Phillipsburg Area Transportation Chronology

Please send corrections and additions to Bill McKelvey at mckelvey@lhry.org.
Posted on LHRy website on 21 March 2018

 

This work was begun early in 1996 when it became apparent to Friends of the New Jersey Transportation Heritage Center members and the United Railroad Historical Society that Phillipsburg was a far superior location for the state museum than any of the several other locations under consideration at the time by the New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Museum Commission.  The research was performed by the editor to demonstrate the phenomenal transportation history of the area - generally within a 15 mile radius.  The first installment was published in Vol. 5, No. 5, December, 1996 of New Jersey Transport Heritage, the bulletin/newsletter of the Friends organization.  It became a regularly appearing serial in Transport Heritage until Vol. 14, No. 6, December 2005, when it became apparent that the Heritage Center was not going to happen in the Phillipsburg area. 

 

The editor has attempted to keep the items under each year in chronological order, but this has not been possible in all cases.  Also, we have attempted to resolve conflicting dates of some events, but it is possible that errors may be present.   Updated to June 9, 2016.

 

ca. 10,000 BC The estimated date of arrival of Paleo-Indians in the Lehigh Valley area.  Their seasonal hunting grounds began to be connected by a series of trails, 12 to 18" wide.  One of these, the Minisink Trail, afforded a route for the Minisink Indians to travel from their PA hunting grounds to the Jersey seashore.  This trail started at Minisink Island in the Delaware River below Port Jervis, went north of Morristown, west of Springfield, six miles west of Elizabeth, four miles west of Amboy, through Shrewsbury, then to the sea. ♦

 

ca. 1,000 BC The appearance of polished stone tools and weapons suggests that the Indians of the area were in contact with the highly developed civilizations of Central America, which excelled in the creation of polished stone implements. ♦ Recent discoveries at the Vera Cruz, PA jasper mines seem to indicate that Indians traveled from all over the east coast to obtain fine quality stone for tool making. ♦

 

ca. 1000 AD The Leni Lenape or Delaware Indians were inhabiting the land we now know as eastern Pennsylvania.  They had broken distinctly with their hunting and gathering past and were evolving relatively stable patterns of life - they began to plant, harvest and store food crops. ♦

 

1609 Henry Hudson sailed his ship Half-Moon into what he called the "South River," declaring it "one of the finest, best and pleasantest rivers in the world."  It was later given the name of a governor of Virginia's Jamestown colony - Baron De la Warr - who probably never saw the waterway. ♦

 

1616 Another Dutch sea captain, Cornelis Hendricksen, explored the Delaware in his yacht Restless and reported his discovery to Holland merchants. ♦ The Dutch began establishing forts and trading posts on the Delaware River.  The early Indian trails and paths began to be used by those arriving from Europe in the Colonial Period and were gradually widened to roads. ♦

 

1650 About this time the Dutch, the first European settlers in Warren County, came to mine copper in Pahaquarry Township.  They constructed a road from there to Kingston, NY over which to transport the proceeds of their mining ventures.  This road, the first commercial highway built in the United States, is known as "Old Mine Road." 

 

1654 An Indian settlement called Chinktewunk located at what is now Phillipsburg was first referred to on a map made by a Dutch engineer. The existence of an Indian village in this area has been corroborated by the numerous flint arrow heads, hatchets, and corn-pounders which have been found in local fields. ♦

 

1664 The Duke of York deeded the land, which is now our state, to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret and decreed that the region be called "New Jersey" in honor of Carteret's earlier defense of the Crown at the Isle of Jersey. ♦

 

1673 The General Assembly of the Province of East Jersey passed their Public Roads Act, the first movement toward formalizing roads. ♦

 

1682 William Penn bought land from the Delaware Indians and established his province of Pennsylvania with permanent settlements.  Traditional Lenape life had been largely destroyed by the influence of the "white man." ♦ The General Assembly passed an act for "making and settling of highways, passages, landings, bridges and ferries... fit and apt for traveling" and named specific men in each county to lay out and build roads - the expense to be met by county taxes.  Under this act roads were opened in all directions. ♦

 

1683 William Penn negotiated a treaty with the Delaware Indians, which set the basis for the later "Walking Purchase." ♦

 

1685 Thomas Budd wrote: "From the Falls of the Delaware (Trenton) the Indians go in Cannows up the said River, to an Indian Town called Minisincks, which is accounted from the Falls about eighty miles; but this they perform by great Labour in setting up against the Stream; but they can come down with ease and speed...  There are also in the Spring great quantities of a sort of Fish-like Herrings; with plenty of the Fish called Shads." ♦

 

1714 Hunterdon County was founded. ♦

 

1720's The first European families settled in the Lehigh Valley. ♦

 

1722 Samuel Coates operated a ferry from Lambertville, NJ across the Delaware River in conjunction with John Wells on the New Hope, PA side.

 

1726 The Durham Iron Co. was organized to erect a blast furnace for the manufacture of charcoal pig iron and casting of various items.

 

1727 Commercial navigation on the Delaware and Lehigh Rivers began. ♦ James Logan was the leading partner in an iron works which commenced operating at Durham Furnace, a few miles south of the forks of the Delaware.  The other key owner was William Allen, founder of Allentown.  The Durham Furnace produced shot and shells for British and colonial forces fighting in the French and Indian War, and during the American Revolution it produced both cannon and ammunition for th Continental Army.  During both of these conflicts Durham furnace was managed by George Taylor, who became a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a prominent patriot leader. ♦

 

1730's Much of the land of the Lehigh Valley had been granted by the younger Penns to an assortment of friends, relatives and creditors. ♦

 

1732 Emanuel Coryell arrived at Lambertville, bought the ferry and was granted a patent to operate on Jan. 7th of the next year by King George II.  The ferry became known as Coryell's and the towns on either side of the river were also named Coryell's Ferry.

 

1737 The "Walking Purchase" settled ownership of the Lehigh Valley, but it cheated the Indians and marked the end of their friendly and trusting relations with the English.  James Logan was the chief negotiator with the Lenape Indians. ♦

1738 The Township of Greenwich was incorporated.  Their major village is Stewartsville.

 

1739 David Martin, a ferry operator from Trenton, obtained the first grant for ferrying ("horses, cows, sheep, mules, etc." between Phillipsburg and Easton) at the forks of the Delaware. ♦

 

1740 Bethlehem of Pennsylvania was founded on Christmas Eve by members of Unitas Fratrum, more widely known as Moravians.  This industrious socialistic group built the first waterworks in the country. ♦

 

1742 The Taylor Iron Co. was founded near High Bridge, NJ. ♦

 

1743 The Durham boat was developed by Robert Durham nine miles south of Easton at his Durham Furnace.  They had a capacity of up to 20 tons and were used as far north as Port Jervis on the Delaware.  They also came to be used on other eastern rivers as well. ♦ A fleet of Durham boats were used by Washington to cross the Delaware River in 1776.  Four replica Durham boats are used in the annual reenactment of the Christmas day crossing at Washington's Crossing. ♦ The first girls boarding school in the US was established in Bethlehem. ♦

 

1749 Phillipsburg first appeared on a map of the area.  The name is thought to have originated with the Indian chief Phillip. ♦

 

1752 The City of Easton was founded by William Parsons.  It became the shire town of the new County of Northampton. ♦ House lots were laid out and 12 families inhabited the Easton area. ♦

 

1755 The first ferry across the Lehigh at Easton was established. ♦ The Shawnee Indians from the north fought the Lenni-Lenape on the New Jersey highlands at Holland.  The "Grasshopper War" resulted in a large loss of life. ♦

 

1775 55 ????(confirm with the Furnace) The Delaware Indians proclaimed war against the English in retaliation for many years of suffering injustices. The river Delaware ran red. French allies.....♦

Ben Franklin visited Easton just before Christmas. ♦

 

1756 The Northampton County militia was soundly defeated by the Indians.  Benjamin Franklin, agent of PA Governor Morris was sent to the Lehigh Valley to investigate its defense from the Indians.  Forts were constructed.  Governor Morris declared war on the Lenape and many were killed.  Negotiations with the Indians were begun. ♦

 

1760 Lime burning was first documented in Warren County. ♦

 

1762 The last Easton conference left the status of the Lenape Indians unresolved. ♦

 

1763 The long struggle of the Lenape with the white man ended with the near eradication of the Indians by the Europeans. ♦ Easton had 63 houses, including 8 taverns, and 250 inhabitants. ♦ The first stage line in Bethlehem began operating to Philadelphia.  George Klein operated one trip a week. ♦

 

1764 Daniel "Admiral" Skinner was the first to navigate a timber raft down the Delaware River to Philadelphia. ♦

 

1769 A survey of the Delaware River from the "great Falls" to the forks, near Easton was made to identify obstructions and plan to improve navigation.  Following this, men were employed to execute the work.  The primary work was in making the Falls safe for rafts, coal arks and for Durham boats which transported flour and whiskey from the upper part of the river. ♦

 

1771 The provinces of New Jersey and Pennsylvania declared the Delaware River a "common highway."  The compact provided that it would be freely navigated and used by both states and their citizens.  It remains the law of both states today. ♦

 

1776 The Declaration of Independence was read in Easton, Trenton & Boston four days after it was read in Philadelphia. ♦ The first stars & stripes of the united colonies was unfurled at Easton. ♦ A portion of the American Army under General John Sullivan passed through Phillipsburg on their way to Bucks County to join Washington. ♦ In December a hospital was established in what was Colonial Hall, Easton, for Americans wounded in the Revolution, brought from Morristown, NJ. ♦ On the night of Dec. 25th, General George Washington secured a fleet of mostly Durham boats and transported his troops across the Delaware for their march on Trenton and victory over the Hessians.  The location was known as "McKonkey's Ferry, but thereafter became known as "Washington's Crossing." ♦

 

1777 Due to the threat of British occupation, the Liberty Bell was transported by wagon from Philadelphia to Allentown for safekeeping.  The route was via the old Bethlehem Pike to Bethlehem and then on to Allentown where it was hidden in the basement of Zion's Reformed Church. ♦ General George Washington ordered the evacuation of the ammunition dump in Trenton.  Much of the material of war was taken to the Easton-Bethlehem area. ♦

 

1778 Washington and the Continental Army retook possession of Philadelphia and the Liberty Bell was returned. ♦

 

1779 General George Washington visited Easton, and passed through Phillipsburg with Martha during an encampment of Colonial troops.  The troops paused near what is now Memorial Parkway and Bates Street on a march to Oxford Furnace.  It was believed that the British planned to capture the furnace to stop its production of cannon balls and ordinance for the Continental Army. ♦ Martha Washington ferried across the Delaware at Phillipsburg after visiting her husband. ♦ Wagons were requisitioned to carry grain and meat from Belvidere to Morristown for the Revolutionary Army wintering there. ♦

 

1785 Bixlers, America's oldest jewelers and silversmiths was established in Easton. ♦ About this year the Roseberry House was built in Phillipsburg by John Roseberry. ♦

 

1787 John Fitch produced a steamboat which successfully navigated the tidewater of the Delaware River from Philadelphia to Bordentown. ♦ New Jersey was the third state admitted to the Union on Dec. 18th. ♦

 

1788 Jonathan Dickerson predicted that within one century there should be a canal formed from the Delaware River to the Passaic supplied with water from Lake Hopatcong. ♦

 

1789 The original Durham furnace ceased operations. ♦

 

1790 During the summer John Fitch put his steamboat in regular service on the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Trenton.  This was the first regular steamboat service to be established in the US.  However, the boat lost money and was discontinued after only thirty trips. ♦

 

1791 Anthracite coal was discovered in the upper Lehigh Valley, nine miles west of Mauch Chunk by Philip Ginter, a miller. ♦ An attempt was made to blast a safe passage through Foul Rift in the Delaware River, one mile below Belvidere.  At about the same time a passage through Wells Falls at New Hope was cleared, cutting travel time by Durham boat to Philadelphia in half. ♦

 

1792 Anthracite coal was first moved down the Lehigh and Delaware Rivers.  It was moved on rafts which were used only during spring floods. ♦

 

1793 Easton's first post office was inaugurated.  It also served Phillipsburg until 1853.  Frederick Nicholas operated a stage line from Easton to Philadelphia for passengers and mail.  It ran on a regular schedule with fixed fares. ♦

 

1795 The Delaware Bridge Company was incorporated to build a bridge across the Delaware between Phillipsburg and Easton. ♦

 

1796 The first bridge was erected across the Lehigh River by local boat builder, Abraham Horn, but it soon collapsed. ♦ The first regular stagecoach route was established between Easton and Philadelphia. ♦

 

1797 The first fire company was established at Easton.

 

ca. 1800 A bridge was erected across Delaware between Easton and Phillipsburg, but was washed away shortly thereafter. ♦

 

1800 (Nov. 28) The Wayne County Stage commenced running between Milford and Easton. ♦

 

1801 The Legislature granted a charter to the Morris Turnpike Company, the first in NJ.  This was from Elizabeth through Springfield, Morristown, Succasunna, Stanhope, Newton and Culver Gap to the Delaware River opposite Milford, PA.  Nearly all the early turnpikes were funded privately, not by the state.  Between this date and 1828, 54 turnpike companies were chartered in NJ, but only about 30 were actually built. ♦

 

1803 An attempt was made to float six arks, loaded with coal for Philadelphia, down the Lehigh at high water.  Two of the boats managed to achieve their destination but, with no interested buyers to be found, further mining efforts were discouraged. ♦

 

1805 The Easton Delaware Bridge Co. raised enough money by lottery to build a two span, wood arch bridge between Phillipsburg and Easton.  It was designed and built by Timothy Palmer, the developer of the covered bridge, and was the third covered bridge to be constructed in America.  It lasted nearly a century.

 

1806.The Morris Turnpike was incorporated (as the Washington Turnpike) and was authorized to be constructed between Union Square, Phillipsburg and Morristown. ♦ The Easton Delaware bridge was opened. ♦ David Martin's ferry across the Delaware ceased operation after Palmer's famous wooden bridge opened. ♦ The first New Jersey Turnpike, also chartered in this year, ran from New Brunswick to Bound Brook, Somerville, Potterstown and Bloomsbury to Phillipsburg. It was later extended through Metuchen to Perth Amboy ♦

 

1807 Horn's second bridge over the Lehigh at Easton was swept away in a flood. ♦ Jesse Hawley of Canandaigua, NY suggested that Easton (Phillipsburg), on the Delaware, would be a good place to begin a canal running eastward to the Passaic River. ♦

 

1810 Anthracite coal was being supplied to Phillipsburg. ♦

 

1811 Phillipsburg contained 11 homes. ♦

 

1812 A Finlay chain suspension bridge across the Lehigh River was completed at Easton.  There were more chain suspension bridges across the Lehigh than any other place in America. ♦

 

1813 Jacob Cist, John Robinson, and Charles Miner obtained a coal lease from the Lehigh Coal Mine Co. and attempted to market Lehigh anthracite in Philadelphia. ♦

 

1814 Cist, Robinson, & Miner sent their first coal ark down the Lehigh & Delaware rivers, but found it difficult to sell in Philadelphia. ♦ Easton's first library was built.  It is now known as Archive Library Hall, located at 32 N. Second St. ♦

 

1815 America's first Christmas tree was decorated in Easton. ♦

 

1816 Josiah White and Erskine Hazard purchased a shipment of anthracite coal and discovered that it was a superior industrial fuel. ♦

 

1817 White and Hazard turned their attention toward the Lehigh and obtained a lease of the Lehigh Coal Mine Co. properties. ♦ An Easton man won $20,000 in the Grand State Lottery for the improvement of internal navigation. ♦

 

1818 White and Hazard began operations to mine anthracite coal in the Lehigh Valley and sell it profitably in the tidewater market of Philadelphia.  They formed the Lehigh Navigation Co. ♦ The PA Legislature authorized development of navigation on the Lehigh River from Easton to Stoddartsville.  Development was undertaken first for descending navigation only from Mauch Chunk to Easton by constructing "V" shaped dams and "Bear Trap Locks."  The operation of these locks created artificial freshets upon which the arks were floated down the shallow portions of the river.  At the completion of their journey the arks were disassembled and sold for lumber. ♦

 

1820 The first trial run of the "Bear Trap Locks" was completed and the first coal arks negotiated the Lehigh and Delaware rivers and arrived in Philadelphia. ♦ A total of 365 tons of anthracite coal was sent to market from the Lehigh region. ♦

 

1821 White and Hazard formed the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co. (LC&N) by merging their Lehigh Coal Co. with their Lehigh Navigation Co. ♦ The Seitz Brewing Co. was established at Easton, PA. ♦

 

1822 The Lehigh Navigation and Coal Co. was incorporated as the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Co. on 2.13.  The LC&N became America's first fully integrated company, owning the mines, the coal processing facilities, the transportation system and coal boats, and marketing outlets in Philadelphia. ♦ George P. Macculloch, while fishing at Lake Hopatcong, got the idea of using the lake as a water supply for a canal across northern New Jersey from New York Bay to Phillipsburg.  He vigorously promoted the idea of the canal and was the first to suggest the use of inclined planes for it. ♦ An act was passed to investigate the feasibility of the Morris Canal. ♦ "Reflections upon the perils & difficulties of the winter navigation of the Delaware & means by which these may be meliorated," by William Jones was published by the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. ♦ During this year 2,240 tons of coal were shipped from the Lehigh Valley to Philadelphia. ♦

 

1823 Ephraim Beach surveyed the route of the Morris Canal. ♦ Ark loads of coal were regularly being dispatched to Philadelphia via the Lehigh and Delaware rivers. ♦ The Delaware & Passaic Canal Commission was appointed by the Legislature of the State of NJ for the purpose of exploring a route of a canal to unite the Delaware, near Easton, with the Passaic, near Newark, produced a report and map of the route which was to become the Morris Canal. ♦

 

1824 The Morris Canal & Banking Co. was chartered in NJ. ♦ Warren County, named for a Revolutionary War hero who fell in the battle of Bunker Hill, was separated from Sussex County. ♦ In this year, 9,541 tons of coal were shipped from the Lehigh Valley. ♦

 

1825 The Warren Advocate, the earliest known newspaper in Phillipsburg began to be published. ♦ Construction of the Morris Canal began. ♦ A concentrated campaign by Josiah White's Lehigh Coal Co. to advertise the advantages of hard coal to the public increased its popularity. ♦ Warren county, NJ was established. ♦ In this era over 500 covered wagons passed through Phillipsburg - Easton carrying over 3,000 immigrants westward each month. ♦ During this year, 28, 393 tons of coal went to market on the Lehigh Navigation. ♦ 

 

1826 The Warren County Courthouse was built on Second Street in Belvidere.  It was the location of early sensational trials and public hangings.  The building was restored in 1959-60. ♦

 

