South Jersey Steam-Era Passenger Railroading

WJC member Hank Cutler shows the wide variety of motive power, passenger cars, trolleys, and ferries used between Philadelphia, Camden, and Atlantic City before the mid-1950s. The photos come from WJC’s archives and were taken by various photographers including Robert Long and Don Wentzel.
This presentation was recorded live at the May 20, 2024 meeting of the West Jersey Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society held in Audubon, New Jersey and virtually.
For more on the West Jersey Chapter NRHS: www.westjersey...
00:00 Introduction
01:21 Atlantic City Railroad (Reading)
18:54 West Jersey and Seashore Railroad (PRR)
44:04 Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines
50:24 Shore trolleys

[@salg4768]

Great presentation! Thank you!

[@PowerTrain611]

The poles on either side of 185's headlight are likely flag poles.
Some locomotives would carry classification flags on the front and rear during the day, and lamps were used at night. They would display a color that would indicate whether the train was:
An Extra Train, not listed on the timetable(denoted by the color white),
A train that was split into multiple sections (denoted by the color green and was displayed at the head end of all but the final section of the train),
And the final section of the train displayed red at the lead.
Trains would also display red on the rear of the train as a marker, a procedure still upheld today, but with the infamous FRED instead pf a flag or lamps.
The poles could also display a decorative flag, such as the American flag.
On many engines, these flagpoles are actually located on either side of the pilot beam. This one appears to be a bit of a maverick in that is has both.