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There Were More Things Along the Jersey Central...

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  • Member since
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  • From: Henrico, VA
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There Were More Things Along the Jersey Central...
Posted by Flintlock76 on Tuesday, November 2, 2021 6:25 PM

...than just Camelbacks.

Here's the true-life tale that happened in close proximity to the Jersey Central (New Jersey Southern) Railroad that inspired a best-selling novel and a motion picture classic.  This comes to us courtesy of "Weird New Jersey" magazine.

https://weirdnj.com/stories/matawan-man-eater/

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Posted by 54light15 on Wednesday, November 3, 2021 7:20 PM

What would be interesting is if the shark had a Nebraska license plate in it's stomach. Seriously, that's some story! I well recall the summer that Jaws was released. I was stationed in Norfolk back then and there was absolutely no one in the water at Virginia Beach all summer long. I recently re-watched it. It holds up, that's for sure and in the supplementary materials I learned that a lot of the actors (Mrs. Kintner, the coroner, etc.) were local residents. 

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Wednesday, November 3, 2021 9:34 PM

Oh yeah, "Jaws" holds up beautifully, and you know why?  It's shot like a classic horror movie when you come down to it, think "Frankenstein," "Bride of Frankenstein," "Dracula," you name it!

Not long after the movie came out I bought a paperback called "The Jaws Log" that told the story of the making of the film. The author, Carl Gottleib, was one of the scriptwriters and has a few walk-on scenes.  Fascinating read. I still have the book somewhere.

And oh yeah, I remember all those empty beaches.  Quite a few empty swimming pools too!

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Posted by BigJim on Thursday, November 4, 2021 10:18 AM

I remember seeing this story somewhere else a few years ago. Pretty interesting. The "Jaws" culvert looks like something out of Looney Tunes!

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  • From: Henrico, VA
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Posted by Flintlock76 on Thursday, November 4, 2021 10:22 AM

BigJim
The "Jaws" culvert looks like something out of Looney Tunes!

Hey, that's New Jersey man, you can't survive up there without a strong sense of humor!

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