1827 Construction of the Delaware Division Canal and Lehigh Navigation system began. ♦ The Switchback Gravity RR opened between Mauch Chunk and Summit Hill, PA. It was the second working RR in America. ♦

 

1828 Philadelphia burned 77,395 tons of anthracite coal. ♦ Hazards Register of PA reported that 1,000 rafts containing 50,000,000 feet of lumber descended the Delaware River during the rafting season. ♦ Screws produced by the Phillipsburg Wood Screw Co. were purchased by the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company, under construction at this time. ♦

 

1829 Reduced traveling rates (of $2) between NYC and Easton/Phillipsburg were advertised by the NY & Easton Line of Mail Coaches in combination with the "New and Elegant" steamboat Bellona between Elizabethtown and NYC.  The coach left Easton at 4 AM and the boat arrived at NYC at 6 PM. ♦ The Lehigh Navigation Canal was completed from Mauch Chunk to Easton by the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co. and opened. ♦ One of the first vessels to navigate the new Lehigh canal was the packet boat Swan which had been brought up the Delaware River from Philadelphia to carry passengers to and from Mauch Chunk. ♦ An iron boat built by the LC&N Co. made a voyage from Mauch Chunk to Trenton and back up to Easton in the Delaware River. ♦

 

1830 The packet boat Independence advertised an overnight excursion on the Lehigh Canal from Easton to the Concert at Bethlehem with a fare of 25¢ each way. ♦ John Lequear is credited with introducing lime as a soil enricher in Kingwood, Hunterdon County, NJ. ♦ The Beaver Meadow Railroad & Coal Co., the first steam railroad in the Lehigh Valley, was organized to develop the Beaver Meadow coal mines and to construct a railroad from the mines to the Lehigh River. ♦ The Trenton-Belvidere Stage Line began operating on an 11 hour schedule thrice weekly between the two points at a fare of $2.75. ♦

 

1831 The first trip on the Morris Canal was made from Newark to Phillipsburg. ♦ A ferry shuttle connection between the Lehigh and Morris Canals across the Delaware River from Easton to Phillipsburg was established. ♦ The first Morris Canal boats which were loaded with Lehigh coal at Mauch Chunk arrived in NJ. ♦ Josiah White was appointed engineer of the Delaware Canal at a salary of $4 per day. ♦ South Easton was laid out as a town by the LC&N. ♦

 

1832 A cable ferry was established across the Delaware between the Morris and Lehigh canals. ♦ A Morris Canal boat was swept over the Phillipsburg Falls. ♦ Lehigh Canal boats were permitted to deliver coal to Morris Canal points. ♦ The LC&N Co. advertised for "proposals for boating coal from Mauch Chunk to Newark." ♦ The first Lehigh anthracite coal transited the Morris Canal. ♦ The Morris Canal began to look for a suitable place to deposit coal at South Easton, Phillipsburg or elsewhere instead of using the Lehigh Canal facilities at South Easton. ♦ John Lequear built his own kiln on the banks of the Delaware.  He ferried bushels of his lime down the river in Durham boats.  He sold the lime for 15¢ a bushel. ♦ Lafayette College, Easton was established. ♦ The first full boating season on the Morris Canal was completed. ♦ 

 

1833 Asa Packer began building canalboats for the Lehigh Canal and soon thereafter began operating boats on the canal, hauling coal to Philadelphia.  In partnership with his brother he expanded operations over the Morris Canal to encompass the lucrative New York City coal trade.  He later bought a general store and established a canal boat yard in Mauch Chunk.. ♦♦ It was proposed to extend the Elizabeth & Somerville RR to Belvidere, NJ, and from there to the Water Gap.  It could then link up with the proposed Susquehanna & Delaware RR which would provide a connection through coal country at Carbondale C.F. Martin & Co. a/k/a The Martin Guitar Co. was established at Nazareth, PA.  It is one of the longest surviving family owned and operated manufacturers of top quality acoustic guitars in the world. ♦ A large new canalboat, JOSIAH WHITE of Easton, was built and owned by Peter S. Michler of that place.  The 16.5' wide boat was built to ply between Mauch Chunk and Easton. ♦

 

1834 The Morris Canal & Banking Co. ordered 32 new boats for delivery on or before May 1st.  Twelve of them were built in Easton, PA and others were built in Lehigh Gap, Weissport and Mauch Chunk, PA. ♦ The Delaware Division Canal (PA) was finally opened for through navigation after shoddy initial construction was repaired. ♦ The weigh lock at Easton was completed by John Cole and placed in operation.  It was built upon the plan of those on the Schuylkill Canal and had a capacity sufficient to weigh 100 tons. ♦ The Delaware & Raritan canal opened. ♦

 

1835 The Morris Canal toll collectors office was moved to Plane 11 west, Port Delaware from the Easton side of the river. ♦ The boat builders of Easton and vicinity announced a meeting to celebrate the anniversary of the declaration of American independence. ♦ Oxford Furnace became the first successful US smelting operation to use the "hot blast" process. ♦ John Stewart, son of Judge Thomas Stewart of Stewartsville, NJ and Charles Rodenbough, of Phillipsburg, founded Rodenbough, Stewart & Co., an ironworks to make nails in S. Easton, along the Lehigh Canal.  They evolved to become one of America's major wire manufacturers, employing 200.  As Stewart & Co. the plant flourished, with buildings eventually stretching 1,100 feet along the canal. ♦ Swift & Breck established the area's first cotton mill at South Easton.  They purchased water power from the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co. for $1,050 per year. ♦

 

1836 The Belvidere Delaware Rail Road Co. (Bel-Del) was incorporated on Mar. 2nd to build a line up the east bank of the Delaware River from Trenton through Phillipsburg to Belvidere, a distance of 64 miles. ♦ The Beaver Meadow RR & Coal Co. received their first two locomotives, designed by Joseph Harrison and built by Garrett & Eastwick of Philadelphia.  They were loaded into canalboats and brought up the Delaware & Lehigh Canals to Parryville, the terminus of the Beaver Meadow RR.  These locomotives were America's first 4-4-0's and were the first to combine flexible beams (sprung axles) with turnable pony trucks.  They were the prototype for locomotives for the next 75 years. ♦ Red Line Transportation Co. of Easton, an independant operator of canalboats, was organized with Capt. Jacob Able, president.  The Red Line boats carried general merchandise between White Haven and Philadelphia and later operated over the Delaware & Raritan Canal to Jersey City. ♦ The Belvidere Water Co. built the Belvidere Canal on the east side of the Delaware River at Rifton, just below Belvidere.  It was about one mile in length and supposedly had a dual purpose: to supply water power to Rifton Mill and to give boats a safer way around the Foul Rift.  It's usefulness died with the construction of the Bel Del railroad up to Belvidere in 1855, which was built over much of the canal, and the mill burned down for the last time in 1856. ♦

 

1837 As a construction contractor, Asa Packer completed the large locks of the upper portion of the Lehigh Canal at considerable personal profit. ♦ The Morristown and Easton Railroad was chartered to run a line from Morristown via Mendham, Chester, Schooley's Mountain and Asbury to the Delaware River opposite Easton. ♦

 

1838 Congress passed a bill making every railroad a postal route. ♦ Allentown, PA was named in honor of William Allen who started a hunting and fishing lodge in the area in the 1750's. ♦

 

1839 Ajax, the first locomotive of the Sugar Loaf Railroad, near Hazleton, was built by Garrett & Eastwick in Philadelphia and was delivered by canalboat up the Delaware & Lehigh canals. ♦

 

1840 Lehigh Canal Chief Engineer, Edwin A. Douglas was appointed chief engineer of the Morris Canal to supervise it's enlargement.  He was assisted by Robert Sayre, son of a Lehigh Coal & Navigation official.  The first section of the Morris enlargement was the west end due to the iron traffic. ♦ The Lehigh-Crane Iron Company at Catasauqua entered production.  Designed by David Thomas, it became the first successful anthracite fueled iron furnace in America.  This development made the Lehigh Valley the most important iron producer in America from 1850 to 1880. ♦ The Lehigh River rose to a record high flood stage.  There was considerable damage at the mouth of the river where a new dam was being constructed. ♦

 

1841 The enlargement of the Morris Canal was reportedly assisted by 3,000 men paid for by the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co. ♦ A great flood (the Bridges Freshet) occurred in the Delaware and Lehigh River valleys with water 35 feet above normal at Easton.  It swept away nine bridges spanning the Delaware and damaged or destroyed much of the Lehigh Canal. ♦ The LC&N requested aid from the Morris Canal to repair flood damage. ♦ After several years of shadowy financial dealings, the Morris Canal went bankrupt. ♦ As many as 40 boats from the Morris Canal used the Delaware & Raritan (D&R) Canal in the fall of 1841.  Because the Morris Canal was closed for enlargement work their boats navigated to the Lehigh Canal via the D&R (crossing the Delaware River from Bordentown to Morrisville) and Delaware Canals to get coal to alleviate the shortage at NYC. ♦

 

1842 The first 125 ton experimental boat was built on the Delaware & Hudson Canal at Honesdale, PA, but that canal enlargement had not progressed enough to move it by canal.  The boat was therefore floated down the Lackawaxen and Delaware Rivers to Bulls Island where it entered the D&R Canal and was delivered to NY. ♦ William Firmstone, George Maddock, Harry Griffith and Joseph Waltman began construction of an iron furnace and company houses at Glendon, PA with financing from Charles Jackson, Jr.  Land was purchased and water power was rented from the LC&N. ♦

 

1843 A breach in the Morris Canal at Port Delaware broke through the embankment and emptied itself into the Delaware (ca. 7.18). ♦ The Glendon Iron Co. was founded by Charles Jackson, a prominent merchant from Boston.  Its furnaces were constructed and operated by William Firmstone, a noted English ironmaster. ♦ Boatmen on the Lehigh Canal tied up several hundred boats between Easton and Freemansburg and went on strike. ♦

 

1844 Glendon furnace, which later became known as Glendon Iron Co., was "blown in."  The excellent quality of their iron was attributed to their use of magnetite ore from the Hibernia Mine in Morris County.  Up to 500 tons per day was shipped to Glendon via the Morris and Lehigh canals. ♦ The Morris Canal Co. was reorganized and "Banking" was dropped from their name. ♦ The Swift & Breck cotton mill at South Easton was bought by Quinn & McKeen.  They employed 300 workers and turned 800,000 pounds of raw cotton into 2,500,000 yards of cotton goods. ♦

 

1845 The enlargement of the Morris Canal was completed. ♦ The PA legislature reduced tolls on the Phillipsburg-Easton covered wood bridge. ♦

 

1846 The Morris Canal Co. announced prizes of $200 for the fastest boaters.  The Cavanaugh brothers of Phillipsburg took their boats from Port Delaware, in Phillipsburg, to Jersey City in four days. ♦ Asa Packer was one of the original incorporators of the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill and Susquehanna RR (DLS&S RR) in this year.  It later became the Lehigh Valley RR (LV RR). ♦

 

1847 A cave-in at Woodring's Mine above South Easton resulted in the death of one workman. ♦ James M. Porter, a prominent Easton lawyer, was elected the first president of the DLS&S RR. ♦ The Somerville & Easton RR was incorporated to build a railroad from Somerville to the Delaware River opposite Easton, PA.  Their prospectus to potential stockholders reported on a branch costing $200,000 to be built to Belvidere to connect with the Susquehanna & Delaware RR.  The branch was never built. ♦

 

1848 Outlet locks and a cable ferry were completed between New Hope, PA and Lambertville, NJ to allow Delaware Canal boats to take advantage of a short cut to Trenton and New York Harbor via the Delaware & Raritan Canal. ♦ The first modernized Morris Canal inclined plane was completed at Port Colden.  A Scotch turbine replaced the original overshot water wheel and wire rope replaced the earlier chains as the hauling device. ♦ Cooper, Hewitt & Co. (Cooper's Furnace) was built along the Morris Canal in Phillipsburg.  The anthracite coal for the furnace came from the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co. by canalboat.  The iron was brought via the Morris Canal from their mines near Andover.  The pig iron produced was moved to their Trenton Iron Works rolling mills by canalboat, for a few years, until 1854, when the Belvidere-Delaware RR was extended to Phillipsburg.  The furnace output traveled a very short distance on the Morris Canal, the boats then crossed the Delaware River on a cable ferry, and entered the Delaware Division Canal.  They were then hauled down to the outlet lock at New Hope, PA where they recrossed the Delaware on another cable ferry to enter the D&R Feeder Canal, and completed the trip to Trenton on the latter waterway.  The Trenton Iron Works was one of the earliest US producers of RR rails and one of their buildings survives in Trenton. ♦ Central RR of New Jersey 4-4-0 steam locomotive #3, the Easton, was built. ♦ The former Durham Furnace property was acquired by Joseph Whittaker & Co. who built two new anthracite furnaces at the mouth of Durham Creek to take advantage of coal which could be supplied by the Delaware Canal. ♦ The J.R. Templin Iron & Brass Foundry was established in Phillipsburg. ♦ Robert M. Jones of Wales came to Bangor, PA as an immigrant and began the slate quarrying industry.  The region became a major world center for slate.  From this area came slate for roofs and old time school slate boards. ♦ A new campaign was started to complete the Bel Del RR to Phillipsburg.  It was backed in large part by the Trenton Iron Works, which had blast furnaces in the neighborhood of Phillipsburg.  The Camden & Amboy RR was given legislative permission to subscribe to $500,000 of Bel Del stock, and work was begun on the line.  The Camden & Amboy finally wound up as owner of practically all the stock.  The Bel Del also issued over $2,000,000 in bonds, which were guaranteed by the Camden & Amboy.

 

1849 Ashbel Welsh released his Report of the Location of the Belvidere Delaware Railroad, with the Estimate. ♦ The Morris Canal Company considered and was authorized to build an aqueduct or bridge over the Delaware River to access Easton and the LC&N.  One month later both NJ and PA gave the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill and Susquehanna RR the power to build a bridge for railroad purposes only, at or near Easton, crossing the Delaware.  The Morris Canal instead deepened the cable ferry channel to 5 feet. ♦ Trenton & Lehigh Transportation Co. was incorporated to transport goods, wares, and merchandise from White Haven to Philadelphia and New York via the Lehigh, Delaware and D&R Canals. ♦ A boatmen's strike against the Lehigh & Delaware Canals occurred at Easton. ♦ From a travelers description: "We passed through the long single street of the ancient village of Phillipsburg, which tradition says was laid out long before Easton was thought of, and which now contains some 30 or 40 homes, scattered in straggling order over a distance of a half a mile." ♦ The Lehigh mining companies sent 801,246 tons of coal to market - 580,934 tons via the Delaware Division Canal and 105,000 tons via the Delaware & Raritan Canal Feeder. ♦ The Stiles-Thomas store was built to cater to the grain trade on the canal.  The building remains at #96 So. Main St., Phillipsburg. ♦ 

 

1850 A flood brought the level of the Delaware River 35 feet above normal water level at Easton. ♦ The Easton Gas Co. was incorporated. ♦ Construction of the Bel-Del RR was begun under the direction of Ashbel Welch, a civil engineer of considerable ability.  Welch had been in charge of the construction of the D&R Feeder Canal and became the superintendent and chief engineer of the Bel-Del.  He went on to become the chief engineer of the D&R Canal and the Camden & Amboy RR. ♦ The Cooper Hewitt furnace at Phillipsburg yielded 235 tons of iron in one week, a US record. ♦ The Somerville & Easton RR (CNJ) extension from Whitehouse to Phillipsburg was begun under James Laurie, Chief Engineer, a founder and first president of the American Society of Civil Engineers. ♦ Josiah White, nationally known canal builder, contractor of the Lehigh Canal, and mentor of Ashbel Welch, died. ♦ Morris Canal inclined planes were rebuilt and the capacity of the waterway was enlarged.  One of the makers of the plane house machinery was Templin & Connover of Easton.  The old or scrap rail and machinery parts were shipped back to the Cooper-Hewitt furnace at Phillipsburg for re-smelting.  The furnace purchased coal directly from the LC&N Co. ♦

 

1851 Phillipsburg was first organized as a township. ♦ The Warren RR was incorporated on Feb. 12. ♦ Asa Packer purchased a majority of outstanding stock of the DLS&S RR giving him the controlling interest in the company. ♦ The stage line which formerly ran between Easton and Trenton now ran between Easton and Lambertville, connecting with the Bel-Del train for Trenton. ♦ A raft loaded at Belvidere with 200 barrels of whiskey was wrecked on the covered bridge pier at Phillipsburg. ♦ The first illumination by gas occurred in Easton on 11.29. ♦

 

1852 Central RR of NJ (CNJ) was completed to Phillipsburg.  The first train arrived with 8 coaches and the nearly 500 passengers were met in Phillipsburg by a reception committee, a brass band, citizens and authorities - all from Easton.. ♦ The steamboat Maj. Barnett commenced regular trips on the Delaware River between Lambertville and Easton ♦ The Philadelphia, Easton & Water Gap RR (which later became the North Pennsylvania RR) was chartered. ♦ Asa Packer was elected secretary and treasurer of the DLS&S RR. ♦ Robert Sayre was appointed chief engineer of the DLS&S (he later became vice president of the LV RR). ♦ The DLS&S RR began excavation of the great rock cut at Mt. Ida in South Easton. ♦ Within three miles of Easton there were 18 merchant and grist mills, 6 saw mills, 3 oil mills, 3 tanneries, 5 foundries, 7 distilleries, 1 planing mill, 1 rolling mill and wire factory, 3 blast furnaces, 2 cotton factories, and several other smaller factories. ♦

 

1853 The LDS&S RR began to be known as the Lehigh Valley RR (LV RR). ♦ The Phillipsburg Land Co. laid out lots on the lower flood plain section of town and began selling property on a large scale. ♦ Rail for the Bel-Del extension from Milford to Phillipsburg was manufactured at Phoenixville, PA, delivered to Trenton via canalboat and picked up there by the Bel-Del Railroad. ♦ Transport of whiskey on the Lehigh & Delaware Canals peaked at 15,100 standard barrels annually. ♦ The LV RR began to build a bridge over the Delaware River to the Morris Canal Co. lands at Phillipsburg. ♦ The Northampton County Fairgrounds opened. ♦ The Morris Canal received 222,582 tons of Lehigh coal at Port Delaware. ♦ A Post Office was established at Phillipsburg.

