The Lehigh Line is a railroad line in central

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 ...

Northeastern Pennsylvania Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA) is a geographic region of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania that includes the Pocono Mountains, the Endless Mountains, and the industrial cities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, Hazleton, Nanticoke, and Car ...

, and the

Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley (), known colloquially as The Valley, is a geographic region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County and Northampton County in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a component valley of the Great Appalachian Valley bound to the no ...

region of eastern

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. It is owned and operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway. The line runs west from the vicinity of the

Port of New York and New Jersey The Port of New York and New Jersey is the port district of the New York-Newark metropolitan area, encompassing the region within approximately a radius of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. It includes the system of navigable water ...

via Conrail's Lehigh Line to the Susquehanna River valley at the south end of the

Wyoming Valley The Wyoming Valley is a historic industrialized region of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The region is historically notable for its influence in helping fuel the American Industrial Revolution with its many anthracite coal-mines. As a metropolitan ...

Coal Region The Coal Region is a region of Northeastern Pennsylvania. It is known for being home to the largest known deposits of anthracite coal in the world with an estimated reserve of seven billion short tons. The region is typically defined as compri ...

. Administratively, it is part of Norfolk Southern's Keystone Division and is part of the Crescent Corridor. the line is freight-only, although there are perennial proposals to restore passenger service over all or part of the line. The Lehigh Line hosts approximately twenty-five trains per day. The line runs from Port Reading Junction in Manville, New Jersey to Penn Haven Junction in Lehigh Township, Pennsylvania. At Port Reading Junction, it meets the Trenton Subdivision. It crosses the Delaware River at

Phillipsburg, New Jersey Phillipsburg is a town located along the Delaware River in Warren County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located across the river directly east from Easton, Pennsylvania. Phillipsburg is the most populous municipality in Warren County ...

. Most of the traffic along the line consists of intermodal and general merchandise trains going to yards.

History

The majority of the line was once the main line of the

Lehigh Valley Railroad The Lehigh Valley Railroad was a railroad built in the Northeastern United States to haul anthracite coal from the Coal Region in Pennsylvania. The railroad was authorized on April 21, 1846 for freight and transportation of passengers, goods, ...

. The first segment, which runs between Easton and

Allentown Allentown may refer to several places in the United States and topics related to them: *Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California *Allentown, Georgia, a town in Wilkinson County *Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Taze ...

, opened in September 1855. Later extensions and corporate acquisitions carried the Lehigh Valley main line to

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

to the west and

Perth Amboy, New Jersey Perth Amboy is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey. Perth Amboy is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 55,436. Perth Amboy has a Hispanic majority population. In the 2010 census, th ...

to the east. Some portions of the line were constructed by the

Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad The Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad is a defunct railroad that operated in eastern Pennsylvania during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The company was a subsidiary of the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company (LC&N), but for much of its lifetim ...

(L&S). Conceived as a competitor to the Lehigh Valley, the L&S constructed a parallel line on the north side of the Lehigh River. The line opened in 1868 and was soon leased by the

Central Railroad of New Jersey The Central Railroad of New Jersey, also known as the Jersey Central or Jersey Central Lines , was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s. It was absorbed into Conrail in April 1976 along with several other prominent bankrupt railroads of ...

(CNJ). Passenger service ended on the Lehigh Valley in 1961. The Lehigh Valley assumed the lease of the L&S from the CNJ in 1972 when the latter abandoned operations in Pennsylvania. Both the Lehigh Valley and CNJ were merged into Conrail in 1976. Conrail retained the ex-Lehigh Valley main line and named it the Lehigh Line. Conrail combined the Bethlehem–Allentown portion of the Lehigh Valley main line with the ex- Reading Company Reading Line; the Lehigh Line now uses the former L&S route between those two cities. In the 1980s Conrail abandoned the ex-Lehigh Valley bridge over the Delaware River at

in favor of the L&S/CNJ bridge. With the line integrating former Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad-owned CNJ Pennsylvania leased main line trackage into both its original route and into its route between Allentown and Lehighton, Conrail integrated other CNJ trackage, owned by CNJ itself, around Phillipsburg into the line so the line's Lehigh Valley trackage in Phillipsburg and the line's new CNJ trackage in Phillipsburg are part of the line. This lasted until the mid to late 1980s when Conrail decided to close and abandon the line's Lehigh Valley Phillipsburg trackage, which includes the Lehigh Valley Phillipsburg bridge, due to the Lehigh Valley Phillipsburg bridge needing repairs,in favor of using the CNJ Phillipsburg trackage full-time including the CNJ Phillipsburg bridge, which is more stable than the Lehigh Valley Phillipsburg bridge. The Norfolk Southern acquired the Lehigh Line in 1999 in the Conrail split with CSX Transportation. The section from Manville, New Jersey to

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.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 ...

Lehigh Line, allowing for equal competition between Norfolk Southern and CSX.

Lehigh Valley Railroad

The

incorporated on April 21, 1846. Funding problems delayed the company's growth, and it was not until late 1852 that the company, under newly appointed chief engineer Robert H. Sayre, surveyed the route between

Mauch Chunk Jim Thorpe is a borough and the county seat of Carbon County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. It is historically known as the burial site of Native American sports legend Jim Thorpe. Jim Thorpe is ...

and Easton. The company changed its name to the

on January 7, 1853. The line opened between

Easton, Pennsylvania Easton is a city in, and the county seat of, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city's population was 28,127 as of the 2020 census. Easton is located at the confluence of the Lehigh River, a river that joins the Delaware R ...

and Allentown, Pennsylvania on June 11, 1855, and west to Mauch Chunk on September 12. At Easton, the Lehigh Valley constructed an unusual double-decker bridge across the Delaware River to Phillipsburg. The upper level proceeded to connect with the

and

Morris Canal The Morris Canal (1829–1924) was a common carrier anthracite coal canal across northern New Jersey that connected the two industrial canals at Easton, Pennsylvania across the Delaware River from its western terminus at Phillipsburg, New Jers ...

while the lower level curved south to meet the

Belvidere Delaware Railroad The Belvidere-Delaware Railroad (Bel-Del, 1851–1871) was a railroad running along the eastern shore of the Delaware River from Trenton, New Jersey north via Phillipsburg, New Jersey to the small village of Manunka Chunk, New Jersey. It becam ...

. This bridge enabled the

to interchange coal for both the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

markets, respectively. The upper level opened on September 7; the lower level in late December. The length of the line from

Jim Thorpe James Francis Thorpe ( Sac and Fox (Sauk): ''Wa-Tho-Huk'', translated as "Bright Path"; May 22 or 28, 1887March 28, 1953) was an American athlete and Olympic gold medalist. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was the first Nativ ...

to Easton, which included the line's original route from Easton to

was 46 miles of single track. The line was laid with a rail weighing 56 pounds per yard supported upon cross ties 6 x 7 inches and 7-1/2 feet long placed two feet apart with about a quarter of it ballasted with stone or gravel. The line had a descending or level grade from Jim Thorpe to Easton and, with the exception of the curve at Jim Thorpe, had no curve less than a 700 feet radius.http://himedo.net/TheHopkinThomasProject/TimeLine/IndustrialRevAmerica/Railroads/LVRRGerard.htm The Lehigh Valley Railroad opens

Expansion to New York

The 1860s saw an expansion of the LV and the line with an expansion northward to the

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It is the s ...

area and up the Susquehanna River to the New York state line. In 1864, the LV began acquiring feeder railroads and merging them into its system. The first acquisitions were the Beaver Meadow Railroad and Coal Company, which included a few hundred acres of coal land, and the Penn Haven and White Haven Railroad. The purchase of the Penn Haven and White Haven was the first step in expanding to

. To reach Wilkes-Barre, the LV began constructing an extension from

White Haven, Pennsylvania White Haven is a borough in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. It is located along the Lehigh River. The population was 1,163 at the 2020 census. History Establishment White Haven was created in 1824 by industrialist Josiah White. It was later incorpor ...

to Wilkes-Barre. The Penn Haven and White Haven Railroad allowed the LV to reach White Haven. In 1866, the LV acquired the Lehigh and Mahanoy Railroad (originally the Quakake Railroad) and the

North Branch Canal The North Branch Division of the Pennsylvania Canal was a historic waterway that ran along the North Branch Susquehanna River between southern New York and north-central Pennsylvania. At its southern end, the canal connected with the West Bran ...

along the Susquehanna River, renaming it the Pennsylvania and New York Canal & Railroad Company (P&NY). The purchasing of the North Branch Canal saw an opportunity for a near-monopoly in the region north of the

. In 1866, two years after the purchase of the Penn Haven and White Haven, the extension from White Haven to Wilkes-Barre opened. Construction of a rail line to the New York state line started immediately, and in 1867 the line was complete from Wilkes-Barre to Waverly, New York, where coal was transferred to the broad-gauge

Erie Railroad The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake Er ...

and shipped to western markets through

. To reach Wilkes-Barre, the LV purchased the Penn Haven and White Haven Railroad in 1864, and began constructing an extension from White Haven to Wilkes-Barre that was opened in 1867. By 1869, the LVRR owned a continuous track through Pennsylvania from Easton to Waverly. In the following year, the Lehigh Valley—a standard gauge railroad—completed arrangements with the Erie Railroad, at that time having a six-foot gauge, for a third rail within its tracks to enable LV equipment to run through to Elmira and later to Buffalo.

