Hike #1286; Mt Holly to Merchantville

Hike #1286; Mt. Holly to Merchantville

1/4/20 Mt Holly to Merchantville with Ellie Zabeth, Diane Reider, Justin Gurbisz, Kathryn Cataldo,

Kevin Kowalick, Michael Krejsa, Jack Lowry, and Shane Blische

This next hike would be a point to point, the next one in a series I had only just recently concocted featuring the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Atlantic Division.

CVS lot where the tracks used to be

I had been doing quite a lot of hikes out of New Jersey lately, what with the 911 Memorial Trail series, Delaware and Hudson series, and the occasional fill ins with Neshaminy and Long Island. It was feeling like the vast majority of stuff I’d been doing was in New York or Pennsylvania except for the night hikes.
I knew it was time to bring it on home to Jersey, and I had somewhat recently done my first section of the Atlantic Division in the western portion of the state just a little while back, when we finished the Union Transportation to Pemberton.

Former rail bed

I had originally considered heading east from Pemberton to continue the series, but then realized we could follow the rail bed west to its western terminus in Camden.
Camden hikes had historically all been absolutely great, so I was anxious to head out that way again. Much of the route from where we left off in Mt. Holly was still tracks, but a section of it out by Camden was now abandoned, and some of it was trail.
Track is actually pretty good for doing on Winter hikes because the snow doesn’t quite stay with it, or it packs better between the rails, so this seemed like a smart hike to post.

Rail bed was to the lft

Oddly, by the time I posted it, it was looking like it was going to be an atypically warm day for January. In fact, it would turn out to be shorts and tee shirt weather, though I wore a leisure suit.
I planned the route to meet at the Pennsauken station just to the north of Camden along the River Line, which is the former Camden and Amboy Railroad, the oldest passenger rail line in the country. We could then shuttle in as few cars as possible back to where we left off the last time when we got to Mt Holly.

Big tree on the way

There were a couple of loose ends I wanted to tie up when we got down to Mt. Holly anyway, and so I planned it to start at the same shopping center we finished the other one in, by the Taco Bell and the Acme.
Across from this spot was where the Burlington Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad used to go. Today, the CVS parking lot takes over the spot, which closely parallels Burlington-Mt Holly Road.
The Burlington Branch was one of the oldest railroads in America. It was incorporated in 1836 as the Burlington and Mt. Holly Railroad and Transportation Company.

Remnant of the Burlington Branch in yards

It was soon after named the Burlington County Railroad Company.
By 1895, the Pennsylvania Railroad was using the line, and they decided to experiment with electric here.

The rail bed is behind the fency thing

It became America’s first electric railroad when they decided to experiment with 500 volt DC trolley wire and trolley pole electric operation. They used two motor passenger cars made by the Jackson and Sharp Company out of Wilmington DE.
Service continued in this way only until 1901 when the electric power house in Mt. Holly burned. The structure was demolished in early 1902, and electric experimentation on the line came to an end.
The line did remain in service until 1927, when it was abandoned by the Pennslvania Railroad.

The rail bed is a power line now

On the previous hike, we had inadvertently followed a portion of this branch, but I didn’t know it at the time. Not until the hike was finished did I realize we were walking on or close to it.
I decided for the start of this hike, we would try to trace some of the remnants of this much forgotten line.
We started in the parking lot, closer to the Dollar Tree, and went into that store first get get snacks and such for on the way. I knew we wouldn’t be passing much for quite a while. I got a Snickers bar and an ice cream sandwich to get me started.

Ties still in place on the Burlington Branch

We headed out of the parking lot and across High Street to the CVS lot. When we got to the back, where the railroad used to be, I could see no remnants. This, I found out, was because it was in a cut, and that has long since been filled in. We crossed Levis Drive and entered the yards of the Holbein School, and kept to the left. This was closely parallel to the old railroad bed. A power line followed the right of way from this point south.
As we walked, behind a fence on the left of the school yard, I could see down into the old railroad cut, which was now people’s back yards. We continued to the end of the school yard, then had to turn right out to the entrance due to back yards in the way. It was pretty wet along that grass, and I got my feet soaked. Fortunately, that was the most messy stuff we had to walk through the entire day.

