A journal following the history, design, construction and operation of Bernard Kempinski's O Scale model railroad depicting the U. S. Military Railroad (USMRR) Aquia-Falmouth line in 1863, and other model railroad projects.
©Bernard Kempinski All text and images, except as noted, on this blog are copyrighted by the author and may not be used without permission.
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January 9, 2012

Historic Princeton Junction Photo


Doug Gurin recently gave me a copy of this photo. He didn't have any additional information about it so I posted it here in the hope that someone might know more about it. I did some web searching and found that Princeton Junction was the location where a short branch line connected the town of Princeton to the New Jersey Rail Road and Transportation Company in May, 1865 (see here, here and here for more info.)

There are several interesting things I noticed in the photo. The obvious gallows turntable in the left foreground. The engine has an enclosed tender and it has the passenger car on its nose. The passenger car has a plain, arched, non-clerestory, roof, and small windows.  Note the exterior bracing under the passenger car body.  I am not sure why the wood is piled up by the track, possibly fuel?

Also note the lack of trees in the background. There also appears to be a cemetery or perhaps encampment in the background.

There is currently a legal fight between historical preservationists and the University of Princeton who want to relocate the station and convert it to a bus line.

If you know anything about this photo, please post a comment.

  
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2 comments:

  1. UnknownJanuary 05, 2013

    hi. i live about 4 miles from this location of the photo. This photo has popped up on a number of occassions when researching RR in NJ. the location is actually at the south end of the borough of princeton; just north of the current Princeton Borough station and at the edge of the university. Princeton Jct is about 5 miles to the rear of the photo. the tender & enclosure was recycled from the "john bull".

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  2. BernieJanuary 05, 2013

    Thanks for the information. Do you know the date? Is there a reference for the photo?

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