1870s

The 1870s witnessed commencement of extension of the LV in a new direction. In the 1870s the railroad acquired other large tracts of land starting at in 1870, with an additional of in 1872, and turned its eye toward rail expansion across

all the way to the New York City area. In 1870, the Lehigh Valley Railroad acquired trackage rights to

Auburn, New York Auburn is a city in Cayuga County, New York, United States. Located at the north end of Owasco Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in Central New York, the city had a population of 26,866 at the 2020 census. It is the largest city of Cayuga County, th ...

on the Southern Central Railroad. In 1872 the Lehigh Valley Railroad purchased the dormant charter of the Perth Amboy and Bound Brook Railroad which had access to the

harbor, and added to it a new charter, the Bound Brook and Easton Railroad. The State of New Jersey passed legislation that allowed the LV to consolidate its New Jersey railroads into one company; the Perth Amboy and Bound Brook and the Bound Brook and Easton were merged to form a new railroad company called the Easton and Amboy Railroad (or Easton & Amboy Railroad Company). The Easton and Amboy Railroad was a railroad built across central New Jersey by the Lehigh Valley Railroad from

to Bound Brook, New Jersey to connect the Lehigh Valley Railroad coal hauling operations in

with the

to serve consumer markets in the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass, at , and one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. The vast metropolitan area ...

, eliminating the Phillipsburg connection with the CNJ that had previously been the only LV access to the New York tidewater. Until it was built, the terminus of the LV had been at

on the Delaware River opposite

. The Easton and Amboy was used as a connection to the New York metropolitan area, with a terminus in Jersey City, New Jersey. Construction commenced in 1872 as soon the Easton and Amboy was formed; coal docks at Perth Amboy were soon constructed, and most of the line's new expanded New Jersey route from Easton to Perth Amboy was graded and rails laid. However, the route required building a wooden bridge over the Delaware River to connect Easton with

and building a tunnel through/under

Musconetcong Mountain Musconetcong Mountain is a ridge in the Highlands region of New Jersey running south of and parallel to the Musconetcong River. The ridge travels through Alexandria, Holland, Bethlehem and Lebanon Township. Prominent Features *Point Mountain, 935 ...

near Pattenburg, New Jersey (about twelve miles east of Phillipsburg), and that proved troublesome. The tunnel delayed the opening of the Easton and Amboy part of the line until May 1875 (the line was completed in 1875), when a coal train first passed over the line. To support the expected increase in traffic, the wooden bridge over the Delaware River at Easton was also replaced by a double-tracked, iron bridge. At Perth Amboy, a tidewater terminal was built on the Arthur Kill comprising a large coal dock used to transport coal into New York City. These tracks were laid and the Easton and Amboy Railroad was opened for business on June 28, 1875, for hauling coal. The Easton and Amboy's operations were labeled the "New Jersey Division" of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. The Easton and Amboy had already completed large docks and facilities for shipping coal at Perth Amboy upon an extensive tract of land fronting the Arthur Kill. Approximately 350,000 tons of anthracite moved to Perth Amboy during that year for transshipment by water. Operations continued until the LV's bankruptcy in 1976. The marshalling yard is now the residential area known as Harbortown. Passenger traffic on the LV's Easton and Amboy connected with the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) at

Metuchen, New Jersey Metuchen ( ) is a suburban borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. The borough is a commuter town of New York City, located in the heart of the Raritan Valley region within the New York Metropolitan area. The borough, along wit ...

and continued to the PRR'S Exchange Place terminus in Jersey City (that connection was discontinued in 1891 after the LV established its own route to Jersey City from South Plainfield). Eventually, the Easton and Amboy Railroad was absorbed into the parent Lehigh Valley Railroad. The route which was constructed by the LV's Easton and Amboy still exists, but the rail line now stops at Manville, New Jersey. Past Manville, the route continues as a new rail line. The route from Manville to Perth Amboy (now Manville to

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Erie Railroad The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake Er ...

main line so that cars could roll directly from colliery to the port at Buffalo. While the third track on the

main line between Waverly and Buffalo gave the LV an unbroken connection to Buffalo, the road's management desired its own line into Buffalo. The Geneva, Ithaca and Athens Railroad passed into the hands of the LV in September 1876, which extended from the New York state line near

Sayre, Pennsylvania Sayre is a borough in Bradford County, Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. It is the principal city in the Sayre, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area. It lies 18 miles southeast of Elmira, New York, and 30 miles southwest of Bingh ...

, to

Geneva, New York Geneva is a city in Ontario and Seneca counties in the U.S. state of New York. It is at the northern end of Seneca Lake; all land portions of the city are within Ontario County; the water portions are in Seneca County. The population was 13, ...

, a distance of 75 miles.

1880s

In 1882, the LV began an extensive expansion into New York, Waverly, New York to

. Construction from Waverly to Buffalo was split into two projects, Waverly to

and Geneva (located at the northern end of Seneca Lake) to Buffalo Geneva. First, it purchased a large parcel of land in Buffalo, the Tifft farm, for use as terminal facilities, and obtained a New York charter for the Lehigh Valley Railway (a similar name to the LVRR, but with "railway" instead). LVRR subsidiary, the Lehigh Valley Railway, began constructing the main line's northern part from Buffalo to

Lancaster, New York Lancaster is a town in Erie County, New York, United States, centered 14 miles east of downtown Buffalo. Lancaster is an outer ring suburb of Buffalo. As of the 2020 Census, the town population was 45,106. Located within the town is the villa ...

in 1883, a total distance of ten miles. This was the second step toward establishment of a direct route from Waverly to Buffalo, the first being the acquisition of the Geneva, Ithaca and Athens Railroad. Then in 1887 the Lehigh Valley Railroad obtained a lease on the Southern Central Railroad (the LV previously had trackage rights on the railroad starting in 1870), which had a route from Waverly northward into the

Finger Lakes The Finger Lakes are a group of eleven long, narrow, roughly north–south lakes located south of Lake Ontario in an area called the ''Finger Lakes region'' in New York, in the United States. This region straddles the northern and transitional ...

region. At the same time, the LVRR organized the Buffalo and Geneva Railroad to build the rest of the 97-mile Geneva to Buffalo trackage, from Geneva to Lancaster. Finally, in 1889, the LV gained control of the Geneva, Ithaca, and Sayre Railroad and completed its line of rail through New York. As a result of its leases and acquisitions, the LV gained a monopoly on traffic in the Finger Lakes region. The railroad continued to grow and develop its routes in Pennsylvania. In Pennsylvania, the LV obtained a charter formerly held by the Schuykill Haven and Lehigh River Railroad in 1886 which had been held by the Reading Railroad since 1860, when it blocked construction in order to maintain its monopoly in the Southern Coal Field, which held the largest reserves of anthracite in Pennsylvania. Through neglect, the Reading allowed the charter to lapse and it was acquired by the LV, which immediately constructed the Schuylkill and Lehigh Valley Railroad and connected it with the mainline. The line gave the LV a route into

Pottsville, Pennsylvania Pottsville is the county seat of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 13,346 at the 2020 census, and is the principal city of the Pottsville, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area. The city lies along the west bank of th ...

and the

Schuylkill Valley The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It f ...

coal fields. The Vosburg Tunnel was completed and opened for service on July 25, 1886. The 16-mile Mountain cut-off, a rail segment of the line, which extended from Fairview, Pennsylvania to the outskirts of

Pittston, Pennsylvania Pittston is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is situated between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The city gained prominence in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as an active anthracite coal ...

, was completed in November 1888. This allowed the line's eastbound grade to be reduced and a shorter route for handling through traffic established. Lehigh Valley Jersey City Terminal

In New Jersey, the LV had a decade-long legal battle with the CNJ over terminal facilities in Jersey City, New Jersey. In 1887 the two railroads reached a settlement, and construction of the LVs Jersey City freight yard began. The LV obtained a 5-year agreement to use the CNJ line to access the terminal, which opened in 1889. The LV built a separate yard at Oak Island in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area. The LV began construction of a series of railroads to connect the Easton and Amboy line (Easton and Amboy Railroad) to Jersey City; the new route to Jersey City would connect with the Easton and Amboy line at

South Plainfield, New Jersey South Plainfield is a borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. It is located in the heart of the Raritan Valley region. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 23,385,Roselle and South Plainfield Railway. In 1888 it connected with the CNJ at Roselle, New Jersey which provided access over the CNJ to the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

waterfront in Jersey City, New Jersey. The LV, which had built coal docks in

when it built the Easton and Amboy in the 1870s, desired a terminal on the Hudson River closer to

. In 1891, the LV consolidated the Roselle and South Plainfield Railway into the

Lehigh Valley Terminal Railway The Lehigh Valley Terminal Railway was a Lehigh Valley Railroad company organized in 1891 through the consolidation of the companies that formed the Lehigh Valley's route from South Plainfield through Newark to Jersey City via its bridge acr ...

