Gerald's Railroads Of New Jersey
Amboy Secondary History
THE CAMDEN AND AMBOY
Browns Yard was originally owned and operated by
the Camden and Amboy Railroad, which was the first railroad in the country.
The railroad connected Camden to South Amboy. The railroad brought some
of the first settlers to central New Jersey in the early 1800s.
THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD
When the Pennsylvania Railroad took control of the
line, the Camden connection was cut because trackage was removed between
Hightstown and Windsor. The line was electrified and connected with the
North Jersey Coast Line at South Amboy. The line also branched at Jamesburg
and connected with the Northeast Corridor Line at Monmouth Junction and
CNJ's Southern Division at Farmingdale. Electrification extended from South
Amboy to Jamesburg to Monmouth Junction. Even though the line was electrified,
electric motors were very rarely used. The Pennsylvania and New York Central
merged into Penn Central on June 21, 1970.
THE CONRAIL YEARS
Conrail collected the Penn Central and other numerous
roads on April 1, 1976. The Raritan River Railroad was pulled in in 1981.
Trackage was removed from Hightstown to Cranbury Station. The overhead
electrification was removed, but the catenary poles still exist today.
Conrail left the poles in place for possible future use by NJ Transit.
Many sidings were removed and the line became single track everywhere except
at Browns Yard. Ties and railroad crossings were also completely replaced
with newer equipment. Conrail connected with NJ Transit at South Amboy
and again at Monmouth Junction.
THE RARITAN RIVER RAILROAD
The Raritan River Railroad connected with the PRR/
PC at South Amboy and ran a 12 mile main line from South Amboy into New
Brunswick. The Gillepsie Branch, off the Amboy Secondary, runs from Browns
Yard to South River. This line, constructed by Conrail after the RRRR Mainline
was cut back, can be seen from Browns Yard. It runs next to Jernee Mill
Road and the Sunshine Cookies Factory. There is a movable bridge at milepost
6.13 over the South River. At South River, the line branches off to Parlin
and New Brunswick. These two branches mainly serve industrial bulidings.
THE PRESENT
Conrail's management was taken over by Norfolk Southern
and CSX on August 22, 1998. NS and CSX actually started running their portions
of Conrail on June 1, 1999. Browns Yard is in a Shared Asset Area, which
means Conrail is still operating, but also providing a yard for NS and
CSX.
(C) Gerald Oliveto- 1-02
Current
Browns Yard Division Map
Current
Browns Yard Schedule
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