Here’s another one of my father’s pictures - this time Atlantic City in Sept 1977 - looking more like a Third World Country than part of the USA.
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=226229
Charles Freericks
Nice pic. It’s no wonder why no people stopped taking the train to Atlantic City. It’s nice to see train service and the station have significantly improved.
Wow. Another powerful shot. It still amazes me when I see shots of railroads in that kind of condition. Thanks for sharing!
Once again, Charles, thank’s for the great photo.
What is it about gambling that causes adjacent areas to become blighted? We have three casinos in our downtown area, one on the east side and two on the west side of the Mississippi. Within walking distance of any of them, you can see sights like that. And the city wants more casinos. Pfah!
Gambling doesn’t usually bring in the locals - just folks who show up at the casino (often on a tour bus), spend their time and money, and leave. Thus any business that might benefit from local wanderings (restaurants, gift shops, etc) are virtually non-existant.
I rode the RDC at the time, and the view is familiar. The service wasn’t bad. One boarded the car at the end of the PATCO rapid transit line at Lindenwald, from donwtown Philadelphia. I don’t think at the time service was provided any longer over the Frankfort Bridge and into 30th Street Station, but I may be wrong. Shortly after, the service was ended completely. Then Amtrak had a go at it and then turned it over to New Jersey Transit who have made it into a success, as they have with nearly everything they do. I do know that now one does have the choice of going to Atlantic City from 30th Street or using the connection at LIndenwald, and I suppose much depends on where one originates. NJT running into Pennsylvania? That is OK, since SEPTA’s northern terminals are Trenton on the PRR-Amtrak Corridor, and West Trenton on the Reading line owned, I think, now by SEPTA. Equipment on the Atlantic City run is now commuter coaches in push-pull with cab car on the end opposite the locomotive. I understand they try to keep the power on the Atlantic City end of the train, so the power does not have to actually move beneith the roof of the lower level of 30th Street station to avoid lots of noise and pollution, since the lower level was really designed for all-electrified service.
I understand that in the old PRSL steam days, after the old Broad Street Station (not Broad Street Suburban) was vacated, the Atlantic City trains would leave from the lower level with the steam locomotive at front outide of the covered area, but arrive on the upper level otherwise used by suburban trains.
I agree 100%, it’s terrible, but oddly enough, this photograph was taken a year before gambling was legal in AC. The town has been on hard times since the 1950s, I think.
Atlantic City always was a slum. Even as a kid in the early 50’s it was the least desirable seashore to visit. It was worth a visit in the wintertime to go to Captain Starns for a fresh seafood dinner and walk the boardwalk. We would always walk through the GM display on Steel Pier. Convention Hall had holes in the roof that would always get patched enough to have the Miss America pageant without fear of drowning people in the event of rain. I can remember the parade of contestants in convertibles on the boardwalk. Marilyn Monroe was the grand marshall. I think it was 1953. We went up for the parade from Wildwood. The slums were huge even then. Last time I was there 25 years ago nobody was even on the beach. They were all in the casinos. The casinos in my opinion were Atlantic City’s reason to justify tearing down and displacing a lot of the slum dwellers. They suceeded in that regard.
…It was in the summertime and the wife and I were in eastern Pennsylvania visiting somewhere {really don’t remember where}, and on a whim decided to take a run over to Atlantic City and look around…Time frame was early 60’s.
I had never been there before, so really was kind of anxious to see the place. We were driving a '62 Chevy Impala SS and I remember as we were very close to Convention Hall, and stopped for a traffic light, I seriously got the feeling some gang of {whatever}, would come out {any minute}, on the street as we would be waiting for the light, and take the wheels off the car, I’m not kidding, it was a non pleasant thought and such a trashy neighborhood we never even got out of the car…! I headed it out of there almost as soon as we arrived and headed west for Pennsylvania. We made up our mind {quickly}, that was not the place to be and have not had any thoughts of returning since.
Atlantic City is one of those odd places… where people actually seem to go for the sleeze. As a kid, we went there and saw Mr. Peanut walking on the boardwalk. I remember even as a young child being frightened of the location. As a college student, I’d go there with friends to gamble, and frankly, we wouldn’t leave the hotel. Recently, I took my family there when driving past it, and my kids were horrified. To this day, the two places they talk about never wanting to go back to are Atlantic City and Tijuana.
I do wish I’d seen the old trains there though. I also really regret never having gone into the train station (which was cut off from the tracks long before my dad’s photo). It was still there when I was a young adult, and I remember passing it in the car and on tour busses a couple times. I also remember seeing drug addict types hanging out on the sidewalk by it though, so maybe I did the smart thing not seeing it.
Atlantic City was born when the RR was built down to Absecon Island. This made AC more accessible than Cape May, which in the mid 1800s, was the leading resort town on the South Jersey shore. The city boomed and was eventually served by the Atlantic City RR (a Reading subsidiary) and the West Jersey and Seashore (a PRR subsidiary).
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=36997
There were three routes from Camden to AC. Two parallel routes - often just yards apart directly from Camden to Atlantic City and one with 3rd rail electrification through Woodbury, Glassboro and Mays Landing. The electrified route was unusual in that they used a trolley pole and overhead wire on part of the route between Camden and Woodbury.
The Camden to AC railroads competed fiercely for business, turning in some ridiculously fast times and running purpose-built high wheeled Atlantics in the late 19th century and 1st couple decades of the 20th century.
The beginning of the end was when the Delaware River Bridge (now the Ben Franklin Br.) was built in 1928.
It was all downhill for Atlantic City, too. The big shift from urban to suburban living after WWII was the death knell for AC. Vacationers opted for the less developed, more auto-friendly seashore towns (Ocean City, Wildwood, Brigantine, etc.) over the urban environment of AC. By 1970, AC was virtually dead and the rail service was down to the three single Budd car trains a day, mostly carrying commuters
…Enjoyed the photos.