Aberdeen Transit Village Lot Cleared

The future Transit Village lot at Harrison Avenue and Atlantic Avenue, next to the Aberdeen-Matawan train station, is finally cleared. Over the last few months the construction crews have come in and leveled the old factory, sorted and chopped up the debris and hauled it away. Above is a shot of what the lot looked like a few months ago before the demolition, courtesy of Google Street View.

And this is what it looks like now.  

Below is some video of the final demo work.

Nice to see this long awaited project getting off the dime at last.

History: Bull Run > Matawan Road > Heuser Boulevard > Matawan Avenue

As the result of some research I conducted this weekend, I have found a lot of interesting information about the history of Matawan Avenue.

Matawan Avenue appeared unlabeled in the 1873 and 1889 Monmouth County atlases following pretty much the same course that it does today. Rather than meeting Ravine Drive at Lake Lefferts, the two roads merged at Matawan Creek, which one had to cross to get to Main Street. There was no Garden State Parkway then, of course, so the road covered some territory that is now crossed by a bridge.

Through the early 1930s, the road was known locally as Bull Run for some reason. The local Civil War regiment fought at Bull Run, so perhaps there is a connection there?

In 1935, there was a reference to the road as Heuser Boulevard, perhaps after the local engineer, Richard Heuser, but the name never stuck as far as I can tell.

From the mid-1930's til the late 1950's, articles and notices in the Matawan Journal bounced back and forth between the names Matawan Road and Matawan Avenue. Matawan Road was more commonly used. There doesn't seem to have been any borough vs township association to the two names, but the road was in the area annexed by the Borough in the early 1930s, so maybe there is some rivalry involved in the use of the two names?

By the early 1960s, after a brief but awkward period of using "Old Matawan Road" and "New Matawan Avenue," usage settled on Matawan Avenue. The Garden State Parkway had taken quite a section of the town in the previous decade; the construction caused the diversion of the railroad, the displacement of homes and businesses, and a bridge had to be built over the parkway so Matawan Avenue could continue to link Cliffwood with Matawan.

The references below cover only thirty years but there was quite a bit of change in that short period of time.

The 18 Dec 1931 edition of The Matawan Journal (pg 1 col 6):

     "Matawan Township started its emergency relief road program yesterday. . . Another program which is expected to put into operation, possibly tomorrow, is to grade Matawan Road, which is better known as Bull Run. The road is now being surveyed by Engineer Richard Heuser. It will be graded to its full width of 33 feet, ditches will be opened on either side and the road will be graveled. No attempt will be made this winter to raise the grade of the road in the hollow, according to Lewis H. Stemler, Chairman of the Township Committee. Mr. Stemler says to make a fill in the road at this time of the year would leave it in too bad a condition for winter travel."

The 3 Aug 1934 edition of The Matawan Journal (pg 5 col 3):

     "The bridge, known by the New York and Long Branch Railroad Company as the "Mary Adams" bridge on Bull Run over the main line of the Company's tracks, is now thrown open to travel. It has practically been rebuilt. During this time the road has been closed to traffic."

The 13 Sep 1935 edition of The Matawan Journal (pg 1 cols 4 - 5)

     "At the regular meeting of the Matawan Boro Council Tuesday nite held at the Boro Hall, it was decided that Matawan would prepare and submit applications for nine WPA projects. . . . After considerable discussion, the projects to be applied for, with the understanding the boro had the power to turn down the proposition later if it was so decided, included: Extending eight-inch water line along Atlantic Avenue to the water works; a six-inch water main tie up on Aberdeen Road to Heuser's corner; extending water main along Matawan Avenue, also known as Heuser Boulevard; resurfacing of Broad Street, Matawan Avenue, Church and Washington Streets; improvements to parks, such as reopening of public roads to water edge, and building tennis courts and play lots, if possible; cataloguing and rebinding of books in the library."

The 24 Feb 1949 edition of The Matawan Journal includes a legal notice "instituted for the purpose of foreclosing a certain certificate of tax sale affecting lands in the Township of Matawan, aforesaid and situate on the west side of Matawan Avenue, which tax certificate was executed by the plaintiff 's tax collecting official to the plaintiff and is dated December 2nd, 1940, and is unrecorded . . ."

The 7 Feb 1957 edition of The Matawan Journal (pg 10 cols 5-6) reported road construction and repairs to a number of roads in Matawan Township, including the section of Matawan Avenue between Grove Street and the Garden State Parkway.