 

1854 The first post office was established at Phillipsburg on 1.31. ♦ The Bel-Del RR was completed from Trenton to Phillipsburg.  Access to Easton for the Bel-Del was provided on the lower level of the Lehigh Valley's double deck bridge.  This connection required a tunnel under Mt. Ida. ♦ The first train over the Bel-Del, a 15 car special from Philadelphia and Trenton, arrived in Phillipsburg. ♦ The Easton Gas Co. was authorized to extend its pipes to Phillipsburg and So. Easton. ♦ A 90 ton steam powered tunneling machine for the Warren RR (DL&W) was brought to Phillipsburg on the CNJ and hauled in pieces by wagons over primitive roads to the Oxford tunnel construction site. ♦ Freight service between Phillipsburg and Philadelphia was established on the Bel-Del. ♦ The State of NJ prohibited transportation of freight on Sunday, by road, railroad, or canal. ♦ Rail postal service was begun on the Bel Del. ♦ Thomas N. McCarter became a director and council of the Morris Canal Co. ♦

 

1855 The Warren RR was given permission to construct the Oxford or Van Ness Gap tunnel. ♦ Miss Lucrita Bradley began a balloon ascension from downtown Easton.  Winds and an accident produced an uncontrolled journey of 4 miles eastward and she landed safely an hour and 20 minutes later at Still Valley, NJ. ♦ John I. Blair and the officers of the Warren RR Co. published a letter to the NJ Assembly and Senate seeking permission to construct a temporary rail line over the top of Van Nest Gap due to their having a difficult time driving the tunnel through. ♦ The LV RR commenced the first passenger service on their new line between South Easton and Allentown using locomotives and cars hired from the CNJ. ♦ An excursion was run over the LV RR from S. Easton to the Thomas Iron Co. at Hokendauqua. ♦ The CNJ was extended from Phillipsburg over the newly completed LV RR bridge across the Delaware River.  LV passengers were transferred to and from the Jersey Central at So. Easton. ♦ Train service on the Bel-Del between Phillipsburg and Belvidere was inaugurated. ♦ The false work and chords of the 183' span of the bridge connecting the LV RR wooden bridge with the Bel-Del on the Jersey shore were carried away by high water (July). ♦ A Morris Canal boat struck the trestle work of the LV RR double-deck bridge at Phillipsburg.  The entire woodwork of the span that connected the bridge with the Bel-Del tracks gave way and, along with all the workmen's tools, bolts, etc., fell into the water.  Fortunately, since the accident occurred at noon there was no one on the bridge, there were no injuries.  The men on the boat escaped injury by jumping into the cabin (August). ♦ A Daily State Gazette (Trenton) reporter gave this description of Phillipsburg: "living is cheap, rents low, taxes in New Jersey minimal, and communication with New York and Philadelphia quick and easy by railroad and canal.  The place is in a high degree picturesque and beautiful, and remarkably healthy, with a population of about 10,000." ♦ The upper tier of the LV RR bridge across the Delaware River was opened for traffic.  It was first crossed by the CNJ locomotive Lehigh with J.W. Murphy, builder of the bridge, and Robert H. Sayre, chief engineer of the LV RR aboard.  At this time LV RR locomotives were both housed and repaired by the Jersey Central RR at Phillipsburg. ♦ The Bel-Del connecting track on the lower level of the LV bridge rose to the LV grade in South Easton about a mile up the Lehigh River. ♦ The 26 acre Farmers & Mechanics Institute/Easton Fairgrounds opened. ♦ Lehigh anthracite coal traffic began moving from the mines to Phillipsburg and via the Bel-Del to Trenton and South Amboy.  The Bel-Del was used by the LV RR because the Stevens family/Camden & Amboy RR loaned the LV RR $100,000 to complete their line to Easton.  For this the C&A RR got two seats on the LV RR board. ♦ The Express-Times newspaper was founded in Easton.  It has been serving NJ & PA ever since. ♦ The Bel-Del opened the Lehigh Junction Station in Phillipsburg, below the CNJ and LV RR bridges. ♦ The Bel Del advertised two trains each way, daily, between Phillipsburg and Philadelphia.  A through car was on the rear of the train.  Travel time was 4.5 hours and the fare was $1.50. ♦ The LV RR was only interested in the staple coal traffic - general freight shipments were handled by Howard & Co. of Philadelphia which paid the railroad a toll of three cents per ton mile.  Howard furnished their own cars and train crews and called the service the Easton Express. ♦ The Templin Iron & Brass Foundry at Phillipsburg was destroyed by fire. ♦ This was the peak year for the Lehigh Canal with 1,276,000 long tons of anthracite transported and over a thousand boats in service. ♦

 

1856 Cooper-Hewitt & Company became the major supplier of rails and the "chairs" that secured the rails in position on the Morris Canal planes. ♦ The demand for limestone for the Glendon Iron Works could not be met by the Firmstone Quarry on the opposite side of the Lehigh River.  The Lehigh Bridge Co. was chartered to build a covered wood bridge to replace the inadequate river ferry.  The bridge was completed during the summer at a cost of $12,000.  A railway delivered the limestone from the quarry to the furnaces. ♦ The first LV RR train from Mauch Chunk arrived in Trenton. ♦ The Easton & Stroudsburg line of stages connected its two namesake towns via the Delaware Water Gap with Bel-Del trains at Phillipsburg for Philadelphia. ♦ A two week strike occurred on the CNJ RR. ♦ A branch from the CNJ RR to the Morris Canal Basin in Phillipsburg was completed. ♦ The inaugural train operated over the completed Warren Railroad between Hampton Jct. and the Delaware Water Gap on May 27th.  It began at Elizabeth on the CRR of NJ and ended at Scranton.  This train was actually the first train to operate on the newly formed DL&W RR. ♦ A coal burning locomotive was tried out on the CNJ RR. ♦ The first span on the NJ side of the LV RR bridge collapsed under the weight of two coupled LV locomotives on 8.27.  The locomotive Mauch Chunk fell onto the Morris Canal inclined plane at Phillipsburg and the locomotive Robert H. Sayre was left hanging in a web of broken timbers.  The bridge was soon repaired. ♦ A steam boat was tried on the Morris Canal. ♦ The LV RR began shipping large quantities of coal via their connection with the Bel-Del at Phillipsburg to Coalport on the Delaware & Raritan Canal in Trenton for transhipment by canalboat. ♦ The North Pennsylvania RR opened from Philadelphia to Bethlehem Township (Shimersville). ♦ CNJ 4-4-0 steam locomotive #22, the Phillipsburg, was built by the NJ Locomotive & Machine Co. at Paterson. ♦ The Warren Foundry & Machine Co. was founded - their plant was built between the CNJ Main Line and Sitgreaves St., Phillipsburg. ♦ The LV RR built a 5 stall roundhouse with a turntable on the former Odenwelder farm.  The barn was utilized as a carpenter shop to repair rail cars. ♦ An annual peak of 184,000 tons of iron and iron ore were carried on the Lehigh & Delaware Canals. ♦

 

1857 The LV RR opened a machine/repair shop to service and repair locomotives at S. Easton. ♦ The North Penn RR reached South Bethlehem.  They advertised the shortest and most direct route between Philadelphia and Easton.  Passengers had to change to LV RR trains, but freight was forwarded through to Easton and other points "without change of cars" by the LV RR. ♦ The North Penn RR later abandoned their earlier branch towards Easton when plans to expand further north did not materialize. ♦ Smith's Island in the Lehigh River (which later became known as Island Park) became an integral part of the towpath of the Lehigh Navigation when LC&N built a causeway connecting the island to the north bank and the Change Bridge linking it with the south bank of the Lehigh River.  The latter bridge is one of the most historically significant suspension bridges in America.  The essential components of it remain in Easton's Hugh Moore Park. ♦ The small Saucona Iron Company was established on the south bank of the Lehigh River in Bethlehem.  It eventually became the giant Bethlehem Steel Company. ♦

 

1858 The Delaware Division Canal was sold by the state of Pennsylvania to the Sunbury & Erie RR but was acquired by the LC&N.  After this time the weigh lock at Easton was no longer required and was probably abandoned. ♦ The LV RR planned to construct coal pockets at Easton to load canalboats from railroad cars. ♦ The LV RR owned nearly 1,000 coal cars of 5 and 10 ton capacity. ♦ George P. Maccullough, who conceived the idea of the Morris Canal, was instrumental in its chartering and was its chief promoter, died. ♦ A plan was put forth to construct a canal along the NJ side of the Delaware River from Phillipsburg to the head of the navigable feeder of the Delaware & Raritan Canal at Bulls Island. ♦

 

1859 The NJ & Pennsylvania Freight Line was established with a fleet of covered canalboats to operate between NY & Washington, NJ (connecting with the DL&W RR) and Easton & White Haven, PA.  They also served Wilkes Barre, PA via a connection with the Lehigh & Susquehanna RR. ♦ A group of Lehigh Valley entrepreneurs constructed the 100 ton stern wheel boat Alfred Thomas and locked it through the Lehigh Navigation to Easton.  From Easton it was planned to operate north on the Delaware River. ♦ About a mile north of Phillipsburg the morning passenger train came around a curve and plowed into a pile of rocks that had just rolled down the hillside onto the Bel-Del roadbed.  The engine was thrown off the track and landed on its side a few feet from the edge of a steep embankment. ♦ Through passenger service was established between New York (via ferry connection to Elizabethport) and Pittsburgh via CNJ, LV, East Pennsylvania & Pennsylvania Central Railroads. ♦ Excursions to the Coal Fields of PA were offered by the CNJ RR from NY via steamboat to Elizabethport, by rail to Hampton Junction, the Delaware Water Gap, over Pocono Mountain, Scranton, toWilkes-Barre, Mauch Chunk and return.  Side trips over the Switchback Gravity RR to the top of Mount Pisgah were also offered. ♦ The first Warren County Farmers', Mechanics', and Manufacturers' Association Fair was held in the Belvidere public square, now known as Garrett D. Wall Park. ♦ The greatest annual volume of lumber was transported over the Lehigh Navigation - 73,000 tons. ♦ Bel-Del equipment included 13 locomotives, 15 passenger cars, 3 baggage and mail cars and 526 coal and freight cars. ♦ Peter Cooper's Furnace in Phillipsburg was the first US operation to experiment with the Bessemer process. ♦ The Oxford Iron Company was formed and its connections with the DL&W RR were strengthened via the Scranton family whose members sat on both boards.  The business had been producing RR wheels, primarily for the DL&W, since the late 1840's. ♦ Saucona Iron Co. came under the control of the Lehigh Valley Railroad.  Robert H. Sayre, Chief Engineer and General Superintendant of the LV RR guided the destiny of this firm which became Bethlehem Steel for the next four decades. ♦

 

1860 The Saucona Iron Co. became the Bethlehem Rolling Mill and Iron Co. ♦ The Easton & Nazareth RR was organized and surveyed, but not built.  Years later the Easton & Northern RR utilized much of their planned route. ♦ It became necessary to extend the canal dock at Washington for transferring greater quantities of coal from the DL&W RR to the Morris Canal.  The DL&W supplied the timber and the canal company performed the construction. ♦ One of the last recorded commercial Durham boat trips on the Delaware River occurred, with Isaac Van Norman commanding.  Four replica Durham boats are used in the annual reenactment of the Christmas day crossing at Washington's Crossing. ♦ On its maiden run north on the Delaware River, the boiler of the steamboat Alfred Thomas exploded near the site of the present Rt. 22 toll bridge and many of the passengers and crew were killed or severely injured. ♦ The boiler of the locomotive Excelsior exploded at So. Easton in March. ♦ The LV RR car manufacturing facility began operation at S. Easton. ♦ The Morris Canal Directors took an excursion on their canal from Easton to Jersey City in one of their own boats which was comfortably fitted for the purpose.  They were most favorably impressed with the importance of the canal and the trip was a success. ♦ A large and handsome locomotive, the Delaware, built for the Bel-Del was delivered by Danforth Cooke & Co. of Paterson, NJ. ♦  Phillipsburg population was estimated to be nearly 2,500. ♦

 

1861 The borough of Phillipsburg was incorporated.  Bel-Del RR president, Charles Sitgreaves was elected the first mayor. ♦ Captain William Park of Easton and seven other helpers navigated the heaviest raft ever floated down the Delaware up to this time, from Narrowsburg, NY to Philadelphia.  The 190' x 60' raft, formed principally of wharf timber, was laden with 3,500 oak RR ties, weighed 255 tons and drew 3.5' of water. ♦ Immediately after Ft. Sumpter was fired upon NJ State militia units volunteered to help defend Washington, DC.  The Garibaldi Guards from Phillipsburg traveled to Trenton on the Bel-Del where they were assembled into larger units.  The 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Regiments of the NJ Militia were put aboard a fleet of fourteen steam propeller canalboats on the Delaware & Raritan Canal at Trenton.  Col. Jonathan Fish was appointed Commodore of the fleet.  They traveled to Bordentown on the canal then followed the Delaware River, Chesapeake & Delaware Canal and Chesapeake Bay to Annapolis.  There the troops boarded trains for Washington. ♦ Due to the pressure of war demands, a supplemental route from NY to Baltimore was opened.  On May 6th through trains began operating via the Central RR of New Jersey to Easton and other railroads through Allentown, Reading and Harrisburg to Baltimore.  In this year over 26,000 troops plus a large amount of freight was carried south over this route. ♦ Wm. Dade, a RR employee, purchased land from the Bel Del and built a home which overlooked the turntable.  The original home is gone, but the property is now #112 So. Main Street. ♦  The name of the Bethlehem Rolling Mills and Iron Co. was changed to the Bethlehem Iron Co. ♦

 

1862 Congress authorized President Lincoln to take possession of any or all RR lines in the US. ♦ The CNJ began advertising the "Allentown Route" as the shortest route to Chicago and the west (898 miles - in 36 hours, via connecting railroads). ♦ Col. George E. Mapes rode down the Delaware on a raft.  His story of that experience appeared in the Easton Express on 3.29.40. ♦ A destructive flood in the Lehigh Valley in June caused the Delaware River to rise 42 feet at the Forks of the Delaware, and the Bel-Del suffered washouts at two points. ♦ An estimated 86 Morris Canal boats which were on the Lehigh Canal at the time of the flood were lost and the latter canal was closed for 122 days.  Much of the Upper Division of the Lehigh was destroyed and it was not rebuilt.  ♦ The Delaware Canal and the LV RR were closed for 34 days due to flood damage. ♦ The Morris Canal Co. purchased their first steam dredge. ♦ Asa Packer assumed the presidency of the LV RR although he had been its undisputed ruler for some time. ♦ Bethlehem Iron Co. rolled its first rail for the LV RR. ♦ John L. Riegel first made paper at his Finesville mill. ♦ The Bethlehem RR which later became part of the Lehigh & New England RR was chartered. ♦ The Warren RR completed the Oxford or Van Ness Gap tunnel, the first in New Jersey.  It was 3,500 feet long and was cut through bedrock. ♦

 

1863 The first bast furnace of the Bethlehem Iron Co. was "blown in" on Jan. 4th.  The plant first rolled wrought iron railroad rails in September.  The firm later became the Bethlehem Steel works. ♦ The Morris & Essex RR proceeded with construction of their road to the Delaware River at Phillipsburg. ♦ The LC&N Co. was authorized to extend the railroad from White Haven to Mauch Chunk to replace the Upper Division of their canal which was destroyed by flood the previous year. ♦ A Mr. Lugar took a load of ship's knees to the Brooklyn Navy Yard in a Durham boat and sold them to the government.  He cut them in the Blue Mountains and along the Delaware River as far North as Columbia.  Lugar's boat floated down the river and at Lambertville he entered the Delaware & Raritan Canal Feeder and was towed by mules to Trenton and New Brunswick.  From there he was towed down the Raritan River, through Arthur Kill & Kill Van Kull, across NY Harbor and up the East River to the Navy Yard by steam tug. ♦ Construction of a telegraph line along the Bel-Del was begun. ♦ A break in the Delaware Division Canal four miles south of Easton interrupted boat traffic. ♦ During this year the Bel-Del received 137,060 tons of coal from the LV RR, and an additional 17,188 tons for the Cooper Iron Works at Phillipsburg. ♦ The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers was founded. ♦

 

1864 As soon as the Bel-Del established an unconnected transfer point with the Warren RR (DL&W) at Manunka Chunk (near Butzville, NJ), the company initiated a publicity campaign to inform the public about places of unusual natural beauty, such as the Delaware Water Gap, the Lehigh River Gap, and Niagara Falls which could be conveniently reached via their trains, and connections. ♦ CNJ began operating sleeping cars between Jersey City and points west of the Delaware River, first in NJ in regular service. ♦ The LV RR began replacing iron rails with steel. ♦ The Central RR of NJ was the primary artery of westward travel for immigrants entering the US at Ellis Island.  The CNJ ran one or two trains daily until the 1940's to convey recent immigrants westward. ♦ The Warren Fire Co. was organized in Phillipsburg. ♦ To more effectively compete with the LV RR the LC&N began construction of the extension of their Lehigh & Susquehanna (L&S) RR down the east bank of the Lehigh River to Easton. ♦

 

1865 The Morris Canal expanded trackage and coal chutes at Port Delaware and purchased their second steam dredge. ♦ A few miles east of Phillipsburg two CNJ trains were wrecked at the Musconetcong River bridge.  The bridge collapsed under the weight of a coal train of which the locomotive and all 45 coal cars went into the stream.  A closely following iron train with 22 cars fell on top of the first train. ♦ The Delaware Division Canal was knocked out by a freshet. ♦ The Lehigh Navigation Co. purchased a large lot of ground in Odenweldertown on which they intended to build their shops. ♦ The following notice appeared in the June 17th issue of the Easton Express: "The Bel Del Railroad Company organized a route to the Falls of Niagara from Philadelphia through the Delaware Valley and the Delaware Water Gap, Scranton, Great Bend, Central New York, Great Lakes and Canals." ♦ The CNJ RR added a large semi-circular brick engine house and a small machine shop to the existing facilities.  They also built a new, two track, five span stone bridge over the Morris Canal at Green's. ♦ Aeronaut John A. Light made an ascension from Center Square, Easton in his balloon, Flying Cloud. ♦ The nation's railroads were released from military control. ♦ The Morris & Essex RR was completed to Phillipsburg. ♦ The Tippett & Wood steel fabrication business was organized at Phillipsburg. ♦

 

1866 The Pequest & Walkill RR was chartered in NJ on 2.23 to construct a line from Belvidere northeast to the NY state line, but they did not build. ♦ As soon as their gauge was changed to standard, through passenger trains began running between New York and Phillipsburg on the Morris & Essex Railroad. ♦ The Easton and South Easton Passenger Ry. Co. was chartered. ♦ The LV RR merged the Lehigh & Mahanoy RR into its system providing in conjunction with the CNJ "the shortest and best route from Lake Erie to NY." ♦ The first 39 students began classes at Lehigh University. ♦ At 6am on Monday, Sept. 24th the Central RR of NJ 4-6-0 steam locomotive #39, the Mulford, exploded at the Phillipsburg roundhouse.  Nearby locomotives Somerset and Cape May were considerably damaged.  The roof of the round house was blown off and the Mulford's steam chest or dome, weighing 300 lbs. was thrown a distance of 1500'and landed on a public road near the Phillipsburg Hotel (corner of S. Main & Hanover Streets).  Miraculosly no one was seriously injured.  That afternoon, Robert Sayre, President of the Lehigh Valley RR visited the Phillipsburg roundhouse to inspect the damage. ♦ This was the peak year of Morris Canal - traffic was 889,229 tons. ♦