, along with the other companies which formed the route from South Plainfield to the Jersey City terminal. Initially, the LV contracted with the CNJ for rights from Roselle to Jersey City, but the LV eventually finished construction of the line to its terminal in Jersey City over the Newark and Roselle Railway, the Newark and Passaic Railway, the Jersey City, Newark, and Western Railway, and the Jersey City Terminal Railway. The LV's Newark and Roselle Railway brought the line from Roselle into Newark in 1891, where passengers connected to the Pennsylvania Railroad. Bridging Newark Bay proved difficult. The LV first attempted to obtain a right of way at Greenville, but the Pennsylvania Railroad checkmated it by purchasing most of the properties needed. Then the CNJ opposed the LV's attempt to cross its line at Caven Point. Finally, after settling the legal issues, the Newark Bay was bridged in 1892 by the Jersey City, Newark and Western Railway and connected to the National Docks Railway, which was partly owned by the LV and which reached the LV's terminal. In 1895, the LV constructed the Greenville and Hudson Railway parallel with the National Docks in order to relieve congestion and have a wholly owned route into Jersey City. Finally, in 1900, the LV purchased the National Docks Railway outright.

1890–1920

After the completion of its terminals at Buffalo and Jersey City, and the establishment of a trunk line across New York, the LV entered a period of turmoil in the 1890s with the company being entangled in business dealings. In 1892, the

Reading Railroad The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and commercial rail transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states that operated from 1924 until its 1976 acquisition by Conrail. Commonly call ...

leased the LV and the CNJ and purchased the railroads' coal companies instead of attempting to maintain agreements among the coal railroads. The Reading than arranged for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad to cooperate with the combination, thereby controlling 70% of the trade. Unfortunately, it overreached and in 1893 the Reading was unable to meet its obligations. Its bankruptcy resulted in economic chaos, bringing on the financial panic of 1893 and forcing the LV to break the lease and resume its own operations, leaving it unable to pay dividends on its stock until 1904. The economic depression following 1893 was harsh, though the LV owned or controlled of coal lands by then. In 1897 the LV was in dire need of support. The banking giant

J. P. Morgan John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age. As the head of the banking firm that ultimately became known ...

stepped in to refinance the LV debt, and obtained control of the railroad in the process. The LV along with other railroads, were

nationalized Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to p ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

(1914–1918) in order to prevent strikes and interruptions. The LV built a passenger terminal in Buffalo in 1915. The

United States Railroad Administration The United States Railroad Administration (USRA) was the name of the nationalized railroad system of the United States between December 28, 1917, and March 1, 1920. It was the largest American experiment with nationalization, and was undertaken a ...

controlled the LV from 1918 to 1920, at which time control was transferred back to the private companies.

1921–1953

The Great Depression started and the LV began a slow decline even though it had a few periods of prosperity. Passengers preferred the convenience of automobiles to trains, and decades later airlines provided faster long-distance travel than trains. Oil and gas were supplanting coal as the fuel of choice. The Depression had been difficult for all the railroads, and Congress recognized that bankruptcy laws needed revision. By 1931, the PRR controlled 51% of the LV stock. By 1936, when the LV now had feeder lines connecting to its main line (the railroad's first line), the line became known as the Lehigh Valley Mainline. The Chandler Acts of 1938–1939 provided a new form of relief for railroads, allowing them to restructure their debt while continuing to operate. The LV was approved for such a restructuring in 1940 when several large mortgage loans were due. The restructuring allowed the LV to extend the maturity of its mortgages, but needed to repeat the process in 1950. The terms of the restructurings precluded dividend payments until 1953, when LV common stock paid the first dividend since 1931. In 1940, the LV came under the influence of the PRR. In 1941, the Pennsylvania placed its shares in a voting trust after reaching an agreement with the New York Central regarding the PRR's purchase of the Wabash. The LV extended the maturity of its mortgages in 1950, and made dividend payments until 1953.

1954–1976

The LV faced two blows in the 1950s, the

Federal-Aid Highway Act The following bills and Acts of Congress in the United States have been known as the Federal-Aid Highway Act or similar names: * Federal Aid Road Act of 1916: July 11, 1916, ch. 241, (first) * Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921 (Phipps Act): Novemb ...

in 1956 and the

Saint Lawrence Seaway The St. Lawrence Seaway (french: la Voie Maritime du Saint-Laurent) is a system of locks, canals, and channels in Canada and the United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North Ameri ...

in 1959. The interstate highways helped the trucking industry offer door-to-door service, and the St. Lawrence Seaway allowed grain shipments to bypass the railways and go directly to overseas markets. The LV again stopped dividends in 1957. By the 1960s railroads in the East were struggling to survive. The

(which leased the

) and the Lehigh Valley Railroad began to work together in 1965 to eliminate redundant trackage in the Lehigh Valley area.Black Diamonds to Tidewater: CNJ Lehighton to WK Interlocking
This ended up being the first step towards the reconfiguration of the Lehigh Valley Mainline with former Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad main line trackage under Conrail. The LV declared bankruptcy on July 24, 1970 It remained in operation during the 1970 bankruptcy, as was the common practice of the time. In 1972, the LV assumed the lease of the remaining

's Pennsylvania leased trackage from the

, including the main line part of the Central Railroad of New Jersey leased trackage, which was integrated into the Lehigh Valley Mainline years later. The Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad continued to own the leased trackage until 1976, when it was merged into Conrail along with the LV. Back in 1965, the Central Railroad of New Jersey (which leased the L&S) and the Lehigh Valley Railroad began to work together to eliminate redundant trackage. The Central Railroad of New Jersey was also taken over by Conrail in 1976. The Central Railroad of New Jersey had meanwhile entered bankruptcy as well. The two railroads had entered a shared trackage agreement in this area in 1965 to reduce costs, as both had parallel routes from Wilkes-Barre virtually all the way to New York, often on adjoining grades through Pennsylvania. In the years leading to 1973, the freight railroad system of the U.S. was collapsing. Although government-funded

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

took over intercity passenger service on May 1, 1971, railroad companies continued to lose money due to extensive government regulations, expensive and excessive labor cost, competition from other transportation modes, declining industrial business, and other factors; the Lehigh Valley Railroad was one of them.

Hurricane Agnes Hurricane Agnes in 1972 was the costliest hurricane to hit the United States at the time, causing an estimated $2.1 billion in damage. The hurricane's death toll was 128. The effects of Agnes were widespread, from the Caribbean to Canada, ...

in 1972 damaged the rundown Northeast railway network which put the solvency of other railroads including the LV in danger; the somewhat more solvent

Erie Lackawanna Railway The Erie Lackawanna Railway , known as the Erie Lackawanna Railroad until 1968, was formed from the 1960 merger of the Erie Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. The official motto of the line was "The Friendly Service Route" ...

(EL) was also damaged by Hurricane Agnes. In 1973, the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

acted to create a bill to

nationalize Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

all bankrupt railroads which included the LV. The

Association of American Railroads The Association of American Railroads (AAR) is an industry trade group representing primarily the major freight Rail transport, railroads of North America (Canada, Mexico and the United States). Amtrak and some regional Commuter rail in North Am ...

, which opposed nationalization, submitted an alternate proposal for a government-funded private company. President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

signed the

Regional Rail Reorganization Act In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

of 1973 into law. The "3R Act," as it was called, provided interim funding to the bankrupt railroads and defined a new "Consolidated Rail Corporation" under the AAR's plan. On April 1, 1976, the Lehigh Valley Railroad including the Lehigh Valley Mainline were merged/absorbed into the U.S. government's

Consolidated Rail Corporation 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 busin ...

(Conrail) ending 130 years of existence and 121 years of operation of the LV.

Conrail ownership

1976

On April 1, 1976, the

also known as Conrail acquired the Lehigh Valley Railroad (major portions of its assets) including the Lehigh Valley Mainline and absorbed the Lehigh Valley Railroad into its system. Conrail began operating on the Lehigh Valley Mainline and the remains of the LV immediately. The

and the

were also taken over and merged into Conrail, giving the opportunity for Conrail to merge what was left of the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad main line into the Lehigh Valley Mainline to replace original Lehigh Valley Mainline trackage in the area. Other remains of the LV besides the Lehigh Valley Mainline that were merged into Conrail includes related branches from

Van Etten Van Etten is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Chris Van Etten, American television writer * Hudson Van Etten (1874–1941), United States Navy sailor * Jane Van Etten (born 1871), American composer * Sharon Van Etten (born 1981) ...

Junction, northwest of

) to Oak Island Yard; the Ithaca branch from Van Etten Junction to

Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named ...

