Remembering The Past: South Amboy’s Railroad Past

The Pennsylvania RR locomotive shops in South Amboy, close to the JCP&L plant. (Photo credit: John E. Cooney)

by Diane Norek Harrison

SOUTH AMBOY-The following is from my cousin, John E. Cooney: “South Amboy was an important railroad town because the overhead (catenary) wires for electric locomotives ended. Steam locomotives were banned from Manhattan in 1908 and the lines electrified and the Jersey coast route terminated the catenary in South Amboy. Trains out of New York City had to change engines to head down to Bay Head.”

If you have your own memories or past material for any town in Middlesex or Union counties, please email me at dianenorekharrison@verizon.net or send copies of your material to me c/o CMD Media, 1139 East Jersey St., Suite 503, Elizabeth, NJ 07201