 

1867 One of the boilers of the Delaware Rolling Mill at Phillipsburg exploded and the Bel-Del track was covered with portions of the building. ♦ The Phillipsburg Horse Car Ry. Co. was chartered. ♦ The LV locomotive Hercules drew 260 empty cars from the Bel-Del in Phillipsburg to South Easton. ♦ The LV RR locomotive Sampson hauled 148 loaded cars from Glendon to the Bel-Del in Phillipsburg.  It was the heaviest string of cars pulled over this section of track to date. ♦ The Easton & South Easton Passenger Ry. Co. commenced operation as a public carrier.  Their first two horse cars were manufactured by Jackson & Sharp in Wilmington, DE and were delivered on a single RR flat car. ♦ The visiting committee of the Assistance Steam Fire Engine Co. of Philadelphia arrived in Phillipsburg via the Bel-Del with the new steam fire pumper for Easton which had been built in Philadelphia by the J.B. Haupt Co.  A grand demonstration began at the Northampton Street bridge with a parade, four bands and delegations from fire companies from all over the area.  Such traditional events, including lots of liquid refreshments are still staged and are now called "wet-downs." ♦ A woman gave birth in one of the Easton street cars.  The reporter suggested that if it was a boy it might be named Os-car or if a girl Car-o-line. ♦ High water on the Delaware River washed out the partially completed center span of the new L&S RR bridge between Phillipsburg and South Easton. ♦ The new brick depot of the LV RR was nearly completed at South Easton. ♦ A roundhouse was being built in West Easton by the L&S RR. ♦ The L&S RR completed their new 1038' long iron bridge over the Delaware River to Phillipsburg. ♦ The Bel-Del which had been using the nickname "Delaware Valley Line" now advertised their scenic route as "The Favorite Summer Route."  Passengers were advised that they could transfer at Phillipsburg for a trip to the Switchback RR at Mauch Chunk. ♦ The CNJ began to experiment with the use of steel rails. ♦ The North Penn-LV rail route between Easton and Philadelphia via Bethlehem was opened.  This route was 15.26 miles shorter than the Bel-Del route south from Phillipsburg. ♦ A locomotive of the L&S RR reached Easton.  This was the first RR in the US to be built exclusively with steel rails. ♦ The new L&S RR iron bridge over the Lehigh River at South Easton was nearing completion. ♦ Lehigh University, founded and heavily endowed by Asa Packer, opened.  Packer's personal fortune financed construction, insured free tuition in the early years, and he was a major benefactor of the institution for the remainder of his life. ♦ Coal traffic transferred from the DL&W RR to the Morris Canal at Washington peaked at 146,359 tons in this year. ♦ On 12.20 the CNJ RR issued General Order #2 prohibiting the operation of trains on Sundays except through express passenger trains, stock trains or those carrying perishables. ♦

1868 The CNJ locomotive Sussex, heading the westbound Empire freight train exploded at Bloomsbury. ♦ L&S RR passenger trains began running between Easton and Wilkes Barre.  Connections to Phillipsburg were temporarily provided by an omnibus. ♦ Interchange connections were established between the Bel-Del, LV, Morris & Essex, Lehigh & Susquehanna, and CNJ Railroads at Phillipsburg. ♦ L&S passenger trains began using the new bridges over the Lehigh and Delaware rivers to reach Phillipsburg. ♦ The first coal train from Mauch Chunk, PA via the L&S RR arrived in Phillipsburg.  The L&S became a principal supplier of coal to the CNJ RR. ♦ The Allentown Passenger Railway Co., a 3.5 mile horse-drawn system was formed in May, ♦ The LV RR began to build new steam locomotives at their So. Easton Shop. ♦ A wheel of a car broke on an M&E RR freight train three miles east of Phillipsburg derailing 11 cars and the caboose down a steep embankment on 4.1.  Another closely following train with 15 cars also ran off the track and down the fill. ♦ The Morris Canal Co. began to stockpile 50,000 tons of coal under the trestle work at Port Delaware. ♦ The Central Ry of NJ advertised three daily express trains for the west beginning May 11th.  Their route would require but one change of cars to Chicago or Cincinnati and but two changes to St. Louis.  However, their route would save 60 to 130 miles and three hours time. ♦ The Morris & Essex RR was leased to the DL&W RR and a reduction of grades was ordered between Phillipsburg and Hackettstown so that only one grade would exceed 30 feet per mile. ♦ CNJ brakemen at Phillipsburg struck work on account of special order No. 23 requiring them to ride outside on their trains.  They were all discharged and new workers were hired. ♦ Heavy rains washed debris down the embankment onto the Bel-Del station at Lehigh Jct., washed out a culvert and filled the Morris Canal plane with silt. ♦ CNJ passenger conductors commenced wearing the new uniform furnished by the company (blue coat, pants, vest & cap with C RR of NJ gilt buttons). ♦ Baggage at Lehigh Jct. station of the Bel-Del began to be transferred free of charge. ♦ The Bel-Del started replacing old and worn out iron rail with steel. ♦

 

1869 The CNJ built a new 16 stall roundhouse, a freight house, a telegraph station, and 3,000 feet of new yard tracks at Phillipsburg. ♦ The Philadelphia & Reading RR leased the North Penn RR for 999 years. ♦ The CNJ possessed 117 locomotives, of which 12 burned wood or soft coal and the balance were fueled by anthracite. ♦ The last spike, made of gold, was driven to complete the US transcontinental railroad route at Promontory, Utah on May 10th. ♦ The Morris Canal president, secretary and a small but select party toured their canal aboard the steam-propelled yacht Gussie, ending their trip in Easton. ♦ Local rains turned the Lehigh River into a raging torrent damaging bridges and track of the LV RR, the L&S RR, the Bel-Del, as well as the portal and Delaware River inlet of the Morris Canal.  Coal traffic was interrupted for several months. ♦ The LV RR began to rebuild steam locomotives at their So. Easton Shop. ♦ For the first time in the history of the Morris Canal the US Government slapped a "surplus profits tax" on the Morris Canal Co. earnings.  In addition to having to pay $25,000 tax-rent to the State of NJ, $1,263.10 was owed to the Federal Government. ♦ Lyle's Official Railroad Manual for 1869-70 reported that the Bel-Del RR operated 21 locomotives, 20 passenger cars, 238 freight cars, and 533 coal cars.  There were 10 engine houses and shops and 11 wooden bridges on the line. ♦

 

1870 The Bel-Del freight and telegraph office at Phillipsburg was enlarged and the bell used to announce the arrival of trains began to be used to strike the hour. ♦ An omnibus line from Easton through Union Square, Phillipsburg to Cooper's Furnace was initiated 18 months before completion of the Phillipsburg Horse Car Ry. ♦ A high freshet on the Lehigh River caused damage to roadbeds and bridges which interrupted  coal traffic on the LV RR and the L&S RR for several weeks. ♦ An average of a dozen rafts per day were broken up on the pier of the L&S RR Delaware River bridge due to a change in current caused by a break in the canal below the mouth of the Lehigh. ♦ The Phillipsburg Omnibus Line operated horse-drawn vehicles every hour from Davis & Bros. Hotel at Union Square to the Andover Furnace Hotel. ♦ The first boat regatta took place on the Lehigh River at Easton. ♦ Asa Packer, needing a through route for LV RR coal to the Hudson, began buying an interest in the Passaic Valley & Peapack RR.  The charter of the PV&P RR was amended to change its name to the New Jersey West Line.  Construction began on the line. ♦ A serious break  occurred in the Delaware Division Canal near Easton. ♦ Richard McDowell, master mechanic of the Bel Del, toured the railroad.  He is credited with many improvements in the machinery and rolling stock of the road. ♦ The Durham Furnace, located near Riegelsville, PA, was sold to Edward Cooper and Abraham Hewitt for $132,000. ♦ Lambertville fabricator William Cowin & Co. built the Pratt Pony Truss bridge over the South Branch at Clinton and it opened on 9.15. ♦ A fine new passenger engine was built at the Lambertville shops of the Bel Del RR.  It was built under the immediate supervision of J.W. McDowell, son of the master mechanic and foreman of the shop. ♦ The Bel-Del RR sold the Leni Lenape Hotel in Phillipsburg to John Lee and Willever.  It was renamed the Lee House and in 1922, the Wardell Hotel. ♦

 

1871 The LV RR leased the Morris Canal for a period of 99 years and began laying new track to the coal pockets at Port Delaware, the Phillipsburg end of the canal. ♦ The West Ward Passenger Ry. was chartered and soon established east-west horse car railway service in Easton. ♦ The Bel-Del began changing the gauge of their locomotives and track from 4'10" to 4'9 1/2" and the LV RR widened theirs to conform. ♦ In this year 1700 canalboats were registered for service on the Morris Canal. ♦ The Phillipsburg Horse Car Ry. Co. was organized and construction commenced. ♦ Due to the coal strike 1,527 empty LV RR coal cars were idled on Bel-Del RR tracks.  Scales were installed near the Phillipsburg station for weighing loaded cars. ♦ Trains of the M&E RR began using the LV RR station in South Easton instead of the L&S RR station in Easton. ♦ The drivers of the Passenger Ry. and the Omnibus had a race down Main St., Phillipsburg - the Omnibus was the winner. ♦ Another omnibus was added to the Ruple Line in Phillipsburg. ♦ The Bel-Del RR commenced daily excursion service to Long Branch for the summer season. ♦ The (Phillipsburg Horse Car) Passenger Ry. Co. began building a large stable and car house on Main St., opposite the Lee House. ♦ There was a well-attended temperance meeting on the summit of Mt. Parnassus above the Bel-Del interchange tracks near the Phillipsburg yard. ♦ A large break or cave-in occurred in the Morris Canal near Broadway which left a 40' x 60' hole.  The canal was closed 5 days for repairs.  (This incident was apparently caused by a strong earthquake on Sunday, June 18th as reported by the NY Times: "Those who witnessed the sinking of the bottom of the Morris Canal and land adjacent, state that about one acre sunk near the City of Washington, Warren County, and that so much of the bottom of the canal gave way that it was drained of one and a half miles of water.  Fifty men are working at the canal, and will soon repair the damage.  The shock of the earthquake was distinctly felt there on Sunday night, and the general belief is that the depression of the earth and the accident to the canal are due to it.") ♦ Cars of the Phillipsburg Passenger Ry. began operating to Center Square, Easton. ♦ A union of locomotive firemen was organized in South Easton. ♦ Both General W.T. Sherman, the Civil War Hero, and Samuel F.B. Morse, the telegraph inventor, traveled on the Bel-Del. ♦ The Bel Del publicized their Delaware Valley Line as "the favorite summer route."  A fast day-return excursion was offered from Philadelphia via the Bel-Del to the Water Gap for $4.50.  Other suggested destinations included Niagara Falls; the Finger Lakes of New York; Canada, via lake steamer; and Schooley's Mountain, near Hackettstown. ♦ A portion of the old coal chute trestle at Port Delaware gave way when some loaded cars derailed on it, sending five of the cars into the canal basin. ♦ A reporter for the Star, a Phillipsburg newspaper, took a trip on a Morris Canal boat and the story of his experiences appeared in the Nov. 18th issue. ♦ The properties of the United Companies Railroads, except those of the Bel-Del, were transferred to the control of the Pennsylvania RR (PRR) for 999 years.  Ashbel Welsh, who negotiated the lease, continued to serve as president of the United Companies for a brief period. ♦ Passengers who were riding on horse cars in the Easton and Phillipsburg area were terrorized by local hooligans who exploded RR torpedoes under the wheels of the cars. ♦ The CNJ leased the Lehigh & Susquehanna RR, establishing a main line to the PA coal fields. ♦ The Ingersoll-Rand Co. was established at Easton. ♦ During this year 1,085 trains averaging 104 loaded coal cars each passed over the Bel-Del between Phillipsburg and Coalport, Trenton. ♦ Thomas N. McCarter ended his service as a director of the Morris Canal Co., and later became president of Public Service Corp. ♦ David O. Saylor first made portland cement at Coplay, PA. ♦ Simon Ingersoll developed the first practical steam powered rock drill. ♦

 

1872 The LV RR laid a new track and repaired the old one leading to the coal chutes at Port Delaware. ♦ Ashbel Welch resigned as president of the United Companies to accept a position as superintendent of the Bel-Del under PRR management.  He continued in the capacity of chief engineer of the corporation to which he had been appointed by the PRR. ♦ The Switchback Railway at Mauch Chunk, no longer economic for hauling of coal decided to appeal to the tourist trade.  The new operators purchased passenger cars and built a pavilion at the top of Mt. Pisgah.  The railroads which operated through Phillipsburg and the Lehigh Valley delivered the tourists by the trainload. ♦ The Bel-Del RR, Flemington RR and the Mercer & Somerset RR (under construction) became known as the Belvidere Division of the United RRs of NJ Division of the PRR.  The United Companies were merged into the NJ RR and Canal Co. ♦ "Barnum's Colossal Show," which visited Easton required 60 freight cars and 5 passenger cars. ♦ Regular service on the NJ West Line (in which LV RR had an interest) was begun between Summit & Bernardsville and they were authorized to extend their line to the east bank of the Hudson River. ♦ The Easton & Amboy RR was chartered to build a double track line east from the Delaware River to link the LV with tidewater at Perth Amboy.  The parent LV RR viewed the Morris Canal, which they leased, as a second-best option to reach NY Harbor.  It is not surprising that when they were finally granted permission to construct the E&A they immediately requested permission to cease maintenance of the Morris Canal as a navigable waterway. ♦ The Bel-Del began replacing older English rail with new American iron rail. ♦ The PRR began paint their cars a dark red color. ♦ Horse disease broke out on the Morris Canal and many of the boats were idled. ♦ Members of the Lafayette Fire Co. of Easton chartered a Bel-Del train to travel from Phillipsburg to Long Branch. ♦ A northbound train on the Bel-Del pulled by the locomotive Pennsylvania had a record 225 empty cars. ♦ A collision on the CNJ near Bloomsbury wrecked 30 freight cars. ♦ The Bel-Del carried 965,553 tons of coal in 1660 trains containing a total of 163,648 loaded cars in this year.  This was a 53% increase between Phillipsburg and Coalport over the prior year. ♦ The LV RR had 7,848 coal cars in use. ♦

 

1873 Due to snow conditions on the Bel-Del in February, 3,500 cars loaded with coal were blocked between Phillipsburg and South Amboy. ♦ Several new, more powerful locomotives were placed in service on the Bel-Del, and a second telegraph wire was strung between Phillipsburg and Trenton. ♦ The workday was reduced to 8 hours on the Bel-Del.  The PRR next discharged a number of employees on the Bel-Del.  Due to the Panic they finally discharged all single men to make more work available to married men with families. ♦ The Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen was founded. ♦ The Bethlehem Iron Co. produced its first Bessemer steel railroad rails.  Its steelmaking and rail mill, which was designed by John Fritz, was the first attempt to achieve integrated steel production in America. ♦ Warren Manufacturing Co. was founded.  It eventually owned and operated paper mills at Warren Glen, Hughsville, Riegelsville and Milford, NJ. ♦

 

1874 A long coal train with an engine at each end from the LV RR was being run around the curve at the Phillipsburg central station to the Bel-Del.  The front engine stopped, but the rear engine was still pushing causing five cars to be thrown from the track, breaking them badly. ♦ The LV RR constructed a crossing of the Bel-Del tracks at the north end of the Upper Yard in Phillipsburg for access to Port Delaware along the Morris Canal. ♦ Twenty boat-builders and laborers were discharged by the Morris Canal Co. ♦ Wildcat strikes of Bel-Del trainmen took place when the company required them to run through from Phillipsburg to Amboy instead of terminating at Coalport.  Crews were paid 33% more but the round trip required 30 hours and crews felt overworked.  The strike collapsed in about a week when replacements were brought in from Jersey City. ♦ A little steamboat, the Enterprise was operating on the Lehigh River at Easton. ♦ A special excursion train to Long Branch for conductors of the Bel-Del had a record 26 crowded coaches. ♦ Fifteen to 20 boats a day were being loaded at Port Delaware on the Morris Canal. ♦ Cooper and Hewitt purchased the Durham Furnace property and completely rebuilt it with many inoations. ♦ The county atlas of Warren was published by F.W. Beers.  It showed a large Morris Canal basin north of Mt. Parnassus. ♦ The CNJ leased the Mauch Chunk Switchback Gravity RR from the LC&N Co. ♦

 

1875 The second LV RR passenger station at Easton was completed. ♦ The horses of the West Ward Street RR Co. of Easton were poisoned (by some illness) and the cars were suspended. ♦ The ice on the Delaware at Belvidere was so thick that a road crossing the river was made to bypass the toll collector on the bridge. ♦ One of the best horses on the Phillipsburg Street Car Line was proceeding slowly down South Main Street when his feet suddenly locked together.  He fell on his nose and broke his neck. ♦ Greens Bridge, the largest on the Easton & Amboy RR, was completed.  It was a pin-connected deck truss span. ♦ The Easton & Amboy RR (LV RR) was completed from Phillipsburg to Perth Amboy.  The first train, carrying railroad executives and dignitaries, rolled through the 4,827 foot long Pattenburg Tunnel on June 22nd.  Their double deck wood bridge over the Delaware River was replaced by a new single deck span.  A 125 car coal train ran from Phillipsburg to Perth Amboy in 6 1/2 hours.  It was hauled by one locomotive, assisted by a second one to the tunnel.  The officers, directors, engineers and the venerable president Asa Packer were in the following train. ♦ The records kept at the Lackawaxen Dam indicated that 3,140 rafts had passed down the Delaware the first five months of the year. ♦ The Morris Canal Co. built several new docks at Port Delaware to handle shipments of iron ore. ♦ The Bel-Del Water Gap Express was the fastest scheduled train on the line and, it was claimed, in the state of NJ. ♦ The PRR surpassed the Philadelphia & Reading RR, and all US RR's, in total annual freight tonnage. ♦

 

