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| Jersey Central, Jersey Central Lines or New Jersey Central | |
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| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Main region | New Jersey |
| Other regions | New York State Pennsylvania |
| Headquarters | 148Liberty Street New York City, U.S. |
| Founders | John Taylor Johnston John Kean |
| Reporting mark | CNJ |
| Dates of operation | 1839 (1839)–1976 (1976) |
| Successors | Conrail (freight) Raritan Valley Line (passenger) |
| Technical | |
| Length | 693 miles (1,115 kilometres) |
TheCentral Railroad of New Jersey, also known as theJersey Central,Jersey Central Lines orNew Jersey Central (reporting markCNJ), was aClass I railroad with origins in the 1830s. It was absorbed intoConrail in April 1976 along with several other prominent bankrupt railroads of the Northeastern United States.
The CNJ's main line had a major presence in New Jersey. Most of the main line is now used by theRaritan Valley Line passenger service. CNJ main line trackage inPhillipsburg, New Jersey became part of theLehigh Line under Conrail.
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The earliest railroad ancestor of the CNJ was the Elizabethtown & Somerville Railroad, incorporated in 1831 and opened fromElizabethport toElizabeth, New Jersey, in 1836. Horses gave way to steam in 1839, and the railroad was extended west, reachingSomerville at the beginning of 1842. The Somerville and Easton Railroad was incorporated in 1847 and began building westward.
In 1849, it purchased the Elizabethtown & Somerville and adopted a new name: Central Railroad Company of New Jersey. The line reachedPhillipsburg, on the east bank of theDelaware River, in 1852. It was extended east acrossNewark Bay toJersey City in 1864, and it gradually acquired branches toFlemington,Newark,Perth Amboy,Chester, andWharton.[1]
The New Jersey Southern (NJS) began construction in 1860 atPort Monmouth. The railroad worked its way southwest across lower New Jersey and reached Bayside, New Jersey, on theDelaware River west ofBridgeton, New Jersey in 1871. The NJS came under control of the CNJ in 1879. CNJ's influence briefly extended across the Delaware River in the form of the Baltimore & Delaware Bay Railroad, fromBombay Hook, Delaware, east ofTownsend, toChestertown, Maryland. That line became part of thePennsylvania Railroad (PRR) family in 1901.[1]
CNJ's lines in Pennsylvania were built by theLehigh Coal & Navigation Company as the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad (L&S). The main line was completed between Phillipsburg, New Jersey, andWilkes-Barre in 1866. A notable feature of the line was theAshley Planes, a steep stretch of line (maximum grade was 14.65%) operated by cables driven by stationary engines, which would remain in service until afterWorld War II. CNJ leased the L&S in 1871. The line was extended toScranton in 1888 by a subsidiary of the L&S, the Wilkes-Barre & Scranton; L&S leased the line upon completion and assigned the lease to the CNJ. The bulk of the traffic on the Pennsylvania lines wasanthracite coal, much of it produced by subsidiaries of the railroad, until the Commodities Clause of theInterstate Commerce Act of 1920 forbade railroads to haul freight in which they had an interest.[1]
From 1883 to 1887, the CNJ was leased to and operated by thePhiladelphia & Reading Railroad, with which it formed a New York-Philadelphia route. CNJ resumed its own management after reorganization in 1887.
The primary rolling stock repair shops were located inElizabethport, New Jersey, along Trumbull Avenue. In 1901, the original shops were razed. New, concrete shops took their place, capable of servicing 430 locomotives and 20,000 freight cars annually. With the primary freight and passenger yards atJersey City, New Jersey, opposite Manhattan, a terminal and shop site was also needed in theCommunipaw neighborhood. This facility was modernized in 1914 and included two roundhouses and light repair shops.[2]
In 1901, theReading Company (RDG), successor to the Philadelphia & Reading, acquired control of the CNJ through purchase of a majority of its stock, and at about the same timeBaltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) acquired control of the RDG, gaining access to New York over RDG and CNJ rails.[1][3]
In 1929, CNJ inaugurated theBlue Comet, a deluxe coach train operating twice daily between Jersey City andAtlantic City. It was painted blue from the pilot of its 4-6-2 to the rear bulkhead of its observation car, and its refurbished cars offered a level of comfort much higher than the usual day coach of the era. The train was the forerunner of the coach streamliners that blossomed nationwide in the late 1930s and the 1940s. It succumbed to automobile competition in 1941. Also in 1929 CNJ purchased a 30 percent interest in theRaritan River Railroad, a 12-mile (19 km) short line from South Amboy to New Brunswick. In 1931 it acquired total ownership of the Wharton & Northern Railroad and a partial interest in the Mount Hope Mineral Railroad from Warren Foundry & Pipe Corporation.[1]
| Year | Traffic |
|---|---|
| 1925 | 2513 |
| 1933 | 1511 |
| 1944 | 3735 |
| 1960 | 1948 |
| 1970 | 1455 |
| Year | Traffic |
|---|---|
| 1925 | 480 |
| 1933 | 337 |
| 1944 | 480 |
| 1960 | 175 |
| 1970 | 124 |
FollowingWorld War II, passenger traffic diminished, and was almost entirely commuter business, requiring great amounts of rolling stock for two short periods five days a week. Three-fourths of CNJ's freight traffic terminated on line; the railroad was essentially a terminal carrier, which meant little if any profit. In addition, taxes levied by the state of New Jersey ate up much[specify] of CNJ's revenue.
