Trains, planes and automobiles are common ways to get where you’re headed, but what about submarines, snowmobiles, hot-air balloons or even battleships?
At more than a dozen transportation-themed museums across the state, New Jersey’s innovation and preservation is on display.
Aviation Hall of Fame & Museum of New Jersey
You might already know that the infamous Hindenburg disaster occurred at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station in Lakehurst. But did you also know that famed aviator Charles Lindbergh lived in New Jersey? Or that astronaut Buzz Aldrin was born in Montclair? Or that the very first hot-air balloon flight in the Western hemisphere, by French balloonist Jean-Pierre Blanchard, landed in New Jersey?
“We have 211 years of aviation history in New Jersey,” says Pat Reilly, founder and executive director of the Aviation Hall of Fame & Museum of New Jersey, located at Teterboro Airport.
Scores of pioneering aviators, from the earliest days of flight to today, are honored in the hall of fame and museum.
From the New Jersey-born inventor of the hovercraft, Charles Fletcher, to Haddon Heights native Herb Kelleher, founder of Southwest Airlines, the hall of fame and museum pays tribute to aviators who either hail from the Garden State or brought fame to the state through their achievements here.
“It just seemed to me that these people should be honored and remembered in some way,” says Reilly, who has authored a book on New Jersey aviation, From the Balloon to the Moon.
The institution was opened in 1972 as the Teterboro Aviation Hall of Fame, and was later recognized as the first state aviation hall of fame in the country. It has since grown to more than four times its original size, and a recent expansion added an entire wing to the museum, including a 60-seat auditorium.
Current exhibits include a collection of aircraft engines from the days of the Wright Brothers all the way up to modern rocket engines, photos of New Jersey’s WWI and WWII flying aces, spacesuits on loan from the Smithsonian Institution, some 200 aircraft models, and an early electronic flight simulator.
But exhibits are just part of the hall of fame and museum. Popular hands-on activities include a large aircraft known as “The Little Cutup” – so called because it was disassembled and rebuilt in smaller form – that young visitors can board.
The hall of fame and museum also regularly hosts guest lecturers from the world of aviation, and Santa Claus touches down in a helicopter at the museum each year around Christmas.
Admission is $6 for adults and $4 for seniors and children.
New Jersey Naval Museum & USS Ling
One might expect that a 312-foot World War II submarine in the middle of downtown Hackensack would attract a fair amount of attention. But the USS Ling, moored in the Hackensack River alongside the New Jersey Naval Museum since 1972, has managed to stay something of a little-noticed curiosity, even for many of the town’s longtime residents.
Arthur Bischoff, a curator at the museum for more than 10 years, notes that even though the museum has remained somewhat hidden from locals, it regularly attracts visitors from other continents.
“We’ve got people from all over the world coming here,” Bischoff says, including countries such as England, Japan, Germany and South Africa.
The museum contains hundreds of pieces of naval memorabilia, including radio equipment, uniforms, models, dozens of historical photographs, a vial of sand from Iwo Jima, and even the original “deck log” from the Ling. Bischoff notes that many of the items on display have been donated, and that the museum regularly accepts donations of naval memorabilia and photos with identifying information.
The yard between the museum building and the Ling features a River Patrol Boat that was used in the Vietnam War, a two-man German Seehund submarine, and a Japanese Kaiten Type II suicide torpedo, one of only a handful in the U.S.
Also on display outdoors are a number of large weapons, including two anti-aircraft Bofor guns and a Regulus missile that Bischoff says is quite an acquisition.
“The Intrepid would love it, they’d love to have that one,” he says, referring to the naval museum in New York.
But the biggest draw at the New Jersey Naval Museum is by far the USS Ling.
A Balao-class submarine, the Ling held a crew of 10 officers and 65 men, and it carried 24 torpedoes each weighing 3,000 pounds.
Tours of the ship – or “boat” in Navy jargon – run practically the entire 311 feet, 9 inches of the Ling‘s length, from the fore to the aft torpedo rooms. Guided tours, which usually last 45 minutes, cover everything from the control and radio rooms to the familiar dive siren that can be heard in most submarine movies.
Also of note are some of the more peculiar aspects of the Ling, such as its standard-issue ice-cream machine – “We had a lot of cool stuff for our guys,” Bischoff says.
The museum and grounds are free to the public, and tours of the Ling are $7 for adults, $5 for seniors and $3 for children. Group sleepovers on the Ling are also available.
