1955 Hopewell Trains and Stations

We have some wonderful new images from two new contributors:

Jacob Aungst kindly shared images of a Hopewell Dainties sign.

The Dainties brand was the flagship product manufactured by the Hopewell Chocolate Company at the old Chocolate Factory from 1909 to 1930 (see earlier post).

The sign has seen hard times, but is readable on both sides.

== View the Hopewell Dainties sign in the Image Gallery ==

Roger Labaw kindly contributed fourteen new photos from around historic Hopewell Borough, most from the mid-1950s when he was a teenager exploring the town with a new camera.

These include several images of trains and of the Hopewell train station.

== View the Hopewell photos by Roger Labaw in the Image Gallery ==

B&O Steam Engine

Roger Labaw’s train photos include two images of B&O trains passing through our area, taken from the Van Dyke Road overpass just west of Hopewell Borough .

The B&O Railroad (Baltimore & Ohio) ran longer-distance trains over the Reading line tracks that passed through Hopewell and Pennington.

The photo of the steam engine train is actually later, from 1980. This was a special excursion train so passengers could enjoy the experience of a steam engine.

The earlier photo, from 1955, shows a regular B&O train taken from the same bridge (but looking in the other direction). Notice the change in the poles and wiring running along the track, and the reduction from three to two tracks. (The third track was reportedly a long siding that allowed commuter and long-distance trains to share the tracks.)

Hopewell Train Station

There also are several photos of the Hopewell Train Station. One shows the view of the station area and tracks in 1955, facing east from the Greenwood Avenue bridge. You can see three main tracks plus several sidings (since reduced to the current one track).

On the north side (the left) is the small passenger shelter (since burned down), a possibly broken fright cart, and other buildings associated with the signal bridge that spans across the track (also now gone). Other photos in this set show the closer views of the station and the passenger shelter in 1977.

On the south side, beyond the station, is the freight shed (still standing) next to a short siding. Beyond the shed is the building where the F. C. A. (Farmers’ Co-op Association) operated from 1948 through around 1970 (see earlier post for a different view of the building).

Another siding starts beyond the signal bridge, cuts diagonally in front of the F. C. A. building (which is built on the same diagonal), and then continues behind and to the right of the train station, where a railroad car is sitting at the edge of the grass. (A remnant of the bumper at the end of this spur still sits at the railroad station next to the driveway.)

And further in the background is the Chocolate Factory (Hopewell Dainties) building, to the right of the station and beyond the tree, with its distinctive four windows on the second floor of the end facing the station (see earlier post).

== See the Hopewell Art Gallery for more images of the Hopewell and Pennington Train Stations ==

And More?

These are wonderful examples of what we can learn from family photos, where the backgrounds of the photos are often as interesting as the foregrounds. We are happy to help scan and digitize historical materials, so do please check out your closets and attics for materials, photos, and artifacts to share!

More on Hopewell Railroads

Two railroads were built in the 1870s to connect Philadelphia and New York by travelling up from the Delaware River, through Pennington and Hopewell, and then north towards New York. The Mercer and Somerset opened in 1874, but was shut down in 1880. The Delaware and Bound Brook opened in 1876, and is the predecessor of the line that still runs through the area.

Hopewell Valley Railroad Lines