Black River and Western Railroad

Black River and Western Railroad

200px Former Great Western 60
Reporting mark	BRW
Locale	Hunterdon County, New Jersey
Dates of operation	Chester 1961-1964, Ringoes 1965–
Predecessor	Pennsylvania Railroad Central Railroad of New Jersey
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length	16 miles (26 kilometres)
Headquarters	Ringoes, New Jersey
Website	brwrr.com

File:Black River & Western Caboose Train at Flemington.JPG

Passenger train at Flemington.

File:Black River & Western at Ringoes.jpg

BR&W caboose, semaphore and station depot at the station in Ringoes, New Jersey.

File:Flemington Train Station.jpg

Flemington BRW terminal

The Black River and Western Railroad (reporting mark BRW) is a short-line railroad operating in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, between Flemington and Ringoes. The railroad operates vintage steam and diesel powered locomotives: it maintains a regular limited freight service, but is operated primarily as a heritage railway.

History

The Black River & Western Railroad was started by William Whitehead in Oldwick, New Jersey, in the late 1950s. A portion of the defunct Rockaway Valley Railroad went through his back yard. He and his sons started collecting rolling stock and an engine (Lackawanna #565). They started laying tracks but then the expansion of I-78 halted their dream of building a railroad at that location. They moved their equipment to the Chester Hill Branch of the Central Railroad of New Jersey with the hope of starting a railroad there. The section of railroad they were scouting soon became landlocked by the construction of I-80.

The Black River & Western Railroad (BR&W) was incorporated in 1961. The railroad's name is derived from the Black River, a river in Chester, and the direction that the river flows. The cars were moved to Flemington, New Jersey and the search for a place to start their tourist train was continued. A leasing arrangement was created the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) that allowed a tourist train to operate from Flemington to Lambertville on the original Belvidere-Delaware Railroad (PRR Belvidere Division) Flemington Branch (originally the Flemington Railroad & Transportation Company). BR&W paid $5,000 a year and rehabilitated the railroad (the PRR operated freight service on the line during this period). Steam engine #60 pulled the first trip out of Flemington on May 16, 1965. Weekend and holiday schedules were devised. On March 16, 1970, the Black River & Western Railroad took over the ownership and operations of the entire Flemington Branch from the CNJ connection in Flemington to Flemington Branch Junction in Lambertville purchasing it from the Penn Central. With the acquisition of the railroad right of way and its freight operations, on top of the existing tourist passenger service, a true shortline railroad was born. Their base of operations was, and still is, out of Ringoes NJ. Freight interchange after the 1970 purchase was made with Penn Central at Lambertville and the CNJ in Flemington. Not long after the purchase, Penn Central filed for bankruptcy on June 21, 1970. At the time it was the biggest corporation in the United States to file for bankruptcy. Penn Central continued to operate its freight trains under bankruptcy protection until April 1, 1976 when Conrail took over operations (the last PC freight train to operate on the Belvidere Division was on March 28, 1976). The BR&W purchased three miles of trackage in the Lambertville area that was part of the Belvidere Division mainline on March 31st 1976 before Conrail took over. BR&W also purchased the Flemington-Three Bridges portion of the CNJ Flemington Branch from Somerville on this date. Although the major freight trains that hauled coal, iron ore and general freight were rerouted to other lines such as Reading Lines' North Penn Branch, CR continued operating smaller interchange freight trains to Lambertville. Since April of 1976 a new interchange was being planned at Three Bridges, NJ and construction started in January of 1977. The interchange officially opened in March of that year. CR and BR&W hosted a train trip on the Flemington Branch, Belvidere Division and former Lehigh Valley Railroad mainline in late March after the interchange in Three Bridges was opened. CR put the Belvidere Division out of service south of Milford after the event though operated a service maintenance train on November 12, 1978 between Milford and Lambertville to check the line of washouts and fallen trees. That would indeed be the last train to operate on that section of the Belvidere Division and sadly trackage was soon removed north and south of Lambertville to Milford and Trenton between 1979 and 1982. The right of way today is the Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park Rail-Trail. BR&W continued serving customers such as Traprock Industries Quarry, Nieces Lumber, Finkels Hardware and Belmont Packaging in Lambertville throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

As time carried on the freight customers slowly dwindled. By 1995 there was almost no freight service left in Lambertville. Passenger train service from Ringoes, south (RR west) to Lambertville, ceased in 1998 due to several factors. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) demoted the poor trackage to "excepted", which prohibited the operation of passenger trains over the line. There was talk that the Traprock Industries Quarry, which stopped getting rail service around 1993, would renew its contract with BR&W. A frenzy of track repairs occurred between 1995 and 1999 on the Ringoes-Lambertville segment. The quarry then decided not to renew its contract thus making it pointless to continue the track repairs. The line was put out of service shortly after and the last train operated in June of 2003 to pick up some remaining rolling stock in Lambertville (several hopper cars from the quarry operation, two NYC baggage cars, a snow plow car, a caboose and an EMD F7 were taken back to Ringoes). Currently, Freight and Passenger service continues on the line from Ringoes, North (RR East) to Flemington. In 2014 the line from Flemington to Three Bridges was deemed excepted thus ending passenger service on that part of the line.

