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Bill Day
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This would form a loop connecting Camden, Haddonfield and Haddon Heights which would be a decided advantage to many commuters. The right of way was granted by the state of New Jersey and the plan progressed.
However, the West Jersey-Pennsylvania R.R. Seashore line running through Haddonfield did not want the trolley transit company tracks crossing their tracks at the west Kings Highway intersection, so after the last commuter train passed through town each evening, a steam locomotive hauling a small red car was brought out from Camden. It was parked across the Kings Highway intersection so that no traffic could pass.
The train's compressor ran all night until 6:45 a.m. when the first commuter train entered Haddonfield. Of course, only a rare horse and wagon desired to get by the crossing, so it was only occasionally that the blockade had to be disturbed.
A contraption known as the iron frog laid in Mayor Fred T. Holloway's nearby brickyard. It was made of railroad and trolley tracks that, when placed over the railroad tracks at the crossing, made it possible for a trolley to cross the intersection.
Whatever happened to that frog is still a mystery, for it disappeared. The whole project was abandoned after a short time.
The overhead wires and wooden ties were strung along west Kings Highway for years. The street became very rough as the wooden ties deteriorated and the highway finally had to be torn up and a complete repaving job had to be done.
It was absolute proof that money talks, for the wealth existing on west Kings Highway was at the time strong enough to ignore a state right-of-way.
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