The New York Branch or the Bound Brook Route was a railway line in

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, ...

and

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 ...

. It was operated by the

Reading Company The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and commercial rail transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states that operated from 1924 until its 1976 acquisition by Conrail. Commonly called ...

and owned by two of its subsidiaries, the

North Pennsylvania Railroad The North Pennsylvania Railroad was a railroad company which served Philadelphia, Montgomery County, Bucks County and Northampton County in Pennsylvania. It was formed in 1852 and began operation in 1855. The Philadelphia and Reading Railway, ...

and the Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad. It formed part of the Reading's route from

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, used by the famed '' Crusader''. The line was transferred to

Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do bus ...

in 1976 and was split into the Neshaminy Line and Trenton Line.

SEPTA The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly 4 million people in five c ...

continues to operate commuter trains to West Trenton as part of its West Trenton Line.

Route

The North Pennsylvania Railroad portion began at

Jenkintown Jenkintown is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It is approximately 10 miles (16 km) north of Center City Philadelphia. History The community was named for William Jenkins, a Welsh pioneer settler. Jenkintown is located just ...

, where it split from the

Bethlehem Branch The North Pennsylvania Railroad was a railroad company which served Philadelphia, Montgomery County, Bucks County and Northampton County in Pennsylvania. It was formed in 1852 and began operation in 1855. The Philadelphia and Reading Railway, ...

. The line ran east-northeast through Montgomery County and

Bucks County Bucks County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the fourth-most populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Doylestown. The county is named after the English ...

, eventually crossing the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, before ...

West Trenton, New Jersey West Trenton is a section of Ewing Township in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is a suburban area located adjacent to the northwestern portion of the city of Trenton, from which it derives its name. Located at the intersection ...

. At the middle of the bridge, Delaware and Bound Brook ownership began. The line continued northeast into New Jersey to Bound Brook Junction, where it joined the

Central of New Jersey Railroad 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 t ...

's main line.

History

The New York Branch was a cooperative effort between the North Pennsylvania Railroad, founded in 1852, and the Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad, a new company and part of the

National Railway The National Railway or National Air Line Railroad was a planned railroad between New York City and Washington, D.C. in the United States around 1870. Part of it was eventually built from New York to Philadelphia by the Delaware and Bound Brook ...

scheme. The goal was to construct a "New Line" between New York and Philadelphia which could compete with the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

. The North Pennsylvania extended its line north from Jenkintown to Yardley, on the Delaware River, while the Delaware and Bound Brook constructed a new line from West Trenton to Bound Brook, New Jersey, where it joined 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 ...

. The line opened for through traffic on May 1, 1876, in time for the

Centennial Exposition The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair to be held in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the ...

. The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, forerunner of the

, leased the Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad and North Pennsylvania Railroad on May 14, 1879, thus acquiring control of the "New Line" between Philadelphia and New York. The

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

, involved in perennial disputes with the PRR, re-routed its passenger trains over the branch on October 1, 1880. The Reading electrified the New York Branch between Jenkintown and West Trenton in 1931; electric trains began operating from the

Reading Terminal The Reading Terminal ( ) is a complex of buildings that includes the former Reading Company main station located in the Market East section of Center City in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It comprises the Reading Terminal Headho ...

on July 26, 1931. The onset of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

forestalled further electrification. The Reading Company and its subsidiaries were incorporated into

; the New York Branch was designated to Conrail as part of the

United States Railway Association The United States Railway Association (USRA) was a government-owned corporation created by United States federal law that oversaw the creation of Conrail, a railroad corporation that would acquire and operate bankrupt and other failing freight ra ...

's "Final System Plan". Under Conrail the branch was split: the section between Neshaminy Falls and Bound Brook was combined with the New York Short Line, the

Low Grade Branch Low or LOW or lows, may refer to: People * Low (surname), listing people surnamed Low Places * Low, Quebec, Canada * Low, Utah, United States * Lo Wu station (MTR code LOW), Hong Kong; a rail station * Salzburg Airport (ICAO airport code: LOW ...

, and the

Richmond Branch Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a ...

to form the

Trenton Line The Trenton Line is a route of the SEPTA Regional Rail ( commuter rail) system. The route serves the northeastern suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with service in Bucks County along the Delaware River to Trenton, New Jersey. Route Trento ...

, while the section between Neshaminy and Jenkintown was designated the

Neshaminy Line The Neshaminy Line is a railway line in the states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It runs from a junction with the SEPTA Main Line just north of to , just across the Delaware River. It was originally built in 1876 as part of the much longer ...

and is now owned by

. Conrail continued to operate commuter service under contract until 1983 when SEPTA assumed full control; passenger service north of West Trenton ended on August 1, 1981. SEPTA service between West Trenton and Philadelphia continues as the West Trenton Line.

Notes

References

* * * * * * {{Authority control Railway lines opened in 1876 Rail infrastructure in New Jersey Rail infrastructure in Pennsylvania Reading Company lines