, connecting to the

Cayuga Lake Cayuga Lake (,,) is the longest of central New York's glacial Finger Lakes, and is the second largest in surface area (marginally smaller than Seneca Lake) and second largest in volume. It is just under long. Its average width is , and it is ...

line and on to the Milliken power station in Lake Ridge, New York and the Cargill salt mine just south of Geneva, New York; and small segments in

, from Geneva to the Seneca Army Depot in

Kendaia Kendaia, known as ''Appletown'', was a village of the Seneca and Cayuga Nations of Iroquois located in what is now the Town of Romulus, New York. The name has been variously transcribed into English as ''Thendara'', ''Candaia'', ''Conday'', or ''K ...

; Batavia, New York;

and

Cortland, New York Cortland is a city and the county seat of Cortland County, New York. Known as the Crown City, Cortland is in New York's Southern Tier region. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 17,556. The city of Cortland, near the county's western bo ...

. A segment west from Van Etten Junction was included in the Conrail takeover. Additionally, a segment from Geneva to

Victor, New York Victor is an incorporated town in Ontario County, New York. The population was 15,969 at the time of the 2020 census. The town is named after Claudius Victor Boughton, an American hero of the War of 1812. The Town of Victor contains a village, ...

, later cut back to

Shortsville, New York Shortsville, officially the Village of Shortsville, is a village in Ontario County, New York, United States. The population was 1,439 at the time of the 2010 U.S. Census. Shortsville encompasses the southwestern part of the Town of Manchester and ...

to Victor, remained with the Lehigh Valley Estate under subsidized Conrail operation. The Shortsville to Victor segment became the Ontario Central Railroad in 1979 (the Ontario Central became part of the

Finger Lakes Railway The Finger Lakes Railway is a Class III railroad in the Finger Lakes region of New York. The company began operations on July 23, 1995, and operates in Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Ontario, Schuyler and Yates counties. The FGLK operates 18 diesel l ...

in October 2007). Other remaining track left over from the LV was sold to shortline or regional railroads other than Ontario Central Railroad such as the Finger Lakes Railway, the Depew, Lancaster and Western Railroad which is owned by the

Genesee Valley Transportation Company The Genesee Valley Transportation Company (GVT Rail), based in Batavia, New York, is a holding company for several short-line railroads located in New York and Pennsylvania. Founded by Jeffrey Baxter, Charles Riedmiller, John Herbrand, Michael Th ...

, the

Livonia, Avon and Lakeville Railroad The Livonia, Avon and Lakeville Railroad is a short line railroad that operates in Livingston County and Monroe County in New York, United States. The railroad interchanges with CSX at Genesee Junction in Chili, New York, the Rochester and Sou ...

, the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway, and finally the

Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad The Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad , sometimes shortened to Reading and Northern Railroad, is a regional railroad in eastern Pennsylvania. Its headquarters is in Port Clinton. The RBMN provides freight service on of track. Its mainl ...

. Conrail was incorporated in Pennsylvania by the

U.S. Federal government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fed ...

on October 25, 1974, and began operations on April 1, 1976. The U.S. government created Conrail to take over the potentially profitable lines of multiple

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

railroads, of which the LV was one. Other bankrupt railroads included the

Penn Central Transportation Company 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 th ...

and

. Conrail maintained the Lehigh Valley Mainline as a primary main line and the line continued to thrive under its ownership, unlike many lines in the northeast, which were abandoned. The line served as one of Conrail's primary lines headed into the New York City metro area, just like when the line was owned by the Lehigh Valley Railroad. The line was important to Conrail as an alternate route to avoid

's Northeast Corridor, its main line and main electrified route. Conrail's other primary line headed into the New York City metro area was the River Subdivision which travels from the

North Bergen Yard The North Bergen Yard is freight rail yard and intermodal terminal in North Bergen, New Jersey parallel to Tonnelle Avenue between 49th and 69th Streets. Located within the North Jersey Shared Assets Area, the facility is part of CSX Transportatio ...

located in

North Bergen, New Jersey North Bergen is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township had a total population of 63,361. The township was founded in 1843. It was much diminished in territory by ...

Selkirk Yard Selkirk Yard is a large freight railroad yard located in Selkirk, New York, about south of Albany. The yard is owned by CSX Transportation and is its major classification yard for the northeastern United States and the gateway to points east ...

located in the Selkirk section of Bethlehem, New York; the River Subdivision is now owned by CSX Transportation, a railroad that is owned by the

CSX Corporation CSX Corporation is an American holding company focused on rail transportation and real estate in North America, among other industries. The company was established in 1980 as part of the Chessie System and Seaboard Coast Line Industries merger. ...

. Also during the Conrail ownership, the line met with Conrail's secondary line headed into New York City metro area in Manville, New Jersey, the Trenton Subdivision which travels from

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 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 ...

to Manville; the Trenton Subdivision is now owned by CSX Transportation.

1976–1987

The line was renamed from Lehigh Valley Mainline to Lehigh Line during the Conrail ownership. With the line now known as the "Lehigh Line", Conrail maintained the most of the line's original route ever since the line opened on June 11, 1855. Only a small portion of the line's original right of way was not retained as part of the line's original route, between Bethlehem and Allentown. The line retains the majority of its original right of way, which is between Easton and Bethlehem. Conrail integrated the Bethlehem and Allentown segment of the main line, part of the former

(CNJ) Pennsylvania leased trackage that was formerly owned by the

(LH&S). The LV had acquired the lease from the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad in 1972. The line's original route's new right of way is now former Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad-owned Central Railroad of New Jersey Pennsylvania leased main line trackage between Allentown and Bethlehem, with a bridge over the Lehigh River to the Bethlehem to Easton part of the original right of way. The Lehigh Line kept the original right of way between Bethlehem and Easton. The original route's new right of way has kept the Lehigh Line in continuous operation since 1855 and kept the line's original route still in operation. The Lehigh Line was allowed to continue as the same rail line that was built and opened on June 11, 1855, by the Lehigh Valley Railroad. After the reconfiguration of the Lehigh Line's original route by having the Lehigh Valley Railroad- built tracks between Bethlehem to Allentown break away from the line's original route, and replacing them with the Central Railroad of New Jersey-built tracks, the Lehigh Valley Railroad-built tracks from Bethlehem to Allentown that used to be part of the Lehigh Line's original right of way were either transferred to the ex-

's Reading Line, which was also inherited by Conrail, or were left out of the Reading Line transfer and became their own separate rail lines. The Lehigh Valley Railroad-built tracks from Bethlehem to Allentown that became their own separate rail lines were downgraded to branch lines; these rail lines are now owned by R.J. Corman Railroad/Allentown Lines company which is a subsidiary of

R.J. Corman Railroad Group R. J. Corman Railroad Group, LLC is a privately owned railroad services and short line operating company headquartered in Nicholasville, KY, with field locations in 22 states. It was owned by Richard J. Corman, who established the company in ...

. With Conrail integrating the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad's Bethlehem and Allentown segment of the main line part of the former Central Railroad of New Jersey Pennsylvania leased trackage into the Lehigh Line's original route, while allowing the Lehigh Line to keep the majority of its original right of way between Bethlehem and Allentown and transferring most of the Lehigh Line's original right of way between Allentown and Bethlehem to the Reading Line, Conrail also integrated former Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad-owned Central Railroad of New Jersey Pennsylvania leased main line trackage between Allentown and

Lehighton, Pennsylvania Lehighton () is a borough in Carbon County, Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Lehighton is located northwest of Allentown and northwest of Philadelphia. Due in part to water power from the Lehigh River, Lehighton was an ...

into the Lehigh Line's route from Allentown to Jim Thorpe. This allowed the line to keep its Allentown and Lehighton route and also continue to Jim Thorpe. The line's old right of way between Allentown and Lehighton was then separated from the Lehigh Line.

=Background

= Conrail was able to integrate the former

-owned

Pennsylvania leased main line trackage from Allentown and Bethlehem and from Allentown and Lehighton (which served as most of the Pennsylvania extension of the Central Railroad of New Jersey) into the Lehigh Line because Conrail also acquired and absorbed the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad in 1976 along with the Lehigh Valley Railroad. The Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad was the railroad company for the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company (LC&N), which founded the

Lehigh Canal The Lehigh Canal, or the Lehigh Navigation Canal, is a navigable canal that begins at the mouth of Nesquehoning Creek on the Lehigh River in eastern Pennsylvania. It was built in two sections over a span of twenty years, beginning in 1818. The low ...

