The National Railway or National

Air Line An air line is a tube, or hose, that contains and carries a compressed air supply. In industrial usage, this may be used to inflate car or bicycle tyres or power tools worked by compressed air, for breathing apparatus in hazardous environments ...

Railroad was a planned

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 prep ...

between

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and Washington, D.C. in the

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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

around 1870. Part of it was eventually built from New York to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

by the Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad and the Delaware River Branch of the

North Pennsylvania Railroad The North Pennsylvania Railroad was a railroad company which served Philadelphia, Montgomery County, Bucks County and Northampton County in Pennsylvania. It was formed in 1852 and began operation in 1855. The Philadelphia and Reading Railway, ...

, leased by the

Philadelphia and Reading Railway 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 ...

, in 1879, and becoming its

New York Branch The New York Branch or the Bound Brook Route was a railway line in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It was operated by the Reading Company and owned by two of its subsidiaries, the North Pennsylvania Railroad and the Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad. ...

. The line was intended to provide an alternate to the various monopolies that existed along the route, specifically the

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

and their

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

, and as such had a long struggle to be built.

History

Planning

In the spring of 1867, Henry Martyn Hamilton began planning to construct a line between New York and Philadelphia to compete with the United Companies by getting short lines chartered that would end-to-end form the complete route. The first two sections were chartered in New Jersey as the Hamilton Land Improvement Company and Millstone and Trenton Railroad on April 3, 1867, forming half of the New Jersey route, without the knowledge of the United Companies. The Millstone and Trenton Railroad was authorized to build a line from Trenton northeast to

Millstone Millstones or mill stones are stones used in gristmills, for grinding wheat or other grains. They are sometimes referred to as grindstones or grinding stones. Millstones come in pairs: a wikt:convex, convex stationary base known as the ''be ...

, and the Hamilton Land Improvement Company could build six miles anywhere in the state, which was enough to bridge the gap from Millstone to 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 ...

at Bound Brook. On March 22, 1867, the Elizabeth and New Providence Railroad was incorporated in New Jersey to be a part of the New York to Philadelphia line. The Millstone and Trenton Railroad was organized on November 27, 1867. The stockholders of the railroad agreed to transfer their stock to Hamilton if he could obtain a guarantee from 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 ...

, 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 ...

, the Central Railroad of New Jersey, the

Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B) was an American railroad that operated independently from 1836 to 1881. It was formed in 1836 by the merger of four state-chartered railroads in three Middle Atlantic states to create a ...

, or the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway that the line could be finished in the time provided by its charter. The first official proposals for the railway came in 1868 at the federal level, with bills in the U.S. House of Representatives for a line between New York and Washington via Easton,

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 (spell ...

and Lancaster. Later proposals concentrated on the New York-Philadelphia section, and were made both at the federal level and in the states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. On September 21, 1868, the Attleborough Railroad, a short branch line chartered April 15, 1856 in

Bucks County, Pennsylvania Bucks County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the fourth-most populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Doylestown. The county is named after the English ...

, was taken over by Hamilton and renamed to the National Railway, to be part of the through line. On November 11, 1868, Hamilton was elected President of the Millstone and Trenton Railroad, with control going directly to the National Railway. The project was first publicized in December of that year. On January 1, 1869, the

Camden and Amboy Rail Road The Camden and Amboy Railroad and Transportation Company, usually shortened to the Camden and Amboy Railroad, was a railway company in the United States. It was incorporated in 1830 and opened its first line in 1832, making it one of the oldest ra ...

's (C&A) legislated

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...

over New York-Philadelphia railroads in New Jersey expired. However, the C&A continued to

lobby Lobby may refer to: * Lobby (room), an entranceway or foyer in a building * Lobbying, the action or the group used to influence a viewpoint to politicians :* Lobbying in the United States, specific to the United States * Lobby (food), a thick st ...

legislators and fight through the courts to prevent the National Railway from being built. On September 17, 1869, the National Railway was incorporated in Pennsylvania to serve as a portion of the New Line. On September 28, 1869, Hamilton transferred the stock of the Millstone and Trenton Railroad to the National Railway Company. Hamilton completed the series of railroad charters he needed to compete with the Camden and Amboy Railroad. In 1870, various bills in New Jersey to allow consolidation of short lines into the Millstone and Trenton Railroad failed. In early 1871 the National Railway bill was introduced once again in the U.S. House, this time by

John W. Garrett John Work Garrett (July 31, 1820 – September 26, 1884), was an American merchant turned banker who became president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) in 1858 and led the railroad for nearly three decades. The B&O became one of the most ...