The rail bed was to the left

We reached the school entrance and exited onto Thorndyke Ave. We then turned left onto Devin Road and went around a corner. This took us out to Bartram Ave where we turned left.
It about a block, Clifton Ave turned right. The old railroad bed used to be just to the left of that. I was looking for ties or something, and I think someone told me it would be impossible to find ties for that, and that it wasn’t down in the ditch where I was looking.
I kept my eyes open, and sure enough, I spotted railroad ties teetering over a washout.

Burlington Branch remnant

Mike and I got down in the ditch to inspect it more closely. There was a good stretch where the ties were actually still recognizable in there. I was rather surprised.

Some remaining ties

We soon reached Grant Street, where the large parking lot for the jail was straight ahead. The railroad used to continue right out across the middle of that, and so did we.
Once we got to the other side, we could see where it continued over Rancocas Road and across the North Branch of the Rancocas Creek. I didn’t see any bridge remnant here.

We turned left and then right on Park Drive, then skirted a parking area to see if we could find some remnants.

The burlington branch was in that ditch

While we walked, off to the left I spotted an old log cabin, close to the different municipal offices. I decided we had to go over and have a closer look at it.
It turned out this was the Shinn-Curtis Cabin, origally built in 1712 on Water Street (which later became Rancocas Rd). It was acquired by the Curtis family in 1802 and remained in the family 147 years.
The hand hewn log cabin was added to, and encased in a more modern sided building. When the building was being demolished in 1967, the original cabin was uncovered.

Historic Survey of American Architecture photo from Library of Congress Archives showing the cabin during building demolition in 1967

It was moved to Park Drive where it resides today, owned by Mount Holly Historical Society.

Shinn-Curtis Cabin today

I was told a story that there was a threat to bring the original building frame elsewhere for historic preservation, which lit a fire under the ass of the town to save it for themselves.

North Branch of the Rancocas Creek

We continued up hill from here to the intersection with Washington Street and paused while I checked the maps on my phone.

The rail bed near the jail

A cop pulled up to us and asked what we were doing (we must have looked particularly confused, and I was wearing my bright lime green jacket). I told the guy what we were tracing and how we just got side tracked checking out the cabin.
We continued right down Washington Street, and it couldn’t have been more obvious where the old Burlington Branch crossed the road, because the deck girder bridge that carried it over the North Branch of the Rancocas Creek, directly to the left, was still in place, though fenced off.

Burlington Branch bridge in Mt Holly

We checked that out, and then continued ahead on Washington Street.
We turned left on Madison Avenue, and then reached the old Mt. Holly Station on the Pennsylvania Railroad Atlantic Division, which is now the Train Wreck Distillery.

Burlington Branch Bridge in Mt Holly

We walked out behind it and checked out the station platform a bit, and then I pointed out where the Burlington Branch crossed over the creek. Only a pier remains there now.
I also pointed out where the filled in trestle was ahead. The Rancocas Creek used to pass beneath the Atlantic Division twice, but the Pennsylvania Railroad filled in the two bridges and moved the creek so that its main flow remained on the north side. The bridges remain, and the deck plate girders can be seen from alongside.

Old mill wheel in Mt Holly

I took several photos for my then and now shots at the station, and we moved on across Madison to follow the abandoned tracks to the west.
There are still rails in most the entire rest of our hike, but this first bit was no longer used. I don’t think it’s been used since the 1990s. Shane said they removed the track beside the station within the past five years.
We moved on through the woods along the tracks, which were at least three wide at one time. Probably much wider at one time. This was a rail yard, and there was the junction with the Burlington Branch just ahead, and another junction with the Medford Branch to the south right in this area.

Tracks

I think that junction site is now fenced in. I was watching for where it would have been.
Shane was also watching for it, but only even more closely. He went up onto the slope to the left of the tracks, and then walked up on encampments of homeless people, but fortunately no one bothered us this time.
The tracks got pretty overgrown, and we took a side trip through the Carlton Avenue Tot Lot, a public lot of vacant grass with no signs or anything. At the end of it, we descended back to the tracks next to an abandond industrial building we had explored on the previous trip.

