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 cool place to explore old trains! It collects, keeps, and runs historic railroad equipment. The museum also operates a fun tourist railroad called the Pine Creek Railroad. This railroad uses a special type of track called a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge. The museum is a nonprofit organization. It is located inside Allaire State Park in New Jersey. You can ride special trains like the Easter Bunny Express in April. They also have Haunted Halloween trains in October. And don't miss the Santa Special trains in December!
Contents
A Journey Through Time: Museum History
The New Jersey Museum of Transportation started in 1952. Two train fans bought an old engine from the Raritan River Sand Company. This first engine was named Pine Creek No. 1. Later, it was sold to the Walt Disney company. Disney rebuilt it and named it the #4 Ernest S. Marsh. This engine is still used today at the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California. It runs on the Disneyland Railroad, though it looks a bit different now.
The railroad first operated on a 2.5-acre (1.0 ha) piece of land. This land was located on Route 9 in Marlboro. But in 1952, property taxes became very high. So, the Pine Creek Railroad became a not-for-profit group. They moved their operations to their current home in Allaire State Park.
The Pine Creek railroad loop runs next to an old, unused rail line. This old line is now the Edgar Felix Bikeway. But the Pine Creek railroad was never part of that original line.
What You Can See: The Collection
The museum has many different types of historic trains. These include steam locomotives, diesel locomotives, and various railcars. You can see powerful steam engines that used to pull heavy loads. There are also diesel engines that are more modern. The collection includes special cars like cabooses and flat cars.
Some of the cool trains you might find include:
- Steam Locomotives:
- The Ely-Thomas Lumber Co. No. 6 is a Shay locomotive. It was built in 1927. This is one of the last narrow gauge Shay engines left in the world!
- The Lehigh Valley Coal Company No. 117 is a tank locomotive. It was built in 1925.
- Diesel Locomotives:
- The Marcus Sand Company No. 5 is an operational diesel engine. It was built around 1920.
- The United States Army No. 7751 was built in 1942. It is also operational.
- Rolling Stock:
- You can see old passenger coaches from the Newfoundland Railway. They were built in 1902.
- There's also a caboose from the Raritan River Railroad. It is now used as an office!
Exploring the Grounds
The museum grounds have several interesting buildings. You can visit the Allenwood Station. It was built in the 1940s by the Pennsylvania Railroad. There's also the Freneau Station, built by the Jersey Central in the early 1900s. You can also see a 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 museum's rolling stock.
Mystery of the Sunken Engines
In 1985, something amazing was found off the coast of Long Branch. Two steam engines were discovered deep underwater! They were about 90 feet (27 m) down and 5 miles (8.0 km) from the shore. A boat captain named Dan Lieb found them standing upright.
In 2004, a team of divers and train fans investigated these engines. They worked with the History Channel. They took many pictures and found clues on the engines. They discovered that these were Civil War-era Patentee Class locomotives. They were built between 1850 and 1855.
On September 25, 2004, a judge gave the New Jersey Museum of Transportation custody of these two engines. The museum hopes to one day bring these historic relics to the surface. They want to display them for everyone to see at the museum!
