What remains of the Jersey Central? Is it the mainline for freight from Allentown into NJ? Does this line (if still in operations) handle commuter traffic?
What about the Lehigh Valley? Gone?
ed
The following segments in New Jersey are still active:
-Aldene Connection in Cranford to High Bridge (NJ Transit “Raritain Valley Line”, Conrail)
-Perth Amboy to Bay Head (NJ Transit “North Jersey Coast Line”, Conrail)
-Red Bank to Toms River (Conrail only)
-Newark to Perth Amboy (Conrail only)
-Jersey City to Bayonne (Conrail, NJ Transit “Hudson-Bergen Light Rail”)
- Phillipsburg, NJ to Easton, PA – Conrail (now NS) used the ex-Lehigh Valley main line between New Jersey and Pennsylvania but used the ex-CNJ bridge over the Delaware River (NS only)
-Flemington, NJ to Three Bridges, NJ (Black River and Western)
-Winslow Jct, NJ to Vineland, NJ (Southern Railroad of NJ)
-Northern section of High Bridge Branch (Morristown and Erie)
Proposed Reactivation Plans (that are WAY off in the future):
-Adlene Connection in Cranford, NJ to Elizabeth as a light rail line
-Extend NJT’s Raritan Vally service beyond High Bridge to Phillipsburg and beyond to Allentown.
-NJ Transit’s Monmouth-Ocean-Middlesex (MOM) service to Lakehurst using a combination of ex-CNJ and ex-PRR lines in the 3 counties.
-New “direct” Atlantic City service using the ex-CNJ mainline south of Lakehurst, NJ to Winslow Jct. through the Pine Barrens.
What about segments of the ex-L&NE in and around Nazareth, Bath and down to Bethlehem, PA?
John Timm
Vineland to Bridgeton to Dviding Creek NJ (Winchester and Western)
Jersey Central was already in a state of disarray even before Conrail, combining lines with LV and losing passenger service past Aldene. It was one of the lesser parts of Conrail, though it was essential as the way the B&O got into the area. I believe the busiest portion these days is the mainline through North Jersey, which is the NJT Raritan Valley Line. The former Southern Jersey mainline is still largely intact, or at least it was, but is out of service past Lakehurst. Their unique passenger diesels survive and are used by NJT everyday, so it’s nice to see a part of this railroad still so prominent.
Surviving ex-CNJ trackage in eastern Pennsylvania includes from Packerton Jct./Jim Thorpe west along the base of Nesquehoning Mountain to Haucks, and from Fraser north over the Nescopeck and Penobscot mountains (breaching the latter at Solomon Gap) to Laurel Run.
Remeber the Chemical Coast line is the old CNJ from E’port to just north of Perth Amboy. From there to Bay Head was actually the NY&LB jointly operated by CNJ and PRR but a seperate corporation from either. And don’t forget portions of the HIgh Bridge Branch from Bartly/Flanders to Wharton (near Wharton to connect with ex DL&W, now NJT) plus Wharton to Hibernia both operated by M&E.