Where Burlington Branch crossed the Rancocas

At this point, I saw Jack was no longer wearing his jacket. He commented that it was getting too hot.
We continued on, past another seemingly vacant warehouse building, and emerged onto South Atlantic Avenue when the tracks again became overgrown. We walked about a block’s worth of distance on this, and then there was a good path back down to the tracks heading to the west.

Mount Moriah AME cemetery

We soon crossed Maple Avenue, and then continued ahead toward the Rt 130 Bypass.
The bypass was the toughest road we would have to cross. There is no crosswalk and barely any breaks in traffic, but we managed to get across.
On the other side, we spotted a swath of cemetery along the highway to the left of the tracks.
We had walked the cemetery on the other side of the highway last time, but this one was really easy to miss. It did have some American flags for early veterans in it.

Rancocas view

The original 1826 Mount Moriah AME Church stood near the southwest corner of Marne Highway and the Mount Holly Bypass, which was just to the north of where we stood.

Atlantic Division where Jack dropped his phone

In 1862, the congregation moved to Sand Hill, its present location on Washington Street.

Burlington Branch bridge

The cemetery observed along the bypass just beyond the railroad tracks is the original Mount Moriah burying ground. The church later obtained a larger tract for a new cemetery on the other side of the bypass which was what we walked last time.
Some people claim that the bypass was built over some graves, which is not at all unbelievable, but there is also no evidence to support the claim either.
We all went into the cemetery to start reading some of the tomb stones. There was a big dead deer carcass in the middle of the cemetery, which I hurried on past, as it brought up horrid memories of the Oxford Tunnel incident.
When we were getting ready to go, we noticed that Jack was missing. Eyes went back on the tracks where we had come, and we could see him running toward us.

Here's where Burlington Branch went through jail lands

When he reached the cemetery, he told us he had dropped his phone and went back to look for it to no avail. He had put it on silent, and it was black. He figured that it was one for at this point. It was misting on us, not a full on rain, but there was the chance it could get ruined.
Elizabeth got her phone out and started working with Jack to see if they could figure out the “find my phone” app somehow. After a few moments of waiting, I talked to Diane and we thought we could probably find it.

Shinn-Curtis Cabin

Jack told me he went back to the abandoned factory to find it, but I remembered him saying he had to take it off because it was too hot, which meant he took it off before reaching the factory.
Whenever I lose something, I always have to think to myself if I actually lost it where I thought I had, or if there was a chance that I was associating it with when I noticed it was missing.
We went back, and I tried to trace the exact route through the weeds we had taken. I looked more closely when we got to the factory site and where we were standing.

The old bridge in Mt Holly

There was a lot of garbage laying around on the ground, so it would be really easy for a phone to blend in.

Atlantic Divison track bed at Mt Holly station

I started going back from the factory, and made my way up into the grass of the Carlton Ave Tot Lot. I figured this might have been the place, and if it was, it would be really easy to see it. I saw nothing.
I was almost certain this would have been where he took his jacket off, fresh out of the weeds, and in an easy spot to move about. I was only about half right.
When I didn’t see anything, I continued ahead and got back on the somewhat overgrown railroad bed ahead.

Mt Holly station

There was a fallen tree over the path next to the tracks just ahead, and we had to walk around it and a small tree growing through to the north, by walking over the tracks.
I didn’t see Jack’s phone here, and I weaved back around and started walking the tracks a bit further back again. Diane followed behind me, and at that spot where we had to go around, she found the phone. I couldn’t believe I’d stepped right over it, but was very glad she had found it.
I turned back and could hear Jack hooting out joyously ahead when he got it back.

Mt Holly Station

It was a good thing we went back, because he said it was something like an $800 phone and didn’t have it locked with his business stuff at the time.

