The Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines was a

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 ...

that operated in

South Jersey South Jersey comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey located between the lower Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean. The designation of South Jersey with a distinct toponym is a colloquialism rather than an administrative ...

in the 20th century. It was created in 1933 as a joint consolidation venture between two competing railroads in the region: 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 ...

and the

Reading Company 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 called ...

History

In the early 20th century,

Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...

and the southern New Jersey seashore were major seaside

vacation A vacation (American English) or holiday (British English) is either a leave of absence from a regular job or an instance of leisure travel away from home. People often take a vacation during specific holiday observances or for specific festi ...

destinations for the

Philadelphia area The Delaware Valley is a metropolitan region on the East Coast of the United States that comprises and surrounds Philadelphia, the sixth most populous city in the nation and 68th largest city in the world as of 2020. The toponym Delaware Val ...

wealthy Wealth is the abundance of valuable financial assets or physical possessions which can be converted into a form that can be used for transactions. This includes the core meaning as held in the originating Old English word , which is from an I ...

and

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

populations. The popularity of "South Jersey"'s seashore was made possible by

rail transport 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 p ...

which provided inexpensive and fast service between the Philadelphia area's population centers and shore points. There were two competing railroad companies connecting

Camden Camden may refer to: People * Camden (surname), a surname of English origin * Camden Joy (born 1964), American writer * Camden Toy (born 1957), American actor Places Australia * Camden, New South Wales * Camden, Rosehill, a heritage res ...

and, by

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

, Philadelphia, with the

seashore. Competition was fierce and by its height in the 1920s competition between the

West Jersey and Seashore Railroad The West Jersey and Seashore Railroad (WJ&S) was a Pennsylvania Railroad subsidiary in the U.S. state of New Jersey with a connection to Philadelphia. It was formed through the merger of several smaller roads in May 1896. At the end of 1925 it ...

(WJ&S), owned by the

, and the Atlantic City Railroad, owned by the Philadelphia and Reading Railway, was so intense that at one time both lines boasted some of the fastest trains in the world. Trains often raced one another so as to be the first to arrive at their destination. Racing was encouraged by the fact that in many areas, the two lines were only several hundred feet apart. On the Cape May lines, the trains were in sight of each other for 11 miles between

Cape May Court House Cape May Court House is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Middle Township in Cape May County, New Jersey, United States.

and Cape May. Over the last 5 miles into Cape May, the tracks were only 50 feet apart. On July 1, 1926, the

Benjamin Franklin Bridge The Benjamin Franklin Bridge, originally named the Delaware River Bridge and known locally as the Ben Franklin Bridge, is a suspension bridge across the Delaware River connecting Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Camden, New Jersey. Owned and ...

opened, spanning 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 ...

, connecting Philadelphia and Camden. Car, truck, and bus usage increased as the state built roads in the 1920s and 30s next to the railroads going from Camden to the shore, cutting into profits. On March 4, 1931, the

New Jersey Board of Public Utilities The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) is a regulatory authority in New Jersey "with authority to oversee the regulated utilities, which in turn provide critical services such as natural gas, electricity, water, telecommunications and ca ...

(BPU) ordered the two companies to join their southern New Jersey lines into one company. The ''Consolidation Agreement'' decreed that the Pennsylvania Railroad had two-thirds ownership, and the Reading Company had one-third ownership. PRSL terminal in Camden

But 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 opposin ...

rise of the automobile and the Atlantic City Expressway, built in the 1960s, along with the increase in air travel, not only caused people to abandon the railroad for their cars, but also to abandon Atlantic City for more exotic vacation destinations, such as Florida. By the late 1960s, the surviving former Camden and Atlantic City Main Line was reduced to a commuter service funded by the

New Jersey Department of Transportation The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) is the agency responsible for transportation issues and policy in New Jersey, including maintaining and operating the state's highway and public road system, planning and developing transportat ...

(NJDOT) running trains of Budd RDC railcars operating from a small terminal at Lindenwold PATCO station and Atlantic City. While the P-RSL did not enter bankruptcy, its owners, the

Penn Central The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American Railroad classes, class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania Railroad ...

, successor to the Pennsylvania and the Reading, did. As a result,

Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...

took over the P-RSL on April 1, 1976.