The 18 Sep 1958 edition of The Matawan Journal (pg 14 col 2):

FIRST ELECTION DISTRICT

All that part of the Borough of Matawan, BEGINNING at a point where the center line of Main Street intersects the boundary line of the Township of Matawan, thence

• (1) along the said center line of Main Street in a southerly direction to the bridge on Main Street, south of South Street; thence 
• (2) along a line drawn down the center of the gulley crossed by the said bridge to Lake Lefferts; thence 
• (3) in a northerly direction along the easterly edge of Lake Lefferts to Prospect Point; thence
• (4) along a line drawn across Lake Lefferts from Prospect Point in a northeasterly direction to Ravine Drive; thence 
• (5) along a line drawn across the gulley to the left of Highland Avenue to a point at the end of Liberty Street, thence 
• (6) along a line parallel with Matawan Road to the gulley which runs along Aberdeen Road; thence
• (7) along a line down the center of this gulley to a point where same intersects with the center line of Matawan Road; thence 
• (8) along the said center line of Matawan Road in a northerly direction to the point where said center line of Matawan Road intersects the boundary line of the Township of Matawan; thence
• (9) along the said boundary line of the Township of Matawan to the point or place of Beginning. 

 Polling place: Hook & Ladder fire house, in back of Borough Hall.

The 24 Sep 1959 edition of The Matawan Journal (pg 12 col 4) includes a public notice of sheriff's sale involving about 15 acres of land affected by the construction of the Garden State Parkway. The land description includes a mention of ". . . the road known as the public road from Cliffwood to Matawan, also known as Old Matawan Road, and sometimes called Matawan Avenue, as it was formerly located prior to its relocation by the New Jersey Highway Authority. . ."

The 1 Oct 1959 edition of The Matawan Journal (pg 2 cols 6 - 8) includes legal notices involving over 9,000 acres of Matawan property affected by the construction of the Garden State Parkway. One of the legal notices appears to settle the above sheriff's sale as well as "[p]roperty located approximately 500 feet northeast of Aberdeen Road and the New Matawan Avenue [that] adjoins the southwesterly right of way of the Garden State Parkway, Borough of Matawan, New Jersey."

The 24 Aug 1961 edition of The Matawan Journal mentioned Matawan Avenue among a long list of Matawan Township roads to be repaved.

By the way, as a byproduct of working on the above, I noticed that "Origins of Aberdeen Street Names," by Aberdeen Historian Edward Fitzgerald, has disappeared from the Aberdeen Township website. I have relied on it quite a bit over the years, always finding it helpful, and I pointed to it on my blog's Research Tools tab for the benefit of fellow researchers. I hope it can either be restored to the Township page or added to the Matawan-Aberdeen Public Library's online resources.

2014 Concert Buses to PNC Arts Center

The bus to the concert is back at Aberdeen-Matawan train station! Take a NJ Transit North Jersey Coast Line train from New York or Newark towards Long Branch and Bay Head, get off at Aberdeen and you can catch a free shuttle to the PNC Arts Center and back again. Watch yourself crossing the tracks and roadway. Obey the police if they show up for crowd control, something they do selectively based on the anticipated crowd. Have fun!

One Wall Left to Bring Down

Looks like there's only one wall left standing on the old plant next to the Aberdeen train station. Once that's down, there's lots of sorting and debris removal yet to do. 

Sent from my iPhone

Aberdeen Transit Village Demolition Continues

I spoke too soon about the completion of demolition work by the train station. They've torn down two more buildings and are sorting the debris to haul it away. It should be an empty lot soon.

Construction Equipment & Rubble All That Remain At Demolition Site

The demolition team left only rubble to mark where part of the Transit Village will stand. How quick it will all proceed is anyone's guess but so far they're cruising along.

UPDATE: They've been demolishing two additional buildings on the lot and hauling debris away for the past few days.

History: Brickyard Payroll Ambush (1917)

The 16 Aug 1917 edition of The Matawan Journal Pg 8 col 3) told of five masked robbers who attempted to abscond with the payroll of The New Jersey Brick Company, which was being carried to the company's factory on Matawan Creek the previous Friday afternoon.

Ray Robinson, company treasurer, arrived from New York at Matawan train station with approximately $3,000 in pay receipts. He was met by Alfred Everham, who drove him by horse and buggy toward the brickyard. Highwaymen fired upon the carriage, winging both men, but the assault was thwarted by Robinson and Everham, who returned fire and prompted the attackers' hasty retreat. Investigation revealed the highwaymen to be a group of Italians from Newark. The case was cracked when the torn shreds of a personal letter were pieced together by an expert in Asbury Park and the letter translated in Newark, revealing the home address of one of the robbers. Soon the men were brought to Matawan for trial.

