5-6-09 024.jpg, ex Conrail RS3m
File:GMTX GP38-2 2661.jpg, Ex-PRSL GP38 locomotive #2011
See also
*
List of New Jersey railroads
The following railroads operate in the U.S. state of New Jersey.
Common Freight Carriers
Private Freight Carriers
* Bayshore Terminal
* FAPS
* New Jersey and Northern Railway
* PBF Energy
Passenger Carriers
*Amtrak (AMTK)
*New Jersey Transit ...
References
External links
Cape May Seashore Lines - Official siteat Octrainguy.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cape May Seashore Lines
New Jersey railroads
Spin-offs of Conrail
Companies operating former Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines lines
Transportation in Cape May County, New Jersey
Heritage railroads in New Jersey