1876 The Phillipsburg Town Council unanimously enacted an ordinance to limit the speed of locomotives running through built-up areas of the town to 6 MPH.  No one paid any attention to this enactment. ♦ The DL&W RR completed conversion to standard gauge. ♦ The Bel-Del was connected to the DL&W at Manunka Chunk allowing passenger trains of the latter to be routed directly to the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. ♦ The Easton & South Easton RR Co. established horsecar baggage and express pick-up and delivery service in conjunction with the local railroads. ♦ In the first half of the year 1,400 rafts containing 70 million feet of lumber were floated down the Delaware River. ♦ P.T. Barnum's "New and Greatest Show on Earth" arrived in the Easton area in three monster special trains, comprised of solid steel cars. ♦ Six men dumped 532 cars of coal at Port Delaware, loading 45 canalboats in 9 hours. ♦ A special train of 28 cars traveled the length of the Bel-Del en-route to the Centennial Exhibition. ♦ One coal train smashed into the rear of another just south of Phillipsburg, on the Bel-Del. ♦ Citizens Gas Co. was chartered in Easton on 12.23. ♦

 

1877 A railroad cable ferry service was inaugurated from the Bel-Del across the Delaware River south of Riegelsville, two miles to Durham Blast Furnace on the PA side.  The iron was transported directly from the furnace, on a two mile long RR, then across the Delaware and loaded into RR cars. ♦ A raft, 80' x 200' with 160,000' of square timber and top loaded with 165,000' of hardwood passed down the Delaware River.  It was the largest seen to date. ♦ Bel-Del Engineer, George Niece, hand carved a celebrated wood locomotive model with many moving parts. ♦ The PA Editorial Assn. traveled on the Bel-Del to the Delaware Water Gap on their 21st annual excursion. ♦ The Great National RR Strike grew into the largest mass labor action in American history.  "The Great Upheaval" was also the worst in the history of the state of NJ and impacted Phillipsburg severely.  On 7.25 brakemen went on a rampage, commadeered a locomotive and moved eastward.  Twenty six carloads of NJ troops (1,500 men), 2 cars of horses, 1 car of cannons, 1 car of provisions and 1 car of ammunition were sent to Phillipsburg in charge of General Sewell.  The bridges and this strategic rail center were protected by the NJ State Militia and the PA National Guard.  The strike was soon settled in favor of the CRR of NJ. ♦ During the strike the LV RR sometimes hired inexperienced replacement crews.  One train was traveling east through Phillipsburg to assist at a wreck when it came upon a stalled train at Green's Bridge.  Expecting a collision, the engineer put the engine in reverse and jumped from the cab. Stopping short of the train ahead, the abandoned locomotive accelerated in reverse as it headed back to Phillipsburg at about 60 MPH.  There it collided with the inspection engine Dorothy and continued across the Delaware River bridge pushing the little engine ahead of it.  After passing the Easton station in tandem the runaways met an eastbound coal train head on.  The Dorothy, caught between the two larger locomotives, took the brunt of the damage. ♦ Work was suspended on the Morris Canal because the LV RR strike had stopped the supply of coal. ♦ Bel Del locomotive #142 and two cars went into Quequacommissicong Creek near Milford due to a washed out culvert.  Five passengers and two crew members were killed or drowned. ♦ The CNJ (Jersey Central) entered receivership. ♦

 

1878 An early telephone was installed on the Bel-Del RR. ♦ Charles Sitgreaves, president of the Bel-Del, long-time member of the Board of Directors of the line, former mayor and prominent citizen of NJ died at his home in Phillipsburg. ♦ The old wooden RR bridge on the Bel-Del at Phillipsburg was replaced with an iron bridge. ♦ William Baxter's patented steam canalboat was constructed in the Morris Canal boat yard at Washington and made its first trip on the waterway. ♦ The Morris Canal Co. decided to move their boat yard from Washington to Port Delaware at Phillipsburg. ♦ The Bel-Del started running a parlor car from Stroudsburg to West Philadelphia on the AM down train and the PM up train. ♦ The Bel-Del planned to introduce bells having only two tones, one for freight and the other for passenger engines. ♦ With the successful completion of the Easton & Amboy, the LV RR no longer had a need to financially back the NJ West Line and the latter went into bankruptcy.  It was reorganized as the Passaic & Delaware RR, became a branch of the DL&W RR and survives as the Gladstone Branch of NJ Transit. ♦

1879 A prison car began operating between Warren County Court House in Belvidere and the state prison in Trenton.  Friends and relatives of the convicted men were allowed to ride along with the prisoners in the same car by purchasing a ticket. ♦ In a single day 100 rafts containing 25 million feet of lumber passed down the Delaware River. ♦ On 5.1 the Philadelphia & Reading RR Co. leased the North Penn RR for 999 years.  It later became known as the Bethlehem Branch. ♦ A small steamboat named the Kittatinny was taken up the D&R Canal Feeder to Bulls Island, where it was locked into the Delaware River.  It passed up the river to the Delaware Water Gap where the owners planned to run trips to Port Jervis.  In attempting to ascend the Delaware she struck a rock at Milford, PA and was badly damaged.  After repair and return to the Gap another trip was attempted, but Kittatinny steamed out into the river, struck a rock and sank on May 15th. ♦ The Bangor and Portland Ry. was organized on May 19th by Blairstown, NJ resident Conrad Miller and several Bangor area businessmen.  John I. Blair provided the financial backing. ♦ The Philadelphia & Reading RR leased the North Penn RR cutting off LV RR coal shipments to Philadelphia.  The LV RR retaliated by initiating another price war and began shipping their coal to Perth Amboy.  There it was transloaded into boats for shipment to Philadelphia via the Delaware & Raritan Canal. ♦ Thomas Edison demonstrated his incandescent electric lamp at his Menlo Park, NJ laboratory on 10.21. ♦ Asa Packer died. ♦ The CNJ RR was reorganized. ♦

 

1880 A flag stop on the LV RR known as "Lucy Station" was established at Lucy Furnace, Glendon. ♦ New gas chandeliers were installed in the Bel-Del Phillipsburg Depot. ♦ Fannie, a passenger steamboat operated on the Lehigh River from Easton to Chain Dam. ♦ President Rutherford B. Hayes traveled over the Bel-Del in a special train from Trenton to Phillipsburg (Easton) to participate in the dedication of the rebuilt Pardee Hall at Lafayette College. ♦ The Bangor & Portland Ry. was opened on 12.1. ♦ There were 350 boats on the Morris Canal, averaging 70 tons each.  Total tonnage hauled this year was 462,636. ♦

 

1881 On 1.6 the Warwick Valley RR was rechartered in NJ into the Lehigh & Hudson River RR.  They proposed building a line from Belvidere to Hamburg, NJ. ♦ The Delaware River was one unbroken sheet of ice from the Water Gap to a point near Philadelphia. ♦ The Pequest & Wallkill Valley RR was merged into the L&HR RR on 5.16. ♦ Track construction workers on the L&HR RR engaged in a one-day walkout for higher wages.  They returned for the old rate of $1.25 per day. ♦ A nasty riot took place between Irish and Italian track-workers on the L&HR near Oxford.  The confrontation was precipitated over the use of drinking water. ♦ Four Summer and Fall tours were operated from Philadelphia and Trenton over the Bel Del through the Lehigh Gap to the Switchback. ♦ "Brief Summer Rambles" a series of letters written by Joel Cook very nicely described a journey up the Bel-Del from Trenton through Phillipsburg to the Delaware Water Gap in Chapter XXXV. ♦ A southbound Bel-Del passenger train ran over an open switch three miles south of Phillipsburg and ran into the rear end of a local freight train, damaging the engine, baggage car, one coach, caboose, and several freight cars. ♦ The first silk mill was established in the Lehigh Valley. ♦

 

1882 Railway Post Office (RPO) Service was established on the Bel-Del and on Route 254 on the CNJ. ♦ The L&HR RR began operating passenger service and a railway post office (RPO) route between Belvidere and Greycourt, NY. ♦  All RR's running through the Easton area issued excursion tickets for transportation to the Easton Fair. ♦ Nathan & Co.'s New Consolidated Railroad Circus exhibited in Belvidere. ♦ Ashbel Welch, builder of the Bel-Del RR died.  The RR ran special funeral trains from both Phillipsburg and Trenton to Lambertville for the church service. ♦ The Lehigh & Hudson River RR (L&HR) was granted trackage rights on the Bel-Del between Belvidere and what became Hudson Yard, Phillipsburg. ♦ A grand opening excursion of the L&HR RR included several RR presidents in their private cars The first train of ice was received by the Bel-Del from the L&HR for movement to Philadelphia. ♦ The future J. T. Baker Chemical Co. was founded in Phillipsburg by Lafayette College student John T. Baker to produce ultra pure reagents. ♦ The Gibney Iron & Steel Co. was established in Phillipsburg. ♦

 

1883 Twenty cars of an empty northbound coal train jumped the track at Holland Switch but there were no injuries. ♦ Expansion of the LV RR Easton shops made it their largest.  The roundhouse was enlarged to 40 stalls. ♦ The CNJ leased all of its railroads to the Reading.  Shortly thereafter, the Reading became insolvent. ♦ The largest one day crowd (4,500) of excursionists visited Glen Onoko on the LV RR.  They arrived in 84 coaches (54 from Jersey City).  The glen was 2 miles west of Mauch Chunk and had several beautiful waterfalls of up to 90' in height. ♦ The Jersey Central (Central RR of PA) constructed the Bethlehem station.  This authentic victorian landmark building survives as the Main Street Depot restaurant. ♦ The Brotherhood of RR Brakemen was founded..♦ The Tidewater Oil Co. pipeline was completed by this year from Corryville, PA through Warren County to Hampton, NJ and ultimately to Bayonne  It was the nation's longest and largest crude oil line at the time.  The 6" diameter wrought iron pipe was manufactured by the Reading Iron Co. ♦ The C.J. Laubach Planing Mills were established in Phillipsburg. ♦

 

1884 Protection Lodge, Brotherhood of Railroad Brakemen was organized on 3.23 at Phillipsburg. ♦ Bel-Del engine #718 pulled a train of 300 empties that was 0.95 mile long. ♦ Two coal trains of 250 and 252 empty cars ran on the Bel-Del between Coalport, on the D&R canal, in Trenton and Phillipsburg. ♦ Easton's West Ward Passenger Ry. Co. reorganized as the West End Passenger Ry. Co. ♦ The second lodge of the Brotherhood of RR Trainmen was organized at Phillipsburg. ♦ One of the Seitz beer boats plied the Morris Canal selling porter ale, lager, soda water, etc.  The Seitz brewery was located in Easton, and their boats traveled on the Lehigh and Delaware canals as well. ♦ Fire destroyed the CNJ 4th Street station in Easton. ♦ The Bible Society stopped placing bibles in Bel-Del passenger cars because too many of them were mutilated and stolen. ♦ A record 21 loaded coal trains passed down the Bel-Del in one day. ♦ The LV RR carried 2 million passengers in this year. ♦ Ice houses on the LV RR were being filled with ice cut from the (Lehigh) river at White Haven.  Sixteen carloads were delivered to Phillipsburg, NJ the 28th.  It was estimated that it would take 300 carloads to supply the icehouses between Mauch Chunk and Easton.  (12/30/1884) ♦

 

1885 Phillipsburg Horse Car RR Co. tracks were extended over Delaware River through the covered wood bridge to Center Square, Easton. ♦ The first annual sociable for the Conductors and Drivers of the West End & South Easton Passenger Railway Co. was held at Able's Hall, Easton. ♦ The Sanborn map showed the Phillipsburg "Navy Yard" - shops of the Morris Canal Co.  Fire protection features were described as "Night & Sunday watchman; small steam pump; 2 hydrants and 200 feet of 1" hose." ♦ On May 30th, Col. Charles Scranton of Oxford, NJ led a pleasant tour of the comparatively new L&HR RR line in a special car.  Aboard were dignitaries from Belvidere, Oxford, Phillipsburg, Easton, and Philadelphia for the tour up to Warwick, NY for lunch and return to Easton. ♦ All of the machinery, equipment and supplies of Hyatt Slate Co. of Slatington, PA was moved 24 miles to Bethlehem in 24 hours on 6.2.  The property was loaded onto 21 LV RR cars for the move by 100 men. ♦ The O'Brien Circus show arrived at 6am at 4th Street, Easton from Bethlehem and set up at the 11th & Northampton Streets show grounds. ♦ The Alpha Portland Cement Co. was established at Alpha, NJ. ♦ A LV RR passenger train headed by the locomotive Anthracite carried mourners from Phillipsburg to Belvidere over the Bel-Del to attend the funeral of Dr. Clark. ♦ On Sept. 6th a Switchback tour was operated from all PRR stations north of Philadelphia.  At Phillipsburg the train was turned over to the LV RR and a cafe car was added. ♦ Two interesting combination rail-stage coach tickets from this year were found in a desk at the PRR Philadelphia headquarters in 1930: One was a $2 ticket from Philadelphia via the Bel-Del to Milford and thence by stage to Bethlehem and Allentown.  The other was a $1.75 ticket from Philadelphia via the Bel-Del to Milford and thence by stage to Hellertown, PA. ♦ A presidential special train carrying Grover Cleveland in the palatial car Minerva made a round trip via the Bel-Del to Phillipsburg and the LV RR to his home in Buffalo. ♦ The Bangor & Portland RR reached Martins Creek where a connection was made with the Bel Del line of the PRR which put a bridge across the Delaware River. ♦ The People's Water Co. was established in Phillipsburg. ♦

 

1886 The Phillipsburg Water Works was built along the Bel-Del just below milepost 52 at a cost of $100,000. ♦ One of the most unique pleasure trips ever taken on an old American canal was that of a party of prominent New Yorkers who toured from Bristol, PA to Mauch Chunk and back to Easton.  It occurred in June, utilizing an old gravel scow, converted into a "yacht of the most approved canal pattern" christened the "Molly-Polly-Chunker."  The group consisted of Robert W. Deforest, for 18 years president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, his wife and sister; Henry Holt, president of Henry Holt & Co., publisher, and sister; Louis C. Tiffany, artist and inventor of Tiffany stained glass; Louise Knox, soon to marry Mr. Tiffany and Walter C. Tuckerman.  The National Canal Museum has copies of the log and 68 photos of the trip. ♦ The West End Passenger Ry merged with the Easton & South Easton Passenger Ry. forming the Easton, South Easton and West End Passenger Ry Co. ♦ Hotel Allen was built at the northeast corner of 7th and Hamilton and quickly became the most popular hotel in Allentown. ♦ A group of 200 American Institute of Mining Engineers, based at the Sun Inn, Bethlehem, held a series of meetings.  They were conveyed by special LV RR train to tour Glendon Iron Works and the Andover Iron Works in Phillipsburg.  They also traveled south on the Bel-Del to Durham Siding and transfered to open cars which were ferried across the Delaware for a tour of the Durham Iron Works.  A session for the reading and discussion of papers was held in the nearby Durham Cave.  Upon adjournment of the meeting the group embarked in boats of the Delaware Canal for a pleasant trip south to Upper Black Eddy where they crossed the bridge to Milford, re-boarded their train and returned to Bethlehem. ♦ The Easton - S. Easton suspension bridge was opened. ♦ The Standard Silk Co. and R.K. Bachman & Brothers Planing Mills were established in Phillipsburg. ♦ One hundred and fifty-three canalboats loaded with coal were frozen in the Morris Canal between Phillipsburg and Jersey City. ♦ Facilities, such as open hearth furnaces, forging hammers, presses and large machine shops, were added to the plant to produce ordnance and armor plate for the US Navy.  Bethlehem Iron thus became the birthplace of the modern American defense industry. ♦

 

1887 Construction of the College Hill electric trolley line in Easton was begun by the Daft Motor Co. of NY for Lafayette Traction Co. ♦ The Reliance Hose Co. No. 1, Jersey Hose Co. No. 2 and Alert Hook anbd Ladder Co. No. 1 were founded in Phillipsburg in Feb., Apr. and May respectively. ♦ The LC&N Co. forced the Jersey Central to retake possession of the L&S RR.  The CNJ broke their lease with the Reading and became independent.  Through coal trains between PA and Elizabethport or Jersey City began operating. ♦ The Tidewater Pipe Co. completed their 6" oil pipeline from Titusville, PA to Bayonne, NJ, through Warren County, NJ.  It was the longest and largest pipeline built at that time.  A pumping station was located a little over a half mile south of the Musconetcong River bridge of the DL&W Hampton Branch (former Warren RR), in Changewater.  There were also tanks at the station, adjacent to the RR.  Initially the DL&W delivered coal for the boilers which supplied steam to the Tidewater pumps. ♦ A very large parade was organized on 9.14 to celebrate 100 years of fire fighting in Easton.  Over 30 fire companies, 16 bands and 1,561 firemen participated. ♦ A photo of workers at the Morris Canal Port Delaware coal chutes included Frank Eckert; Albert Peiffer; William Niece; Henry Unangst, foreman; Reuben Kichline; John Rutt; William Slight; Jonas Gordon; Arndt Piatt; Isaac Price; William Gebhardt; Oscar Sigafoss; Thomas Gross; Frank Gross; John Seubler and Milton Nixon.  As many as 47 canalboats were loaded in a single day. ♦ CNJ began using Woodruff Parlor Cars on trains. ♦ Easton was incorporated and granted a city charter. ♦ When the special presidential train passed through Phillipsburg on the Bel-Del.  It stopped to allow Grover Cleveland to address the crowds from the rear of a luxurious parlor car which had been built for the president of the LV RR. ♦

 

1888 The first electric car in the Delaware Valley was placed in service by the Lafayette Traction Co. of Easton on the College Hill (north side) line.  This line, with 10% grades, was the third electric street railway to commence operation in the US. Lafayette Traction Co. was purchased by Easton, South Easton and West End Passenger Ry. Co. ♦ Work began on the new L&S RR (Central RR of NJ) 4th Street Depot in Easton. ♦ The Paxinosa Inn, on Weygadt Mountain, opened as a resort hotel and banquet center. ♦ The Glendon Iron Co. closed, although it did resume operation briefly two years later.  The property is now the site of Hugh Moore Park, and includes the remains of three of the furnaces. ♦ The horse stable which housed the livery for the Mt. Vernon Hotel was completed on South 6th St., Easton.  In 1995 it became the home of Weyerbacher Brewing Company, Inc., the Lehigh Valley's first micro-brewery. ♦ The Order of Railway Conductors was founded. ♦ Twenty-six telegraph wires and 15 instruments were in use in the combined Phillipsburg/Easton telegraph office. ♦

 

