New Jersey Museum of Transportation facts for kids
The Ely-Thomas Lumber Company No. 6 train
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| Established | 1952 |
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| Location | Wall Township, New Jersey located within Allaire State Park |
| Type | Railroad museum |
| Collections | See "Collections" for list |
| Founder | James Wright Jay L. Wulfson Pierre "Pete" Rasmussen |
| Nearest parking | On-site |
The New Jersey Museum of Transportation is a special place. It collects, keeps, and runs old trains. The museum has a fun train ride called the Pine Creek Railroad. This train uses a special type of track called "narrow gauge."
The museum is a non-profit group. It works with the Allaire Village and is found inside Allaire State Park in New Jersey. The museum offers exciting train rides for holidays. These include Easter Bunny Express trains in April, Haunted Halloween trains in October, and Santa Special trains in December.
Contents
History of the Museum
The New Jersey Museum of Transportation started in 1952. Two train fans bought an old engine from the Raritan River Sand Company. This engine was named Pine Creek No. 1.
Later, this engine was sold to the Walt Disney company. It was fixed up and renamed the #4 Ernest S. Marsh. This train is still used today at the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California. It runs on the Disneyland Railroad.
At first, the railroad was on a small piece of land in Marlboro. It was a tourist attraction. But in 1952, the group moved its trains. They moved to their current spot in Allaire State Park. This is where the Pine Creek Railroad is today.
The Pine Creek railroad loop is next to an old train line. This old line is now a bike path called the Edgar Felix Bikeway. But the Pine Creek railroad was never part of that old line.
What You Can See: The Collection
The museum has many different types of old trains. They have steam locomotives, which are trains powered by steam. They also have diesel locomotives, which use diesel engines.
You can see old passenger cars and freight cars too. These are the cars that carry people or goods. The museum works hard to keep these old trains safe. They want to show how trains used to work.
Buildings at the Museum
The museum grounds have several interesting old buildings. There's the Allenwood Station, built in the 1940s. The Freneau Station was built in the early 1900s.
There's also an old Union Newsstand from around 1910. Other buildings include a crossing shanty, a maintenance shop, and a car barn. The car barn is used to store the old train cars.
Sunken Engines Mystery
In 1985, two old steam engines were found underwater. They were about 90 feet deep off the coast of Long Branch. A boat captain named Dan Lieb found them.
In 2004, a team of divers and train fans looked at the engines. They worked with the History Channel. They found out the engines were from the Civil War era, around 1850-1855. They were called Patentee Class locomotives.
On September 25, 2004, a judge gave the New Jersey Museum of Transportation care of the engines. The museum hopes to bring these old trains up from the ocean one day. They want to show them at the museum.
Images for kids
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The Ely-Thomas Lumber Company No. 6 train
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Lehigh Valley Coal Company No. 117
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Ex-US Army GE 25 Ton Diesel Electric #7751