(president of the

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

), who feared the

's (PRR) proposed lease of the United Companies. It was again defeated. The PRR gained control of the United Companies on May 15, 1871. On March 30, 1871, the German Valley Railroad was chartered in New Jersey, including a

Trojan Horse The Trojan Horse was a wooden horse said to have been used by the Greeks during the Trojan War to enter the city of Troy and win the war. The Trojan Horse is not mentioned in Homer's ''Iliad'', with the poem ending before the war is concluded, ...

for the National Railway. The governor refused to sign the bill, but the company organized anyway. The same strategy was used on March 19, 1872 with the passage of the Stanhope Railroad. The state clerks were bribed to keep the Trojan Horse off the debated version but include it in the signed version. This was soon discovered, and on August 12 the National Railway was sued for fraud. On February 2, 1873, the

New Jersey Court of Chancery New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

ruled that the National Railway had no rights to build in New Jersey. On January 11, 1873 the Excelsior Enterprise Company, a

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

incorporated on May 24, 1871, was renamed the National Company, acquiring the National Railway of Pennsylvania (the original Attleborough Railroad) on January 15. The National Railway gained control of the Stanhope Railroad on January 18, but that soon proved worthless. On March 19, 1873 the New Jersey House of Representatives killed the PRR's opposition bill to create a New Jersey Railway on the land chosen for the National Railway. The PRR and National Railway agreed at that time to support a general incorporation law to break the stalemate, which had been blocked since the 1840s by the Camden and Amboy. That law was passed on April 2, and on April 8 the PRR's company was chartered, running mostly within 100 yards of the planned National Railway. The National Railway of New Jersey was chartered soon after on April 17, as a supplement to the New York and Philadelphia Railroad, chartered 40 minutes after the general incorporation law was passed. Investors were initially scared off from the project, placed under contract on May 31, due to the various scandals involved.

Incorporation of the Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad

The Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad was incorporated in New Jersey on May 12, 1874, to build a railroad from the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, before ...

to the

(CNJ) at Bound Brook, along the National Railway's surveyed path. At that time, the

took over the National Railway project from Hamilton. On May 14, the North Pennsylvania approved the construction of the Delaware River Branch, splitting from the main line at

Jenkintown Jenkintown is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It is approximately 10 miles (16 km) north of Center City Philadelphia. History The community was named for William Jenkins, a Welsh pioneer settler. Jenkintown is located just ...

and running to the Delaware River at Yardley. On May 16, the property of the National Railway was deeded to the D&BB, including the Stanhope Railroad and the National Company. The Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad (D&BB) and Delaware River Branch opened on May 1, 1876, from the North Pennsylvania Railroad to the CNJ. The D&BB had

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 ...

over the CNJ to their

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.New Jersey Rail Road at Waverly to the CNJ terminal. In Pennsylvania, the original plan was southeast of what was built, running directly to the north end of the Junction Railroad in Philadelphia. Part of this route was built as the New York Short Line, connecting the original Delaware River Branch at Oakford southwest to the Reading Company's

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 ...

(PN&NY) at

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

. This line was completed in 1906. The

leased the

, including the D&BB, on May 14, 1879, obtaining control of two-thirds of the Bound Brook Route. The National Company's charter was later used to form 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 ...

, a holding company for the Reading Company. The East Trenton Railroad, incorporated in 1884, was taken over by the D&BB as a branch in the Trenton area. The Trenton, Lawrenceville and Princeton Railroad, an

interurban streetcar The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 ...

line, was taken over at some point as a branch of the East Trenton Railroad for freight. The Port Reading Railroad, opened in 1892, also served as a spur of the D&BB, running to Port Reading on the

Arthur Kill The Arthur Kill (sometimes referred to as the Staten Island Sound) is a tidal strait between Staten Island (also known as Richmond County), New York and Union and Middlesex counties, New Jersey. It is a major navigational channel of the Port o ...

Challenges

The United Companies received a charter for the

Mercer and Somerset Railway The Mercer and Somerset Railway was a short-lived line of the Pennsylvania Railroad 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 an ...

in New Jersey on March 17, 1870 solely to provide a challenge to the planned competitor railroad known as the National Railway. Track began to be laid on January 20, 1871 at the crossing of the National Railway survey in Hopewell. A

frog war A frog war occurs when one private railway company attempts to cross the tracks of another, and this results in hostilities between the two railways. It is named after the frog, the piece of track that allows the two tracks to join or cross and ...

resulted in January 1876 at the crossing point; a war that was won by the National Railway, thus rendering the Mercer and Somerset Railway redundant and useless. On January 21, 1880, the Mercer and Somerset Railway was abandoned, having become useless. On October 22, 1873 the PRR leased the Philadelphia, Newtown & New York Railroad, a railroad chartered on November 21, 1860, with the intention to block the National Railway. The line opened as a branch of the Connecting Railroad from Fox Chase to Newtown on February 2, 1878, with the operation of two excursion trains. Revenue service began on February 4. On November 22, 1879 the North Pennsylvania Railroad began operating it, as it was no longer of use to the PRR. Service was rerouted from the PRR's West Philadelphia station to the Philadelphia and Reading Railway's station at 3rd Street and Berks Street. Another challenge was raised as to whether the company could build a bridge over the Delaware River.

References

{{reflist

External links

Finding aid
for Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad Company records at

Hagley Museum and Library The Hagley Museum and Library is a nonprofit educational institution in unincorporated New Castle County, Delaware, near Wilmington. Covering more than along the banks of the Brandywine Creek, the museum and grounds include the first du Po ...

Companies affiliated with the Reading Company Railroads transferred to Conrail Pennsylvania Railroad