I told him he’s been hiking with us since 2007 (January 8th to be exact, 13 years!), and this is the first time ever losing a cell phone, I’d say he was doing pretty good!
I’ve already lost three of them myself over the years, and it’s a miracle there wasn’t more.
We continued along the tracks, which became less and less overgrown as we continued. There was some sort of stopper on the rails which I think signifies the end of the out of service section.
There was an industrial siding to the left up ahead to the Cox Industries in Hainesport area.

Rancocas bridge

We came close to a development, and then moved away from it a bit, and then reached the high bridge across the South Branch of the Rancocas Creek.

Rancocas bridge

There was a path down to the left from here, and so we went down to have a closer look.
The bridge was quite high, and had concrete arched piers. The piers were double wide, in case they ever wanted to double track the line I suppose. It doesn’t look like it ever happened.
To the left of this bridge at the bottom, I noted some old stone footings which I thought could have been remnants of this bridge’s predecessor.

Washout on the abandoned section

It certainly would have had one, because they weren’t using concrete when the line was built by the Burlington and Camden County Railroad in 1867 (it was controlled by the Camden and Amboy).
We hung out here for a little bit. I climbed under and got a few photos, and then a few more from the top. Justin and Kevin climbed onto the pier in the middle.
When I got to the other side, the earlier railroad right of way was obvious below us and off to the south a bit. I was then sure that what I had seen below was actually an earlier footing.

Bridge fun

We had a good wooded section ahead, but after we crossed over Hainesport-Mt Laurel Road, we were closely parallel with Rt 537, the Marne Highway.

Mt Moriah Cemetery

We’d be following closely to this route for many more miles ahead.
Park Avenue was soon on the left of us, and so we had highways close to us on both sides.
Even though we were right next to the busy highway, no one bothered us for walking there. We crossed over the Masons Creek on a bridge close to the highway, and eventually we were parallel with a business that had a ditch down below to the left. I climbed over and got in that, which looked like a rail bed.

Mt Holly station

There were spur tracks along a building to my left, but I had a really nice level spot to walk. I followed this until the spur turned, and then weaved my way back out to the main line again.
We must have been in Mt. Laurel by this time, because there was a sign on a water tower reading “Water Helps Mount Laurel Grow”.
We passed by an area with a lot more businesses, and there was a Dunkin Donuts across the Marne Highway from where we were, so we went over to use the restrooms and such. This was a little settlement known as Masonville.

Atlantic Division

I didn’t really want anything, but I ended up getting a donut anyway.
While there, I drank a beer at the counter, and the people there didn’t seem phased by it. I also had these drinks that Kat had given me, which belonged to her step father for like a billion years. I decided to take some of that and mix it into coca cola, which was quite good. I was feeling very splendid for a while after that.
We headed back across the Marne Highway and regained the tracks heading west.

Atlantic Division

There was a very beautiful old brick home across the highway to the right, which I researched and could find nothing on. We then crossed Larchmont Blvd at grade, and then over Parkers Creek with some nice views to the south.
We next crossed Hartford Road at grade. This was another little location known as Hartford. We then passed beneath the NJ Turnpike followed by Rt 295. Here, the hike started to get a bit less tedious.

Atlantic Division

Marne Highway went off to the right, and we started skirting a big pond that was part of the Topgolf facility. To the right, someone had built a memorial to someone with two benches, a Christmas tree, and all sorts of ornaments.
We crossed Centerton Road at grade after this, and then paralled Marne Highway again, only now it was on our left instead of right. It was also far less busy here.
To the right of us, we skirted a Lockheed Martin facility fence line. Off in the property, we could see a large building that had the look of a battleship about it.

Out of service Atlantic Division

I think Mike brought up that this was something intentional in the design, which is rather interesting.
After we crossed the Lockheed entrance road, the railroad moved away from Marne Highway again. We soon crossed Borton Landing Road and had streets on both sides of us.
3rd Street ended up being the one closest to us for most of the town. The section provided some pleasant walking because there was often a grassy swath on one side or the other of the tracks, which gave us a very nice place to walk.