The ambush took place "near the junction of the road leading from the Morristown Road to Cliffwood Avenue at the H S Little farm." This sentence seems to describe Cross Road, which lies between the intersection of Ravine Drive, Morristown Road, and Aberdeen Road, and Cliffwood Avenue. (Remember that Ravine Drive was Morristown Road in those days.)

H S Little would have been Henry Stafford Little, born 17 August 1823 in Matawan, a prominent lawyer and politician. Mr Little died on 24 April 1904 in Mercer County, NJ and buried in Matawan. The H S Little farm seems to have been a known landmark.

History: Snowstorm of March 1914 (5 Mar 1914)

A heavy snowstorm which hit the Matawan area on Sunday 2 March 1914 severely disrupted local transportation, mail deliveries, and telephone and telegraph services, according to the headline story in the 5 Mar 1914 edition of The Matawan Journal. "Public Traffic Impeded by Snow Storm." Fifteen inches of snow fell over a nearly 24 hour period, drifting in spots to depths of ten feet or more.  As for the trains, it was the "biggest tie up since 1888."

Tree branches and utility lines became heavy with the wet snow and fell dangerously onto neighborhood streets and blocked the progress of the local trolley and regional railroads.

Some of the local trolley drivers were unable to return home for two days. A trolley left the tracks near the Catholic church and a plow came off the tracks close to the Matawan Station. A group of about a hundred men returned the car and plow to the tracks on Tuesday, using the plow to clear the snow between Keyport and Matawan, including large drifts in Oak Shades and on "the gashouse hill". By the night time they had shoveled to Little Street, at which point service was restored between Keyport and Matawan and the train station.

A group of 14 teachers heading to Freehold ended up stranded at Matawan. They found accommodations at the Woodbine and Aberdeen hotels, which filled up quickly. They ate their meals at the latter at the New York and Long Branch Railroad's expense. A theatre troupe also found shelter in Matawan, albeit in the train station as they refused to pay to rent rooms.

About a hundred rail passengers heading south on Sunday became stranded just south of Eatontown, prompting locals to supply food and drink until their train could be dug out on Tuesday. Sunday afternoon Pennsylvania Railroad and Central Jersey Railroad trains out of New York reached their destinations Monday afternoon.

An adjoining article on the front page told of a stage and a sleigh, each carrying eight persons, which were heading from Matawan to Keyport on Sunday evening when one of the teams of horses became ensnared in electric wires near the old Suydam property and felled. One horse was returned to the stable while the other lay in the street all night until the electricity could be shut off. The operator took the nearly lifeless horse to a nearby stable but expected he would have to kill it.

UPDATE: I wondered about the gas house hill, so I did some digging. In the fall of 1887, when trolley service was being established between Keyport and Matawan, the gas house was situated near a bridge over a gully north of the Matawan train station and south of St Joseph's Catholic Church, according to "Keyport: From Plantation to Center of Commerce and Industry," by Jack Jeandron, pp 74-75. Today that location would be where Lower Main Street crosses the Garden State Parkway, according to the author. The trolley line ran only as far as the train station in those days but covered Maple Place, Broadway, Front Street, and First Street in Keyport.

Announcing What?

The public address system at Newark  Penn Station is mostly automated these days. The voice is computer generated. Someone at NJ Transit must have been drunk when they programmed the computer to say Aberdeen-Matawan. It used to be fine, but for the past week or two she's been saying something incomprehensible. Speaking of the latter, don't they listen to their own announcements?

SRO Mondays on North Jersey Coast Trains

The past few Monday mornings have been standing room only for commuters at the Aberdeen-Matawan train station. The shore trains have been coming in fuller than usual because of beach goers returning to the city after a week's rental or a weekend visit with friends or family. It is good to see healthy tourism after last October's devastation, but NJ Transit is doing little or nothing to adjust its positioning of equipment to ease the overcrowding. 

History: Local Miscellany, Matawan Journal, 3 Jun 1876

The 3 Jun 1876 edition of The Matawan Journal, included the following sampling of items under Local Miscellany:

• Rev Andrew Jackson, of the African M E Church, near Matawan, preached his farewell sermon last Sunday evening. 

• The Sheriff's sale of the 60 building lots at Mechanicsville has been adjourned to Wednesday, June 23rd at the hotel in that place. 

