The Mercer and Somerset Railway was a short-lived line of the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

in western New Jersey, built to delay completion of the Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad, part of the National Railway line (later owned by the Philadelphia and Reading Railway) from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to New York City. The railroad ran from Somerset Junction on the Belvidere Delaware Rail Road via Pennington and Hopewell to Millstone. A connection to the Millstone and New Brunswick Railroad for a through route to New Brunswick. The bridges over the river and canal at East Millstone were completed by November 22, 1873 by January 10, 1874, the line was completed but only a portion was open to traffic the line was fully opened to traffic by March 7, 1874. The Mercer & Somerset Railway lost its battle with the Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad. Thus, it was bankrupt, defunct and dismantled by 1880. A stone pillar in the middle of the Millstone River just south of Amwell Road still remains today, built as part of the infrastructure to carry the tracks across the river. Hopewell was the site of a frog war with the National Railway. A plan existed at one time to extend the

Philadelphia, Newtown and New York Railroad The Philadelphia, Newtown and New York Railroad was a railroad in southeastern Pennsylvania that is now a part of the SEPTA commuter rail system as the Fox Chase Branch. Despite the name, it only ever extended between Philadelphia and Newtown, P ...

, another railroad being built to block the National Railway, to cross the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...

and connect with the M&S.

History

The railroad was chartered on March 17, 1870, by the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Companies for the sole purpose of tying up the construction of the National Railway. In 1873, the M&S had plans to straighten out the line as part of a new through railroad operated by the PRR. No straightening was done, but it did become PRR-operated. The railroad was formally opened on February 6, 1874, with an excursion train from Millstone to Trenton. At the beginning, it was leased by the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company and operated by the Belvidere Delaware Rail Road. By mid-1875, the railroad was being operated by the PRR as their Mercer and Somerset Branch, part of a through route from New York. The M&S served as one of several legal challenges to the National Railway line from Philadelphia to New York. Others were the

in Pennsylvania and a fight over whether they had the right to cross the

. The New Jersey-side one resulted in a frog war at Hopewell in early 1876. The National Railway won the battle, and the Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad formally opened on April 27, 1876. The M&S was sold under

bankruptcy 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 ...

to the

on November 28, 1879. The alignment was officially abandoned by the Pennsylvania on January 29, 1880. It was soon dismantled, since it no longer served its purpose to block the National Railway. The abandoned grade of the west end of the line became Jacobs Creek Road.

Station listing

References

Notes

Railroad History Database
*State Legislatures, New York Times March 16, 1870 page 5 *New-York and Suburban News, New York Times April 10, 1873 page 8 *Railroad Matters in New-Jersey, New York Times February 9, 1874 page 8 *Railroads (display ad), New York Times July 11, 1875 page 8 *Railway War in New-Jersey, New York Times January 7, 1876 page 1 *Railroad Affairs, New York Times January 8, 1876 page 2 *The Excursion to Philadelphia, New York Times April 28, 1876 page 7 *Notes from Different Roads, New York Times November 29, 1879 page 2 {{DEFAULTSORT:Mercer Somerset Railway Predecessors of the Pennsylvania Railroad Defunct New Jersey railroads Transportation in Mercer County, New Jersey Transportation in Somerset County, New Jersey Railway companies established in 1870 Railway companies disestablished in 1879