New Jersey Museum of Boating
Since opening its doors in 2000, the New Jersey Museum of Boating has brought the long maritime history of the Garden State to thousands of visitors. Every aspect of the state’s distinguished history of boats and boating – from commercial to recreational to defense – is on display at the museum.
From its extensive collection of cross-sectional hull drawings, vintage print advertisements and historical photographs, to dozens of scale models of classic New Jersey-built boats, the museum brings New Jersey’s rich maritime history to life.
The forerunner of today’s Coast Guard, the U.S. Lifesaving Service, was formed in New Jersey in response to a deadly 1854 shipwreck off the New Jersey coast.
The USS Sequoia, a 100-ton yacht built in the Camden, N.J. shipyards, is one of the most noted presidential vessels in American history. Aboard the Sequoia, FDR and Winston Churchill planned D-Day, LBJ lobbied for civil rights legislation, and Nixon and Brezhnev negotiated the first Soviet-American arms control treaty.
In between major overhauls – it is nearly 80 years old, after all – the Sequoia has played host to every American president since the mid-20th century.
Sometimes, more infamous maritime events bring attention to New Jersey.
The mysterious destruction of the cruise ship Morro Castle, which caught fire and ran aground at Asbury Park, N.J. in 1934, is still the subject of fierce debate. Was the ship set on fire to conceal the murder of its captain? Was it insurance fraud? Or was it simply one of the most notorious maritime tragedies of the time?
The museum holds several artifacts from the Morro Castle, including two life jackets, an oar from one of the lifeboats, and historical photographs.
The New Jersey Museum of Boating offers free guided and self-guided tours of its collections of maritime artworks and artifacts.
Riding the rails
New Jersey’s long railroading history is being preserved by many groups across the state whose passion for the old railroading days is matched only by their dedication to maintaining that history.
“Santa Rides” are a popular way to enjoy the holiday season, and there is no shortage of outlets for such an activity in New Jersey. Here are a few of the groups that will conduct – no pun intended – special events this season.
The New Jersey Museum of Transportation is one of the oldest all-volunteer, operating railway museums in the country. Located in Allaire State Park in Wall Township, the museum restores and operates vintage diesel locomotives year-round. Their “Christmas Express” costs $5, and runs throughout December. Call (732) 938-5524 or visit www.njmt.org.
The only steam locomotive operating in New Jersey is run by the New York Susquehanna & Western Technical & Historic Society. Plus, a “Santa Claus Train Ride” through the beautiful northern New Jersey countryside will run throughout December. Ticket prices vary. Call (877) TRAIN-RIDE or visit www.nyswths.org.
NYSWTHS also operates Maywood Station, one of the oldest railroad stations in the state. The station was completely restored and re-opened in 2004 as a museum featuring railroad artifacts. Their annual “Santa at Maywood Station” event takes place on Dec. 17 this year. Visit www.maywoodstation.com.
For a scenic one-hour train ride through the Skylands Region, check out the Black River & Western Railroad, which runs between the towns of Flemington and Ringoes. The “Santa Express” will take place in December. Call (908) 782-9600 or visit www.brwrr.com.
At the historic Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal in Liberty State Park in Jersey City, visitors can catch a ferry to the Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island, through which thousands of immigrants traveled for many years. The terminal contains a small exhibit on the infamous 1916 explosion at the nearby Black Tom munitions depot, but workers at the terminal’s information desk say a savvy historian can sometimes be found to give informal tours of the terminal. Call (201) 915-3400.
The South Jersey Railroad Museum, located at 1721 Mt. Pleasant Road in Tuckahoe, exhibits historic railroad equipment and frequently presents model railroad displays. Visit www.sjrails.org.
More museums
Check out these other transportation-themed museums around the state!
Barnegat Light Museum
Fifth Street and Central Avenue
Barnegat Light
(609) 494-8578
Battleship New Jersey
Delaware Avenue
Camden
(866) 877-6262
www.battleshipnewjersey.org
Lakehurst Naval Base
Route 547
Lakehurst
(732) 323-2620
www.lakehurst.navy.mil
Snowmobile Barn Museum
Fredon
(973) 383-1708
www.snowmobilebarn.com
Toms River Maritime Museum
Water Street and Hooper Avenue
Toms River
(732) 349-9209
Twin Lights State Historic Site
Highlands
(732) 872-1814
What Exit? New Jersey and its Turnpike
New Jersey Historical Society
Award-winning online-only exhibit on the history of the nation’s most-traveled highway.
www.jerseyhistory.org/what_exit