MP170.60 Both
the CNJ Buttonwood and Franklin Branches connected with the mainline at
Franklin
Junction. Left - In this view a CNJ eastbound freight destined for Ashley,
PA - with interchange cars from the PRR at Buttonwood, PA - has come off the branch, crossed over eastbound No. 1 Track to westbound No. 2
Track, and is operating against the current of traffic. The train is
approaching the
trailing switch (trailing by normal direction of traffic) to the CNJ's Franklin Branch.
During earlier years
two mainline tracks of the LV passed between the tower and the CNJ
tracks. Franklin Tower was one of several modern replacement towers
erected system-wide by the CNJ during the early 1950s. The LV had trackage rights over the Franklin Branch to reach
their isolated branch into the Lehigh Valley Coal Co.'s Franklin Breaker.
- northeast view, March 1968 - A. W. Kovacs
Center
- An eastbound freight proceeds through Franklin Junction Interlocking. The rear
of the train is still under the eastbound home signals on overhead Signal Bridge No. 170/77.
This signal bridge was formerly Signal Bridge No. 166-1/8, Newark & New
York Branch, Jersey City, NJ - built 1915 and removed 1948
(reinstalled at Franklin Junction during 1952). The Pontiac is parked on the old
abandoned ROW of the LV. - northeast view, June 5, 1966
- A. W. Kovacs Right - CNJ Nos. 1613 & 2512,
running light, clatter over the West Division Street grade crossing on
their way to Ashley. The home signal to Franklin Junction Interlocking
governing movements off the Franklin Branch is visible to the left of the
locomotives. The overhead signal bridge to the right of the locomotives support
the westbound home signals. The diverging tracks under the signal bridge lead to
the Ashley Shops. - southeast view, June 5, 1966
- A. W. Kovacs
Left - CNJ No. 2512 backs past Buttonwood Tower to couple onto an awaiting cut of interchange cars at the PRR's Buttonwood Yard. - southwest view, March 1968 - A. W. Kovacs
Center Left - East of Buttonwood the CNJ interchange train approaches the San Souci Parkway grade crossing in Lee Park, PA. - northwest view, March 1968 - A. W. Kovacs
Center - Branch MP 0.76 At the outskirts of Lee Park, the train passes under South Main Street. - eastward view, March 1968 - A. W. Kovacs
Center Right - A short distance west of the branch's southward curve to its connection with the mainline at Franklin Junction (see top photograph), the interchange freight rumbles over the Division Street grade crossing. - northwest view, March 1968 - A. W. Kovacs
Right - Branch MP 2.00 The Buttonwood Breaker was originally a Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Company colliery that was acquired by the Glen Alden Coal Company during the early 1930s. When the Huber Breaker went into operation during the late 1930s, the archaic Buttonwood Breaker became unnecessary. Mine run coal from the shafts at Buttonwood was then hauled to Huber Breaker for processing. - northward view, Circa 1910 - Glen Alden Coal Company/Raymond E. Holland Collection
MP 170.51 A
CNJ interchange train from Buttonwood approaches Ashley Yard, passing
under Signal Bridge 170/52, the westbound home-board to Franklin
Junction. Prior to 1948 overhead Signal Bridge 170/52 stood at Brills
Junction, Newark, NJ (1913-1948), and bore the number 180-1/4. The
switch under the tank cars is part of an old line that fed trains directly into
Ashley Planes. The
Glen Alden Coal Company's Huber Breaker is visible in the distance.
- southwestward view, March 1968 - A. W. Kovacs
Prior to the construction of the Back-Track in
1870, the original Lehigh & Susquehanna Railroad mainline ran directly
into the foot of Ashley Planes. With the advent of the Back-Track,
the mainline had been rerouted west of the foot of the planes, passing the
engine terminal and car shops to the east end of Ashley Yard where it
then looped northward in a wide arch. It rejoined the downgraded segment of the
old Lehigh & Susquehanna Railroad mainline north of Ashley. In
this aerial view the abandoned easement of the CNJ mainline can be seen
curving eastward (lower center) near Huber Breaker. - eastward view, March 1988 -
Robert F. Fischer/Warren C. Gearrick
The
CNJ mainline looped west of Ashley and swung eastward near the east end
of Ashley Yard. In this view the mainline can be seen curving away from
the yard tracks (photo right). Huber Breaker, on the south side of the
yard, looms above the valley. Huber Breaker opened on February 1, 1939,
at the construction cost of approximately $3,000,000. It had a capacity of 1,000
tons per hour and processed coal mined from Buttonwood, Stanton, Empire,
Hollenbach, and the old Maxwell No. 20 shafts. After the CNJ ended its operations in
Pennsylvania in March 1972, the LV leased the Lehigh & Susquehanna
Railroad from the RDG who had earlier acquired it from the LC&N.