Bridge made for potential wider use

Soon, we came to the old Moorestown Station. It’s now a dentists office or something. It is in quite good shape, and looks very similar to the station at Mt. Holly. A simple sort of structure, long in appearance, with many windows an an awning for passengers.
At Chester Avenue, 3rd Street switched from the north to the south side of the tracks. There was an unnamed driveway road on the other side at times, and the railroad was interestingly sandwiched right between them with all of these residences close by.

Rancocas view

As 3rd Street continued southwest, we continued more due west and crossed Church Street, and then passed the West Moorestown Station.

Earlier alignment at Rancocas crossing

This was another handsome station, one I was not expecting to see along the way. It was differently constructed than the previous ones, more like the one I had seen on the previous hike in Pemberton.
We moved on past this station, and there was an old industrial siding track to the left, overgrown with weeds and trees and disconnected from the main line.
We crossed over Locust Street and it got a bit more secluded. There were still houses close by for a bit, but then after crossing Flynn Ave, it got more secluded.

Wetland view

We crossed New Albany Road next, and then paralleled Merion Ave where it got a bit more suburban again. Just after that we crossed Lenola Road.

Where the earlier line returns at Rancocas crossing

Somewhere in this area is where the Lenola Station used to stand. I cannot find any photos of this one. Some of these stations are pretty obscure these days.
We actually passed by former station stops at Hainesport, Masonville, Hartford, and Stanwick Avenue (Moorestown), and none of them appear to be standing any more.
We passed through some woods next, and soon came to the bridge across the North Branch of the Pennsauken Creek.

Old mile marker

Supposedly, this is the creek where mud was harvested and used for the making the gripping feel given to baseballs, and has been for many years. I was first made aware of this by Bill Jentz. Some claims are that it is the Rancocas Creek, but it apparently started, according to my co worker Bill Powell, on the Pennsauken Creek where it joined the Delaware originally.
It was quite a pretty view from the bridge. We moved on and crossed another bridge over the Highway 73. Just after that, Broadway was on the right, and Front Street was on the left.

Water!

The railroad passed between and afforded us some more nice grassy area to walk.

Relaxation

After a little while of this, we reached the historic Maple Shade Railroad Station.
It’s kind of a wonder this station is still standing and so many others didn’t survive, because this one remained so insignificant for so many years.
Originally, this station location was known as Stiles Station, because the tiny settlement was known as Stiles Corner for one of the local farming families.
When that family moved off and another took over, they reportedly planted their lane full of Maple trees. Pennsylvania Railroad eventually renamed the station “Maple Shade”.

My attire for this one

Sugar Maples were particularly prevailant in this part of New Jersey, so much so that this was not the only locality to be called that. The nearby town of Cinnaminson was so named because native Americans used to harvest the sweet sap water from the Sugar Maples and add it to their food.
At first Maple Shade station stop was nothing more than a platform. A small building was added over time, and around the turn of the century, Pennsylvania Railroad was petitioned to construct a large station on the site.
They apparently extended the length of the original station based on historic photos, to it’s present size.
Kat and Kevin left the group early when her mom came to pick them up at the station. The rest of us continued on along the tracks, with the streets on both sides until we left the settlement of Maple Shade into the woods again.

Odd memorial along the tracks

We then crossed over the South Branch of the Pennsauken Creek on another bridge with a scenic view.

Moorestown Station

Ahead, there was more development on the left, but we were able to walk down lower on the right through the edge of the green of the Pennsauken Country Club.

West Moorestown Station?

We crossed over Haddonfield Road, followed by Union Ave to the west, and then reached where the active tracks turn off to the right, to reach the very active right toward the Pennsauken Transit Center.

Maple Shade Station

We had to turn right to follow the active tracks for just a bit toward the other line.

Moorestown area

Where the line used to continue ahead into Merchantville was obvious, but too overgrown at that point to push through.
It was getting pretty dark, but we’d still be able to see some of it. We were soon able to turn left off of the active cut over and climb up to the old main Atlantic Division route, which still had rails in place, although quite grown over.
We pushed through here, and then reached a bridge over the active tracks.

Pennsauken Creek view

On the other side there was a chain link fence, but it was open and easy to walk right on through.

