A PENNY ON THE TRACKS
The Red Bank Railroad Station has always been a part of my life while
growing up in Red Bank. I remember the buildings on both sides of the
station, raised structures that controlled the gates coming down as well as
the switching of the tracks. Some time around 1955 I would climb the stairs
of these structures just to see what was inside. The trainmen were always
willing to let me watch as they mechanically lowered the gates by hand in
the small building at Bridge Ave and Monmouth Street. The man there would
turn two wheels in opposite directions from each other and then hang a steel
ring around the handles holding them together.
The larger building on Chestnut near West Street was of the same faded
gray clapboard only larger and also one flight up on wooden stairs. Inside
were tables and charts on one side of the room on the other were 20 to 30
foot pedals that looked like they belonged to an old fashion organ. Just in
front of them were 4 foot levers that were pulled to move the tracks and
direct the trains within the yard. Everything was moved mechanically by
hand, every track and every gate.
Me and the gang learned early on how powerful and heavy the trains were.
We would put a penny on the tracks and watch as the train ran over it. It
would come out paper thin with Lincoln having a huge head.
Long lines of freight trains were left there for days at a time. Low
walled flat bed cars were loaded with 6 foot height boulders destined to
build or enhance the jetties and walls along our coast line. We would climb
up on the front car and jump and run from boulder to boulder along the
entire line of cars.
Inside of the Cabooses we would find flares and small red caps that would
strap to the tracks and explode when a train ran over them. One bang was
supposed to warn the train engineer to slow down. I wonder what he thought
we he heard 8 or 9 go off in a row. The yard is still there but could become
the home of a parking garage for Red Bank in the near future.
Most of these memories flashed back to me these last few weeks while
serving hot chocolate at 6AM as a promotion for the Red Bank Visitors Center
and for Danny’s. I had plenty of time between trains to look around as
memories came flooding back. I guess it is time to go back to writing about
Red Bank and the growing up years for many of us. Being at the station for a
couple of hours seems to have put me back on track. |