. The Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad opened as the nation's second railroad, with its initial trackage built from near its

Delaware Canal The Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal, more commonly called the Delaware Canal, runs for parallel to the right bank of the Delaware River from the entry locks near the mouth of the Lehigh River and terminal end of the Lehigh Canal at ...

connection with the Lehigh Canal at

alongside the Lehigh to their Mauch Chunk corporate headquarters, the

Mauch Chunk & Summit Hill Railway The Mauch Chunk and Summit Railroad was a coal-hauling railroad in the mountains of Pennsylvania that operated between 1828 and 1932. It was the first operational railway, in the United States, of any substantial length to carry paying passenger ...

and their Coaling and Canal operations center (now the west bank part of modern

Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania Jim Thorpe is a borough and the county seat of Carbon County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. It is historically known as the burial site of Native American sports legend Jim Thorpe. Jim Thorpe is l ...

). The Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad also started slowly building a connecting line southwards from

West Pittston, Pennsylvania West Pittston is a borough in the Greater Pittston area of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located on the Susquehanna River (opposite of Pittston City). In 2020, the population was 4,644. The town once produced mine screens, g ...

and the Duryea yard at the confluence of the Lackawanna and Susquehanna in the greater Wilkes-Barre—Scranton area (the

) over the ridges to

at the head of the Lehigh Gorge. When Lehigh Valley Railroad pushed into the

through (left bank) East Mauch Chunk and (right bank, shared with the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad) Packerton, Pennsylvania, the LC&N management suddenly got motivated to have the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad finish the connecting line through the Lehigh River Gorge. The LV completed its parallel stretch in the same period, creating media competition news stories. Despite their experience with the

gravity railroad A gravity railroad (American English) or gravity railway (British English) is a railroad on a slope that allows cars carrying minerals or passengers to coast down the slope by the force of gravity alone. The speed of the cars is controlled by a bra ...

, LC&N management knew they had much to learn about operating the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad, so looked for an operating company to partner with to operate the line; subsequently, as was common practice for nearly a century with many of the nation's

shortline railroad :''Short Line is also one of the four railroads in the American version of the popular board game Monopoly, named after the Shore Fast Line, an interurban streetcar line.'' A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that opera ...

s which were built primarily by local business boosters, it was leased to the Central Railroad of New Jersey in 1871 for 999 years, which operated it as their Lehigh and Susquehanna Division. In the ensuing years, the Central Railroad of New Jersey would run a prestige express passenger service from

and Easton (

connection) to

and points west (

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lak ...

region) where it competed with the Lehigh Valley Railroad head to head, with parallel tracks sometimes on the same bank or often on the opposite shore of the Susquehanna River. The Central Railroad of New Jersey leased the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad directly from 1871 to 1946; then indirectly using its subsidiary Central Railroad of Pennsylvania (CRP) from 1946 to 1952. The Central Railroad of New Jersey tried to operate its lease from the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad under their subsidiary Central Railroad of Pennsylvania from 1946 to 1952 (not related to the original Central Railroad of Pennsylvania that ran between Bellefonte and Mill Hall). The Central Railroad of New Jersey used the Central Railroad of Pennsylvania to avoid certain

tax A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...

es on its

lines. The Easton and Western Railroad, a short branch west of

, was renamed to the Central Railroad of Pennsylvania in 1944 and all Pennsylvania leases, primarily the lease to operate on the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad, were transferred to it in 1946. The Central Railroad of Pennsylvania began operations on August 5, 1946. Around the same time, the CNJ logo was changed from "Central Railroad Company of New Jersey" to "Jersey Central Lines". The attempt by the Central Railroad of New Jersey to

reduce Reduction, reduced, or reduce may refer to: Science and technology Chemistry * Reduction (chemistry), part of a reduction-oxidation (redox) reaction in which atoms have their oxidation state changed. ** Organic redox reaction, a redox react ...

New Jersey corporate taxes failed; the arrangement was struck down by the courts, so the Central Railroad of Pennsylvania operations were merged back into the Central Railroad of New Jersey six years later, in 1952. In 1972, the Central Railroad of New Jersey ended its leases on the Pennsylvania lines and abandoned its Pennsylvania operations. The leases to the Pennsylvania lines were then operated by the Lehigh Valley Railroad.

1976–1987

With Conrail integrating former Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad-owned Central Railroad of New Jersey Pennsylvania leased main line trackage into both the Lehigh Line's original route and into the Lehigh Line's route between Allentown and Lehighton, Conrail also integrated other Central Railroad of New Jersey trackage (this time officially owned by the Central Railroad of New Jersey itself) around Phillipsburg into the line while keeping the LV trackage in Phillipsburg with the line as well, thus keeping both the line's LV trackage in Phillipsburg and the line's new CNJ trackage in Phillipsburg in service at the same time. This lasted until the mid to late 1980s, when Conrail decided to abandon the line's LV trackage in Phillipsburg. Conrail added a switch track on the Lehigh Line in Phillipsburg that connected the line's LV Phillipsburg trackage with the line's new ex-CNJ Phillipsburg trackage. Conrail abandoned the leftover ex-CNJ Phillipsburg trackage that was not integrated into the Lehigh Line, which included abandoning other ex-CNJ trackage toward

Bloomsbury, New Jersey Bloomsbury is a borough in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the borough's population was 870,New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

relatively soon after its 1976 acquisition, initially all the way East and south from Buffalo to Sayre Yard in

, with a few miles of former trackage sold to regional and shortline railroads in New York State. The Lehigh Line ran from Sayre to

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Mehoopany, Pennsylvania and ceased operations from Sayre to Mehoopany, which tracks became a new rail line called the Lehigh Secondary that was later leased to a short line operator. The Lehigh Line was reduced for one last time under Conrail in 1993 to its current west end point at

Penn Haven Junction Penn may refer to: Places England * Penn, Buckinghamshire * Penn, West Midlands United States * Penn, North Dakota * Penn, Oregon * Pennsylvania ** Penn, Pennsylvania * Penn Lake Park, Pennsylvania * Penn Township (disambiguation), several muni ...

(also known as Old Penn Haven or M&H Junction) in

Lehigh Township, Carbon County, Pennsylvania Lehigh Township is a township in Carbon County, Pennsylvania, Carbon County, Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The population was 479 at the 2010 census. Geography The township is located in north-central Carbon County and i ...

. The tracks past Penn Haven Junction became a new rail line called the

Lehigh Division Lehigh may refer to: Places United States *Lehigh, Iowa *Lehigh, Kansas * Lehigh, Oklahoma *Lehigh, Barbour County, West Virginia *Lehigh, Wisconsin *Lehigh Acres, Florida * Lehigh Township (disambiguation) *Lehigh Valley, a region in eastern Pen ...

. The Lehigh Division inherited the following Lehigh Line trackage: *Lehigh Line original trackage between Penn Haven Junction and

*Lehigh Line Mountain Cutoff trackage between Laurel Run, Pennsylvania to

Duryea, Pennsylvania Duryea is a borough in the Greater Pittston area of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States, south of Scranton. The Susquehanna River marks Duryea's western boundary, and the Lackawanna River flows through Duryea. It was incorporated as a boro ...

*Lehigh Line original trackage between Duryea and Mehoopany, Pennsylvania *Lehigh Line

main line trackage between White Haven to Laurel Run *Lehigh Line right track from Penn Haven Junction to Lehighton to

Despite the Lehigh Line's end point at Penn Haven Junction, the Lehigh Line's right track from Penn Haven Junction to Lehighton became part of the Lehigh Division; the Lehigh Division's starting point is Lehighton and not Penn Haven Junction and both the Lehigh Line and the Lehigh Division now share the same right of way from Penn Haven Junction to Lehighton. The Lehigh Division was operated as a major freight low grade rail line and continued as part of Conrail until 1996. The Lehigh Line's route is now from Penn Haven Junction in Lehigh Township to Oak Island Yard in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Easton, Pennsylvania Easton is a city in, and the county seat of, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city's population was 28,127 as of the 2020 census. Easton is located at the confluence of the Lehigh River, a river that joins the Delaware R ...

to Allentown, Pennsylvania. Conrail sold the three-year-old Lehigh Division to the Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad (RBMN) in 1996. During the 2000s, the Reading Blue Mountain and Northern would later decrease the Lehigh Division from Mehoopany to Dupont, Pennsylvania and the tracks from Dupont to Mehoopany were separated from the Lehigh Division and became a new rail line called the Susquehanna Branch; the Susquehanna Branch inherited original Lehigh Division trackage from Dupont to Mehoopany which is also Lehigh Line original trackage and Lehigh Line Mountain Cutoff trackage. Both the Lehigh Division and the Susquehanna Branch are still in operation and are still owned by Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad; the Lehigh Division is today one of the two primary main branch lines of the Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad; the other is the Reading Division. The Lehigh Division doesn't connect with the Reading Division, but Reading Blue Mountain and Northern combined operations for both the Lehigh Division and the Reading Division, including a

Nesquehoning Junction connector track and the Susquehanna Branch's Dupont to Duryea Yard (near

) trackage (once part of the Lehigh Division) is labeled "Reading Blue Mountain and Northern main line". Today the Norfolk Southern Railway (the current owner of the Lehigh Line) still has

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 ...