1889 The 2.25 mile Phillipsburg Horse Car RR had 4 cars and 12 horses. ♦ A contract was negotiated between the PRR and CNJ that permitted the latter company to operate trains over the Bel-Del from Phillipsburg to Belvidere. ♦ The L&S RR (CNJ) completed their elaborate Easton station. ♦ Repairs were made to the Bel-Del freight house in Phillipsburg. ♦ The former Lafayette Traction Co. electric route was leased to the Pennsylvania Motor Co. and they extended electric car service to the new CNJ RR station at 4th Street, Easton.  The PA Motor Co. installed a crude counter-balancing cable car on the College Hill grade, but after it crashed it was abandoned. ♦ The PRR planned to erect new telegraph poles along the Bel-Del from Lambertville to Manunka Chunk, NJ. ♦ A game of baseball was played near the Bel-Del Phillipsburg roundhouse between the firemen and the brakemen.  The latter won by a score of 35 to 15. ♦ Joseph Warner, one of the oldest engineers on the Bel-Del, fell from his cab, injuring his neck and shoulder. ♦ The Easton & Northern RR was chartered. ♦ The LV RR attempted to lay track in Third St. through the center of Easton from S. Easton to the foot of College Hill where they proposed to connect with the Easton-Bangor-Portland RR.  Easton authorities tore up "T" rails laid by the LV RR on Third St.  LV RR forces re-laid the "T" rails and restored trolley service the same evening.  The LV planned to use the rails to gain direct & 1st class connection between the center of the city and their depot on the opposite side of the Lehigh River in order to accommodate its Easton passenger traffic.  The city folk preferred "flat rails" and submitted lengthy affidavits setting forth the alleged evils of "T" rails in Easton.  This resulted in the "T" rail litigation which went on for years. ♦ The Edison Illuminating Co. of Easton installed arc lights in Phillipsburg. ♦ Rock was removed from the hillside behind the new CNJ Fourth Street Station, Easton to make room for a new freight house. ♦ The new CNJ Fourth Street Station in Easton, was illuminated with incandescent lighting. ♦ The L&HR RR entered into an agreement with the Bel-Del (PRR) for trackage rights between Belvidere and Phillipsburg. ♦ The Easton & Northern was authorized to operate 10 miles of railroad between N. Sixth Street in Easton and Ashland, where it would connect with the Bangor & Portland RR. ♦ The 0.7 mile South Easton and Phillipsburg Railroads (of NJ & PA) were organized and built a bridge across the Delaware for the L&HR RR from the CNJ tracks at Mt. Ida in South Easton to the Bel-Del tracks in Phillipsburg.  The SE&P RR of NJ built 460' and the SE&P RR of PA built 850' of the bridge connection. ♦ Reports that the PRR would build a bridge over the Delaware near the mouth of Bushkill Creek to connect with the Easton & Northern RR proved to be unfounded. ♦ An hour-long electrical storm caused a serious washout on the Bel-Del just south of Phillipsburg. ♦ The CNJ began to run freight and coal trains from Phillipsburg to Belvidere over the Bel-Del connecting with the L&HR for New England.  The L&HR completed their Orange County RR which gave them their own line from Greycourt, NY to Maybrook.  With the completion of the Poughkeepsie Bridge over the Hudson River the prior year, Maybrook became the "Gateway to New England."  This new bridge connection with the New Haven RR replaced the prior ferry across the Hudson.  The L&HR (and the Bel-Del) became a key link in the rail freight industry of the northeast.  The L&HR route from Easton-Phillipsburg became part of well known freight routes such as the Central States Dispatch, the Blue Ridge Dispatch, The Lackawanna Line, and others.  Early through passenger trains such as the Boston and Washington Expresses, were routed via the New Haven RR, the L&HR to Easton, the CNJ to Bethlehem, the Reading to Philadelphia, and the B&O to Washington. ♦ The rotary kiln process was introduced by Jose DeNavarro and was first used commercially at Coplay, PA to make portland cement. ♦ The LV RR carried 6.3 million passengers in this year. ♦ The Lehigh Valley Railroad completed their new office building at 425 Brighton Street, Bethlehem. ♦ The Pennsylvania, Poughkeepsie & Boston RR (PP&B) (which later became the Lehigh & New England RR - L&NE) was opened for freight service over their entire line. ♦ The Bethlehem Iron Co. evolved into the Bethlehem Steel Company. ♦ Professor C. Herschel Koyl invented the parabolic semaphore signal blade which earned him the John Scott Legacy Medal of the Franklin Institute.  Shortly after, he became vice president of the National Switch & Signal Co. of Easton, PA, which manufactured and distributed his invention. ♦

 

1890 The PP&B RR began passenger service. ♦ The new freight depot on the CNJ at the foot of South Fourth Street, Easton was touted as the finest structure for that purpose along the Jersey Central. ♦ Through Bel-Del car service was inaugurated between Phillipsburg, Albany, NY and Hartford, CT via the L&HR-Poughkeepsie bridge route. ♦ The Phillipsburg street cars were drawn by two horses. ♦ A PRR gravel train ran into several cars loaded with iron north of Phillipsburg badly damaging one of the cars and demolishing the locomotive cowcatcher. ♦ The old trestlework which ran through Port Delaware connecting the LV RR with the Bel-Del was torn down and replaced with new and stronger material. ♦ The Sterlingworth Railway Supply Co. erected a steel rolling mill in Odenweldertown. ♦ L&HR employees who ran over the Bel-Del were examined on the PRR book of rules and for color blindness at Lambertville. ♦ The L&HR began operating a railway post office route between Phillipsburg and Greycourt, NY, but it only lasted three years. ♦ The PRR decided that only walnut and oak ties were to be purchased (at $1 each) for the Bel-Del as chestnut split too easily. ♦ Twenty-five new canalboats were ordered and being built at Phillipsburg for the Morris Canal. ♦ Sunday passenger service was begun on the Bel-Del and the Buffalo Express trains commenced service on the line. ♦ Four new through passenger trains were started on 5.26 by the Central New England & Western RR.  Two of them, known as the "Day Express" trains operated between Boston and Harrisburg.  They were named the Harrisburg Express and the Boston Day Express.  Included in their consists were elegant day coaches and a through Pullman Buffet Car.  The 16 hour, 464 mile route traversed the following railroads: B&M, NH, CNE&W, Orange County, L&HR, PRR (through Phillipsburg), CNJ, and P&R.  The other two trains, known as the Washington Fast Express and the Boston Fast Express, carried through coaches and a magnificant vestibuled Pullman sleeping car.  They followed the same route between Boston and Bethlehem but traveled at night.  However, at Bethlehem the "Fast" trains used the P&R to Philadelphia and the B&O to Washington.  Running time was over 17 hours. ♦ The roof of the Bel-Del Phillipsburg roundhouse was repaired. ♦ The largest timber raft ever assembled, with 500,000' of switch timber and 5,000 ties was sent down the Delaware River. ♦ The Bangor & Portland Ry provided special excursion train connections with the Bel Del at Martins Creek and at Portland for the big Fourth of July celebration at Penn Argyl. ♦ The pressers at the American Brick and Tile Works above Phillipsburg went out on strike because their wages had been reduced from $1.40 to 90¢ per thousand bricks.  The strikers assembled on the Bel Del tracks to prevent new men arriving on the local train from taking their places. ♦ The anthracite coal shipments over the Bel Del road during the fiscal year just closed was 1,748,180 gross tons, an increase of 78,567 over the year before. ♦ The Bel Del baseball team of Phillipsburg defeated the Bel Del baseball team of Riegelsville by a score of 6 to 5. ♦ The Easton & Northern RR began operations between Easton and Nazareth, PA. ♦ An elevator was installed between the LVRR and CNJ RR bridges to hoist baggage from the Bel-Del Lehigh Junction Station to the LV RR, CNJ RR and DL&W RR stations. ♦ The Weygadt Mountain Railway (an extension of the College Hill trolley line) reached the Paxinosa Inn. ♦ The SE&P RR bridge was opened after it was successfully tested with a heavy CNJ locomotive and the bridge was leased to the L&HR.  This ended the need for a reverse move over either the LV or CNJ bridges to reach Easton.  The superintendents of the CNJ, Bel-Del and the L&HR met to decide on the appropriate system for the running of trains over the new SE&P bridge.  The L&HR RR began operations through Phillipsburg connecting Easton, PA and Maybrook, NY.  The CNJ Easton station became the southern terminal for L&HR passenger trains. ♦  The Central New England & Western RR discontinued their two Day Express trains between Boston and Harrisburg, PA.  The night fast express trains continued between Boston and Washington.  First they continued via the original route and later over the PP&B (L&NE) RR between Campbell Hall and Penn Argyl and the Jersey Central to Bethlehem, the Reading to Philadelphia and the B&O to Washington. ♦ The old ties along the Bel-Del didn't sell well at 5¢ each, so the piles were either given away or burned. ♦ A new LV RR passenger station (the third) was built at Easton.  The earlier (the second) passenger station began to be used by the Dining Car (supply) Dept. ♦ The PRR filled their ice houses at Belvidere with ice cut from the Delaware at Hartzel's Ferry. ♦ This was the peak year of activity at the LV RR So. Easton Shop.  Nine new steam locomotives were built and 11 were rebuilt. ♦ The Brotherhood of RR Brakemen became the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen. ♦ Service began on the Allentown Terminal Railway Co. ♦

 

1891 William H. Rau, a popular and well-known society and landscape photographer from Philadelphia was commissioned by the PRR for comprehensive photographic documentation of the scenery, facilities and industries along their routes for advertising purposes.  The PRR provided Rau with car #1382, "Photographic Car, Pennsylvania Railroad," equipped with a roof mounted elevated platform, darkroom, living, sleeping and cooking facilities.  He was also provided locomotives and train crews as needed.  At least two trips up the Bel Del line were made to capture the scenic Delaware River valley on film.  More than two dozen of Rau's over 500 PRR views were taken in the Phillipsburg area.  In addition, he also took photos of the Lehigh Valley Railroad (which was aligned with the PRR) and local canal scenes. ♦ The City of Easton Pole & Wire Ordinance imposed a tax on trolley poles. ♦ The Morris Canal Co. ordered 65 new boats from their Phillipsburg yard. ♦ Bel-Del engine #3040 was in the process of pulling a string of empty coal cars up the grade of the upper yard in Phillipsburg to deliver them to the CNJ and the LV RR.  A rear pusher engine piled up six of the rear cars when the head engine stopped suddenly.  When #3040 was being returned to the roundhouse, oblivious of the wreck, it collided with the derailed cars. ♦ For two months 52 car loads of ice per day moved over the Bel-Del from Belvidere to Philadelphia. ♦ NJ became the first state in the Union to grant state aid in the building of public roads. ♦ As the southbound Buffalo Express approached Phillipsburg, the stove in one of the sleepers exploded.  The resulting fire was quickly extinguished, but the train was delayed an hour. ♦ A train of 82 cars of ice, 60 from the DL&W and 22 from the L&HR came down the Bel-Del through Phillipsburg. ♦ Electric lights were installed in the Belvidere station. ♦ The Allentown & Bethlehem Rapid Transit Co. ran its first street cars. ♦ The Third Canal Trip of the Newark Camera Club covered the Delaware Canal from Easton south to Washington Crossing; rode the Bel-Del RR to Trenton and the following day took a steam yacht trip south on the Delaware River to Bordentown and then up the Delaware & Raritan Canal to South Bound Brook. ♦ A second track was laid through Union Square, Phillipsburg from Lehigh Jct. to the rolling mills to accommodate L&HR RR trains. ♦ Five members of the Park Island Canoeing Assn. departed Trenton by train to Jersey City and caught an Erie train for Hancock, NY, where they began their canoe trip back to Trenton on the Delaware.  F. Wallace Hoff penned the story of their trip in Two Hundred Miles on the Delaware River... which he had published (180 pages) two years later.  His accounts of the ferry boats along the river are of particular interest. ♦ A special one coach train traveled over the Bel-Del to permit the company photographer to take pictures here and there along the route. ♦ A trolley car which was coming down from Easton's College Hill could not stop, due to rain soaked leaves on the track, skidded past the point where the counter balance cable was attached for safe descent down the steep incline.  The car raced down the hill at a high rate of speed, flew off the track at the curve at the bottom and went off the Bushkill Creek bridge, partly into the water. ♦ The Tippett & Wood steel fabrication business was incorporated at Phillipsburg. ♦ A.B. Bonneville of Allentown built a small cement plant along the LV RR tracks in Pohatcong Township, NJ but it burned. ♦ The PP&B RR entered receivership. ♦ A 125 ton steel hammer was built and used by the Bethlehem Iron Co.  A wooden replica of it was displayed at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. ♦ The Charles Pettinos Graphite Co. was established on the Lehigh River in Bethlehem, PA.  Seven decades later it was purchased by Asbury Graphite Mills, Inc. ♦

 

1892 The PP&B RR was leased to the Philadelphia & Reading RR. ♦ A train of 9 cars of flour from Buffalo, NY passed down the Bel-Del with a banner stating that it was to be sent by citizens of Philadelphia for starving Russia. ♦ The automatic signal invented by Dr. G.C. Young of Phillipsburg and Geo. O. Willever of Washington, was tested Saturday morning by the Lehigh Valley Company.  The line was laid from the depot to Stockton Street and worked satisfactorily. (Washington Star, June 17, 1886) ♦ The Columbian parade (the greatest Phillipsburg local industrial exhibition) took place. ♦ A Bel-Del track gang who were digging post holes at the base of Marble Hill north of Phillipsburg unearthed part of a skeleton of a revolutionary war soldier.  Found with the bones were brass buttons and English coins that were dated 1773. ♦ The LV RR was leased to the Reading RR for 999 years, but the lease was canceled the following year. ♦ The Phillipsburg streetcar line began running cars on Sunday. ♦ A fast freight train from Jersey City via Trenton and the Bel-Del was added to the schedule. ♦ The Easton Transit Co. was organized by consolidation of the Easton, South Easton & West End Ry. and the Center Square & Delaware Bridge Ry. Co.  They also took over the Phillipsburg Horse Car RR Co.  All Easton Transit trackage was electrified except that from Center Square through Phillipsburg. ♦ The Phillipsburg Horse Car RR Co. was given permission to use electric or chemical motors instead of horses. ♦ The LV RR Maple Leaf train began operating between NY and Toronto. ♦ A special train was operated through Phillipsburg on the CNJ early every morning with 6 to 8 cars of only oysters. ♦ The CNJ tested their new 1,020' long, two track, iron bridge over the Delaware River with four big Wootten engines and opened it to service. ♦ The last horsecar ran in Easton. ♦ The Order of Railway Conductors merged with the Brotherhood of Railway Conductors. ♦

 

1893 The first electric motor operated semaphore, designed by J.W. Lattig of Bethlehem, was installed on the CNJ RR in Black Dan's Cut near Phillipsburg.  Lattig was awarded the John Scott Legacy Medal of the Franklin Institute for his development. ♦ Albert L. Johnson came to Allentown and organized the Allentown and Lehigh Valley Traction Co. which vigorously challenged the Allentown and Bethlehem Rapid Transit Company's monopoly, eventually emerging victorious. ♦ An arrangement was made between the PRR and the CNJ for the Bel-Del to deliver a passenger car from one of their northbound trains to the CNJ for movement to Scranton and for the CNJ to deliver a passenger car from one of their eastbound trains for movement to Philadelphia. ♦ Coal trains were run on the Bel Del for the first time on Sunday and the RR workers objected. ♦ The PRR refused to allow the L&HR RR to run freight over their line between Belvidere and Phillipsburg on Sunday. ♦ The Boston Flyer with a large number of passengers aboard from Washington, DC, rammed into the rear of a standing freight train at Buttzville, on the L&HR RR. ♦ The Phillipsburg council barred electric trolley cars. ♦ The Reading RR empire collapsed and their lease of the PP&B RR ended.  The PP&B east to Hainesburg Jct. was then operated by the Lehigh Valley RR. ♦ The L&HR RR opened their Hudson Yard, north of Center Square, Phillipsburg, and erected a telegraph office (HU). ♦ Phillipsburg passed an ordinance opposing electric railroads. ♦ A special excursion train was operated from Phillipsburg to the Chicago World's Fair with 700 aboard. ♦ LC&N Co. experimented with the use of an electric mining locomotive to tow canalboats. ♦ The Bangor & Portland RR leased the Easton & Northern RR and the DL&W RR became the operator. ♦ While returning from the Chicago World's Fair, the Liberty Bell, on its PRR flat car, was hauled by trolley cars up Allentown's Hamilton Street to a gala celebration between 6th and 7th Streets. ♦ The Ingersoll-Sargent Steam Drill Co. began business in Easton. ♦ Railway Post Office service commenced on the LV RR. ♦ President Cleveland went over the Bel-Del and LV RR via Phillipsburg to go home to Buffalo to vote. ♦ PRR Bel-Del passenger service was equipped with heavier engines of the latest type.  Passenger cars began to be heated by steam carried through pipes from the engine and stoves were discontinued. ♦ Numerous extensions of the Easton Transit trolley system were completed, all with the wide "Pennsylvania" 5' 2 1/2" gauge. ♦ Ingersoll-Rand built a new plant in Phillipsburg. ♦ Phillipsburg granted permission to the PRR to erect a flag(man's) shanty on the corner of the sidewalk at Union Square. ♦ The Lehigh Valley Railroad began operating milk trains from producers in central New York state to Jersey City. ♦ Thomas Drake Whitaker rebuilt the Bonneville cement plant at Pohatcong Twp., NJ.  The new Whitaker Cement Co. produced "Alpha" brand cement. ♦ The Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co. annual report for this year states "Rapid progress in the use of electricity for transportation makes it likely that we will be able to substitute it for the slow and costly animal power.  Generation would be by our water power." ♦ Two Hundred Miles on the Delaware River: A Canoe Cruise from its Headwaters to the Falls at Trenton, by J. Wallace Hoff was published. ♦

 

1894 The Morris Canal Co. owned 317 boats and ordered 10 new boats from their Phillipsburg yard. ♦ Phillipsburg trolley lines were electrified and extended.  Easton Transit Co. was the operator and all cars were painted in ETC's red and yellow colors. ♦ Drivers of the Phillipsburg Street Car RR were no longer permitted to deliver packages. ♦ An early Sunday morning newspaper train began running north via the Bel-Del and the DL&W from Philadelphia to Wilkes Barre. ♦ Island Park Amusement Center opened on an island in the Lehigh River at Glendon, PA and was served by trolley from Easton. ♦ Ferry service for canalboats between the Morris Canal and the Lehigh/Delaware Canals was abandoned after a freshet washed out the Lehigh Canal's outlet lock into the Delaware River. ♦ The LV RR announced that 25 passenger cars were to be built at their So. Easton shops. ♦ The old Covered Bridge between Phillipsburg & Easton was declared inadequate. ♦ A large LV RR engine was thrown from the track and down the embankment at the Main Street, Phillipsburg bridge. ♦ The northbound Boston Flyer, and the southbound Colonial Express, (between Boston and Washington, DC through Phillipsburg via L&HR - Bel-Del) passenger trains were placed in service. ♦ Ingersoll-Sergeant began operations in Easton. ♦ The No. 3rd St. bridge over Bushkill Creek in Easton was rebuilt by the County of Northampton using brick manufactured by the Staten Island Terra Cotta (&) Lumber Co., Woodbridge, NJ. ♦ The Vulcanite Portland Cement Co. was incorporated and built a plant along the CRR of NJ tracks east of Phillipsburg with three 40' kilns. ♦

 

1895 Crater & Sons cut 5" ice at the Lehigh Canal basin and stored it in their ice house at South 5th St., Easton. ♦ Seventy cars of ice per day were handled by the Bel-Del for Trenton and Philadelphia.  It required 600 cars to deliver 7,000 tons of ice to the Elijah R. Case Ice Corporation building north of Frenchtown on the Bel-Del. ♦ The Hazard Manufacturing Co. of Wilkes-Barre, PA manufactured a 62-ton cable for the Metropolitan Street Railway of NYC.  It was transported by the Lehigh Valley RR, in a specially constructed car through Phillipsburg and by carfloat to Manhattan.  It was drawn to the cable railway powerhouse by 40 horses. ♦ The large new plant of the American Horse Shoe Works, employing 150 in Phillipsburg along the Bel-Del, began operations. ♦ The last new steam locomotive was built at the LV RR So. Easton Shop.  Since 1868 they had built 78 locomotives. ♦ The Morris Canal Co. erected several new docks in Phillipsburg to accommodate boats carrying iron ore consigned to the Andover Furnace. ♦ The Lehigh & New England RR was organized and purchased the Pennsylvania, Poughkeepsie and Boston RR but did not commence independent operations for two years. ♦ The work of tearing down the old covered wood bridge and erection of the present steel "free" bridge from Phillipsburg to Easton was begun.  The Northampton Street bridge was designed by James Madison Porter, III as a single chord cantilever to resemble an eye bar suspension bridge. ♦ Alpha Portland Cement Co. was incorporated in NJ to purchase the Whitaker Cement Co. business, which became the APC plant #1. ♦ The new Phillipsburg-Easton road bridge was completed by the Union Bridge Co. of Athens, PA, at a cost of $80,000.  The structure was 550' long, 60' wide, and weighed 1,700 tons. ♦ The United Pipelines Co. and Pure Oil Co. construction of the first long distance refined products pipe line in the US reached Washington, NJ.  In the fall of this year a dispute over rights-of-way erupted into armed conflict with the DL&W RR.  The dispute was taken to the courts who found in favor of Pure Oil.