- southwestward view, circa 1973 - James Dalberg
Left - Ashley Yard and the Glen Alden Coal Company's
Huber Breaker were located west of the town of Ashley on the CNJ's
Nanticoke Branch. In this view looking towards Ashley the west end of Ashley
Yard is narrowing into the main track of the Nanticoke Branch. The two nearest
tracks (center foreground) are the mainline of the LV. The overhead structure is
a silt line cable suspension, stiffening, truss bridge built in 1949 by the Gen
Alden Coal Company.- eastward view, Circa 1950, Central
Railroad Company of New Jersey. Right -
Incredible as it may appear, this view is also of the west end of Ashley
Yard, but looking westward toward the LV mainline (photo right). The
many years of declining business and subsequent neglected maintenance are obvious in this late view. The slit line
cable suspension truss bridge is still standing, passing over the single main
track of the Nanticoke Branch. The CNJ engineering department
had identified this overhead structure as Nanticoke Branch Bridge 5/92.
- westward view, Circa 1973 - James Dalberg
The Maxwell No. 20 and Huber Collieries at Ashley:
Left & Middle Left - Between 1874 and 1923 the Maxwell No. 20 Breaker was operated by the CNJ controlled Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Company. After the government succeeded with anti-trust litigation against the RDG and its affiliate companies, the CNJ was ordered to divest itself of its coal mine holdings. In 1923 they sold their 90 percent stock ownership of the Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Company to the New York based Reynolds Syndicate who immediately resold it to the newly incorporated Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Corporation. This new company, headed by J. E. Reynolds - chairman of the board, and Charles F. Huber - president - mined Pennsylvania coal until the early 1930s when they were acquired by the Glen Alden Coal Company. - postcard views from F. M. Kirby & Co. - Circa 1910 Middle Right - The Glen Alden Coal Company had been formed during 1920 by officers of the DL&W Coal Mining Department and affiliated DL&W Coal Company from the assets of the independent Pine Valley Coal Company. The Glen Alden Coal Company mined and processed coal and then sold it exclusively to the DL&W Coal Mine Department who marketed it under the trade name Blue Coal. Late during the 1930s, Maxwell No. 20 was razed and the ultra modern Huber Breaker erected in its place, just a short distance north of the old breaker's location. - northwest view, Circa 1938 - Glen Alden Coal Company/Raymond E. Holland Collection Right - The sprawling Huber Breaker was the final and most modern colliery constructed in the anthracite fields. In this early 1950s view it is still business as usual. Soon the long declining demand for coal will falter enough to encourage the stockholders of the Glen Alden Coal Company to sell their remaining coal mining properties along with the Blue Coal trade name to the Moffat Coal Company in 1953. - southwest view, Circa 1953 - Jack De Rosset Collection
Drawing of Tracks Associated with Huber Breaker
Only the Shadow Knows. Well, maybe so, but long time radio sponsor Blue Coal must have known something to underwrite this popular pre-television era program between 1931 and 1949 with, unfortunately, a few lapses in sponsorship due to the economic state of the anthracite industry.
Left - This overhead aerial tramway was built at Huber Breaker by the Glen Alden Coal Company in 1940. It was 3,315 feet east of Nanticoke Branch MP 5.00 at the west end of Huber Breaker. - northwest view, Circa 1940 - Central Railroad Company of New Jersey Center Left - Inside Huber Breaker. - Circa 1940 - Central Railroad Company of New Jersey Center Right - Unprocessed coal was delivered in wooden coal jimmies and dumped in a miniature rotary dumper. The industrial locomotive is DL&W Coal Company No. 38. - Circa 1940 - Central Railroad Company of New Jersey Right - This structure housed the coal inspector's office/lab and spanned a track scale. - southwest view, Circa 1973 - James Dalberg
After turning eastward the mainline and Nanticoke
Branch converged and ran parallel past the engine terminal and passenger
depot. In this view the two tracks in the center foreground are the east and
west mains. The Nanticoke Branch and lead into Ashley Yard are at
the right. In the center distance is the yard tower and engine terminal.
The huge timber coaling station and north segment of the roundhouse are missing,
as is the passenger depot. What remains of the car shops are barely visible
beyond the yard tower. Main Street in downtown Ashley runs across the
background. The foot of the Ashley Planes is hidden behind the long, dark
building at the right. The usefulness of the old wooden coach resting on the
ground (far right) was prolonged long after its class was scrapped. It served as
an outbuilding, which was known as a Dunnigan - a name peculiar to the
CNJ. - eastward view, Circa 1955 - Central Railroad Company of
New Jersey
A CNJ motive power lash-up rumbles past the yard tower on the westbound
mainline No. 2 track. Out of view ahead of the locomotives (photo right)
are a set of crossover switches that will permit the two units to take the
eastbound mainline No. 1 track as far as the lead into Ashley Yard.
The tower was constructed as part of the CNJ's early 1950s improvements.
