The Real Black River & Western Railroad
The raison d'être of my layout, the Black River & Western has been a modeling inspiration for me since I first rode it when I was ten. One of its distinguishing features is that, in addition to its regular tourist operation, it provides freight service for a number of industries.
A Brief History
Founded by William Whitehead in the late 1950s, the BR&W began as a few hundred yards of track he laid in his back yard along the defunct Rockaway Valley Railroad. The expansion of I-78 halted his plans to start a railroad there, so he moved to the Chester Hill Branch of the Jersey Central, but that was cut short by the construction of I-80. The Black River in Chester did however inspire the name for the railroad.
Incorporated in 1961, the railroad was eventually moved to Flemington, and a leasing agreement was struck with the Pennsylvania Railroad to allow a tourist train to operate from Flemington to Lambertville on the Flemington branch of the Belvidere & Delaware River Railway, for which the BR&W paid $5,000 a year. Former Great Western 2-6-0 #60 pulled the first passenger train on 16 May 1965.
By March 1970,
the BR&W had full ownership of the line, and with it came freight operations; interchanges were made with
Penn Central
at Lambertville and the CNJ in Flemington to serve customers in Lambertville and Flemington. When Penn Central went bankrupt, BR&W took ownership of a
portion of the Belvidere line in Lambertville, as well as the CNJ portion of the line from Flemington to Three Bridges.
After Conrail took over Penn Central, the Belvidere line was abandoned in 1978, and track north and south of Lambertville was removed, although the BR&W continued serving freight customers in Lambertville through the 1980s. However, due to the poor track conditions between Ringoes and Lambertville, as well as dwindling freight service, operations along that leg ended in 1998.
In 2014, a separate 501c3 non-profit entity known as the Black River Railroad Historic Trust announced plans to reactivate the line to Lambertville. Dubbed the Alexauken Division (for the Alexauken Creek, along which it runs), the line is expected to reopen around 2021; currently the line is open down to Bowne Station.
Principal Station Stops
- Lambertville
- Ringoes (BR&W headquarters)
- Flemington
- Three Bridges
Further Reading: Online
- Black River & Western Official Site
- Black River & Western History
- The Dover and Rockaway River Railroad Company
- Black River & Western Business Partners
- Wikipedia: Black River & Western
- Black River & Western Roster
Further Reading: Bibliography
- Virginia Smith, The Black River & Western Story, 1973 Quadrant Press
- Sally A. Freedman, Clinton, Flemington and Lambertville, 1994 Allan Sutton
- George Kline et al, Lambertville and New Hope, 1996 Arcadia Publishing
- Linda J. Barth, The Delaware and Raritan Canal, 2002 Arcadia Publishing
- Lorett Treese, Railroads of New Jersey, 2006 Stackpole Books
- East Amwell Historical Society, East Amwell, 2010 Arcadia Publishing
- Jerry J. Jagger, Black River & Western Railroad, 2016 Arcadia Publishing