Central Railroad of New Jersey

Map of CNJ and other terminals in New York region ca. 1900

The Elizabethtown and Somerville Railroad was chartered on February 9, 1831, to build from Elizabeth on the Newark Bay (with a steamboat transfer to New York City) west to Somerville. The line to Plainfield was completed in March 1839, connecting to the New Jersey Rail Road in Elizabeth. Extensions took it west to Dunellen in 1840, just east of Bound Brook in 1841 and to Somerville in 1842.

The Somerville and Easton Railroad was chartered on February 26, 1847, to continue the line west to Easton, Pennsylvania. The first extension, to Whitehouse, opened in 1848 and was leased to the Elizabethtown and Somerville Railroad. On February 11, 1849, the Elizabethtown and Somerville Railroad bought the Somerville and Easton Railroad, and on February 26 the two companies were consolidated as the Central Railroad of New Jersey.

The rest of the line to Phillipsburg opened in 1852, and on September 8, 1855, the upper level of the Lehigh Valley Railroad's Easton Bridge over the Delaware River, extended the CNJ to Easton. At that time, Lehigh Valley coal trains began running over the CNJ to Elizabeth. A similar operation with the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, joining at Hampton, began May 27, 1856. This required the addition of a third rail as the DL&W was 6 ft (1,829 mm) broad gauge.

On December 1, 1859, the CNJ arranged to run over the New Jersey Rail Road to the latter's terminal in Jersey City. That operation began December 19, and included a third rail for DL&W trains.

The South Branch Railroad, controlled by the CNJ, opened July 1, 1864, as a branch from Somerville to Flemington. The CNJ's extension to its new terminal in Jersey City, including the first CRRNJ Newark Bay Bridge, opened on July 29, 1864, with a ferry transfer to Cortlandt Street in New York City, ending operations over the NJRR. On July 23, 1869, the Newark and New York Railroad opened, providing a straight route from downtown Newark to the CNJ's Jersey City terminal.[1] The Newark Branch, running north from Elizabethport to the N&NY in Newark, opened June 7, 1872.

A train on the CNJ's mainline near Cranford, New Jersey in 1969

A CNJ commuter train at Bay Head station in 1971

On October 6, 1873, the CNJ leased the New York and Long Branch Railroad, which was in the process of building from Perth Amboy southeast to Long Branch. At the same time the Perth Amboy and Elizabethport Railroad was building from Elizabethport on the CNJ south to Perth Amboy. Hostilities at the crossing of the Pennsylvania Railroad's Perth Amboy and Woodbridge Railroad in April 1872 led to an injunction against the PRR interfering with the construction. The CNJ bought the PA&E later that year. The full line to Long Branch opened September 7, 1875, and was later extended south, reaching Bay Head in 1881 by acquiring other companies. In 1882 the CNJ and Pennsylvania Railroad agreed to use the line jointly, with trackage rights granted to the PRR over the Perth Amboy and Elizabethport between the Perth Amboy and Woodbridge crossing and its south end at the Raritan River bridge.

The CNJ leased the Dover and Rockaway Railroad for 990 years from April 26, 1881; the Ogden Mine Railroad for 999 years from January 1, 1882; and the Hibernia Mine Railroad for 20 years from October 1, 1890, renewed at least once for another 20 years.

Reproduction of a tablet designator for the CNJ Blue Comet

In late 1917, the following companies were absorbed into the CNJ:

• Buena Vista Railroad
• Carteret and Sewaren Railroad
• Carteret Extension Railroad
• Cumberland and Maurice River Railroad
• Cumberland and Maurice River Extension Railroad
• Elizabeth Extension Railroad
• Freehold and Atlantic Highlands Railroad
• Lafayette Railroad
• Manufacturers' Extension Railroad
• Middle Brook Railroad
• New Jersey Terminal Railroad
• New Jersey Southern Railroad
• Navesink Railroad
• Passaic River Extension Railroad
• Raritan North Shore Railroad
• Sound Shore Railroad
• Toms River Railroad
• Toms River and Barnegat Railroad
• Vineland Railroad
• Vineland Branch Railway
• West Side Connecting Railroad
• West End Railroad

A CNJ camelback locomotive built by Baldwin in the 1920s

In 1901 the Reading Railroad gained control of the CNJ, which lasted until the creation of Conrail on April 1, 1976.[2]

The first commercially successful diesel-electric locomotive, manufactured by Alco in 1924, was built for the Central Railroad of New Jersey.

In 1929 the CNJ began operating its most famous train, the Blue Comet, from Jersey City to Atlantic City. It ran until 1941.

The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) authorized the CNJ to acquire the Wharton and Northern Railroad and the Mount Hope Mineral Railroad on February 4, 1930.

The Hibernia Mine Railroad was merged into the CNJ on November 25, 1930.