Passenger Trains > NJ - Spring Lake on the North Jersey Coast Line

Spring Lake is a town along the NJ Transit NJCL (former New York & Long Branch) in Monmouth County. Many, many lovely homes set on parks, lakes, and beach front. Spring Lake projects an atmosphere of polished gentility, avoiding the carnival like boardwalk atmosphere of some near by towns.

Unlike Manasquan's new building to the south, Spring Lake has an updated, old building. The original brick building with its operator bump out is still in use, with a tiny area available for passengers. Tiny, as in seats for about 10 people. Two rest rooms and a boarded up ticket seller's window.

It looks like the south end of the station building had been used by a bank. There's a lobby like area, several doors, polished wood, and two drive up lanes with older Diebold compressed air tubes. That business appears to have vacated the building.

Picture 1 - the station building is painted a pleasant cream color over brick. Stained glass panels over the doors, and a steam locomotive (K4?) on the wind vane. The station building is located on the eastbound (toward New York) side of the tracks.

Picture 2 - a closer view of the station

Picture 3 - looking northwesterly at the station. It's a handsome building, definitely in need of a tenant who will care for it.

---

---

---

What an elegant building, the classiest on the line. Yes, a new tenant would help.

Here is a southbound train pulling into the Spring Lake Station.

---

Spring Lake AND Manasquan handle a fraction of the customers that they used to at one time. Part of this is due to the "change of trains" at Long Branch, for those heading to NYP. As a frequent commuter of the NJCL, NJT has done a pretty good job at killing of service south of Long Branch and cutting the Bay Head to Newark/Hoboken trains that once existed. I only wish this line had better express train service. Whether this line gets the dual mode engines, which frankly it would seem that it should under current statistcs I saw remains to be seen, but if it did, I would sure hope that those trains extended from Long Branch to Bay Head would truly offer descent express service. MANY former and current riders of the NJCL drive north on the Parkway to board at a station that is "further up the line" just because the line is so slow south of Long Branch and there is a "connection" to deal with at Long Branch. Although there seems to have been track and catenary improvements on this line over the years, it still has poor express service and trip times.