Nostalgia & History > What happened to ex-PRR Bel-Del?

Still in tact between Fair (Trenton) and Phillipsburg, NJ in PC and early CR days.  Did CR abandon  it or sell to a shortline?
In the mid-80s/early '90s CR began reaching P'burg using trackage rights over NJ Transit to Hackettstown.
Andy

About 1 mile north and south of Lambertville and the line to Flemington became Black River & Western.
From Lambertville south it was ripped up all the way to Trenton.
The line north from Lambertville from the state owned quarry north to a point just south of Milford, where there was a paper mill customer, the tracks were pulled. A portions of that line today is run by Black River & Western Delaware River Rail Excursions from Phillipsburg.
The Bel-Del from Phillipsburg north is NS, their Portland Secondary and It is intact to Portland, PA and also to a chemical plant just north of Belvidere, NJ.
Gonut

Thanks for that info. I believe the paper mill was Riegel Paper in Riegelsville NJ. Changed hands a few times, and eventually folded. That gutted the freight viability of the line.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> Thanks for that info. I believe the paper mill was Riegel Paper in Riegelsville NJ.

There was also a paper mill in Milford proper. Was supposed to have been demolished and condo-ized, IIRC. I think the last customer south of Carpentersville was a box factory between Riegelsville and Milford. IIRC BR&W convinced them to switch to trucks. Line was still intact to Milford last I heard. It would make a great excursion, IMO. Very scenic.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/14/22 18:03 by CPR_4000.

CPR_4000 Wrote:
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> Lackawanna484 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Thanks for that info. I believe the paper mill
> was Riegel Paper in Riegelsville NJ.
>
> There was also a paper mill in Milford proper. Was
> supposed to have been demolished and condo-ized,
> IIRC. I think the last customer south of
> Carpentersville was a box factory between
> Riegelsville and Milford. IIRC BR&W convinced them
> to switch to trucks. Line was still intact to
> Milford last I heard. 

Yes, I actually saw a load of lumber being delivered to Milford in 2005, but I left PA later that year and I think the last actual customer was the box factory. Riegel Paper had two plants and was a great customer for many years. I knew a few workers there and they were a tight-knit family outfit that made some really nice printing papers. Typical story, family sold out to the big outfit and bolted with the money, plants were getting old and machinery was pretty dated and the operation didn't last, an every-town story for so many small towns in the US that once had manufacturing...

JG

Last I heard BR&W was upgrading track to extend excursions toward Milford. That was a few years ago and don't know how far that extended operations. I suspect that BR&W would only expand to financially supported operations. Families only want to ride certain amounts of time. After all a ride through the woods on a train can become somewhat boring! The tree tunnel syndrome.
Gonut