The Southern Railroad of New Jersey is a small

short-line railroad A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that operates over a relatively short distance relative to larger, national railroad networks. The term is used primarily in the United States and Canada. In the former, railroads are ...

company based in

Winslow Township, New Jersey Winslow Township is a township in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 39,907, an increase of 408 (+1.0%) from the 2010 census count of 39,499, which in turn reflec ...

. The railroad operates freight service in two areas in Southern New Jersey. In the Winslow area, trains operate out of Winslow Junction to either Pleasantville or the Winslow Hot Mix asphalt plant in Winslow Township. In Gloucester County, the company operates on the Salem Branch between

Swedesboro, New Jersey Swedesboro is a borough within Gloucester County in the U.S. state of New Jersey, within the Philadelphia metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 2,711, its highest decennial count ever and an inc ...

and

Woodbury, New Jersey Woodbury is a city in and the county seat of Gloucester County in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

Ownership history

JP Rail, Inc., a Pennsylvania corporation doing business as SRNJ,U.S. Surface Transportation Board, Washington, D.C. (2012-02-29)." JP Rail, Inc. d/b/a Southern Railroad Company of New Jersey—Operation Exemption—Rail Line in Salem County, N.J. ''Federal Register,'' operates tracks in the Winslow area that originally belonged to the

New Jersey Southern Railroad New Jersey Southern RR and connections The New Jersey Southern Railroad was a railroad that started in 1854. It would continue under this name until the 1870s as a separate company and the lines that it had constructed or run continued to be run ...

, and which were later acquired by the

Central Railroad of New Jersey Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

(in the 1880s) and subsequently

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 ...

(1976) and the

New Jersey Department of Transportation The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) is the agency responsible for transportation issues and policy in New Jersey, including maintaining and operating the state's highway and public road system, planning and developing transport ...

(NJDOT; 1984).U.S. Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), Washington, D.C. (1987-09-18). "The Shore Fast Line Inc., Operation, NJDOT 'Winslow Branch' Rail Properties; Modified Rail Certificate." Finance Docket No. 31051. SRNJ acquired operating rights to the Winslow-Vineland route, known as the Winslow Branch, from The Shore Fast Line, Inc. (SFLR) in 1991.ICC (1991-12-12). "JP Rail, Inc.; Modified Rail Certificate." Finance Docket No. 31976. . (SFLR, a freight carrier, is not to be confused with the ''Shore Fast Line,'' an

interurban The interurban (or radial railway in Canada) is a type of electric railway, with tram-like electric self-propelled railcars which run within and between cities or towns. The term "interurban" is usually used in North America, with other terms u ...

passenger railroad that was operated by the Atlantic City and Shore Railroad from 1907 to 1948.) In the 1991 transaction SRNJ also obtained rights from SFLR to operate freight on of the

Atlantic City Line The Atlantic City Line (ACL) is a commuter rail line operated by NJ Transit (NJT) in the United States between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Atlantic City, New Jersey, operating along the corridor of the White Horse Pike. It runs over trackage ...

owned by

New Jersey Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit or NJTransit and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey and portions of the states of New York and Pennsylvania. It ...

, from Winslow to Pleasantville; and took ownership of several short sections of connecting branch lines and junctions. The Salem-Swedesboro route, known locally as the Salem County Branch Line, was originally part of the Salem Railroad (later the

West Jersey and Seashore Railroad The West Jersey and Seashore Railroad (WJ&S) was a railway company in the U.S. state of New Jersey with a connection to Philadelphia. It was formed through the merger of several smaller roads in May 1896. At the end of 1925 it operated of road ...

), and subsequently became the Salem Secondary Track on the

Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines The Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines was a railroad that operated in South Jersey in the 20th century. It was created in 1933 as a joint consolidation venture between two competing railroads in the region: the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Rea ...

(PRSL). PRSL was acquired by Conrail in 1976, and the Salem branch was sold by Conrail to the Salem County government in 1985.Salem County Planning Board, Salem, NJ (June 2012)
"Salem County Traffic and Transportation Plan Element."
p. 21. SRNJ contracted with the county in 1995 to take over operations on the route (plus a one-mile spur in Salem) from the West Jersey Railroad Co. which was awarded the initial contract by the county in 1988.ICC (1995-10-10). "JP Rail, Inc., d/b/a Southern Railroad Company of New Jersey--Notice of Exemption--Operation of Salem Branch Rail Line in Salem County, New Jersey." Finance Docket No. 32700. . Between 2009 and 2012 U.S. Rail Corporation operated the Salem line. In 2012 the county reassigned the contract to SRNJ, which ended in 2022.Salem County, New Jersey (2012-02-01)
"Re-Assignment of Contract for Operating the Salem County Branch Line for the County of Salem."
/ref>

Operations

Winslow Junction operations

The railroad serves local businesses and interchanges freight cars with

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 ...

(CSAO). SRNJ maintains an interchange yard at Winslow Junction, connecting with the Atlantic City Line and CSAO Beesley Point Secondary Track.SRNJ
"Winslow Operations."
Accessed 2012-12-24. The Winslow branch route was restored after it was damaged by floods in 2003. As of April 2025 the Winslow Junction-Vineland section of track is not in use south of Winslow Hot Mix. The railroad also has trackage rights over NJT's Atlantic City Line, to

Atlantic City Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of the Atlantic City- Hammonton metropolitan sta ...

, where they can access their branch line to

Pleasantville, NJ Pleasantville is a City (New Jersey), city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 20,629, its highest United States census, decennial coun ...

Salem Branch operations

In 2018, the SRNJ leased the Salem Branch between Swedesboro and Woodbury from Conrail. In Woodbury, the SRNJ maintains a yard and connects with

. The railroad also maintain a yard in Swedesboro for interchange with SMS Rail Lines.

Roster

The SRNJ owns a diverse variety of

locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

equipment including an

EMD GP9 The EMD GP9 is a four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by Electro-Motive Diesel, General Motors' Electro-Motive Division between 1954 and 1963. The GP9 succeeded the EMD GP7, GP7 as the second model of EMD's General Purpose (GP) line, inco ...

EMD GP10 The EMD GP10 is a diesel-electric locomotive that is the result of rebuilding a GP7, GP9 or GP18. The Illinois Central Railroad had three separate rebuild programs to upgrade their old EMD GPs and GPs that they had purchased from equipment d ...

and

MLW M-420 The MLW M-420 was a diesel-electric locomotive manufactured between 1973 and 1977 in Montreal, Canada by the Montreal Locomotive Works. A total of 90 units were built for Canadian railways, including eight B units built for the BC Rail, British C ...

References

External links

TrainWeb.org: images of SRNJ equipment

Profile of SRNJ by CSX Transportation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Southern Railroad New Jersey New Jersey railroads Companies based in Camden County, New Jersey Transportation in Salem County, New Jersey Winslow Township, New Jersey