Predecessors

West Jersey and Seashore Railroad

Effective May 4, 1896, the

consolidated all of its railroads and several smaller properties in Southern New Jersey into the

. The WJ&S had lines coming from its Federal Street Terminal in Camden. The "Main Line" ran to Atlantic City and to other shore points via

Winslow Junction Winslow may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Winslow, Buckinghamshire, England, a market town and civil parish * Winslow Rural District, Buckinghamshire, a rural district from 1894 to 1974 United States and Canada * Rural Municipality of Winslow ...

, and its line via

Woodbury Woodbury may refer to: Geography Antarctica *Woodbury Glacier, a glacier on Graham Land, British Antarctic Territory Australia * Woodbury, Tasmania, a locality in Australia England * Woodbury, Bournemouth, an area in Dorset *Woodbury, East Devo ...

to Millville. It was electrified with 650 volt DC

third rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway t ...

and

overhead lines An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as: * Overhead catenary * Overhead contact system (OCS) * Overhead equipmen ...

, with branches going to

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...

, and Deep Water Point from Woodbury, and Bridgeton from

Glassboro Glassboro is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Gloucester County, New Jersey, Gloucester County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 U.S. census, the borough's population was 18,579, ...

. While the WJ&S line via Woodbury was a pioneering example of railroad electrification, electric

multiple unit A multiple-unit train or simply multiple unit (MU) is a self-propelled train composed of one or more carriages joined together, which when coupled to another multiple unit can be controlled by a single driver, with multiple-unit train contr ...

(MU) service between Newfield and Atlantic City ended September 26, 1931. The PRSL only inherited the electrified Millville–Camden commuter rail service from WJ&S.

Atlantic City Railroad

Effective April 1, 1889, the Philadelphia and Reading Railway consolidated all of its railroads in Southern New Jersey into the Atlantic City Railroad (ACRR). The ACRR, a subsidiary of the

, had one line from its Kaighn's Point Terminal going to Winslow Junction with lines splitting off to Atlantic City, Ocean City, Wildwood, and Cape May. Branch lines included the Gloucester Branch to Grenloch, and the Willamstown Branch from Willamstown Junction (on the Atlantic City Main) to

Mullica Hill Mullica Hill is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated community in Harrison Township in Gloucester County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, the CDP's population was 3,982.Atco to the north. On 15 July 1933, The WJ&S was leased by the ACRR, and changed its name to Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines, as the Consolidation Agreement had decreed.

Equipment

Steam

The 21 steam locomotives owned by the PRSL were from the PRR

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...

WJ&S. They all consisted of PRR classes. Before dieselization the PRSL was more apt to lease its motive power from either of its parent railroads as it completely lacked any heavy passenger locomotives (like 4-6-2 Pacifics). As its parent railroads began to replace steam with diesel locomotives, the PRSL became a haven for steam locomotives during their final years of operation.

Class B: 0-6-0

The

0-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. This was the most common wheel arrangemen ...

type was assigned class B, and was used in

switcher A switcher, shunter, yard pilot, switch engine, yard goat, or shifter is a small railroad locomotive used for manoeuvring railroad cars inside a rail yard in a process known as ''switching'' (US) or ''shunting'' (UK). Switchers are not inten ...

service. * B-6sb * B8

Class E: 4-4-2

The 4-4-2 "Atlantic" type was assigned class E. and was used in passenger service. * E-3sb * E6s

Class G: 4-6-0

The

4-6-0 A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the abse ...

"Ten-Wheeler" type was assigned class G. and was used in passenger service. * G5s

Class H: 2-8-0

The

2-8-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels. ...

"Consolidation" type was assigned class H, and was used in freight service. * H-6sb * H9s * H10s

Class K: 4-6-2

The

4-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. The locomotiv ...

"Pacific" type was assigned class K. and was used in passenger service. *

K4s The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) K4 4-6-2 "Pacific" (425 built 1914–1928, PRR Altoona, Baldwin) was its premier passenger-hauling steam locomotive from 1914 through the end of steam on the PRR in 1957. Attempts were made to replace the ...

Since the Consolidation Agreement had decreed that the PRR Mechanical Department would oversee equipment policy decisions, the PRSL did not gain ownership of any ACRR-RDG locomotives. Additional locomotives were leased as needed from PRSL's parent companies, PRR and RDG.

