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Presented here is a brief history, and description of the Central Railroad of New Jersey, its operations, both freight and passenger, diesel rosters, sample freight and passenger schedules. Here you will find but a few of the ingredients that made this railroad, once known as the Trail of the Blue Comet, The Big Little Railroad in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Central Railroad of New Jersey Family Tree and Brief History
 
To have some kind of understanding of how the Central Railroad of New Jersey evolved into what it had billed itself as The Biggest Little Railroad, the family tree of the companies that went into forming the CNJ would not be a bad place to start. The first two of these companies were the Elizabeth and Somerville and Somerville and Easton railroads, which merged together in 1849 forming the Central Railroad of New Jersey, thus forming the core of a greater CNJ to come and the nucleus of what would be the railroad's CENTRAL DIVISION. This stretched roughly 80 miles from Jersey City, NJ to Phillipsburg. The family tree of the CNJ consists of the following companies:
 
1.South Branch Railroad
2.Newark and New York Railroad
3.Manufacturers Railroad
4.Peth Amboy and Elizabeth Railroad
5.Constables Hook Railroad
6.Lafayette Railroad
7.Sound Shore Railroad
8.New Jersey Terminal Railroad
9.Bayshore Connecting Railroad
10.Raritan North Shore Railroad
11.High Bridge Railroad
12. Middle Valley Railroad
13.Longwood Valley Railroad
14.German Valley Railroad
15.Dover and Rockaway Railroad
16.Hibernia Mine Railroad
17.Ogden Mine Railroad
18.Lake Hopatcong Railroad
 
The last six of these evolved into the Wharton and Northern and Mount Hope Mineral Railroads, which although shown in CNJ employee timetables as such,were an integral part of their parent railroad and operated as such. West of the Delaware River, the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad became part of the CNJ and formed the Central Railroad of Pennsylvania, under which name it was operated primarily for tax purposes. It extended from Phillipsburg,NJ to Scranton, PA and constituted CNJ's Pennsylvania Division. It ran closely parallel to the Lehigh Valley Railroad for a considerable distance west of Easton,PA.
ALL TIME DIESEL ROSTER EMD F3B 1500 hp A-E 5 units BLW DR44-1500 1500 hp KLMRS 5 units EMD F7A 1500 hp 10-19 10 units FM H16-44 1600 hp 20-29 10 units EMD F3A 1500 hp 50-59 10 units BLW DR44-1500 1500 hp CRP70-72 3 units Budd RDC1 ? 551-559 9 units EMD SW 600 hp 1005-1008 4 units EMD SW1 600 hp 1009-1012 4 units Alco HH600 600 hp 1020-1023 4 units Alco S-1 600 hp 1024-1025 2 units BLW VO660 660 hp 1040-1043 4 units BLW S-12 1200 hp 1053-1059 7 units EMD NW-2 1000 hp 1060-1061 2 units BLW VO1000 1000 hp 1062-1066 5 units EMD SW7 1200 hp CPA1080-1083 4 units EMD SW9 1200 hp CPA1084-1094 11 units Alco RS1 1000 hp 1200-1205 6 units BLW RS12 1200 hp 1206-1209 4 units FM H15-44 1500 hp 1500-1517 18 units EMD GP7 1500 hp 1520-1532 13 units Alco RS 3 1600 hp 1533-1535 3 units 1600 hp 1540-1559 20 units 1600 hp 1560-1566 7 units FM H16-44 1600 hp 1570 1 unit Alco RSD4 1600 hp 1601-1614 14 units Alco RSD5 1600 hp 1615 1 unit Alco RS3 1600 1700-1709 10 units BLW DR6-4-2000 2000 hp 2000-2005 6 units FM H24-66 2400 hp 2401-2413 13 units EMD SD35 2500 hp 2501-2512 12 units EMD SD40 3000 hp 3061-3069 9 units EMD GP40P 3000 hp 3671-3683 13 units EMD GP9 1750 6600-6605 6 units EMD SW1 600 hp 8400,04,05,15 4 units BLW VO1000 1000 hp 9225,9229-31,34 9238,9329,44 8 units FM H10-44 1000 hp 9700-9704,06,07,09 8 units Last groups of units behind the GP40Ps were all leased from the B&O. Even now, the GP40Ps are being retired by NJ Transit. These were the last locomotives of CNJ origin in regular service on NJ Transit.

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