Train stuff to see in central NJ

check out the Pine Creek RR at Allaire State Park in Wall Twp.

for the real thing, head towards the beach and watch NJ Transit on the Coast Line.

If you are interested in older sites, more along the lines of railroad archaeology than railfanning, there are a few things still to see right in Lakehurst. When William Torrey built the Raritan & Delaware RR in the 1850s, which was the predecessor of the Southern Division of the CNJ, and the New Jersey Southern before that, Lakehurst was where he built his shops. There was a roundhouse w/turntable, machine shops, stationary boiler building, water tower, passenger and freight stations, and several other buildings there. The shops were dismantled in the 1930s and the stations & water tower later on but evidence can still be found.

If you park in one of the spaces along the tracks on Railroad Ave and walk south along the tracks (abandoned, with track sections removed), crossing Union Ave, you will first pass a mechanism owned and once used by Ocean County to load fertilizer pellets manufactured at the County's sewage plant in Bayville. Just inside the tree line beyond that is the remains of an old brick well used to supply water to the tower and the shops. Continuing south, you will cross an old trestle. Take the abandoned trackless spur to your left and you will soon see the old concrete ash pit trestles which were used when servicing the steam engines. Walking back to about 100 yards north of where you parked, under the Rt. 70 overpass, you can see an old signal bridge that once controlled traffic into the various shop sidings, and there is also a small concrete phone booth. These booths were installed along the Southern Division in the late 20s, when telephone replaced the telegraph for communicating with dispatchers. 

As a side note, the line you are viewing here is the route that once carried the Blue Comet, from 1929 to 1941. Lakehurst was one of its few stops in South Jersey. You can also visit the Lakehurst Historical Society Museum, on center street. It is open Wednesdays and Saturdays. It only has a small amount of railroad displays, but is also interesting because it is housed in a former church Torrey had built for his largely Irish-Catholic railroad workers. A quote which has long been attributed to him, after failing to convert the workers to his own faith and funding a church of their own, was "perhaps Catholicism is better than no religion at all". 

Thanks, PRR Man and German! I'm only here until Friday AM thus I can't do the Pine Creek RR (weekends only this time of year). I will definitely take in the Navy Lakehurst Historical Society! Again, thanks to you both!

If you have wheels you can head an hour north to catch some NEC action in New Brunswick.  It's a college town so it's reasonably safe and has some decent restaurants.