In 2001, a separate non-profit entity known as the Black River Railroad Historic Trust, was formed to take over the tourist trains on the line. The BRRHT does not own (most of) the passenger cars and until 2011, fees had to be paid to the BR&W for their use. The BRRHT owns one diesel locomotive switcher, an SW9 numbered 438, although this diesel is currently under repairs. The Trust currently leases the coaches from the railroad and has use of its locomotives.

At the end of 2014, the BR&W announced that it is working on reactivating excursion service along what is now called the Alexauken Division of the BR&W, along the Alexauken Creek. The first two miles of service, from Ringoes to a point south at what is called Bowne Station (at Bowne Station Road), is slated to start sometime in 2016. Track work is still in progress. Track crews have already brought track up to Class I standards to MP6 (just south of Boss Rd.) and plan to use it on BR&W's summer excursion trains for 2016.

Roster

BR&W has approximately 12 locomotives, most of which are leased to other companies that require in-house rail switching services. As of 2012 three locomotives are on BR&W property. In fall 2012, BR&W's steam locomotive, former Great Western 60 returned to service after a 12-year overhaul. Several pieces of equipment are owned by the Trust. The Trust is currently leasing ex-Erie Railroad SW9 #438 from the Black River Railroad Historical Trust, and PRRLC's LV SW1 #112, restored as BRW 400 for the 50th anniversary, for use on its passenger trains along with a BR&W unit. PRRLC also owns another SW1 #9206 from the Pennsylvania Railroad. Currently under restoration to be used on BR&W passenger trains. Freight trains on the line are currently handled by BDRV 1259.

Locomotives carry BDRV reporting marks except #60 and #752.

Locomotives owned by the Trust Italicised

Locomotive Roster

Number	Heritage	Model	Location
M-55	Arizona Eastern Railway	Doodlebug	Out of service - BR&W
1	?	Mack 15ton	Static Display Ringoes, NJ
60	Great Western Railway	2-8-0	BR&W, Ringoes, NJ
752	Northern Pacific Railway	GP9	Leased to Midstate Packaging, Hillsborough, New Jersey
780	Amtrak	GP7u	Leased to Kinder-Morgan Charleston, South Carolina
908	LV	SW900	Leased to Kinder-Morgan, Newport News, Virginia
915	Wilmington and Western	SW900	Leased to Port of Richmond, Richmond, VA
1202	New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad	SW1200	BDRV Phillipsburg,NJ
1206	Canadian National Railway	SW1200RS	Not currently leased.
1259	Canadian Pacific	SW1200RS	BR&W Ringoes,NJ
1539	P&LE	SW1500	Leased to Kinder-Morgan, Newport News, Virginia
1567	PC	SW1500	BDRV Phillipsburg,NJ
1596		SW1500
1849	Northern Pacific Railway	GP9	Leased to Kinder-Morgan, Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania (Out of Service)
1850	C&O	GP9	Leased to Kinder-Morgan, Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania
1853	TM	GP9	Leased in Tennessee (Out of Service)
1854	PRR	GP8	Leased to Kinder-Morgan Fairless Hills,PA
1856	New York Central	GP10	Leased to Kinder-Morgan, Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania
1889	Canadian Pacific	GP9u	Leased to Kinder-Morgan Newport News,VA
8142	Canadian Pacific	SW1200RS	Leased in Pennsylvania
9581	Norfolk Sountern	SD9m	Leased to Kinder-Morgan Newport News,VA

Passenger Equipment

Number	Heritage	Notes
5	GM&O	Business Car, Privately owned, out of service.
297	CNJ	Combine. Acquired in 1967 from CNJ. First in service 1968. Undergoing restoration by the BRRHT.
302	DL&W	Acquired from the DL&W in 1972, First in service 1972. Open-Air Car built from Coach. Out of service in the 1990s.
303	DL&W	Acquired from the DL&W in 1972, First in service 1972. Out of service in the 1990s.
304	DL&W	Acquired from the DL&W in 1972, First in service 1972. Out of service in the 1990s.
605	DL&W	Acquired from the DL&W in 1972, First in service in 1972. Out of service in the 1990s. Undergoing restoration by the BRRHT. Renumbered from 305 to 605 in 2016.
319	Great Northern	From NJT, out of service
320	Great Northern	From NJT, out of service
322	CNJ	Bar Car built from coach, used for charters. Acquired in 1967 from CNJ. First in service 1968. Named John L. Bishop.
420	CNJ	Used as museum car at Ringoes station, owned by the BRRHT
491	Canadian National	Acquired early 1990s, in service by 1995. Originally numbered 4988. Retains black window stripe hinting at its CN heritage.
494	Canadian National	Acquired early 1990s, in service by 1995. Originally numbered 4991. Lettered for Belvidere & Delaware River RR. Out of service 2015. On display in Ringoes station.
1009	CNJ	Owned by BRRHT, acquired in 2005 from Steamtown. First in service 2015.
1362	USAT	Used as storage
1369	USAT	Used as storage
8424	New York Central	Owned by BRRHT, Used as a workshop for restoration projects
17112	USAT	Privately owned, display
"Chenango"	PRR	Privately owned, Residential, Originally named "Herald Square," Painted in NYO&W livery