- eastward view, July 24, 1966 - A. W. Kovacs
The locomotive service area and ready tracks were situated between the car
repair shops and the roundhouse/heavy erection shops. In this post World War II
view the diesel service facility (1949) has yet to be installed. The car repair
area is out of view to the left, the tracks running between the coaling tower
and water tank converge in the distance into a single tail track supported on a
wooden trestle (a portion of the Ashley repair complex was on lower ground), the
round house/heavy erection shops are partially visible to the center right, the
passenger cars (center) are on the west turntable lead, and the train at the far
right is on the mainline. - northeast view, Circa 1948,
Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission
The Ashley Service Train is spotted on one of
the west turntable leads. A service train was also known as a wreck train
and the CNJ maintained service trains, one at Bethlehem, Ashley, and Jersey
City. - northeast view, September 19, 1954 - Jack De Rosset
Collection
MP 169.37 Turntable No. 6, a 100' deck plate
girder turntable, had been installed in 1919 to accommodate the 10 new heavy
2-8-2s assigned to the CNJ by the United States Railroad
Administration. It was removed during 1956. The top of the coaling tipple is
visible towering behind the roundhouse.
- northwest view, September 19, 1954
- Jack De Rosset Collection
Although Ashley was a major locomotive and shop complex on the CNJ, the
facilities were never substantially upgraded or rebuilt as they were at
Bethlehem, PA, Elizabethport, NJ, or Jersey City, NJ. Soon after this photograph
was taken, the old, timber, coaling station was demolished. The locomotive at
the left is under the diesel sanding tower. - southwest view, Circa 1954 - Central Railroad Company of New
Jersey
CNJ No. 916 simmers in front of the Ashley water tank
as the fireman climbs up onto the tender to fill its cistern. The edge of
building at the right is the north roundhouse. - northwest
view, December 16, 1938 - photographer unknown
Left - A diesel servicing area was erected in 1949 near the water
station, which in this view has had its 100,000 gallon wooden tank removed and
is now a curious, circular, brick structure with little recognition that it once
served as the tank's base and pump house. - northward view,
July 24, 1966 - A. W. Kovacs Center -
Two CNJ locomotives rest over the service pits.
- northward view, August 17, 1965 - A. W. Kovacs Right -
During the 1950s the 8-stall north roundhouse was razed leaving only
2-stalls of the old 10-stall south roundhouse for a diesel shop (the south
roundhouse once consisted of 8-stalls with a newer 2-stall add-on. The
original 8-stall segment had been razed after World War II). -
southwest view, August 14, 1966 - A. W. Kovacs
The crew of CNJ No. 2509 has just come on duty. They are preparing their
locomotive to move off the turntable lead and into Ashley Yard, which
will entail several reverse moves to cross the mainline into the yard.
- eastward view, March 26, 1967 - A. W. Kovacs
Map of Ashley Engine Terminal & Car Shop
The car repair shops were west of the engine terminal.
The building at the left is the paint shop. -
eastward view, September 19, 1954 - Jack De Rosset Collection
This view looking generally eastward from the roof of the car repair shop
indicates that much of the heavy metal fabrication work was performed outside.
- northeast view, Circa 1935 - Central Railroad Company of
New Jersey
This view looking generally westward from the coaling
tower shows the wood working area including paint shop, paint house, lumber
yard, and lumber sheds. The mainline is in the distance curving northward.
- southwest view, Circa 1935 - Central Railroad Company of
New Jersey
This overall scene of the car shops leads was taken from an elevated timber
trestle that supported the tail end of a switchback into the engine terminal
turntable. The car shops are out of view to the left and the engine terminal out
of view behind the photographer. The tracks in the distant right are part of the
old mainline to the Ashley Planes (out of view to the right) and connect
with mainline north of the shop complex . -
northward view, September 13, 1959 - Charles R. Griffin
The buildings housing the heavy erection shops were east of the engine terminal
and accessible from the turntable. The buildings in this scene were the
boiler/blacksmith shop (left) and the machine shop (right). -
southeast view, February 25, 1968 - William T. Greenberg, Jr.
This view taken from atop the yard tower provides a
panorama of the track layout on the east side of Ashley. The two mainline tracks
are in the center and pass the site of the razed CNJ freight house and
depot, the third track to the right is the eastbound connection from Ashley
Yard and the Nanticoke Branch, and all the tracks to the far right
are on the branch. The vehicular overpass in the center of the view carries Main
Street over the single track of the Nanticoke Branch. Main Street crossed
the mainline at grade. - eastward view, Circa 1955 - Central Railroad Company of
New Jersey
MP 169.25 Ashley Station was on the
mainline and the Nanticoke Branch (MP
4.86),
situated where the two lines converged for a short distance west of the foot of Ashley
Planes. - westward view, Circa 1950 - Central Railroad Company of New
Jersey
CNJ No. 2511 idles on the mainline in the
general vicinity of the site of the razed freight station and passenger depot.
- eastward view, March 26, 1967 - A. W. Kovacs
This elevated crossing shanty protected traffic over
Main Street grade crossing. It was diagonally opposite from the passenger depot,
which had it still been standing when this photograph was taken, would have been
hidden from view behind the bus .
- westward view, October 1971 - James Dalberg