south of Dupont, Pennsylvania on the Lehigh Division. Conrail's success was increasing but, in 1997, Conrail was approached by CSX Transportation as a merger partner. However, the Norfolk Southern Railway and its parent the

Norfolk Southern Corporation The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31, ...

disagreed with such a merger and began an epic takeover battle with CSX to purchase Conrail. During the Conrail takeover battle, the Norfolk Southern Railway completed the absorption of the Norfolk and Western Railway which was also owned by the Norfolk Southern Corporation. Norfolk Southern and CSX finally struck a

compromise To compromise is to make a deal between different parties where each party gives up part of their demand. In arguments, compromise is a concept of finding agreement through communication, through a mutual acceptance of terms—often involving va ...

and agreed to jointly acquire Conrail and split most of its system and assets between them, with Norfolk Southern acquiring a larger portion of the Conrail network via a larger stock buyout; this returned rail freight competition to the Northeast, and was essentially mandated by the Federal STB. Under the final agreement approved by the Surface Transportation Board, Norfolk Southern acquired 58 percent of Conrail's assets, including roughly 6,000 Conrail route miles which included the Lehigh Line, and CSX received 42 percent of Conrail's assets, including about 3,600 route miles. The buyout was approved by the Surface Transportation Board and both sides took control of Conrail on August 22, 1998; it would take almost a year for both sides to operate their portions that formerly belonged to Conrail after that. The lines were transferred to two newly formed

limited liability companies A limited liability company (LLC for short) is the US-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of a ...

, to be subsidiaries of Conrail but leased to CSX and Norfolk Southern, respectively New York Central Lines (NYC) and

Pennsylvania Lines {{For, the former company, Pennsylvania Railroad Pennsylvania Lines LLC was a limited liability company that owned railroad lines in the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. o ...

(PRR). The NYC and PRR

reporting mark A reporting mark is a code used to identify owners or lessees of rolling stock and other equipment used on certain rail transport networks. The code typically reflects the name or identifying number of the owner, lessee, or operator of the equip ...

s, which had passed to Conrail, were also transferred to the new companies, and NS also acquired the CR reporting mark. Conrail ended operations on May 31, 1999, and its lines were finally split between the two remaining Class I railroads in the

East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

: Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX Transportation. Both railroads under Norfolk Southern and CSX began operations on the former lines of Conrail on June 1, 1999; the Lehigh Line went to Norfolk Southern Railway. The Norfolk Southern Railway also acquired the Lehigh Secondary which was once part of the Lehigh Line.

Norfolk Southern Railway ownership

1999

On June 1, 1999, Conrail ended operations and its lines were split between Norfolk Southern Railway (which is owned and operated by the

) and CSX Transportation (which is owned and operated by the

). The Norfolk Southern Railway, which was chartered in 1894 as the Southern Railway in the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

, acquired the Lehigh Line in the Conrail split. With Norfolk Southern acquiring the line, the Lehigh Line wasn't eligible to keep all of its current route and lost its route from CP Port Reading in Manville, New Jersey to the Oak Island Yard in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.new rail line that serves as an extension of the Lehigh Line (while not being a continuation of the Lehigh Line into Oak Island Yard) that is owned and operated by both Norfolk Southern and CSX under a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and economic risk, risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four rea ...

called

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 ...

; the joint venture serves as a

switching and terminal railroad A switching and terminal railroad is a freight railroad company whose primary purpose is to perform local switching services or to own and operate a terminal facility. Switching is a type of operation done within the limits of a yard. It genera ...

for Norfolk Southern and CSX in

, and

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

. Norfolk Southern owns 58 percent of the joint venture and CSX owns 42 percent of the joint venture, but both Norfolk Southern and CSX has equal voting interest in the joint venture. Conrail Shared Assets Operations was a concession made to federal regulators who were concerned about the lack of competition in certain rail markets and logistical problems associated with the breaking-up of the Conrail operations as they existed in densely populated areas with many local customers. The new rail line that is placed under the joint venture shares the "Lehigh Line" name. The new rail line that was once part of the Lehigh Line which handles Norfolk Southern freights off the Lehigh Line also handles traffic off the Trenton Subdivision, CSX's secondary line into the New York City metro area (the River Subdivision is CSX's primary line into the New York City metro area). With the line losing its route from Manville to Oak Island, the line's new route is now from

to Port Reading Junction in Manville, New Jersey. The line was able to continue as the original line and not as a new rail line despite losing its tracks from Manville to Oak Island Yard, with those existing tracks becoming a new rail line sharing the "Lehigh Line" name because the line kept its original route between

and Allentown, Pennsylvania. The Norfolk Southern Railway continued to improve the Lehigh Line into the 21st century.

2000–Present

Norfolk Southern purchased the former Delaware and Hudson line from Schenectady, NY to Sunbury, PA from Canadian Pacific in 2014. Before that, it had acquired trackage rights over the D&H in New York and Pennsylvania from CP to access its own Lehigh Line. The Lehigh Line was double tracked near

Flemington, New Jersey Flemington is a borough in and the county seat of Hunterdon County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Hunterdon County Hunterdon County is a county located in the western section of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population was 128,947, making it the state's 18th-most populous county,Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

has expressed interest on bringing passenger service back to the

with service extending to all three cities - Easton, Bethlehem and Allentown. If approved by Norfolk Southern Railway, the Lehigh Line would once again host passenger rail service for the first time since 1961. However,

NJ 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 ...

Raritan Valley Line The Raritan Valley Line is a commuter rail service operated by New Jersey Transit (NJT) which serves passengers in municipalities in Union, Somerset, and Hunterdon counties in the Raritan Valley region in central New Jersey, United States. ...

is the suspected passenger train service to run its trains on the Lehigh Line.

Operations

Background

The Lehigh Line is a major

freight Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including tran ...

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

line that operates in

and

that is owned and operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway Company, an

Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Class 1 railroad In the United States, railroad carriers are designated as Class I, II, or III, according to annual revenue criteria originally set by the Surface Transportation Board in 1992. With annual adjustments for inflation, the 2019 thresholds were US$5 ...

and primary subsidiary to the

. The line runs from Port Reading Junction in Manville, New Jersey to

.http://www.parailfan.com/NS/ns_lehigh_line_ett.pdf The line began operations at

to Allentown, Pennsylvania on June 11, 1855. The line then branched out past Allentown to the Northwest and past Easton to the East reaching towns and cities such as

, the

area,

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Jersey City, New Jersey. The line hosts approximately twenty-five trains per day, with traffic peaking at the end of the week. East of the junction with the Reading Line in Allentown, Pennsylvania and in

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton and Lehigh Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bethlehem had a total population of 75,781. Of this, 55,639 were in Northampton County and 19, ...

, the line serves as Norfolk Southern's main corridor in and out of the

, and the New York City Metro Area at large, as Norfolk Southern doesn't currently use the eastern half of their

Southern Tier Line The Southern Tier Line is a railroad line owned and operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway in the U.S. states of New York and Pennsylvania. A mostly former Erie Railroad line, it is suggested that the line runs from Suffern, New York northwest ...

, which follows the Delaware River north to Binghamton, New York. The line is part of Norfolk Southern's Harrisburg Division and it is part Norfolk Southern's Crescent Corridor, a railroad corridor. The line passes through the approximately 5,000 foot Pattenburg Tunnel in West Portal, New Jersey along its route. Most of the traffic along the line consists of intermodal and general merchandise trains going to yards such as Oak Island Yard in

Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succe ...

corporation which is now

Wind Creek Bethlehem The Wind Creek Bethlehem (formerly Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem) is a casino hotel located in the Bethlehem Works development site in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. It is owned and operated by Wind ...

casino.

Connections

The line connects with

's Lehigh Line and CSX Transportation's Trenton Subdivision at its east end point at Port Reading Junction in Manville, New Jersey and connects with the

's Reading Division at Packerton, Pennsylvania and Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad's

and

(originally it was only Penn Haven Junction in Lehigh Township). The Lehigh Line makes notable connections with other Norfolk Southern lines such as the Reading Line and independent shortline railroads. At Three Bridges, New Jersey in Readington Township, the line interchanges with

Black River and Western Railroad The Black River and Western Railroad is a freight and heritage railroad operating in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, between Flemington, Lambertville and Ringoes. The railroad operates vintage steam and diesel powered locomotives. Histo ...

. At

, near the former Phillipsburg Union Station, the line interchanges with its New Jersey side branch line, the Washington Secondary and the Belvidere and Delaware River Railway which also passes over the Belvidere and Delaware River after that. Across the river in

, the line interchanges with its Pennsylvania side branch line, the Portland Secondary which extends from Easton to

Portland, Pennsylvania Portland is a borough in Northampton County, Pennsylvania. The population of Portland was 494 at the 2020 census. Portland is part of the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area, which had a population of 861,899 and was thus the 68th most populous metrop ...

connecting to the Stroudsburg Secondary which was originally part of the

Lackawanna Old Road The Lackawanna Old Road was part of the original mainline of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad (DL&W). Opened in 1856, it was for a half-century a part of the line connecting the states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In 1911, the DL&W ...