• The first shipment of thirteen crates of strawberries was sent up on the propeller Wyckoff, on Wednesday evening. 

• The work was begun on the new session room of the Presbyterian Church, on Wednesday. It is to be located on the east side of the church, and will cost between two and three thousand dollars. Mr D l Walker is the builder. 

• Dr Geran, always up to the times in matters connected with his profession, has been getting a machine for working upon cavities in the teeth, by which he accomplishes so much for his patients in less than half the time formerly required. Call in and have some of your molar excavations excavated, and see how nicely it operates. 

• On Monday morning the conductors and brakesmen on the N Y & L B Railroad, received new caps. Those of the conductors have gold tape bands, with the word "conductor" on a front plate; while those for the brakesmen and baggage-carriers have silver tape bands, with a similar plate bearing the name of their position. 

Morgan NJ Blog; Thomas Warne Museum and Madison Township Historical Society

There's a new blog at Wordpress dealing with the Morgan section of Sayreville, New Jersey. So far, Verne James has focused on historical topics, with lots of photographs and images of old maps and documents. Morgan's just up the road from Cliffwood on Route 35, north of Laurence Harbor.

The North Jersey Coast line runs through Morgan. That's the place where the lights sometimes go out in the train while crossing the trestle over Cheesequake Creek. The trestle, a railroad drawbridge, took quite a beating during Hurricane Sandy, leaving quite a mess in the storm's aftermath. Morgan is also the home of the Gillespie Munitions Plant explosion back in 1918.

In a recent post, Verne mentioned the Thomas Warne Museum, which is the home of the Madison Township Historical Society. (Madison Township was formed from part of South Amboy in 1869 and was renamed Old Bridge Township in 1975 to eliminate confusion with a Madison in Morris County, according to Wikipedia.)

The museum is located at 4216 Route 516, Old Bridge, NJ. Be sure to visit the museum (Fri noon to 4pm and weekends noon to 6 pm) and friend them on Facebook.

History: Matawan Garage, By Train Station (1911 - 1924)

The Matawan Garage, which was located across the street from the Matawan train station at 17 Main Street, advertised in the 22 Sep 1921 edition of The Matawan Journal. It was operated by D. S. Martin. Its telephone number was 12.

David was the son of Jeremiah and Elizabeth Martin. His parents married about 1881. Jerry was a farmer and Elizabeth reported 6 of 7 children still living when they were enumerated in Lurgan, Franklin County, in south central Pennsylvania in the 1900 Federal Census. Ten years later, when the Martins were enumerated in Hopewell, NJ in the 1910 Federal Census, Jeremiah was a house carpenter.

David S Martin, born 28 Sep 1898, was living in Old Bridge when he registered for the draft in WWI. He listed his occupation as mechanic.

The 1920 Federal Census showed David Martin, age 22, born in Pennsylvania, as head of household at 83 Main Street in Matawan. His wife was Helen, age 18, born in NJ. His 6-month old daughter's name was Esther. David was a machinist at a garage.

In the 1930 Federal Census, David was still at 84 Main Street. His occupation was road contractor. Helen and Esther were in the household, too.

The 1940 Federal Census showed David and Helen living at 287 Main Street in Matawan. David was a coal retailer, working from his "own yard."

Source: Wikimedia

The 14 Sep 1911 edition of The Matawan Journal contained an ad for the Matawan Garage on page 8. The garage, which was selling the Hupmobile, was not associated with David Martin at this early date. (The Hupmobile was guaranteed for life, btw.) The earliest placement of this ad seems to have been in the 1 Jun 1911 edition.

The 1 Apr 1915 edition of The Matawan Journal contained an ad for Matawan Garage showing it to be under new management. Samuel C Towler. The same ad appeared in the 22 Jul 1915 edition.

The 1910 Federal Census showed Samuel C Towler, age 38, born in Virginia, African-American, living on High Street (near the train station) along with his wife Susan (37 VA) and son Clarence (12 NJ). Samuel and Susan had been married 13 years. He was working in a livery stable.

Source: Wikimedia

There's a gap in ads between 1915 and 1919.

The garage was advertised on page 4 of the 29 May1919 edition of The Matawan Journal and on page 6 of the 25 Dec 1919 edition. Both showed D S Martin as proprietor and owner.


The garage was selling Overland Automobiles on page 3 of the 18 Jan 1924 edition of the newspaper.

