Sunset Beach Railroad

Several times a year, at low tide, you can see two pairs of historic railroad tracks on a New Jersey beach. In early November 2014, a colossal storm hit the Atlantic coast of New Jersey, which carried away layers of sand. This event revealed on the beach a forgotten artifact that had been hidden for years, a piece of history trapped in the sand: two pairs of railroad tracks dating back to the early 1900s. Several times a year, at low tide, visitors to Sunset Beach in New Jersey can see two extraordinary 100-year-old railroad tracks — remnants of a time when the beach was used for industry rather than tourism. The first track, located near the Cape May Canal, is believed to have been built during World War I and leads to an ammunition test site where Sunset Beach sand and water were used to test the strength of the projectiles. The second group of rails is believed to date from 1908, when they were used by the Cape May Sand Company to transport sand from the beach to the city's glass factories. Some suspect that the rails were also used to transport sand used in the Panama Canal locks.