Hey Joe,

       Great RRRR Website!  I'm 22, and I grew up over on Cedar St. in town, which as you may know, is right behind where the now Conrail/CSX right of way is.  I can tell you that yes, there were multiple sets of tracks up there, although I don't think that 14 is the right number, I'd say more between 8 and 10. 
       My grandmother was born in a house on Wilmont St. in 1920, and she later moved to the 200 block of Raritan St., both of which are a stones-throw from the hole-in-the-wall.  Growing up, me and my brother always had an obsession with the train tracks (it was off-limits as per my father, so naturally it was something we were drawn to).  My grandmother would tell us stories how during the great depression, when her mother and father couldn't afford coal to heat the house, she would go up to the train-tracks and she had befriended a guard (probably employed by the PRR) who would let her take the coal that had fallen from the cars.
       Amongst the war stories she told us, she would often mention a railroad station that was used by a local railroad, but later shut-down.  She said it was on Elm St., but I never put it together until I noticed one of the maps on your website.   
       Bergen Hill is a now "ancient" name that was given to the section of South Amboy that Sacred Heart RC Church sits on.  The old RRRR right-of-way passed over the Feltus St. bridge (which is gone for a good 6 or 7 years now), underneath what is now the RTE 9 and 35 Ramp, past the station (which at first glance looks exactly like a normal house), and over what is referred to in South Amboy lore as "The Red Bridge". 
       The station, which as I had mentioned earlier, is located on Elm St in South Amboy.  It was at one time the Bergen Hill station, which was the last stop before Parlin.  It was apparently turned into a home, but later vacated.  It is in terrible disrepair right now, and I am certain that nobody has lived in the house for at least 20 years.  Supposedly the owner of the home lives in the area. 
       The "Red Bridge" as most South Amboy youth have come to know it had also fallen into terrible disrepair.  It crosses a span of probably 200 or so feet, with a drop of maybe 40 or so feet.  The Conrail/CSX right-of-way passes directly below it, and if you look out to the east, you can see the old JCP&L Generating Station.    The wooden planks and the crossties on the bridge had become very deteriorated, and I guess at about the same time that they started pulling up the old PRR Coal Yard tracks, I believe it was Middlesex Water that laid a huge black pipe across the bridge.  They also laid down new wood over the deteriorating ties.  You can easily access the bridge, as it is along the rail bed about 50 feet from the old station.
       That's pretty much it.  If I can snap off a few photos in my spare time, I'll send them over to you.
       Thanks so much for solving a mystery that has been plaguing me since my grandmother told me the story a good 15 years ago.
       Keep up the great work!

       -Bill Parsons
       South Amboy

---

"Halfway through town" This picture is of the old roadbed that runs behind what is now Elm St. in South Amboy. It is looking in the direction of downtown South Amboy where the Roundhouse and the station were.	"The Bridge to Sayreville" This is a pic of the ever-famous Red Bridge. It bridges a gap between the hills known as the "Amboy Secondary" under which the PRR, Conrail, and present-day CSX runs between. Below this bridge is where the PRR lined up hundreds of coal-hoppers headed to the dumpers down the waterfront. Raritan River Steam #10
Looking East This is a picture from on the Red Bridge looking East towards the South Amboy waterfront. The old JCP&L Power plant is not visible in this picture because of the angle. Notice all the dirt trails below, once upon a time, those were rail beds.	The Red Bridge This is a show of the Red Bridge, looking towards Sayreville. As you can see, time and local youth have taken its toll on the trestle.
This is just a pic of some of the PRR rail-ties that were left behind after Conrail tore them up.	This is another interesting pic taken directly below the Red Bridge. These are PRR railroad ties that weren't actually torn up, but the rail bed appears to have eroded over long periods of flooding. I couldn't find any of the steel track, it looks as though it may have actually gotten buried under the ground.
Just another shot of the bridge looking towards the South Amboy Waterfront. Notice the supports that are used - those stone blocks aren't something you'd see used these days.	This is why you should always have an experienced "bridge-rat" like myself when you venture to this bridge for the first time. As you can tell, some of the floorboards weren't replaced and eventually rotted away to nothing. That's a pretty big drop. Notice the black tar on two of the the remaining boards? As a kid, me and my brother spent much of our summers up there - and on days when it got hot, there would always be a tar-like smell in the air, and to this day I still associate that smell with the fear we had knowing our legs would be broken into hundreds of pieces if our father ever found us up there.
Watch that last step!	This is a photo from the Red Bridge looking towards Sayreville. Next Stop, Phoenix and Sayreville Jct!
This is the Main St./Rt9/Rt35 underpass. Once again, the remnants of the rail bed are very present. Most people don't even know they are driving over a rail bed when they come off Rt 9 into town.	This is what I believe to be the Bergen Hill Station. It sits on Elm St. in South Amboy, probably about 50 yards from the Red Bridge. It was clearly built in the late 1800's, the rest of the neighborhood has houses from the 1920-1930 era. Notice the big green barn-like doors? What house has this?
A side view of the station.	Behind the station. It looks as though the area behind the station has become someone's little landfill so to speak. Notice the other red barn-door. There is a window broken on one side of the building, but there were a couple of people around so I really didn't want to look in. Me and my brother always stayed away from this place growing up, partially because it was "haunted", and partially because we spent most of our days looking for the old train station. Isn't it ironic... dontcha think?
Home	* photos courtesy Bill Parsons