The Bridgeton Branch
The history of the Bridgeton Branch of the West Jersey Railroad begins in 1836 with the charter granted to the Camden and Woodbury Railroad and Transportation Company. This line failed within a decade and the tracks were torn up. The West Jersey Railroad, chartered in 1853, used the C&W right-of-way to Woodbury. The line was extended to Millville via Glassboro and eventually, through consolidation with other roads, to Cape May. There was sufficient interest from businesses in the area to justify the construction of a branch to Bridgeton and so an extension from Glassboro was completed in 1861. Station stops in order from Glassboro included Aura, Harding, Monroeville, Elmer, Palatine, Husted, Finley and Bridgeton. The Bridgeton Branch was just one of dozens of branches of the multiple railroads that proliferated in South Jersey in the latter half of the 19th century. As was the story of so many of these enterprises this line failed due to over-extension, duplication of services, competition from other lines and most of all the motor vehicle. By 1952 passenger service was discontinued. The branch was abandoned in 1985 and the rails were ripped up the same year. The right-of-way lay fallow, except for the depredations of illegal trail bikers and ATVers, until the establishment of the Elephant Swamp rail trail in 2007. What do elephants have to do with it? Legend has it that an elephant escaped from a circus train somewhere along the line years ago and disappeared into the swampland that surrounds the right-of-way in many places.
The posted coordinates bring you to a small park where the Elmer station was located until it was sold and moved to a nearby commercial establishment over forty years ago. A gazebo and a clock have been erected in this little patch of green. At GZ there is an old hand water pump that is very close to where the NE corner of the station used to be. Whether it was there when the station was moved I have not been able to ascertain. On the pump is the name of a state and the name of a town (perpendicular to the orientation of the state name, town name begins with “W”)
The number of letters in the town name is “a” and the number of letters in the state name is “b” N 39 3a.b73 is the latitude for the final. Now take the few steps to the clock and find the plaque on the north side of the base. Subtract the three numbers (ignore the letter “R”) on the plaque from W 075 09.368 to calculate the longitude of the final.
You can pick up the trail headed north at N 39 35.932 W075 10.084 (the rail trail is suitable for mountain bikes or wide tired cross bikes.) You should pass the location of the Monroeville station (long gone) heading north. The cache is located on a former wagon trail that intersects the line, probably a flag stop for a local farm. There is minimal bushwhacking to get to GZ, remember that a straight line is not always the best approach.
There are multiple road crossings along the trail. Please obey all stop signs, yield to vehicles at every crossing and keep children well in hand. Several of the crossings have limited sightlines. However, once on the trail no further information needs to be gathered so there no reason not to pay attention!! The round trip is greater than 5 miles, less than 10 miles. Please bring water, cell phone and anything else you would normally need for a ride or hike of this distance as there is very little potential assistance along the route.
The first finder can take the carabiner from Custer State Park with compliments of the ‘Cycles.
This cache is certified South Jersey
This is a "Placed by Bicycle" cache!