 

1896 The new year was ushered in at Easton by placing long lines of torpedoes (dynamite caps) on rails in front of trains and the blowing of steam whistles. ♦ On 1.1 LV RR engine #739, drawing a train of loaded coal cars from the LV to the Bel Del jumped the frog of a switch at the southern end of the "cut," near the coal chutes, back of Mt. Parnassus.  It went off the track and down over the 40 foot embankment wall, nose first.  The adjacent tressling was smashed and the coal cars on it were piled around and on top of the engine.  The engine crew crawled out of the ventilator of the cab.  The engine was one of the new Baldwins recently purchased by the LV and, it is claimed, has been faulty so far as being addicted to leaving the track, having done so several times since it came out of the shops. ♦ The Pure Oil pipeline was completed across Warren County and terminated at Hampton Junction on the Central RR of NJ.  Pure and United operated the line for the next four years, shipping large quantities of kerosene to domestic and foreign markets. ♦ Forty cars of ice were being received daily by the Bel-Del from the L&HR RR. ♦ Phillipsburg Transit Co. trolley cars began carrying mail between the Phillipsburg and Shimer post offices in half the time it formerly took mail carriers to cover the route. ♦ A flood washed out all bridges over Pohatcong Creek between Stewartsville and Carpentersville. ♦ Hiram LeBar took his two sons, Frank & John to Bushkill, PA for a ride on a log raft to Easton.  The raft, 125' long and about 25' wide, required four oarsmen and their father was the steersman.  When they arrived at the forks of the Delaware they found both the NJ and PA shores lined with rafts.  They returned home by train after an exciting day!  Frank's story appeared in Vol. XIV, No. 2 of The Chronicle of the Early American Industries Assn. (June, 1963). ♦ The LV RR Black Diamond Express began her long career as a luxury daylight train between Jersey City and Buffalo (with a link to Niagara Falls).  The name of this train was chosen from 35,000 entries received in a contest.  This train enhanced the LV's reputation as a caterer to the matrimonial trade.  The "Honeymoon Line's" Black Diamond became known as "the handsomest train in the world."  A publicity photo of the new train was taken at the Easton station with the locomotive James Donnelly on the head end on 5.16.  The maiden trip was made two days later. ♦ The Quakertown & Eastern RR was chartered and began building a 15 mile railroad from the Philadelphia & Reading RR at Quakertown to Riegelsville on the west bank of the Delaware River.  Consequently, the railroad cable ferry operation, opened in 1877, across the Delaware below Riegelsville, ceased operation.  The Q&E was originally planned to connect with the L&HR at Easton to provide a shorter route from Philadelphia to the Poughkeepsie Bridge. ♦ The longest LV RR train to date, with 240 loaded four wheeled coal cars came through en-route to Perth Amboy. ♦ The Easton suspension bridge over the Lehigh from 10th & Jefferson to the south side was opened. ♦ William Jennings Bryan's presidential campaign train traveled over the entire length of the Bel-Del, making stops at Trenton, Lambertville, Phillipsburg and Belvidere.  He spoke to a mob of 12,000 people at Union Square, during his stop in Phillipsburg. ♦ Construction of the Easton & Northern RR bridge across the Lehigh River was begun. ♦ The LV RR ceased using the coal "jimmy" (small RR cars for coal). ♦ Sterlingworth Railway Supply Co. began operations in Odenweldertown (west of Easton). ♦ The Brotherhood of Railway Switchmen was founded. ♦

 

1897 The Doylestown and Easton Street Railway was incorporated. ♦ The Pennsylvania Railroad have filled their large ice house at Belvidere with nine-inch ice.  It came from Tobyhanna, PA and took thirty cars to furnish the supply. ♦ The spreading of Bel-Del rails at Andover Furnace, south of Phillipsburg caused the derailment of a couple of coal cars. ♦ The Bel Del construction train from Phillipsburg was sent to open the Flemington Branch which was blocked with snow. ♦ One of the mules used by contractors erecting the retaining walls for the Easton & Northern RR connection at the suspension bridge fell from the tramway to the Lehigh & Susquehanna tracks, about 40 feet, and was instantly killed. ♦ The LV RR had 713 uniformed men in its employ and their neat appearance was spoken of as being second to no body of uniformed employees on any line in the country. ♦ One of Shipman's buses was wrecked on So. 4th St., Easton.  The team attached to it ran away from the Central RR station and in turning the corner at 4th & Washington Streets, the hind axle was broken. ♦ The Easton Transit Co. experimented with a device intended to keep the trolley wheel from jumping off the wire.  It consisted of two prongs, one on either side of the wheel, projecting upward and outward. ♦ Local members of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen traveled to Philadelphia via the Bel Del for a Sunday meeting. ♦ Pennsylvania RR stations were draped in black out of respect to the late President Roberts. ♦ The independent Easton, Palmer & Bethlehem Street Railway Co. was organized and began construction of a standard gauge route between Easton and Bethlehem. ♦ An eastbound LV RR freight train was wrecked at Hamden siding.  An axle broke and five cars derailed. ♦ The employees of the US Express Co. were compelled to wear blue caps bearing the name of the company. ♦ The Central RR Co. sold round trip tickets to the McKinley presidential inauguration for $7.73. ♦ Five LC&N Co. boats, the first of the season, arrived in Easton with coal. ♦ It was expected that nearly 100,000 railroad ties would be rafted down the Delaware from Pahaquary and Flatbrookville this spring.  Most of them were to be landed in Belvidere. ♦ Reverend Francis S. Williston of Phillipsburg began a 35 year career as a canal missionary.  He ministered to boatmen, lock tenders and others on the Lehigh and Delaware canals from Mauch Chunk to Bristol, PA and on the Morris Canal between Phillipsburg and Washington. ♦ The Central RR Co. converted several cars into bicycle vans. ♦ Detective Hutchinson, of Belvidere, attempted to arrest four tramps riding on a train near Washington last night.  A desperate fight ensued.  The "hobos" were finally subdued and marched to Washington where they were locked up. (July 7) ♦ A special train of 5 cars, carrying the governors troop from Harrisburg to NY passed through Easton/Phillipsburg on the Central RR. ♦ The Central RR of NJ decided to build another track along the hillside above the 4th St. station in Easton. ♦ LV RR engine #308, drawing a passenger train, broke down at Glendon.  The Glendon drill engine shoved the train to Easton. ♦ A special train of NY capitalists went up the Central RR to Northampton to visit the Atlas cement works. ♦ The LV RR discontinued the use of soft coal on locomotives drawing passenger trains. ♦ A special train of 5 cars carrying Baptists from NY to Pittsburgh passed through on the Central. ♦ The Forepaugh-Sells Bros. Circus train, after exhibiting at Morristown, was hauled over the Morris & Essex RR to Phillipsburg for unloading. ♦ The Easton Transit Co. began using transfer tickets with a different color for each day of the week. ♦ Two telephones in the dispatchers office at the CNJ 4th St., Easton station were burned out by lightning. ♦ For the accommodation of fishermen, the PRR Bel Del 6PM train from Belvidere to Phillipsburg stopped at Harmony. ♦ Two locomotives were badly wrecked on the Bel-Del near Phillipsburg.  The crews of both narrowly escaped injury by jumping before the head-on collision. ♦ Ten additional men were laid off at the CNJ shop complex at Phillipsburg, dropping the total force to about 50 workers. ♦ Heck & Brother of S. 3rd St., Easton advertised coal for sale at $4.20 a ton. ♦ About 100 members of the Easton Jacksonian Democratic club traveled on the Easton & Northern RR by special train to a meeting at Bangor. ♦ The E&N RR advertised trains departing Easton for Nazareth and intermediate points at 7:49 & 11:05 AM; 3:14 & 7 PM. ♦ Careless blasting on the E&N RR (new route around the west side of Easton) frequently caused stones to be thrown from the jobsite.  A deep dent was made next to the motorman on the platform of a trolley car on its way to Odenweldertown.  Another flew across the Lehigh River and landed in the cab of a locomotive at the LV RR roundhouse at So. Easton. ♦ Two Philadelphia coaching parties on their way to the mountains spent a night in Easton. ♦ Two young women were thrown from an Easton electric car (trolley) as it rounded a sharp curve at Paxinosa & Burke Streets. ♦ The Easton Council agreed to purchase a steam road roller. ♦ The Easton band (a 15 piece orchestra) excursions to Laury's Island were operated with fares 65¢ for adults and 45¢ for children. ♦ The PRR offered a round trip excursion fare from Phillipsburg to Atlantic City for $2.25, departing at 7 AM. ♦ About a hundred Easton area farmers bough 3 canalboat loads of fertilizer (236 tons) from Philadelphia. ♦ Business on the DL&W RR increased to such proportions that firemen worked extra as engineers and brakemen were pressed into service as conductors on extra trains. ♦ Lemuel Clymer's wagon was struck by an electric car at Hanover & Main Streets, Phillipsburg. ♦ The Bel Del bridge inspection train passed through Phillipsburg. ♦ A cow severely gored the horse drawing the Star Steam Laundry wagon at Stewartsville. ♦ A NJ law went into effect requiring trolley cars to have vestibules in winter. ♦ A special train containing Massachusetts state officials came down the L&HR RR en-route to the Tennessee Exposition. ♦ A hack load of Phillipsburg women, 16 in all, spent the day in Broadway with friends.  (Jim Lee said the headline should have been "Broads go to Broadway") ♦ Warren County Freeholders decided to erect a new bridge at plane #10 of the Morris Canal near Green's bridge. ♦ The 2,122 foot long Easton & Northern RR bridge over the Lehigh River was contracted to the Union Bridge Co. ♦ The Lehigh Portland Cement Co. was founded. ♦ Free delivery of mail was begun in Phillipsburg with four carriers. ♦

 

1898 Section men raised the level of the Bel-Del roadbed at Phillipsburg station. ♦ The Whitaker Cement Works, located near Phillipsburg, produced 1,540 lbs. of cement every day. ♦ A worker at the Phillipsburg Horse Shoe works was killed near the mill by a drill engine of the Pennsylvania RR. ♦ A branch of the Bel Del from Carpentersville to Springtown was surveyed, but never built. ♦ About 40 persons who went with the Warren Foundry excursion to Coney Island were left at Jersey City when the last train pulled out 20 minutes earlier than the 10:30 departure they were told. ♦ "The eighteen passengers who came down the long, steep grade on New Street, South Easton, last night in one of the Easton Transit Company's large open cars, will no doubt long remember the wild exciting ride.  The car ran away from the top of the hill and could not be stopped until it had descended the grade, darted across the Third Street bridge and ran up to Lehigh Street. (Aug. 1) ♦ A costly LV RR head-on collision, accompanied by a fatality, took place at Kennedy Station a few miles east of Phillipsburg.  Shortly after a gravel train derailed on the Easton & Amboy track, a westbound fast freight train met a double-headed eastbound grain train also running on the westbound track.  Twenty cars were shattered and thrown into a massive heap of splintered wood. ♦ South Easton became a part of Easton. ♦ The L&HR RR placed in service a new zinc ore train from Franklin Junction to Belvidere and then via the Bel-Del to Phillipsburg. ♦ The Easton, Palmer & Bethlehem Street Ry. Co. inaugurated service and built an amusement park west of Easton. ♦ The Northampton County Fairgrounds closed. ♦ The Phillipsburg Elks organization was established. ♦ The LV RR Delaware River bridge was completed. ♦

 

1899 The PRR shipped 15 cars of 12" ice from Lake Hopatcong to Philadelphia daily via the Lackawanna RR and the Bel-Del.  The company built a large ice house at the lake and had a big force of men at work day and night. ♦ On 1.19 contractor Mutchler, Conneley & Donnelly, having finished the grading for the Easton & Northern, laid off many of its Italian workers.  A large group of them departed by train for NYC. ♦ The 9:20 AM Bel-Del train from Philadelphia, with two engines and a snow plow, arrived in Phillipsburg 4 hours late on 2.18. ♦ On Mar. 8th a Bangor & Portland freight train derailed near Walter's Lower Mill on the Easton & Northern.  About 20 passengers on the following train walked from the derailment site to Easton. ♦ Frederick W. Taylor's "Pig Iron Loading Observations" at Bethlehem Iron Co. began on 3.10 and lasted about 50 days.  He claimed he was able to phenomenally increase the productivity in the loading of RR gondola cars with 12.5 to 18 tons of pig iron each.  Extensive research by Dr. Charles D. Wrege and Regina Greenwood showed that the Taylor results were mostly a hoax.  Their analysis and findings were published in the Canal History and Technology Proceedings, Vol. XVII in 1998. ♦ The Northampton County Agricultural Society sold the Easton Fairgrounds property in Wilson Borough for a housing development.  The buildings and fencing were advertised for sale.  F.F. Drinkhouse of Phillipsburg was one of those who had advertisements painted on the fence.  Frank Drinkhouse operated an iron foundry, Vulcan Iron Works, in Phillipsburg's Rolling Mill Flats.  He manufactured agricultural machinery including hay rakes, drills, cultivators, screw mowers, horse powers, telegraph fodder cutters, shellers and other items.  The iron fences at Trinity Episcopal and St. John's Evangelical Lutheran churches, as well as the gate at the Governor Wolf County Government Center, all in Easton are products of his foundry.  He resided at 247 Spring Garden Street and was a member of the first class at Lehigh University.  During the Civil War troops were trained on the fairgrounds property in Easton. ♦ A heavy CNJ hog-type locomotive en-route to Hudson Yard with several cars jumped off the track as it left the L&HR Delaware River bridge and slammed into the rear of the Bel-Del depot at Union Square.  The maverick locomotive knocked down the waiting shed and destroyed much of the Phillipsburg station platform.  Certain disaster was averted when a fire ignited by the hot coals that rolled from the firebox of the derailed locomotive was immediately extinguished. ♦ On Apr. 11th LV RR locomotive #648, with three flat cars and whistle blowing, was the first to cross the new Easton & Northern bridge over the Lehigh River. ♦ Bethlehem Steel Co. was incorporated on 4.17.  The firm became a manufacturer of RR rail & accessories, wheels & axles, trackwork for steam, electric, mine & industrial railways, steel freight & passenger cars and mine cars. ♦ On 4.26 a flat car on the new Easton & Northern bridge rolled away and crashed into a freight car near the LV RR Easton station. ♦ The Edison Portland Cement Co. was incorporated. ♦ A special inspection train for railroad officials passed over the newly completed Easton & Northern line around the west end of Easton on 5.19. ♦ A vestibuled train began running between Philadelphia and Scranton via the Bel Del.  The train stopped only at Germantown, Trenton, Lambertville, Phillipsburg and Belvidere. ♦ Easton Consolidated Electric Co. was incorporated and took over Easton Transit Co., Easton, Palmer & Bethlehem Street Ry. Co., Easton & Bethlehem Transit Co., Pennsylvania Motor Co., Northampton Central Street Ry. Co., and Phillipsburg Horse Car Co.  Easton Transit Co. became the operating company and all rolling stock carried the ETC name and yellow and red paint scheme. ♦ A southbound L&HR RR train of ice and ore was wrecked on the curve two miles above Belvidere.  The train hit a bank of earth and stone that had been washed across the track by a cloudburst.  The engine and 13 of the 30 cars in the train left the track, but there were no serious injuries. ♦ The LV RR Phillipsburg signal tower was moved from the south side of the tracks at their passenger station to the north side of the tracks at the PRR Bel-Del crossing. ♦ The LV RR So. Easton car shops were moved to Sayre. ♦ The Durham Furnace, which was idle for several years was relighted.  The Quakertown & Eastern RR completed their line to the furnace and shipments of raw materials and finished products were made over the new line. ♦ The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad painters are now at work on the stations along the line.  Buildings are being painted a saffron yellow. Sept. 22) ♦ "Six carloads of Chinamen passed over the PRR (Bel-Del) en route to Philadelphia from San Francisco."  They were employed in the Chinese village at the Philadelphia Exposition. ♦ The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western newspaper train made the run from New York to Buffalo (via Washington) in eight hours and 20 minutes. (Sept. 25) ♦ A large raft of logs, manned by a crew of four, broke apart when it was driven against the CNJ bridge pier by the Delaware River current.  The men were able to splice the logs together with ropes and continued their journey down the river. ♦ The cylinder head of an Easton & Northern engine blew out at Edelman's crossing.  Pieces of the shattered iron flew 150 feet and the concussion shook the houses in the locality. ♦ Representatives for the Belvidere-Delaware Railroad appeared before the New Jersey State Board of Taxation to appeal the railroad's assessment. (Oct.23) ♦ The 26 acre Farmers & Mechanics Institute/Easton Fairgrounds closed. ♦ William Krause & Sons Cement Co. opened a four kiln plant at the bend in the Delaware River across from Brainards, NJ. ♦ While trying to loosen coal frozen in on of the big pockets of the Lehigh Valley RR in S. Easton, Bill Grube, had a frightful experience and a miraculous escape from serious injury.  The frozen coal fell from the sides of the pocket and buried the 12 year old.  The sides of the pocket were cut out to run off the coal and the little fellow survived with only minor injuries. ♦ The last of the LV RR coal jimmies were sold to the Algoma Central RR in Canada. ♦ A chicken that escaped from a farmer in the Circle ran under a trolley car, perched on a brake beam and was carried to the western part of Easton. (Dec. 29th) ♦ Rhodes Bros., Phillipsburg published their post card #104 - a view of LV RR coal jimmy #14746 abandoned near Mt. Parnassus. ♦ Bethlehem Steel worker, Henry Noll, was credited with loading 45 tons of pig iron a day in this year to increase his day's pay to $1.85.  The productivity of Noll, referred to as "Schmidt," was key to Frederick W. Taylor's landmark book Principles of Scientific Management. ♦ The Easton Consolidated Electric Co. was incorporated in NJ in this year. ♦ The Canister Co. was established in Phillipsburg. ♦ The National Switch & Signal Co. of Easton, PA merged with Union Switch & Signal Co. - both firms served the railroad industry. ♦

