Train Station Photos by Harry Abendroth

This remarkable collection of 1960s and 70s photos of local train stations document the decline and end of passenger train service through our area. These 22 photos focus on the Hopewell Borough and Pennington Borough train stations, and also include views of the Belle Mead and Weston-Manville stations.

These were kindly shared by Harry Abendroth, a life-long train enthusiast and long-time railroad photographer, especially focusing on the railroad stations that once served the Reading and Jersey Central Railroads.

Harry Abendroth train station photos – 1960s & 70s

In our area, the train line that still passes though Pennington and Hopewell opened in 1876 as the Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad, which was created by the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad in order to connect traffic between Philadelphia and New York. The D&BB tracks ran some 30 miles, starting at West Trenton, through Pennington and Hopewell, through Belle Mead and Weston-Manville, and ending at Bound Brook. This was later known as the West Trenton line, and is now used for freight trains.

The main station building at each stop was on the eastbound side (towards Bound Brook and New York). The opposite westbound side (to Trenton and Philadelphia) had a smaller station or a simple passenger shed.

See post and History Brief on the Hopewell Valley Railroad Lines

== View all the Harry Abendroth train photos in the Image Gallery ==

The Hopewell Station

The 14 Hopewell train station photos are from 1963, 1974, and 1976. The Hopewell and Pennington stations both were built in 1876 with similar architecture – Hopewell with brick and Pennington with stone. The Hopewell ticket office was closed in 1976, and passenger service ended in 1982. Hopewell Borough acquired the station in 1993, and it is now a community center.

Passengers at Hopewell station, 1974 [Abendroth]

This 1974 view looking westbound towards the Greenwood Avenue bridge shows passengers exiting the Reading Crusader train and crossing the tracks.

Part of the passenger shed is visible to the right across from the station, with the drive up to the street.

There are two tracks in operation, plus an overgrown siding on the left. Each side also has an asphalt section with a white line by the tracks for passengers to enter and exit the trains. Both sides also have the distinctive shepherd crook light poles.

Hopewell train station complex, 1976 [Abendroth]

This 1976 view looking eastbound from the Greenwood Avenue bridge shows the elements of the station complex, many of which are now gone:

Main Station – Eastbound (to Bound Brook)

Train station – On the right, with stairs down to a lower platform.
Freight house – Beyond the station, with the platform sloping up to it.
FCA – Feed & seed white building beyond the station. (Now gone)
Stacks of lumber – Stored beyond the station – the whole area is asphalt.
Chocolate Factory building – On the far right, with part of J. B. Hill.

Tracks

Two main tracks – With asphalt “platforms” at track level, with white lines.
Sidings – Remnant of siding along the tracks on the right, with one branch bending to the right behind the FCA building towards the Tomato Factory building.
Signal bridge – Across the tracks beyond the station, with a signal for the eastbound track.
Tell-tales – Warning chains hanging above the tracks before the station (look to the right of the “Hopewell” station sign). These alert train brakemen working on top of the cars of the low clearance ahead at the signal bridge.

Passenger Shed – Westbound (to West Trenton)

Small passenger shed – On the left across from the station, with parking around it. (Now gone)
“HOPE” brick signal tower – In the distance down the tracks, to the left beyond the signal bridge. (Now gone)

Other photos show the Hopewell station, passenger shed, and HOPE tower in more detail, along with other trains at the station. They also show box cars parked on a siding that ran behind the station, and some of the buildings on Railroad Place beyond.

See post and History Brief on the Hopewell and Pennington Train Stations
See post and History Brief on Industrial Hopewell: Railroad Place
See post and History Brief on Hopewell Borough Railroad Sidings / FCA

== View the Abendroth Hopewell train photos in the Image Gallery ==

The Pennington Station

The four Pennington station photos are from 1963 and 1970. The Pennington station was built in 1876, and operated until 1967 when passenger service ended. The station then was sold in 1981 as a private residence.

Pennington train station view, 1963 [Abendroth]

This wonderful view of the station complex while it was still operating in 1963 shows the station on the right, and the small westbound passenger shed on the left.

The station has the shepherd crook light poles on both sides.

The center of the tracks is blocked with a fence to help direct passengers to use the underpass to cross the tracks (behind the camera – see earlier post).

Both sides also have semaphore signals on white poles on the platforms. As service declined and trains no longer had scheduled stops at the station, some trains still listed the station as a “flag stop,” where passengers could use the signal to have the train stop for them.

In the distance are the industrial buildings on North Main Street before the railroad bridge. A siding ran up to the area of the freight shed as the tracks curve away.

See post on the Pennington Train Station Underpass

== View the Abendroth Pennington train photos in the Image Gallery ==

Belle Mead Station

Belle Mead train station, eastbound 1963 [Abendroth]

The two photos of the Belle Mead station from 1963 show the smaller brick station building on the eastbound side, and the freight station building.

This station photo shows the station name sign, and a signal for passengers to flag down passing trains for unscheduled stops.

The larger station on the westbound side was about twice as long and had dormers on the sides of the roof. That building was constructed in 1919, replacing a larger c.1870s three-story station.

The Belle Mead station was used until train service ended in 1982. By the 2000s the building was falling apart and covered in graffiti. In 2018, Preservation New Jersey listed the Belle Mead station was one of the most endangered historic places in New Jersey.

See Preservation New Jersey on the Belle Mead station

== View the Abendroth Belle Mead train photos in the Image Gallery ==

Weston-Manville Station

Weston-Manville train station, eastbound 1969 [Abendroth]

The two photos of the Weston-Manville station show two different views of the wood building from 1969 and 1974.

This building was built in 1882, and apparently was abandoned in the 1970s.

But it still has a TV antenna and air conditioner in these photos.

See the Manville, NJ blog on the Weston-Manville station

== View the Abendroth Westin-Manville train photos in the Image Gallery ==

== View all the Harry Abendroth train photos in the Image Gallery ==

Please contact us if you have additional materials on these and other local railroads and station – including photos, documents, and artifacts.

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