Cabooses

Number	Heritage	Notes
133	C&O	Assigned to the Bel Del
200	RDG	Out of service
385	SOU	Out of service
595	N&W	Out of service
596	MMA	In service
645	MEC	Privately owned, in service
1417	DRGW	Privately owned, out of service
1422	DRGW	Privately owned, out of service
2727	ATSF	Privately owned, painted in Wabash livery, in service
24531	CR	Privately owned, display
477375	PRR	Privately owned, in service
95106	LV	Owned by BRRHT, named the "Who Hack," restoration
C-140	ERIE	Owned by BRRHT, in service
C-2440	B&O	Privately owned, in service

Former Locomotives

Number	Heritage	Model	Current owner
1	?	Mack	Black River Railroad Historic Trust; still on BR&W Property
14	Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal	0-6-0T	Ulster & Delaware Historical Society
41	AT&SF	CF7	Scrapped
42	AT&SF	CF7	Maryland & Delaware 2632
56	PRR	T6	Georges Creek Railway 101
57	Washington Terminal Company	RS-1	Privately owned; stored on East Penn Railroad, Quakertown, PA
58	Minneapolis & St Louis	RS-1	Also wore #211, Scrapped 1992/1993
148	Florida East Coast	4-6-2	Denver & Rio Grande Railroad in Colorado
204	Minneapolis & St Louis	RS-1	was #59 on paper, Scrapped
400	Broward County Port Authority	SW-1	scrapped in 2009
400	LIRR	44-Ton	Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum
565	DL&W	2-6-0	Steamtown N.H.S
820	ERIE	NW-2	Miller Mining Co.
782	C&EI	GP7	Vintage Locomotives Inc.; still on BR&W property
1540	P&LE	SW1500	JLCX; traded for JLCX 1256 (BDRV 1206)
1554	CNJ	RS-3	ARHS; Leased to the Delaware-Lackawanna
1848	Bangor & Aroostook	GP9	Winchester & Western #576
4666	PRR	Doodlebug	Privately owned; brought to Allentown & Auburn Railroad on 4/17/16. Undergoing restoration and to be returned to service in summer 2016.
7079	U.S. Army	65-Ton	privately owned, New Castle, DE

Former Passenger Equipment

Number	Heritage	Disposition	Notes
100	Belfast & Moosehead Lake	Sold to the New Hope & Ivyland railroad, scrapped in 2015 after vandlization of the car and structure collapse.	Wooden Car. Baggage R.P.O. Car
101	Bangor & Aroostook		Wooden Car. Combine
102	Bangor & Aroostook		Wooden Car. Combine
103	DL&W		Wooden Car. Coach
104	DL&W		Wooden Car.
105	Canadian Northern		Wooden Car. Business Car
106	DL&W		Wooden Car. Office Car
301	DL&W	Out of Service in the early 1990s, Scrapped 2006.	Steel "Boonton" Car, In service by 1972. Open-Air Car built from Coach.
311	Erie		Steel "Stillwell" Car, In service by 1968. Open-Air Car built from Coach.
312	Erie	Out of Service in the mid 1970s, on display in Whitehouse, NJ.	Steel "Stillwell" Car, In service by 1968.
313	Erie	Out of Service in the mid 1970s, on display in Whitehouse, NJ.	Steel "Stillwell" Car, In service by 1968.
321	CNJ	Out of Service 1990s, Scrapped 2006.	Steel CNJ Coach. Acquired from CNJ in 1967, in service 1968. Converted to a control car for the 4666 (Doodlebug) by early 1980s.
492	Canadian National	To New Hope & Ivyland by 2001.	Acquired early 1990s, in service by 1995. Originally numbered 4907.
493	Canadian National	Out of Service by 2000s, Scrapped 2006.	Acquired early 1990s, in service by 1995. Originally numbered 4996.
1318	CNJ	Sold to Green Mountain Railroad, remains in Lambertville, NJ.	Round Roof CNJ Coach. Acquired from NJ Transit in 1984.