The Center Street Branch, formerly known as the Centre Street Branch, is a short railway line in Harrison and

Kearny, New Jersey Kearny ( ) is a town in the western part of Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, and a suburb of Newark. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 41,999, an increase of 1,315 (+3.2%) from the 2010 census cou ...

. It was formerly the main line of the New Jersey Railroad between

Jersey City Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

and Newark, before the building of a new crossing of the

Passaic River The Passaic River ( or ) is a river, approximately long, in North Jersey, northern New Jersey. The river in its upper course flows in a highly circuitous route, meandering through the swamp lowlands between the ridge hills of rural and suburb ...

reduced its importance. Today, it is an industrial freight line owned and operated

Conrail Shared Assets Operations Conrail Shared Assets Operations (CSAO) is the commonly used name for modern-day Conrail (reporting mark CRCX), an American railroad company. It operates three networks, the North Jersey, South Jersey/Philadelphia, and Detroit Shared Assets Are ...

with connections to the Passaic and Harsimus Line and the Morristown Line.

History

The New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Company was incorporated on March 7, 1832, to build a line from

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

, to

New Brunswick, New Jersey New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

, on September 15, 1834. This initial segment crossed two rivers: the

Hackensack River The Hackensack River is a river, about 45 miles (72 km) long, in the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, emptying into Newark Bay, a back chamber of New York Harbor. The watershed of the river includes part of the suburban ar ...

, and the

in Newark. The railroad had planned to cross the Passaic at Market Street, near the commercial dock, but objections from shipping interests forced the railroad to cross at Centre Street, some upriver. This relocation meant that trains passing over the line had to make a sharp turn in Newark, and then again in

Harrison, New Jersey Harrison is a town in the western part of Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. It is a suburb of the nearby city of Newark, and is located from New York City. Once considered "the bee ...

, after crossing. The

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and ...

authorized the construction of a bridge over the Passaic at Market Street in 1855, but subsequent litigation held up the start of construction until 1862. The new bridge opened in 1869, and the main line of the New Jersey Railroad was re-routed, avoiding the curves of the original route. The original route in Newark and Harrison, approximately long, was retained as the Center Street Branch. In 1872, the New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Company was consolidated with the

Camden and Amboy Railroad The Camden and Amboy Railroad and Transportation Company, usually shortened to the Camden and Amboy Railroad (C&A), was a railway company in New Jersey. It was incorporated in 1830 and opened its first line in 1832, making it one of the oldest r ...

and the Delaware and Raritan Canal Company to form the

United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company The United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company (UNJ&CC) was a United States–based railroad company established in 1872. It was formed by the consolidation of three existing companies: the Camden and Amboy Railroad, Delaware and Raritan Can ...

, which was leased by the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as 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. At its ...

. The United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company continued to exist on paper, and remained the owner of the line until the creation of

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 busine ...

in 1976. The Pennsylvania Railroad continued to maintain a freight station on River Street in Newark, immediately west of the new main line and the Market Street passenger station. The elevation of the main line through Newark in 1904 eliminated the connection on the western end. The Center Street Bridge over the Passaic was rebuilt as a double-deck bridge in 1911 to accommodate the electric rapid transit trains of the

Hudson and Manhattan Railroad The Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) is a rapid transit system in the northeastern New Jersey cities of Newark, Harrison, Jersey City, and Hoboken, as well as Lower and Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is operated as a wholly owne ...

(now

PATH A path is a route for physical travel – see Trail. Path or PATH may also refer to: Physical paths of different types * Bicycle path * Bridle path, used by people on horseback * Course (navigation), the intended path of a vehicle * Desir ...

), which traveled over an elevated right-of-way from Manhattan Transfer to Park Place station, a block southwest of the Center Street Branch tracks. The new Pennsylvania Station in Newark opened in 1935, replacing Market Street station, and the Hudson and Manhattan moved its Newark terminus there in 1937 with the closure of Manhattan Transfer. The upper span was rebuilt to handle road traffic and for a time was designated as New Jersey Route 158. Prior to 1976, service over the bridge was abandoned leaving the track in Harrison as the remainder of the line. This was conveyed to Conrail in 1976, following the

Penn Central Transportation The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals, the Pennsylvania, New York Central and the ...

bankruptcy. The Center Street Branch remained part of

after the 1999 Conrail split.

Notes

References

* * * * * {{cite book , title=Final system plan for restructuring railroads in the Northeast and Midwest region pursuant to the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973 , year=1975 , author=United States Railway Association , author-link=United States Railway Association , location=Washington, DC , url=http://multimodalways.org/docs/govts/federal/executive/Agencies/DOT/USRA/FSP/FSP%20VI.pdf , oclc=2889148 , volume=1 , ref={{Harvid, USRA, 1975

External links

List of locations on the Centre Street Branch, 1945

New York Harbor map, 1940
Harrison, New Jersey Rail infrastructure in New Jersey Transportation in Hudson County, New Jersey Transportation in Newark, New Jersey