Eastern Railroad Discussion > Bel Del branch from Trenton north question

When was the ex PRR (Later PC) Bel Del Branch abandoned from Trenton, NJ north and how far north? Thanks.

I think it was stopped as a through route in late 1975...and abandoned soon after....

Steve

Sounds about right date for the abandonment, if I recall correctly it wasn't long after Conrail was formed. The tracks aren't shown on the 1981 CR "likely to be abandoned" map. Physically the tracks were pulled up from Trenton to about a mile south of the Main Street crossing in Lambertville and perhaps a mile and a half north from the junction of the Flemington Branch to a state prison owned rock quarry. The remainder of the tracks from there to the big paper mill just south of Milford were also ripped out. The Lambertville section was utilized by the BRW. They ran their PRR doodlebug from Ringoes to the extents of the "T" shaped route as well as storage of freight cars on the passing siding between Lambertville and the quarry.
Gonut

Doesn't really answer your question about the date but perhaps it can shed some insight:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belvidere_Delaware_Railroad#Current_status:_1995-present

rfprr

Gonut1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Physically the
> tracks were pulled up from Trenton to about a mile
> south of the Main Street crossing in Lambertville
> and perhaps a mile and a half north from the
> junction of the Flemington Branch to a state
> prison owned rock quarry.

That's Bridge Street. Main St. in Lambertville is Rt. 29 and runs parallel to the railroad a few blocks east of it. The track still goes north as you say, but the actual spur into the quarry has been removed in the past couple of years and the crossing on Rt. 29 is gone.

The sections discussed remained with the Penn Central on Conrail Day April 1, 1976. I don't know what if any activity was going on in 1976 but a did see a freight train just south of Frenchtown in 1975.

Tim

njmidland Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The sections discussed remained with the Penn
> Central on Conrail Day April 1, 1976. I don't
> know what if any activity was going on in 1976 but
> a did see a freight train just south of Frenchtown
> in 1975.
>
> Tim


The ore trains bound for Bethlehem used the line until Conrail. They were interchanged with the LV at Phillisburg.

The Bel-Del was not conveyed to Conrail, and was never a subsidized light density line, so it's likely the rails were lifted shortly after C-Day on April Fool, 1976.

When I was in boarding school in Hightstown, NJ (1967-68) my parents would visit and take me to Sunday dinner at a restaurant near Washington Crossing. One day a good sized PRR freight came north right past the window with three GP9s (or SD9s?) doing the honors. It was a good-sized mixed freight, only train I ever saw on the Bel-Del.

Of course the C&A line into Hightstown was also still active then; a Baldwin DS-4-4-1000 would come through town to switch a feed mill just south of town at the end of track. The connection to the former Union Transportation Company could still be seen south of the mill, crossing the highway and vanishing into the weeds. It's all gone now.

bluesboyst Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think it was stopped as a through route in late
> 1975...and abandoned soon after....
>
> Steve

As others have stated, the line was never part of the original Conrail plan. On "C Day," the line was removed from service from Coalport Yard in Trenton, up to just south of Lambertville. BR&W retained the previously listed trackage, which exended as far south as the wing dam on the Delaware river. The track was later shortened so it extended just into L'ville itself. Many of the original BR&W folks (quite a few of who have passed on) were able to recount instances where BR&W ran "unsanctioned" trains on the OOS portion down to flea market (now the Gold Nugget Flea Market) south of Lambertville prior to the line being lifted. On one trip, not long after the Conrail creation, they ran steam locomotive #60 on such a trip, and heard a strange "clanging" noise as they were approaching the flea market. It turns out, the scrappers had started removing all the bolts from the joint bars, in preparation to lift the rail. The clanging noise was the joint bars falling off the rail sides as the train went over them.

While I believe it may have been downgraded from a through route prior to Conrail, I believe trains did utilize it up until April 1, 1976, and the trackage remained in place for a while. BR&W's interchange was in Lambertville with PC, but that was moved to Three Bridges on the former LV when Conrail took over. On 4/1, BR&W also inherited the south end of the CNJ "South Branch" in Flemington. That particular stretch of railroad had become landlocked due to an unsound bridge near Neshanic, and the remaining CNJ customers cars (and locomotive moves to or from the branch) were handled via a PC/BRW/CNJ routing.

There is a book out there that covers the entire history of the Bel Del, including many vintage pictures (including a derailed PRR steam locomotive sitting in the canal near, Titusville, NJ). The author's name escapes me, but its title is "Down Along the Old Bel-Del."

It is my understanding that one of the last trains (if not THE last one) to use the Bel Del as a through route, was the American Freedom Train. It was on the Bel Del Aug. 30 and Sept 1st, 1976, and was displayed in Trenton's Cadwalader Park right on the main. The train was previously in Bethlehem, PA, and reportedly utilized the Bel Del from Phillipsburg to Trenton to reach the display site.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/27/11 09:20 by bioyans.

bioyans Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> bluesboyst Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I think it was stopped as a through route in
> late
> > 1975...and abandoned soon after....
> >
> > Steve
>
> As others have stated, the line was never part of
> the original Conrail plan. On "C Day," the line
> was removed from service from Coalport Yard in
> Trenton, up to just south of Lambertville. BR&W
> retained the previously listed trackage, which
> exended as far south as the wing dam on the
> Delaware river. The track was later shortened so
> it extended just into L'ville itself. Many of the
> original BR&W folks (quite a few of who have
> passed on) were able to recount instances where
> BR&W ran "unsanctioned" trains on the OOS portion
> down to flea market (now the Gold Nugget Flea
> Market) south of Lambertville prior to the line
> being lifted. On one trip, not long after the
> Conrail creation, they ran steam locomotive #60 on
> such a trip, and heard a strange "clanging" noise
> as they were approaching the flea market. It
> turns out, the scrappers had started removing all
> the bolts from the joint bars, in preparation to
> lift the rail. The clanging noise was the joint
> bars falling off the rail sides as the train went
> over them.
>
> While I believe it may have been downgraded from a
> through route prior to Conrail, I believe trains
> did utilize it up until April 1, 1976, and the
> trackage remained in place for a while. BR&W's
> interchange was in Lambertville with PC, but that
> was moved to Three Bridges on the former LV when
> Conrail took over. On 4/1, BR&W also inherited
> the south end of the CNJ "South Branch" in
> Flemington. That particular stretch of railroad
> had become landlocked due to an unsound bridge
> near Neshanic, and the remaining CNJ customers
> cars (and locomotive moves to or from the branch)
> were handled via a PC/BRW/CNJ routing.
>
> There is a book out there that covers the entire
> history of the Bel Del, including many vintage
> pictures (including a derailed PRR steam
> locomotive sitting in the canal near, Titusville,
> NJ). The author's name escapes me, but its title
> is "Down Along the Old Bel-Del."
>
> It is my understanding that one of the last trains
> (if not THE last one) to use the Bel Del as a
> through route, was the American Freedom Train. It
> was on the Bel Del Aug. 30 and Sept 1st, 1976, and
> was displayed in Trenton's Cadwalader Park right
> on the main. The train was previously in
> Bethlehem, PA, and reportedly utilized the Bel Del
> from Phillipsburg to Trenton to reach the display
> site.


Great additional info, thanks for adding it.

The Bel-Del book is by Warren F. Lee. ISBN-13: 978-0961689308, several old book dealers on Amazon have it for $155 and (way) up