I think this railroad was the "Pemberton and Hightstown Railroad" and it was later absorbed into the Pennsylvania Railroad. My dad remembers seeing and hearing steam locomotives pulling trains carrying raw troops from Philadelphia and points beyond to the Army's Camp Dix (now called Fort Dix) during WWII while staying at the cottage as a young boy during the war years.
My only memories of the cottage are the dirt/gravel road that ran along side of the tracks, the shade trees that sheltered the cottage porch, and falling through the rotted floor when we last went there to remove the contents of the house shortly before is was sold in the 1960s(?)
Ewansville, NJ lies on the Rancocas Creek, about 25 miles east of Philadelphia and is marked with the red star.
My great-grandfather and a passenger were killed in a car-train accident not far from the cottage back in the mid-1920. I have four pictures taken after the accident - presumably taken for insurance purposes.
The remains of the car
They are amazingly clear - there are bits and pieces of the car scattered around the grade crossing at which the car had gotten stuck. This accident turned my grandmother's life upside down - the family was left without a bread winner and suffered some hard times that continued into the depression years.
There are no railroad tracks there now, and the area is now home to Mobile Estates trailer home park.
4 comments:
Nice share. I always find family history (it doesn't matter whose) interesting. It is what makes us all unique. The depression was such a hard time. I know it shaped my parents into the type people they are in many ways.
Sorry to hear your great-grandfather met such a tragic end and that your great-grandmother suffered the after effects.
Yes, they are very good photos and well preserved.
ditto Alice.
Extremely well preserved.
I agree and concur with what AK said. Back in those days, the husband was the sole bread winner, so if they went to war or died, life was a struggle. Many times the children would do whatever they could to earn anything to help out.
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