Diesel

Beginning in the 1950s the PRSL purchased a rather modest fleet of its own diesel locomotives to replace its steam engines for passenger and freight services. When additional power was needed for the busy summer tourist season engines were borrowed from the parent corporations (usually the PRR) as was true previously with the steam locomotives. To further supplement its small fleet the PRSL made increasing use of run through power on certain freight trains to large customers that did not require

classification Classification is a process related to categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated and understood. Classification is the grouping of related facts into classes. It may also refer to: Business, organizat ...

at the PRSL's Pavonia yard. The first generation of PRSL diesel locomotives were all from the nearby

Baldwin Locomotive Works The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railroad locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, in the early 20th century. The company was for decades t ...

, which was the vendor of choice for the parent PRR in both the steam and early diesel era. The PRSL's diesel locomotives were almost all painted in what is commonly referred to as Brunswick Green which was so dark it seemed almost black. The paint scheme was borrowed from its PRR parent and with the company's official name for this color being DGLE (Dark Green Locomotive Enamel). The undercarriage of the locomotives were painted in black referred to as "True Black."

Baldwin Locomotive Works

By the late 1960s, the original Baldwin diesels were beginning to suffer reliability problems, which was exacerbated by the fact that Baldwin had gone out of business some 10 years before and could no longer provide spare parts or maintenance. With the new powerplant being constructed at Beesley's Point ready to consume several 90 car coal trains per week the PRSL was in need of more powerful and more reliable locomotives and turned to industry-leader EMD to supply 10 new second generation diesel electric locomotives.

General Motors Electro-Motive Division (GM-EMD)

Passenger

PRSL M407 at Haddonfield station, September 1965

PRSL 6014 with Train 1001 at Haddonfield (2), September 1965

Gas-electric car (Doodlebug)

RDC

PRSL inherited the following from the WJ&S: *71 PRR-Type P-70

passenger car A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as ...

s No.'s 9865-9936 (

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

, 44 seats) *21 PRR-Type PB-70 passenger-combines Cars No.'s 9938-9958 (steel, 40 seats) 9959-9962 (steel, 40 seats) *17 various PRR-Type mail and baggage cars No.'s 25 (steel underfame), 6403 (steel), 6428-6438 (steel), 9963-9966 (steel) Additional passenger cars were leased as needed from PRSL's parent companies, PRR and RDG, and sometimes from the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ). The PRSL did not own any of the P70s that carried its name. They were leased from the WJ&S. The passenger cars of the PRSL were painted Tuscan Red. This is a brick-colored shade of red.

Cabooses

Successor railroads

* Cape May Seashore Lines (CMSL) * Conrail Shared Assets Operations (CSAO) *

New Jersey Transit Rail Operations NJ Transit Rail Operations is the rail division of NJ Transit. It operates commuter rail service in New Jersey, with most service centered on transportation to and from New York City, Hoboken, and Newark. NJ Transit also operates rail service i ...

(NJT) ( Atlantic City Line) *

PATCO Speedline The PATCO Speedline (signed in Philadelphia as the Lindenwold Line and also known colloquially as the PATCO High Speed Line) is a rapid transit route operated by the Port Authority Transit Corporation (PATCO), which runs between Philadelphia, Pe ...

(DRPA) *

SMS Rail Service SMS Rail Lines is a shortline railroad based at Pureland Industrial Park in Bridgeport, New Jersey. The company handles all freight car delivery to businesses located within the industrial park. It also operates lines in Morrisville, Pennsylva ...

(SMS) * Southern Railroad of New Jersey (SRNJ) * Winchester and Western Railroad (WW)

References

External links

Your # 1 source of Southern New Jersey Railroad History on the Internet!Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines Historical SocietySeashore Lines Reading Company 1954 Freight Shippers' Guide - Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pennsylvania Reading Seashore Lines Companies affiliated with the Pennsylvania Railroad Companies affiliated with the Reading Company Defunct New Jersey railroads Former Class I railroads in the United States Railroads transferred to Conrail Railway companies established in 1933 Railway companies disestablished in 1976 Transportation in Camden County, New Jersey Spin-offs of the Pennsylvania Railroad American companies established in 1933