Central Railroad of New Jersey
The Central Railroad of New Jersey, also known as the Jersey Central or Jersey Central Lines (reporting mark CNJ), was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s. CNJ filed for bankruptcy three times; in 1939, 1947 and on March 22, 1967, the CNJ filed for bankruptcy for the final time. It foreshadowed the rest of New Jersey's railroads, but not by much. It then pulled out of Pennsylvania completely in 1972. While most of the passenger services, structures and equipment were picked up by the State of New Jersey, later NJ Transit, it was absorbed into Conrail in April 1976 along with several other prominent bankrupt railroads of the northeastern United States.
The Central Railroad of New Jersey's main line had a major presence in New Jersey, most of the CNJ's main line is now used by the Raritan Valley Line passenger service and trackage from the CNJ main line in Phillipsburg, New Jersey became part of the Lehigh Line under Conrail; the Lehigh Line is officially the former main line of the Lehigh Valley Railroad.
Named passenger trains
CNJ operated several named trains, most of which were interstate operations:
- Blue Comet: Jersey City-Atlantic City
- Bullet: Jersey City-Wilkes-Barre via Allentown
- Interstate Express: Syracuse-Philadelphia (with the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad and Reading Railroad or 'RDG')
- Main Line: Jersey City-Scranton
- Mermaid: Sandy Hook-Scranton
- Queen of the Valley: Jersey City-Harrisburg (with 'RDG')
- Williamsporter: Jersey City-Williamsport
Roster
Diesel locomotives
| Fleet number(s) | Thumbnail | Year | Builder | Type | CN class | Engine horsepower |
Gearing top speed |
HEP generator | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Passenger cars
| Fleet number(s) | Thumbnail | Year | Builder | Type | Seats | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Further reading
- Wikipedia, Central Railroad of New Jersey