(or simply Old Road); the Stroudsburg Secondary goes under the Lackawanna Cut-Off and Norfolk Southern uses the Stroudsburg Secondary to interchange with the

Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad The Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad is a shortline railroad operating in Northeastern Pennsylvania, especially the Scranton area. DL began service in August 1993 and is the designated operator for of trackage in Lackawanna, Wayne, Northampton, ...

Passenger services

1901 - Allentown Terminal Railroad Station

The Lehigh Line hosted several named passenger trains that was operated by its parent the

(LV) mostly in the post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

era when the line was known as the Lehigh Valley Mainline, most notably the Black Diamond.

(CNJ) passenger trains did travel on the former

owned trackage segments that were integrated into the Lehigh Line during the Conrail ownership. Allentown, Pennsylvania was once a passenger rail hub (1890 to 1967 and 1978 to 1979) for the Lehigh Valley Railroad and the Central Railroad of New Jersey but also for the Lehigh and New England Railroad, the

, the

Lehigh Valley Transit Company The Lehigh Valley Transit Company (LVT) was a regional transport company, headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania, that began operations in 1901 as an urban trolley and interurban rail transport company. It operated successfully into the 1930s, ...

and later, Conrail and

SEPTA The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly 4 million people in five c ...

for its

Bethlehem Line The Bethlehem Line was a SEPTA Regional Rail service on the former Reading Company Bethlehem Branch between Lansdale and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Some trains continued over the electrified Lansdale/Doylestown Line to the Reading Terminal in Phil ...

service which did not involve the Lehigh Line. Allentown's passenger railroad stations provided

inter-city rail Inter-city rail services are express passenger train services that run services that connect cities over longer distances than commuter or regional trains. There is no precise definition of inter-city rail; its meaning may vary from country ...

service to Allentown.Hellerich, Mahlon H, and Pennsylvania) Lehigh County Historical Society Allentown. Allentown, 1762-1987 : a 225-year history. Allentown, Pennsylvania: Lehigh County Historical Society, 1987 Allentown's Allentown was served by two passenger train stations, the Central Railroad of New Jersey and the Reading Company Allentown Terminal Railroad Station (constructed in 1888 and 1889) and the Lehigh Valley Railroad Station (built in 1889 directly west of the CNJ station). Both stations were located on the south side of the 300 block of Hamilton Street, the LV station extending over the Jordan Creek. The Allentown Terminal Station was operated jointly by the Central Railroad of New Jersey and Philadelphia and Reading (Reading) Railroad. The Central Railroad of New Jersey and the Reading Railroad leased each other's lines in Pennsylvania. Routes from Allentown served

and

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 U.S. census, Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Wyoming V ...

to the north,

and

Williamsport, Pennsylvania Williamsport is a city in, and the county seat of, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, United States. It recorded a population of 27,754 at the 2020 Census. It is the principal city of the Williamsport Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a popul ...

to the northwest, Reading, Pennsylvania and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to the west, Jersey City, New Jersey and

to the east, and

to the south. Allentown currently has no passenger rail service (the last service by SEPTA ceased operating in 1979) but one of its two main train stations remains standing. There is a possibility for passenger rail service to connect the Lehigh Valley area with New York City to eliminate some of the bus traffic. This is being investigated because rail lines already are in place in

, when the town once had rail service. The cost to run new tracks to Allentown is being evaluated to find if train service is worth the money. Allentown is a regional center for commercial freight rail traffic. Currently, Norfolk Southern Railway's primary hump classification yards are located in Allentown, and the city is also served by the

Lehigh Valley Railroad passenger service

The

was the primary railroad that operated passenger services on the Lehigh Line. During the first half of the 19th century, Allentown was primarily a small market town for farmers. It was not until 1851 that the first railroad reached Allentown with the chartering of the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railroad, which later became the Lehigh Valley Railroad. A small station was built in 1855 (the year the LV began operations) which linked the city with

and later on

. However, the railroad was not a major factor in local transportation at this time.Allentown Pennsylvania Bicentennial, Lehigh Country Sesquicentennial, Lehigh Country Historical Society, 1962. The primary passenger motive power for the LV in the diesel era was the

ALCO PA-1 The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer of locomotives, diesel generators, steel, and tanks that operated from 1901 to 1969. The company was formed by the merger of seven smaller locomo ...

car body diesel-electric locomotive, of which the LV had fourteen. These locomotives were also used in freight service during and after the era of LV passenger service. A pair of ALCO FA-2 FB-2 car body diesel-electric locomotives were also purchased to augment the PAs when necessary. These were FAs with steam generators, but they were not designated as FPA-2 units. The Lehigh Valley Railroad had its peak of passengers during the 1940s, however during the 1950s, the number of railroad passengers declined drastically which caused the Lehigh Valley Railroad to terminate all of its passenger service which happened on February 4, 1961. Budd Rail Diesel Car service would continue on a branch line (Lehighton-Hazleton) for an additional four days. The majority of passenger equipment is believed to have been scrapped some time after February 1961. Most serviceable equipment not retained for company service was sold to other roads.

Industrial Era passenger services

It was in the late 1880s that both railroads built elaborate stations in Allentown, and all the rail lines serving Allentown converged at the two stations. The LV rail lines ran from Allentown to Mauch Chunk, primarily along the west side of the Lehigh River. The lines crossed under the Tilghman Street Bridge past the LV Freight yard north of Walnut Street, then under Linden Street to the passenger station. The lines continued south out of Allentown, then turned east, following the west side of the river through Rittersville, Fountain Hill and South Bethlehem under the Hill to Hill Bridge, past

.Guidebook of the Lehigh Valley Railroad
/ref> The CNJ tracks ran along the east side of the Lehigh from Mauch Chunk, then crossed the river where American Parkway now ends and turns onto North Dauphin Street. The old CNJ crossover bridge remains standing derelict crossing the river. South of Allentown, the CNJ line turned east and again crossed the Lehigh River, following the west side through the CNJ's Allentown yard, which is still operated by Norfolk Southern Railway. Both railroads' lines into Allentown were double-tracked, paralleling each other into their respective stations following American Parkway, which was later built on the abandoned railbed. A shared, separate double-tracked freight line ran to the east of the passenger stations.
/ref> During

, both stations were used by the

United States Army Ambulance Service The United States Army Ambulance Service (USAAS) was a unit of the United States Army during World War I. It was established by General Order No. 75 of the War Department in May 1917. It primarily provided medical services to the French, Britis ...

(USAAS) that operated

Camp Crane Camp Crane was a World War I United States Army Ambulance Service (USAAS) training camp, located in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Its mission was to train ambulance drivers to evacuate casualties on the Western Front in France. It was named for Brigad ...

, a training camp for Army Ambulance drivers and support personnel. Thousands of soldiers arrived in Allentown at the stations, then were transported to the training camp. After graduating from training, the stations became pre-embarkation point, with thousands of men moving in and out rapidly, usually arriving and leaving on trains in the middle of the night. The Allentown stations provided passenger rail service for decades to

Scranton Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 U.S. census, Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Wyoming V ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...

and other points along the nation's inter-city rail network.

End of service

The Lehigh Valley Railroad's passenger service in the 1950s declined drastically due to the number of declining patronage as the Interstate Highway network grew and long-distance bus and airline service expanded. Due to declining passenger patronage which caused the LV's passenger service to become unprofitable, the Lehigh Valley Railroad successfully petitioned the Interstate Commerce Commission to terminate all of its passenger service in early 1961. This took effect on February 4, 1961, as the LV ended service to Allentown, Pennsylvania on this date. All Aboard to Allentown – The Lehigh Valley’s Abandoned Railroad Stations
/ref> Budd Rail Diesel Car service would continue on a branch line (Lehighton-Hazleton) for an additional four days. Central Railroad of New Jersey and the Reading Railroad suffered the same fate in terms of reduced passenger ridership. Reading Railroad Allentown-Harrisburg passenger service was ended in June 1963, and it combined its Allentown service to

Reading Terminal The Reading Terminal ( ) is a complex of buildings that includes the former Reading Company main station located in the Market East section of Center City in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It comprises the Reading Terminal Headho ...

in Philadelphia with the Central Railroad of New Jersey in 1965. It continued operations to Jersey City, New Jersey for two more years before ending all passenger service from Allentown in 1967. After the end of passenger rail service to Allentown, both the Lehigh Valley and Jersey Central stations were closed and abandoned. Both stations became derelict and the Lehigh Valley station was demolished in 1972 with the widening of the Hamilton Street Bridge over Jordan Creek. Today only some rusting steel beams extending over the Creek remain. The CNJ rail lines were torn up and Hamilton Street was resurfaced over where the lines had run. The CNJ station remained derelict until 1980 when the property was purchased and the building was restored into a restaurant. The renovated property went through several owners (Depot Restaurant, Gingerbread Man, B&G Station, Jillian's Billiard Cafe) over the next two decades, lastly being called Banana Joe's which opened on Labor Day, 2001. The property abruptly closed in September 2007 after a shooting which caused a dramatic drop-off in patrons. It has remained closed and vacant since then (February 2016); the building slowly deteriorating.