Delays Persist as NJ Transit Repairs Storm Damage Between Aberdeen-Matawan and South Amboy Stations

NJ Transit rail service has been particularly slow on the portion of the North Jersey Coast Line between South Amboy and Aberdeen-Matawan since Hurricane Sandy caused extensive damage to the Morgan draw bridge, signals, and tracks. A conductor told me last night that NJ Transit can only run one train at a time through this gauntlet but expects to have full service restored sometime early next year.

Click the following links to see NJ Transit's flickr photos of the damage to the Morgan draw bridge, photos taken on 31 October 2012. Or you can also view the slide show, which starts out with these same pics but moves on to other venues.

• Boat and container on the draw bridge
• Boat on the tracks
• Debris on the draw bridge
• Boats and containers on the bridge
• Boat on draw bridge
• Pile of boats on the draw bridge

Holiday Eve and NJ Transit

Ah! The Jersey Coast commuter has to be a hearty soul. Holiday eve and our train left NYP 20 min late then developed mechanical difficulties at Secaucus and was eventually terminated at Newark. So we needed another train but NYP suddenly developed indefinite signal problems. At this point NJT is seeking a spare train in the yard to take us to the shore. If that happens, we'll be the only westbound train on the tracks. How cool is that? I'm trying to remain positive. The train approacheth. Supposedly. ... I feel like I'm in Trains, Planes and Automobiles 2.

UPDATE: My commute home on the night before Thanksgiving ended up taking slightly over 3 hours when it should have been about half that. To be fair, this commute was a few weeks after Hurricane Sandy and the system has had many problems. Then again, investment in public transportation is embarrassing low, so these problems aren't simply a result of a bad storm.

NJT Coastline Train Slow But Sure on 1st Day Back

I caught the 647 at Ab-Mat, which arrived at 7:30. Slow ride to South Amboy; got there over half an hour later. Ride over Raritan trestle to Perth Amboy a bit slow. Lots of leaves and branches on tracks until we joined the NE Corridor. So far an uneventful quick ride along the corridor.

Ticket Machines at Ab-Mat Rail Station Glitching

I went to the Aberdeen-Matawan train station this evening and bought my train tickets for the morning. All of the machines were registering a Windows error, but I was able to overcome the software glitch and buy my tickets. However, the error returned to the machine when I was done. Should be interesting in the morning since no one, not even regular commuters, will have tickets except those with mail subscriptions.

Free Shuttle Service Between Aberdeen-Matawan Station and Battery Park via Liberty State Park

New Jersey Transit is offering free bus service between Aberdeen-Matawan Station and Liberty State Park and a free ferry service between the park and Battery Park in downtown Manhattaan. From the Battery you can catch a number of subways, which seem to be running now.

Good resources for details include:

• The NJ Transit Customer Notice as of Nov 9th, which includes a map that shows service from Aberdeen-Matawan train station;
• The Battery Conservancy's Visiting The Battery page, which describes the various subway lines and buses available and provides related links.
• The New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) provides the latest Service Status of its subways, buses, and rails in the top left corner of its home page.

 I am unable to identify the ferry service involved or provide any schedule details based on available news releases and no one seems curious enough to find out. If you've ridden this new shuttle or otherwise know something about the ferry service aspect of this commute, kindly add a comment below.

History: Hutchler's Crossing (1875)

"Around Matawan and Aberdeen," by Helen Henderson, pg 73, says that Cliffwood Train Station, which had a station agent on the New York and Long Branch Railroad line until it closed in 1932, was built in late1875 at a place called Hutchler's Crossing.

The 13 Nov 1875 edition of The Matawan Journal said, without further explanation, "A small depot has been built at Hutchler's Crossing." The same paper included the news that a freight track had been laid at Matawan station and the accompanying freight house was nearly completed.

There's not a lot of information about this topic in the Matawan Journal, I'm afraid. The poor condition of the tracks south of Cliffwood station was mentioned in the 3 Sep 1926 edition of The Matawan Journal, pg 5 col 3. If anyone knows some background on Hutchler's Crossing, I'm interested in learning more.

-------------------------------------------

The only Hutchler I could find in the area was a Jacob Hutchler born about 1844 in New York, son of Jacob and Margaret Hutschler. The parents were Germans who lived in Manhattan in 1850 and then in Brooklyn in 1870 and 1880. Young Jacob served in the Civil War, lived for a time in Cliffwood, where he seems to have married and was soon widowed. He removed to Brooklyn, where he remarried and worked, first at an undertaker's and then as a clerk.

