The Bordentown Secondary was originally a

freight railroad Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers. A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons ( International Union of Railways) haule ...

line in

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 Delaware ...

, running from

Pavonia Yard Pavonia Yard is a Conrail Shared Assets Operations (CSAO) rail yard in Camden, New Jersey. The yard begins just north of where the Vineland Secondary tracks cross the Cooper River near the intersection of State and Federal Streets, and continue ...

in Camden to Trenton. Today, a large portion of the line from Bordentown to Camden is used for

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

's River Line light rail service.

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 Area ...

continues to operate freight trains on the line, but these operations are restricted to overnight hours. The line that meets with the Bordentown Secondary in Bordentown, the

Robbinsville Industrial Track The Robbinsville Industrial Track is a short freight line that runs between Bordentown, New Jersey to the Yardville, New Jersey, Yardville section of Hamilton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey, Hamilton Township, New Jersey. The line was originall ...

is operated by Conrail Shared Assets Operations and extends from Bordentown to nearby

Yardville, New Jersey Yardville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Hamilton Township, in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the CDP's population was 2,945.< ...

which is located within Hamilton Township.

History

The trackage that makes up much of the present-day Bordentown Secondary was originally laid by the

Camden and Amboy Railroad The United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company (UNJ&CC) was a railroad company which began as the important Camden & Amboy Railroad (C&A), whose 1830 lineage began as one of the eight or ten earliest permanent North AmericanList of Earliest Am ...

in the 19th century. The line completed the connection between

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 ...

and

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. Sinc ...

, via ferries between Pier 1 in New York, and

South Amboy, New Jersey South Amboy is a suburban 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.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 ...

(PRR), then became a

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 Railroad ...

line after the PRR-

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...

merger in 1968, and was transferred to Conrail in 1976. The line was purchased by New Jersey Transit in 1999 for its River Line light rail service between Trenton and Camden. As part of the deal, Conrail retains

trackage rights Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies. Operating Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may con ...

over the line.

Today

At present, the line is primarily used for the River Line service, which operates on the same tracks used by freight trains for much of its route. To achieve

Federal Railroad Administration The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. The purpose of the FRA is to promulgate and enforce rail saf ...

approval for the operation, light rail and freight operations are time separated. Conrail's agreement with New Jersey Transit gives exclusive access to light rail operations from 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM Sunday through Friday. Conrail has exclusive access for freight service during the overnight hours, but may run trains on the southern end of the alignment any other time with prior approval from New Jersey Transit or in emergencies. Much of the line between Bordentown and

South Amboy South Amboy is a suburban 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.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 transportat ...

proposed removing two road crossings on the northern portion of the line. Whats left of the remaining line that ran between Bordentown and South Amboy which is currently called the

now stops in the Yardville section of Hamilton Township, New Jersey.

References

#{{note, crossings ''The Trentonian'', Feb. 17, 2006.
Railroad history database

External links

Bordentown Secondary mileposts
Conrail lines Pennsylvania Railroad lines Rail transportation in New Jersey