SEPTA

CNJ, LV and the RDG were merged into Conrail in April 1976, and in 1978, the

Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly 4 million people in five coun ...

(SEPTA) reestablished passenger service between Allentown and Philadelphia under Conrail using former LV rails. Because there was no longer a station, SEPTA riders had to utilize a makeshift platform located one block south of the former train station at a gravel lot at Third and Union Streets. The service was popular with riders, However, it ended as rapidly as it began in 1979 due to poor trackage and loss of the operating subsidy from

PennDOT The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) oversees transportation issues in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The administrator of PennDOT is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, currently Yassmin Gramian. Presently, P ...

. For commuters traveling from Allentown/Bethlehem and Philadelphia, it had proved faster to drive to the village of Center Valley instead and board trains there.

Possible return of passenger service

In November 2008, the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC), along with both Lehigh County and Northampton County, Pennsylvania commissioned a study to explore restoring part of the '' Black Diamond'' service, which ran until 1961 by extending the

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 ...

."County eyes N.J. rail extension to area," ''The Morning Call'', November 7, 2008.
/ref> In 2010, a commissioned report studied the extension of passenger train service from

into Pennsylvania with stations in Easton,

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...

, and Allentown. The

area has experienced considerable growth over the past several decades, and a large number of commuters use intercity bus service to commute to New York City daily. The proposed rail route would use the Lehigh Line in Easton and Bethlehem and the RJ Corman right-of-way (Lehighton Industrial Track) in Allentown.Central New Jersey Raritan Valley Transit Study Pennsylvania Component
The proposed Allentown Station would be located between Hamilton Street and Union Street with access from Third Street. Parking would be available at the Allentown Bus Terminal or a new parking facility at the station site. LANTA A and E bus lines would serve this station. Today the only rail service now operating into downtown Allentown is a single-track short haul line that runs on the old LV tracks, terminating at American Parkway and Gordon Streets. A heavily used

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31, ...

Reading Line line remains, running through south Allentown and including a major freight yard.The Union Street Train Tower
/ref>

Lehigh Valley Railroad passenger trains

The completed list of

named passenger trains that operated on the Lehigh Line: * LV- No. 11 ''The Star'' * LV- No. 4 ''The Major'' * LV- No. 7/8 ''The Maple Leaf'' * LV- No. 9/10 '' The Black Diamond'' * LV- No. 23/24 ''The Lehighton Express'' * LV- No. 25/26 ''The Asa Packer'', named for the LVRR's best-known president * LV- No. 28/29 ''The John Wilkes''

Central Railroad of New Jersey passenger trains

The completed list of

named passenger trains that operated on the Lehigh Line: * CNJ- ''Bullet'': Jersey City-

via Allentown, Pennsylvania * CNJ- ''Mermaid'': Sandy Hook, New Jersey-Scranton, Pennsylvania

Locations of all known Lehigh Line passenger and freight stations in Allentown

Lehigh Valley Railroad stations (former right of way in Allentown) * : Original LVRR passenger station : : Original LVRR freight station : The LVRR initially located its facilities on the south side of Union Street in 1855. After the large 1890 station opened, the old Union Street station was used as a freight station for several years. It was closed by the end of World War I. * : LVRR freight Station * : There was a small LVRR passenger station on the south side of West Gordon Street between North Jordan Street and the bridge over Jordan Creek. It was closed by the end of World War I. Central Railroad of New Jersey stations (current right of way in Allentown) * : Original CRRNJ passenger station in East Allentown. : : Original CRRNJ freight station in East Allentown. : The CRRNJ initially located its facilities at the corner of Lehigh (now East Hamilton) and Front Street (now Albert Street) in East Allentown about 1880. The freight station was still in operation as of 1911, but were closed before World War I.Lehigh Country Railroad Station Database
/ref> * : The CRRNJ and Reading Railroads operated a freight station on the SE corner of Race and Linden Streets. * : The CRRNJ operated a small passenger station on the south side of West Gordon Street on the east side of the tracks (what is now American Parkway). It was closed before World War I.

Name

The Lehigh Line is the official name of the Norfolk Southern Railway rail line that runs from Manville, New Jersey to

. The Lehigh Line was once known as Lehigh Valley Mainline and it was sometimes pronounced as either Lehigh Valley Main Line, Lehigh Valley mainline or Lehigh Valley main line. The Lehigh Line shares the name with the

's Lehigh Line, which was originally part of the Lehigh Line. The Lehigh Line is also known as NS Lehigh Line or Norfolk Southern Lehigh Line to distinguish itself from the Conrail Shared Assets Operations's Lehigh Line. In turn, the Conrail Shared Assets Operations's Lehigh Line is referred to as Conrail Lehigh Line or CSAO Lehigh Line to distinguish itself from the Lehigh Line. The Lehigh Line is referred to as the original line and the Conrail Shared Assets Operations's Lehigh Line is referred to as a new rail line. The Lehigh Line has been mistakenly referred to as Lehigh Valley Line in press releases.

Gallery

File:NS Hunterdon Clinton Twp 1.png, Norfolk Southern eastbound train passing through

Clinton Township, New Jersey Clinton Township is a township in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. The township is in the Raritan Valley region and is located in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 13 ...

on the Lehigh Line, Picture 1 File:NS Hunterdon Clinton Twp 2.png, Norfolk Southern eastbound train passing through

on the Lehigh Line, Picture 2 File:Norfolk Southern eastbound train passing through a crossing at Three Bridges, Readington Township, New Jersey on the Lehigh Line.png, Norfolk Southern eastbound train passing through Three Bridges,

Readington Township, New Jersey Readington Township is a township located in the easternmost portion of Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 16,126, reflecting an increase of 323 (+2.0%) from the 15,803 ...

on the Lehigh Line, Picture 1. A BNSF GEVO can be seen trailing NS 9594. File:Norfolk Southern eastbound train passing through a crossing at Three Bridges, Readington Township, New Jersey on the Lehigh Line, dual stacked containers.png, Norfolk Southern eastbound train passing through Three Bridges,

on the Lehigh Line, Picture 2- with J.B. Hunt intermodal File:Norfolk Southern westbound delivery train passing through Three Bridges, Readington Township, New Jersey on the Lehigh Line, Picture 2- from back of train part 1.png, Norfolk Southern westbound delivery train passing through Three Bridges,

on the Lehigh Line, Picture 2- from back of train part one File:NS Stanton Station A.png, Norfolk Southern eastbound train on the Lehigh Line passing through a crossing near

Flemington, New Jersey Flemington is a borough in and the county seat of Hunterdon County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Flemington, New Jersey Flemington is a borough in and the county seat of Hunterdon County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Flemington, New Jersey Flemington is a borough in and the county seat of Hunterdon County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Flemington, New Jersey Flemington is a borough in and the county seat of Hunterdon County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Flemington, New Jersey Flemington is a borough in and the county seat of Hunterdon County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Central Railroad of New Jersey The Central Railroad of New Jersey, also known as the Jersey Central or Jersey Central Lines , was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s. It was absorbed into Conrail in April 1976 along with several other prominent bankrupt railroads of ...

History of rail transport in the United States History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

** Easton and Amboy Railroad

Notes

References

* * * * Lamb, Tammy. (1998)
Lehigh Valley Railroad
Retrieved July 26, 2004. * Mancuso, James

Retrieved December 21, 2005. * Schaller, Ed
Lehigh Valley Railroad Modeler
Retrieved December 22, 2005. * Lawrence, Scot

Retrieved September 8, 2006. * Campbell, John W
Lehigh Valley Railroad
Retrieved June 16, 2007.
Railfan.net Forums - Reporting Marks Question
* Annual Report of the State Board of Assessors of the State of New Jersey, News Printing Co., 1889, p. 85
Google books
* ''News about Railroads'', New York Times, Aug 27, 1891

External links

Lehigh Valley rail study 2007Parailfan.comParailfan.comAmazon.com
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20091221045139/http://www.wnyrails.org/railroads/lv/lv_home.htm Lehigh Valley pages on Western NY Railroad Archive
Beyond Steel: An Archive of Lehigh Valley Industry and Culture
(details of the Pennsylvania lines)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lehigh Valley Railroad Lehigh Valley Railroad Central Railroad of New Jersey Central Railroad of Pennsylvania Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad Conrail Norfolk Southern Railway Norfolk Southern Railway lines Transportation in the Lehigh Valley History of Allentown, Pennsylvania Transportation in Allentown, Pennsylvania Rail infrastructure in New Jersey Rail infrastructure in Pennsylvania Rail infrastructure in New York (state) 1855 establishments in Pennsylvania History of Carbon County, Pennsylvania History of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania History of Northampton County, Pennsylvania Lehigh Valley Railroad lines