The Central Railroad of Pennsylvania was an attempt by the
Central Railroad of New Jersey
The Central Railroad of New Jersey, also known as the Jersey Central or Jersey Central Lines , was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s. It was absorbed into Conrail in April 1976 along with several other prominent bankrupt railroads of ...
to avoid certain
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...
taxes on their
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
lines. The attempt to
reduce New Jersey Corporate taxes failed, and CRP operations were merged back into those of the CNJ six years later.
History
Most of the Pennsylvania extension of the CNJ was built by the
Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad
The Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad is a defunct railroad that operated in eastern Pennsylvania during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The company was a subsidiary of the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company (LC&N), but for much of its lifetim ...
, leased to the CNJ in 1871 as their Lehigh and Susquehanna Division. By the 1940s the CNJ wished to avoid certain New Jersey taxes on its Pennsylvania lines. The Easton and Western Railroad, a short branch west of
Easton, was renamed to the Central Railroad of Pennsylvania in 1944 and all Pennsylvania leases, primarily the L&S, were transferred to it in 1946. The new company began operations August 5, 1946. Around the same time, the CNJ logo was changed from "Central Railroad Company of New Jersey" to "Jersey Central Lines". The arrangement was struck down by the courts and, in 1952, CRP operations were merged back into the CNJ. In 1972, the bankruptcy court ordered the CNJ to abandon Pennsylvania operations, which included the L&S. The CNJ's Pennsylvania lines were then operated by the
Lehigh Valley Railroad
The Lehigh Valley Railroad was a railroad built in the Northeastern United States to haul anthracite coal from the Coal Region in Pennsylvania. The railroad was authorized on April 21, 1846 for freight and transportation of passengers, goods, ...
.
References
Further reading
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External links
Black Diamonds to Tidewater - Central Railroad of New Jersey(details of the Pennsylvania lines)
Railfan.net Forums - Reporting Marks Question
{{DEFAULTSORT:Central Railroad Pennsylvania
Former Class I railroads in the United States
Defunct Pennsylvania railroads
Railway companies established in 1944
Railway companies disestablished in 1976
Predecessors of the Central Railroad of New Jersey
American companies established in 1944