The Southern Secondary is a rail line in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, operated by

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) from South Amboy to Red Bank, and the

Delaware and Raritan River Railroad The Delaware and Raritan River Railroad is a short-line railroad that operates two lines in the central part of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The Southern Secondary runs from an interchange with Conrail Shared Assets Operations (CSAO) in Red Ban ...

(DRR), a subsidiary of Chesapeake and Delaware, LLC, between Red Bank and Lakewood. The entire active portion of the line is owned by

NJ 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. I ...

. The active portion of the line runs from

South Amboy South Amboy is a city in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located on Raritan Bay. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 9,411, an increase of 780 (+9.0%) from the 2010 census count of 8,631, which in ...

to the current end of track at Lakewood. The line is owned by

, but the southern portion ( Red Bank, NJ to Lakewood), is not shared with passenger trains. Beyond Lakewood, the tracks are owned by CSAO as far as Lakehurst, but are inactive between Lakewood and Lakehurst.

History

Raritan & Delaware Bay and NJ Southern

The line started as part of the

Raritan and Delaware Bay 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 soon passed through the ownership of 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 ...

to the hands of 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 ...

, which took ownership of the line in 1879.

CNJ Southern Division (1879–1976)

From 1879, the line was owned by the

(CNJ), which used it as their Southern Division, which, at its greatest extent, ran from Red Bank to the shores of the

Delaware Bay Delaware Bay is the estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the northeast seaboard of the United States, lying between the states of Delaware and New Jersey. It is approximately in area, the bay's freshwater mixes for many miles with the saltw ...

at Bivalve and Bayside. The line hosted the CNJ's famous passenger train the

Blue Comet The ''Blue Comet'' was a named passenger train operated by Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) from 1929 to 1941 between the New York metropolitan area and Atlantic City. Designed by CNJ president R.B. White in 1928, this train whisked passe ...

from 1929 to 1941. The line prospered into the 1940s when, like all American rail lines and the railroads that owned them, it entered a period of decline. In 1957, the last scheduled passenger service ended on the line, leaving it as a freight-only line. Despite the sand traffic that frequented the line, the number of general freights (not including sand and local freights to serve the industries along the line) dwindled to two, JS-1 and SJ-2 as the northeastern rail scene became more grim. In 1976,

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 ...

took over all operations, and in 1978, it severed the line between Woodmansie and Winslow Junction, ending its use as a through route linking South and North Jersey. Within the next decade, operations would be cut back again to Lakehurst.

Conrail Shared Assets Operations (1999–present)

From June, 1 1999, the line has been operated by

(CSAO), and despite the recovering railroad state in this time frame, the line's customer base continued to dwindle, and in 2010, the line was cut back further to Lakewood. The line also included the Toms River Industrial Track ( Lakehurst to

Toms River The Toms River is a freshwater river and estuary in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. The river rises in the Pine Barrens of northern Ocean County, then flows southeast and east, where it is fed by several tributaries, and flows in a ...

), but it was placed out of service after all of the customers discontinued rail service. Effective July 1, 2022, CSAO interchanges with the

at Red Bank. Despite the change in common carrier service, CSAO retains trackage rights over the entire route.

Delaware and Raritan River Railroad (2022-present)

The Delaware and Raritan River Railroad assumed common carrier operations between Red Bank and Lakewood as of July 1, 2022. The DRR is responsible for serving all customers on this section of the route.

Current operations

The line between Red Bank and Naval Weapons Station Earle is currently out of service, but is still maintained. The Delaware & Raritan River Railroad serves customers between Earle and Lakewood, with cars coming from Jamesburg via the Freehold Secondary. The last four customers on the line are: *Laird & Company, Colts Neck (Scobeyville), America's oldest Apple jack distillery receives ethanol/ethyl alcohol loads. (Uses Brick Recycling siding along Rt. 34) *U.S. Navy Weapons Station Earle, Howell (Earle's only connection to the outside rail network is here). Receives service on average once every 10 years, typically less frequently. *Extech Building Materials, Howell, receives building materials. *Woodhaven Lumber, Lakewood, receives lumber.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Archive.orgNjtransit.comOctrainguy.rrpicturearchives.netRrpicturearchives.netRailseast.comWebspace.webring.com
NJ Transit Rail Operations Rail infrastructure in New Jersey