Jacob Hutschler, age 35, born in Germany, lived in Manhattan (Sixth Ward, New York County) in the 1850 Federal Census, along with his wife Margaret, age 32, born in Germany, and six children, all born in New York: Mary, age 11, Richard, age 10, Jacob, age 7, Margaret, age 5, Johanna, age 3, and Henry, age 1. Jacob was employed at a furnishing store. This census was taken as of 1 July 1850.

A Jacob Hutchler was the owner, agent or manager of a 20 acre farm worth $4,500 in Westchester, Westchester County, New York, according to the 1850 New York Agriculture Survey taken in November of that year. He had a horse, three milch cows, and four swine worth $200, and had raised 30 bushels of Indian corn, 30 bushels of oats, 3 bushels of peas and beans, and 150 bushels of Irish potatoes. He sold $30 worth of orchard produce. He produced 30 pounds of cheese, 240 tons of hay, and 15 bushels of other grass seeds. He slaughtered $46 worth of animals. It isn't clear whether this is Jacob is identical to the one enumerated in Manhattan.

A Jacob V Hutchler enlisted as a private in the US Civil War, serving as a musician in Company F, 102nd Regiment,  New York Infantry, according to Ancestry.com.

According to The Report of the Adjutant-General, pg 551, contained in Documents of the 126th Session of the New York Assembly, Vol VIII No 40 Serial 33, published in 1903 by Argus Company, Printers, of Albany, a Jacob Huschler mustered in at New York City, age 21, for three years service with Company F, 102nd Regiment, New York Infantry, as a musician in the US Civil War on 21 Oct 1861. He re-enlisted as a veteran on 30 Dec 1863. He mustered out as Jacob V Hutchler with his company at Alexandria, Virginia on 21 Jul 1865. (You can see the 102nd Regiment records pulled from this same record but without all the Google eBooks nonsense here.)

As a resident of Middletown Point in May 1865, a  Jacob V Hutchler was assessed a $6.00 Federal excise tax consisting of a dollar on his carriage, a dollar on a gold watch, two dollars on a second gold watch, and two dollars on his piano forte. It was Division 14, Collection District 2, State of New Jersey. This May 1865 tax assessment precedes the son's July 1865 muster from Civil War service, so perhaps this is the father? More likely the muster out date is incorrect.

The 1870 Federal Census showed a Jacob Hutchler, age 26, born in New York, and wife Emma, age 20, born in New Jersey, living in Keyport - Raritan Township in the household of a carpenter Garret S Ellison and family. It is possible that Emma was the carpenter's eldest daughter.

The 1880 Federal Census showed a Jacob Hutchler, age 36, born in New York to German parents, living at 366 Degraw Street in Brooklyn with his wife Julia, age 23, born in Connecticut to Connecticut parents, and a 1 year old daughter Florence. Jacob was employed as an undertaker.

The 1892 New York Census showed a Jacob Hutschler, age 49, and wife Julia, age 35, living in Brooklyn. He was occupied as a clerk.

History: Pennsylvania Express Derails South of Matawan During Morning Rush (1923)

Overturned Engine of Pennsylvania Express Train (Matawan Journal, 31 Aug 1923)

The Pennsylvania Express shore train to New York derailed just south of Matawan station at 7:47 am on Tuesday 28 Aug 1923, according to the 31 Aug 1923 edition of The Matawan Journal.

"It is thought an iron rod broke and the end, falling down, caught in the railroad ties and tracks as the train sped along, for the ties were cut for some distance. As the wheels of the locomotive struck the cross rails just north of the signal tower, it jumped the tracks and continued to go wild, tearing up ties and twisting rails as it pushed forward, until the engine turned over, burying its nose in the earth."

"The coupling bars snapped and the rest of the train, swaying for a moment, righted itself with no harm to the passengers and with only a small amount of broken glass to the passenger coaches."

Nine trains with 15,000 passengers were soon stranded behind the wreckage. They had to be backed up, one a a time, to be diverted to the Freehold and Keyport line. Wrecking trains were dispatched from Elizabethport and the Pennsylvania yard to deal with the turned engine and coal car and 60 workers were sent to begin repairs to the track. A temporary switch was in place by 2:45 pm and the engine was removed from the track by 7 pm. Relief gangs worked all night and the next day restoring the track, ties, and signals.

A photo of the derailed engine appears in the newspaper article but the online image is of poor quality. A different image can be found on pg 72 of "Around Matawan and Aberdeen," by Helen Henderson.