Old house I couldn't find info on

This took us out behind a business, and we walked behind some equipment and such, then cut over across the tracks to the right to reach Chestnut Ave. We turned left and followed it parallel with the right of way to the west.
When we reached the former grade crossing of Cove Road, the rail bed became a paved trail. We headed to and crossed Park Avenue, and then looked for Eclipse Brewing. It was dark at this point. I was hoping the brewery would be a place we could get dinner, but it turned out only to be a tasting room, and I wasn’t really into just stopping for that.

Some sort of golf place

Everyone wanted food, and I was actually ready to be done.
We were only a couple of miles from the cars by most direct route, but I didn’t want to go through with the rest of the hike in the dark.

Mile marker by Lockheed

There would be so little to see, and we already did fifteen plus miles. I think more like 17 of the planned 20ish.
Rather than just try to push through in the dark, I decided I would uber the drivers to the end, and we could stop and get a bite somewhere off the rail bed in Merchantville.
We moved ahead, and then passed the old Merchantville Station, which is restored and looks quite nice.

Overgrown tracks

There was a Pennsauken Station as well further back near where we turned off, but apparently that one is now gone. There were stations at West Merchantville, Pavonia, Wellwood, State Street, and Cooper, and they all must have been in close proximity. The area where this Merchantville Station was I believe is Wellwood, so it might be the Wellwood Station. I just don’t know enough about it yet. I found the list of stations here:
http://www.sjrail.com/wiki/index.php/Station_Pages_for_the_Pennsylvania_Railroad#Pemberton_Branch

Abandoned bridge

The town of Merchantville is just barely to the east of Camden.

Whistle marker

Camden gets a bad rap. A really bad rap. It’s known as one of the most criminal, most violent places in the entire country. I find on the other hand that it’s actually quite nice and interesting. Some sections look bombed out, but others are pretty beautiful. As is with most of these urbanized areas, neighborhoods can vary radically from block to block.
Such is the case with Merchantville. This looked to be a gentrified neighborhood with it’s beautifully kept streets and buildings, the restored station, the brewery, trail, tavern, and other businesses. One would never believe we were anywhere close to Camden.

Pennsauken Creek view

Merchantville is credited by some as having been named for a man by the name of Merchant, but it’s more widely believed to have been named for four merchants who started the town, Matthias Homer, John Louty, Samuel McFadden and Frederick Gerker.

Moorestown station

At a meeting, as told in “The History of Merchantville” by Francis F. Eastlack, these four men had a meeting, and it was suggested "Gentlemen, as you are all merchants, why not call it Merchantville?"
We turned to the left after the station building, and saw the Blue Monkey Tavern. This looked like a very promising place to eat, so we headed over.
The tavern started out as Collins and Pancoast Hall built in 1893. It was used as an entertainment center through the early 20th century, but also hosted different club meetings, served as a store, and even the post office for a Time.

Blue Monkey Tavern

It was renovated to the bar in 2008 to it’s current purpose as the bar.

Moorestown station

Unfortunately, it was over an hour wait if we wanted to eat there, so we moved on down the street. People were checking their phones and found Pronto Pizza, so we opted to do that.
Jack treated Diane and I to our dinner for going back to look for his phone, and I had a delightful cheese steak. Absolutely awesome.
We hung out there for a while, and when everyone was done eating, I got the Uber for Jack and Mike to get cars. They showed up shortly as it wasn’t very far away, and we got back to Mt. Holly.

Rancocas view

As far as these hikes go with the active rails and such, I really very much enjoyed this one. It was another I thought would be kind of blah, but for me it was relaxing and quite nice.

Along the tracks

It’s not a big deal to plan another one for this series because everyone has always loved anything I do around the Camden area, and it will give me a chance to tack on a few other things I’ve been wanting to do as well.
I’ve already planned the next section, the last on the Atlantic Division to the west, so I can finish walking it during daylight hours, and tacked on a bunch of other stuff I like in the Camden area to make it even more interesting. I’m sure it’s going to be outstanding.
After we finish that western leg, there will be only two more hikes on the main route heading east from Pemberton, and then another to get out toward Toms River.

HAPPY!!!

HAM