In 1946, the lines in Pennsylvania were organized as the Central Railroad of Pennsylvania (CRP) in an effort to escape taxation by the state of New Jersey. CNJ resumed its own operation of the Pennsylvania lines at the end of 1952. The CRP continued in existence as owner of the Easton & Western, four miles of track inEaston, Pennsylvania.[1]
The merger between theChesapeake and Ohio Railway andNorfolk and Western Railway proposed in 1965 sought to counter the impending PRR merger withNew York Central Railroad merger was to have included CNJ, but the bankruptcy ofPenn Central Transportation Company killed that prospect. CNJ drafted elaborate plans for reorganization; they came to naught as neighboring railroads collapsed.Conrail took over freight operations of the CNJ on April 1, 1976; passenger routes were transferred to theNew Jersey Department of Transportation, including the presentNew Jersey TransitNorth Jersey Coast Line andRaritan Valley Line.[1]
In 1961, theLehigh and New England Railroad was abandoned, and CNJ acquired a few of its branches and organized them as theLehigh and New England Railroad. In 1963, Lehigh Coal & Navigation sold its railroad properties to the RDG, although the lease to the CNJ continued.
In 1964, the state of New Jersey began subsidizing commuter service, and the tax situation changed[specify] in 1967.
In 1965, CNJ and theLehigh Valley Railroad consolidated their lines along theLehigh River in Pennsylvania and portions of each railroad's line were abandoned; the commercialanthracite traffic that had supported both railroads had largely disappeared. CNJ operations in Pennsylvania ended March 31, 1972.[1]
CNJ maintained a small carfloat terminal inThe Bronx. It was the site of the first successful Class 1 railroad diesel operation. Over the years, CNJ maintained an extensive marine operation onNew York Bay, including a steamer line to Sandy Hook.
On April 30, 1967, CNJ's last marine service—the ferry line betweenManhattan and CNJ'srail terminal at Jersey City—made its last run, which was also the last day for the terminal itself; the next day CNJ passenger trains began originating and terminating at thePRR station in Newark via theAldene Connection, where New York City passengers could transfer to either PRR orPort Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) trains.[1]
On August 6, 1978, theBayonne "Scoot" ran for the last time. TheCRRNJ Newark Bay Bridge would be abandoned and the lift spans demolished in July and August 1980.
In 1979, CNJ emerged from bankruptcy as Central Jersey Industries, later renamed CJI Industries. In 1986, it merged with the packaging company Triangle Industries, owned byNelson Peltz.
CNJ had its northeastern terminus at Elizabethport, New Jersey. In 1864 CNJ extended its railroad across the bay into Bayonne, and north to the Jersey City terminus. It had used a succession of bridges over the years, the last beingNewark Bay Bridge, demolished in the 1980s.[4]
From Elizabethport, trains went to different corridors. One headed towardsElizabeth andPlainfield and points west and southwest. The second went south towards Perth Amboy and today's North Jersey Coast Line and different southern New Jersey destinations. CNJ operated several trains into Pennsylvania and other points west or south, in association with the RDG. B&O also used CNJ tracks for the final approach to Jersey City.[4][5][6]
CNJ operated several named trains, most of which were interstate operations:
Several non-CNJ trains operated over CNJ trackage north of Bound Brook, New Jersey to the Jersey City terminal:
To celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2012, Norfolk Southern painted 20 new locomotives with predecessor schemes. NS #1071, anEMD SD70ACe locomotive, was painted with the CNJ orange and blue.
In 2019, NJ Transit painted locomotive 4109 in a heritage scheme based on that of the CNJ GP40P.
