Last Labour Day I spent some quality time roving around South Jersey checking out a number of interesting "Forgotten" locations interspersed with more standard Railfan locations. So the photos here will include something for everyone.
First off is the old
Dydee Service building in Westmont. For years cloth diapers were cleaned there and delivered back to peoples houses. Shuttered by the advent of disposable diapers the building stood vacant for decades before being razed for a new development. I sort of regret not getting in there for a look around before it was demolished.
Next is SOUTH RACE interlocking at
Utica Ave in Westmont. Despite being the closest interlocking to my house I had never bothered to go out and take a complete photo set.
After SOUTH RACE I popped over to the adjacent
abandoned Westmont sewage treatment plant. This was actually the first of two
Sweage treatment plants in this area before things were centralized with the CCMUA. The old plant only had primary treatment, while the second plant had secondary treatment. Today it sits decaying in the woods.
After the jaunt around Westmont I took a jump to the the
legendary Haddonfield Waterfall. This is located on the Cooper River deep in the bowls of the Crows Woods recreation area. The river drops over about an 18" clay pan creating a little waterfall. Over the years the fall has retreated some 150 feet.
Next I ventured a little farther afield to the Winslow Junction area. After a bit of railfanning I took off down the RoW to a tip I had on something called
Ancora Village. This was a community of assisted living houses for low-risk patients of the Ancora Psychiatric Hospital. Closed probably due to cost reasons the houses stood for several years before all being demolished. Now the site is left to be reclaimed by nature.
Finally, I walked back to Winslow Jct in time to catch an unannounced employee special labour day train as well as the new
Alco C420 in its
NYO&W Paint.
That was a little whirlwind summary and you can find the full set of pics at:
http://acm.jhu.edu/~sthurmovik/Railpics/07-09-01_FORGOTTEN_SOUTH_JERSEY/-Thumbnails.html
And more of a guided tour below in the same order as described above.
Here is the landmark Dydee Service building with the demolition fence already erected. This building has literally stood vacant here for 20 years or more.
In the forest next to SOUTH RACE interlocking the original Westmont sewage plant. Probably in service until the 1950's. Here is the primary settling tank.
Here's the input channel. Hard to believe this setup managed to "treat" anything at all.
Moving on to the Haddonfield Waterfall. Cute ain't it.
Here's where it used to be 10 years ago.
Also saw this on my way out. Nasty surprise for any lineman.
Finally some railfan stuff. WINSLOW Tower 2008. The bay windows have finally been boarded up from the inside.
