Belvidere Delaware Railroad - History

History

The Belvidere-Delaware Railroad was chartered on March 2, 1836 and was constructed from Trenton along the Delaware River north to Belvidere, New Jersey. Beyond Belvidere, the line would connect to a proposed line that headed west to the Susquehanna River through Pennsylvania. The Trenton-Lambertville section opened on February 6, 1851, eventually reaching Belvidere on November 5, 1855.

On June 7, 1854, the Bel Del agreed to operate the Flemington Railroad and Transportation Company, where a connection was made with the Lehigh Valley Railroad (LV) at Three Bridges, New Jersey. LV coal trains began using the Bel Del in January 1856, joining the Bel Del by the LV's bridge over the Delaware River where it connection in Phillipsburg, New Jersey. An extension was then completed in 1864 that gave the Bel Del access to the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad (DL&W) at Manunka Chunk. The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) began operating the Bel Del as the Belvidere Division of the United Railroads of New Jersey Grand Division by 1872 and purchased the line soon afterwards. The Belvidere Delaware Railroad and the Flemington Railroad & Transportation Company then merged on February 16, 1885 to form the Belvidere Delaware Railroad.

In 1908 the PRR acquired trackage rights on the nearby Lehigh and Hudson River Railway (L&HR) and DL&W. The following year, the PRR shifted its railyard from Lambertville to Trenton.

Hurricane Diane washed out portions of the line north of Belvidere in August 1955, resulting in abandonment of the line soon thereafter (a double track bridge spanning the Delaware River into Portland, Pennsylvania remains in service). Steam locomotives were also replaced with diesel operated self-propelled Doodlebugs. On December 31, 1957, the Bel Del was merged into the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company, with passenger services ending by October 25, 1960.

Heritage operator Black River and Western Railroad (BR&W) began leasing the Flemington Branch from the PRR on weekends to operate steam excursion trains. As part of the leasing agreement, the BR&W was required to pay the PRR for all track expenses, totalling $5,000. Trains began operating betweenm Flemington and Lambertville by May 16, 1965.

The PRR merged with the New York Central Railroad in 1968 to form the Penn Central (PC), which fell apart faster than it came together. PC remnants were absored by Conrail in April 1976, who treated the Bel Del as a dispensable secondary line. The chief function of the Bel Del — bringing coal and other traffic from the LV connnection at Phillipsburg to the PRR system — had long since ceased. With little industry remaining between Trenton and Milford, Conrail had little use for the line. Though the south end of line passed within a few hundred yards from the central business district and state capitol complex in Trenton, no official interest in taking advantage of the line's passenger potential was raised. When it became known that Conrail was planning to abandon the Bel Del, the BR&W purchased approximately one mile of track into Lambertville to serve several freight customers located north of town. (The BR&W had already purchased the 11-mile line between Flemington and Lambertville from the PC in March 1970 for $153,000.)

The final Conrail train between Trenton and Phillipsburg operated on November 28, 1978. Trackage was removed in phases shortly thereafter, starting with the Milford-Frenchtown segment during the summer of 1979. Trackage south of Frenchtown through Stockton and north of Lambertville was completed by January 9, 1980. The remaining segment south of Lambertville to Trenton was removed by mid-1981. The track bed later became part of the Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park.

Conrail later sold the remaining Phillipsburg-Milford section to the newly formed Belvidere and Delaware River Railway (BDRV) in 1995. The following year, the BR&W ceased operations into Lambertville due to a lack of freight customers and poor track conditions. Tracks south of Carpentersville were abandoned in 1999 due to poor track conditions. The BRRY also continued passenger service between Phillipsburg and Carpentersville.