Central Railroad Company of New Jersey.

The Central Railroad Company of New Jersey operated a main line between New York and Scranton with numerous branches within the state of New Jersey. It was one of the more important anthracite-carrying railroads, with important commuter and terminal facilities in the New York area. It was an important ally of the Philadelphia & Reading and the Baltimore & Ohio, with which it formed serveral important through routes, particularly between New York and Philadelphia and New York and Harrisburg, Pa. The Reading operated it outright under lease in 1883-1886 and 1892 and controlled it by majority stock ownership after 1901. Coal mines acquired in 1872-1873 were surrendered under antitrust prosecution in 1923.

The Central Railroad Company of New Jersey was incorporated on February 26, 1847 as the Somerville and Easton Railroad Company. It was renamed on April 23, 1849 upon purchasing the property of the Elizabethtown and Somerville Railroad. The railroad was completed from Elizabethport to Easton on July 2, 1852. At first, the CNJ acted as the New York outlet for both the Lehigh Valley and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroads, but they acquired their own outlets to tidewater in 1871 and 1868, respectively. To compensate for the loss of coal tonnage, the CNJ leased the Lehigh & Susquehanna Railroad from the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company in 1871. Like the other anthracite railroads, the CNJ also acquired coal mines, which were vested in the subsidiary Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Company in 1873.

The Central could not long survive the collapse of the anthracite industry or the burden of high taxes and terminal and commuter service costs in the inflationary post-Depression environment. It entered its fourth and final bankruptcy on March 22, 1967. State subsidies kept the most essential commuter services running, while the lease of the Pennsylvania lines was surrendered in 1972. The viable portions of the line, mostly trackage serving industries in the Newark-Perth Amboy area, were sold to Conrail in 1976, and the commuter main lines eventually passed into the hands of New Jersey Transit. The company then disposed of its remaining real estate and was reorganized as Central Jersey Industries, Inc. on September 14, 1979. Its successor was merged into the Pechiney Corporation on January 13, 1989.

From the description of Records, 1839-1973. (Hagley Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 86119301