HOWELL – The “clickety-clack” sound of train wheels rolling over the rails stopped on Howell Road more than a few decades ago. While the tracks remained intact, an overgrowth of brush camouflaged their existence – something about to change.
Chesapeake and Delaware, LLC serves as the current owners of the rail lines and have contracted to clear the tracks so they can be put back into operation. Unfortunately, no one from the company responded to requests for further information.
The plan appears to include clearing the ten miles of track from Okerson Road in Freehold all the way to Farmingdale. The next step will be replacing the existing rails, which will be exclusively used to transport freight between the two points.
At the most recent Town Council meeting, Township Administrator Joe Clark said that Chesapeake and Delaware, LLC acquired some of the old Conrail routes and had already begun freight service.
“They used to run on Thursday nights,” Clark shared. “Last fall, they switched to running twice a week during the day. The train crosses Asbury, Old Tavern, and Maxim Oak Glen Road and terminates in Lakewood.”
According to Clark, the freight service continues to Lakewood, where its primary customer is a lumber yard.
Federal laws dictate the use of the railroad tracks, and while right of ways are generally 66 feet from the center of the track, Clark said he understands the company only plans to clear 24 feet. Repairing the roadway crossings and reinstalling the tracks may not conclude until spring or summer.
Even before township officials announced the restoration of the train tracks, one local man broke the news on social media. Anthony Ribera, 42, is a lifetime Howell resident and a dedicated railfan, otherwise referred to as a “ferroequinologist” or someone conversant in “iron horses.”
“As I understand it, Chesapeake & Delaware Railroad took over operating rights and is improving freight rail service throughout Monmouth County,” said Ribera. “New Jersey Transit no longer wants freight trains on the Coastline, so that alone was a big push to get this line resurrected.”
Ribera explained that freight comes from the Sayerville “Brown Yards,” and to get to the Southern Division, the train would have to run to South Amboy and get switched onto the New Jersey Transit tracks in Red Bank to connect.
“Once this trackage is reopened, trains can just run to Jamesburg and beyond without having to even touch New Jersey Transit trackage,” Ribera explained. “Instead, the railroad can reach both of its lines via one track.”
Railroads weren’t exactly an anomaly in years past, with the Freehold and Jamesburg Agricultural Railroad making its debut in 1853 in Howell. Several other railroads also entered the picture, ultimately leased to the Pennsylvania Railroad. These provided for passenger service together with freight trains.
Remnants of the Howell train station’s ticket booth sit on abandoned property across from the area where workers were busy clearing the tracks on Howell Road. Passenger service to Howell proper stopped sometime before 1960, although commuters could still hop aboard in Farmingdale two years later.
This building used to sell tickets to train riders back in the day. (Photo by Stephanie Faughnan)
An April 29, 1962 train schedule marked a fourteen-minute difference between the stop from Freehold to Farmingdale. Travel from the Farmingdale stop to Allenwood was a mere eight minutes. Previously, Howell was the stop after Freehold, with four additional stops before Allenwood.
The Doodlebug train debuted on the tracks starting in 1876, ran from Red Bank to Trenton, and could only hold 73 passengers. The Doodlebug stopped in Farmingdale and turned out to be a financial nightmare, especially after 40 Catholic high school students turned to bus transportation to get back and forth to school
Howell was among the towns that petitioned government authorities to stop the Pennsylvania Railroad from discontinuing the passenger service. Nevertheless, the attempts failed, and the last local commuter runs ended in 1962.
Several people who saw Ribera’s informative posts on social media responded with questions, including a woman who said she lived three counties away and worked locally.
“I’m just fantasizing about taking a train to work instead of driving two hours every day,” Sarah Lewis wrote. “I live right by two train stations and keep saying that if I could veg, watch, scroll, work during those hours, I’d be so much better off!”
Rail travel profits declined for decades, which has resulted in changes over the years. Nevertheless, even as far back as the 1940s, major newspapers advocated for trains to meet the needs of the growing population south of the Driscoll Bridge.
Ribera is not just happy that a piece of history has returned to Howell. He hopes that commuter trains are also on the horizon as they would cut down local traffic.
“The lines being restored once crossed with those where the famous Blue Comet ran through Farmingdale,” said Ribera. “One of the best things about trains is their efficiency in moving people and goods.”
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