 

1900 An engineer was surveying at Shimer's which has something to do with the trolley extension to the Edison Cement Company's proposed plant near Stewartsville. (Jan. 15) ♦ The Pennsylvania Railroad brought 53 box cars to Belvidere for the L&H ice trade, but the ice has been spoiled by the late warm weather and unless a new crop is found, the cars will go back empty. (Jan. 26) ♦ A cut of Delaware Rive ice at Frenchtown was used to fill the Bel-Del ice houses at Belvidere. Jan. 26) ♦ Permission was granted to the Phillipsburg Horse Car Railroad to extend its tracks and operate trolley cars through Lopatcong and Pohatcong. (Feb. 9) ♦ The Phillipsburg Horse Car Company is rushing the work on the South Main Street Extension to Green's Bridge.  The present compliment of cars each stops at Shimer's (every?) seven minutes. (Feb. 16) ♦ The old Morris Canal plane house, near the Pennsylvania railroad tracks, is being torn down.  It was built 60 years ago. (Feb. 28) ♦ The first boat of the season, loaded with household furniture, went up the Lehigh Canal. (Mar. 31) ♦ The Lehigh Valley Railroad Company sold all its coal "jimmies" and will build gondolas to take their place. (Apr. 3) ♦ All transfer freight on the Lehigh Valley Railroad, formerly handled at Easton, is being handled now in Phillipsburg. (May 6) ♦ Many people throughout the region purchased excursion tickets on the several railroads to attend the unveiling and dedication of the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Monument at Center Square, Easton.  With 75,000 people, it was the best attended single event in the history of Easton. (May 10) ♦ An additional ore train has been placed on the Central Railroad to run between Phillipsburg and Rockaway. (June 5) ♦ The City of Easton imposed a tax on trolley cars by Ordinance #232. ♦ A serious wreck of a DL&W freight train at Bridgeville, NJ on July 27 caused all their through traffic to be rerouted over the Bel-Del via Phillipsburg where it connected with the Lackawanna's Morris & Essex Division. ♦ A new mail (train) from the Easton post office to points on the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, is now in service. (July 30) ♦ The Sterlingworth Railway Supply Co. at Easton had grown from one building to seven acres with more development under way.  About 350 men were employed in their brakebeam, truck, bolster, rolling mill and malleable departments.  They produced a structural steel railway car which was to be on exhibition at two conventions. ♦ Rev. E.V. King complained about the fast & reckless bicycle riding in Phillipsburg. ♦ Fifteen were killed when a L&NE RR train crashed into a large omnibus at Benninger's crossing, two miles east of Walnutport.  The vehicle, drawn by four horses, loaded with people returning from a funeral was cut in half by the train on 8.12. ♦ A well patronized, midsummer, one-day excursion train operated from the Bel-Del to Asbury Park, Long Branch and Ocean Grove. (Aug. 16) ♦ The Lehigh Valley Railroad will no longer permit newsboys to sell on the trains. Aug. 24) ♦ In order to cut down expenses, the New Jersey Central Railroad Company no longer furnishes ice for stations along the line. Aug. 25) ♦ The steam shovel and train crews at the Edison Cement Works are working double turns... day and night. (Sept. 23) ♦ The Phillipsburg Republicans rented the third floor of the Bel-Del station for their campaign headquarters. (Sept.) ♦ Seven cows were killed by a Central passenger train near Bloomsbury. (Oct. 3) ♦ The pit (turntable) of the PRR Phillipsburg roundhouse was enlarged to handle the larger locomotives used on the Bel-Del. (Oct.) ♦ The Northampton Central Street Railway Co. established local service on a new line to Nazareth using parent Easton, Palmer & Bethlehem Street Ry. tracks into Easton. (Nov. 19) ♦ Albert L. Johnson, President of Lehigh Valley Traction Co. leased all properties under Easton Consolidated Electric's control to be part of his electric railway empire. ♦ The Krause cement plant was largely destroyed by a fire. (Nov. 26) ♦ PRR pension service was established. ♦ The Lehigh Power Co., a NJ corporation, was organized to generate electricity utilizing the water power available at Lock 22-23, Ground Hog Lock - 5.5 miles south of Easton on the Delaware Canal.  Their building survives. ♦ Vulcanite Portland Cement Co. added a second plant, with six 60' kilns, at Vulcanite, NJ. ♦ The Central Railroad Co. is arranging to place automatic signals on the curves between Whitaker and Phillipsburg. (Dec. 7) ♦ Trolley cars on the Easton and Nazareth line will have the latest improvements including air whistles on the end(s) of each car. (Dec. 16) ♦ The Lehigh Valley Traction Company will run cars through from Green's Bridge below Phillipsburg to Glendon. (Dec. 18) ♦ The Railroad Employee publication noted that Bel-Del train No. 567 "came forth with a new record."  On one run from Manunka Chunk to Trenton, it was reported that the 68-mile route, including seven stops, was covered in 85 minutes. ♦ The DL&W RR appealed the Pure Oil Co. pipeline decision and won a reversal.  It forced Pure to dismantle its Warren County line and lay pipe southward toward Philadelphia via Easton, PA.  By the end of this year no trace remained in Warren County of the nation's first long distance refined products line. ♦

 

1901 A train wreck occurred on the Musconetcong branch of the Lehigh Valley Railroad.  A freight car loaded with lumber jumped the track and hit the caboose, injuring two trainmen. ♦ Albert L. Johnson proposed an extension of his Lehigh Valley Traction Co. empire east from Easton to New Brunswick, NJ and NY. Another plan for this extension would have utilized the DL&W RR between Washington and Hoboken, NJ.  Yet another Johnson expansion plan was from Philadelphia to NY.  It is interesting to note that Harrison R. Fehr, a resident of Easton, was listed as President of the Trenton & New Brunswick RR in 1901 and was its largest stockholder.  The T&NB RR became part of the Public Service RR Fast Line and Fehr later became president of Easton Transit Co. and Lehigh Valley Transit Co. ♦ The train of steel cars built for the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company may be seen in Phillipsburg. ♦ Travel on the New St. branch of the trolley line was blocked by several tons of rock and earth that fell on the tracks from a retaining wall. ♦ Two trolley cars collided on Main Street in Phillipsburg. (June 4th) ♦ A heavy ice train of eighty-two, 42-ton cars, headed by two locomotives, ran from Belvidere to Philadelphia. (July 8) ♦ The Bel-Del operated a special excursion to Long Branch and Ocean Grove. (Aug. 1) ♦ The steam hammer men at the Lehigh Valley (S. Easton) blacksmith shop quit in the afternoon on account of the heat.  They also didn't report for work the next day for the same reason. (Aug. 2) ♦ A trolley car descending the New Street hill on the south side of Easton struck a farmer's wagon and damaged it considerably. ♦ A trolley pole at Mauch Chunk Street and Packer Street, Easton, fell in the afternoon and delayed travel for a while. ♦ The Bel-Del operated a one-day excursion train to Atlantic City. (Aug. 8) ♦ The second track on the DL&W between Phillipsburg and Washington was torn up. ♦  Albert Johnson died and his ambitious plans for an electric railway empire radiating out from the Lehigh Valley were canceled. ♦ Automatic electric block signals were installed on the CNJ main line between Bound Brook and White Haven, PA. ♦ Bethlehem Steel Co. purchased Bethlehem Iron Co. on 8.15. ♦ The first annual music festival dedicated to the works of Johann Sebastian Bach was hosted by Bethlehem. ♦ Former president Grover Cleveland traveled on the Bel-Del to spend several days fishing on the Delaware River at Frenchtown. ♦ Two Hay Line trolley cars collided on the passing siding at Bushkill Park, killing one passenger. ♦ Morris Brink, a Bel-Del car inspector, rode in a trolley car that was being transported on a railroad flat car.  Brink stated: "The ride was a little cold and uncomfortable but the fare was cheap as no one passed through the car to take up the fare." ♦ Alpha Portland Cement Co. built a new plant #2 at Alpha, NJ with ten 60' kilns. ♦ Krause rebuilt their cement plant and changed their name to Martins Creek Portland Cement Co. ♦ Vulcanite built a third plant at Alpha. ♦ The Edison Portland Cement Co. opened a plant at New Village, NJ with ten 8' x 150' kilns.  An electric plant railroad transported the rock from the quarry south to the plant in five ton steel containers. ♦ Alpha Portland Cement Co. moved their offices from Alpha, NJ to the Drake Building in Easton, PA. ♦ Lewis Riley, a director of the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co. became president of the L&HR RR. ♦ A runaway trolley car on its way from Allentown to Coopersburg jumped the track and killed 6 of the 18 passengers on board.  The motorman lost control going down the steep grade of Lehigh Mountain on 12.23.

 

1902 Unprecedented rainfalls in the Lehigh Valley caused floods which resulted in heavy damage to many sections of CNJ roadbed and the loss of several bridges.  Traffic on the main line was disrupted for a considerable time at great financial loss.  Lehigh River flood waters undermined and caused the collapse of the CNJ bridge at South Third Street in Easton at the beginning of March.  (It was also reported that a runaway canalboat rammed one of the piers.)  Bel-Del/L&HR service to Allentown was temporarily shifted from the CNJ to the LV RR.  The floods also did severe damage to the Delaware Canal, putting it out of service for nearly two years.  The same floods heavily damaged the nearly completed Lehigh Power Co. plant at Raubsville. Just as the flooding subsided, the area was hit by a blizzard which dropped 12 inches of snow. ♦ Sterlingworth Railway Supply Co., in Easton, sold their railroad brake beam department to Chicago Equipment Co. ♦ Ingersoll Rand advertised a portable air compressor unit.  It was built at their West Easton plant and was powered by a 150 rpm Hornsby-Ackroyd oil engine. ♦ About 1,000 laborers were at work at various places on the Lehigh and Delaware canal (doing repair work).  American laborers were paid $1.50 per day and foreign laborers were paid $1.35 per day. ♦ A new train, the Hudson Special, was placed in service in May.  This first named L&HR train traveled on the Erie RR from Newburgh to Greycourt, NY and connected with the CNJ at Easton. ♦ The Ringling Brothers Circus paraded on Northampton Street, Easton. ♦ Two people were killed and 30 injured when the brakes on a railway car failed and the car crashed on 21st Street in Palmer Township.  Many of the 89 passengers on the (trolley) car were returning home from the circus in Easton at about 11pm when railway workers could not get the brakes to work as the car descended the hill.  As workers desperately tried to reverse the car, the train jumped the track and toppled over. ♦ The Easton & Washington Traction Co. was chartered on May 31st to build a standard gauge trolley line between Easton, PA and Hackettstown, NJ.  Their ambitious plans included branches from Washington north to Belvidere and south to Clinton.  The system would have totaled 45 miles. ♦ Stations along the Bel-Del were visited by a flower car which left plants to fill out the grounds in fine style. ♦ The PRR replaced 75-pound rails on the Bel-Del with eighty-pound rails. ♦ The Easton & Nazareth Street Railway Co. was completed to N. Fourth and Northampton Streets in Easton. ♦ The CNJ/Reading began operating their Queen of the Valley train between Jersey City and Harrisburg. ♦ Bushkill Park, built by the Easton & Nazareth Street Railway Co., officially opened.  It continues in business as a seasonal family entertainment center and amusement park for the people, companies and organizations of the Lehigh Valley and Warren County, NJ. ♦ A riot erupted along the Delaware Canal as 200 striking canal workers fought with workers who would not join the strike in mid-July. ♦ So many employees of the Sterlingworth Railway Supply Co. in Easton were sick with typhoid fever that the plant was shut down. ♦ A new freight route from NY to Pittsburgh via the Lehigh Valley was inaugurated using the CNJ, Reading and other railroads. ♦ Great quantities of celery and onions were shipped over the L&HR and the Bel-Del from Great Meadows, NJ to Philadelphia in September. ♦ About 50 men were staying at the Central Railroad Company's Hampton roundhouse when several of them started showing symptoms of smallpox.  Phillipsburg policeman Josh Gray gathered together a group of carpenters to go to Hampton to erect a building to quarantine the victims. ♦ A trolley car crashed into an ice wagon on South Third Street in Easton, seriously injuring two men. (7.7) ♦ Immense trains, some a mile long, were run on the Bel-Del due to a shortage of engineers. ♦ The Doylestown & Easton Street Railway Co. (later Philadelphia & Easton Transit Co.) built a power house at Raubsville, PA.  The structure was erected along the Delaware Canal by H. M. Herbert & Co., contractors.  Coal to fuel the plant was delivered by canalboat.  The building survives on the east side of Rt. 611, 5 miles south of Easton.  Their former carbarn which was across the road is long gone. ♦ National Portland Cement Co. began to build a plant just south of Martins Creek, PA. ♦ Alpha Portland Cement Co. changed its incorporation from NJ to PA. ♦ Traffic on the Morris Canal had declined to 27,392 tons in this year. ♦ Andrew Carnegie donated $50,000 to build the original Easton Public Library building and an addition in 1917. ♦ Ingersoll-Rand introduced the world's first portable air compressor. ♦ The Phillipsburg Supply & Construction Co. and the Wallace Flour & Feed Mills were established in Phillipsburg. ♦

 

1903 The Morris Canal Co. repaired Plane No. 11 to permit canalboats to be operated into the Delaware River. ♦ The Lehigh Valley Traction Co. began through interurban trolley service between the Lehigh Valley and Philadelphia (Erdenheim/Chestnut Hill). ♦ LVT entered receivership. ♦ Two explosions ripped apart the Edison Portland Cement plant at New Village, killing 9 workers.  A spark from a dynamo started a fire which ignited some coal.  The plant fire company fought the blaze, but neglected to shut off the conveyors and the burning coal was carried to other buildings where coal dust was prevalent.  The explosions followed. ♦ Large quantities of Pocono ice were moved via the DL&W and the Bel-Del to Trenton, Camden, Philadelphia, and other cities. ♦ The PRR modernized the Phillipsburg shops with installation of a new boiler room and air brake testing equipment. ♦ A destructive flood caused the Delaware River to rise to 40.5 feet at Easton.  Water flowed over the top of the Third St. bridge.  Service on the Bel-Del was knocked out for a week. ♦ Construction work began on the Easton & Washington trolley line that would run from Phillipsburg to Washington. ♦ Ingersoll-Sergeant drills and compressors were used to help drive the first subway tunned under the East River to connect Manhattan and Brooklyn. ♦ The completion of the Philadelphia, Bristol & Trenton Street Railway permitted continuous trolley connections between Jersey City and Philadelphia, Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton (and Phillipsburg, NJ), Reading, as well as Wilmington, DE, and other points. ♦ Locktenders employed on the LC&N canal were laid off indefinitely and notified to vacate the canal company's houses.  This was taken to mean that the canal, ruined by the flood, would not be rebuilt.  However, it was reopened. ♦ Philadelphia & Easton Ry. Co. commenced trolley service from Easton to Riegelsville. ♦ Milk train service was initiated on the Bel-Del. ♦ The CNJ Veteran Employees' Association, the first in America, was founded. ♦ Ingersoll-Sergeant Drill Co. moved from NYC and established a plant at Phillipsburg. ♦ The first Crayola crowns were manufactured in Easton by Binney & Smith. ♦ Thomas N. McCarter, former Morris Canal Co. director and council became president of Public Service Corp. (Railway, Electric & Gas utility). ♦ The Quaker Portland Cement Co. purchased land at Sandts Eddy, along the Delaware River, to build a new cement plant. ♦ The Edison Portland Cement Co. designed and constructed reinforced concrete homes in the Valley View section of Phillipsburg.  They became monuments to the quality cement produced at the Edison plant and continue to be lived in today. ♦ The DL&W RR replaced their bridge across the Delaware River between Knowlton, NJ and Portland, PA, on their old main line. ♦ 

 

1904 Forty carloads of strawberries passed over the Bel-Del/L&HR en- route to Boston. ♦ The former Easton & Nazareth Traction Co., at the time known as the Northampton Traction Co. or "The Hay Line" (because it was built by the Hay family of Easton) proposed combined services with the Easton & Washington (NJ) Traction Co.  The Easton Consolidated Electric Co. refused operating privileges to both companies over ECE controlled entities which operated in Easton and Phillipsburg and would have provided a link. ♦ A two car special train on the Bel-Del carried President Theodore Roosevelt through Phillipsburg on a round trip to Groten, MA.  The "Chief" made a short speech to about 200 assembled in Belvidere just before midnight. ♦ All properties leased by the Lehigh Valley Traction Co. were returned to Easton Transit Co.  The latter company formed connected circular trackage at Center Square, Easton.  Conversion of all Easton trolley lines to standard gauge was completed. ♦ The Lackawanna RR was transferring 20 carloads of Pocono ice to the Bel Del daily for shipment south to Philadelphia. ♦ Bellewood Park, a 50 acre amusement park, complete with a carousel was opened by the LV RR.  It was located at the east end of Pattenburg Tunnel and was a popular destination for 10 to 15 daily excursion trains from the populated areas of NJ to the east and Phillipsburg/the Lehigh Valley to the west.  It had a dining pavilion, farm house restaurant (on top of the mountain with service by uniformed Pullman porters), dance pavilion, German beer garden, carousel (the largest in NJ) with a band organ, a steam-driven roller coaster, giant toboggan slide, ferris wheel, miniature train ride (The Little Black Diamond), the Mystic Maze fun house, shooting gallery, bowling alley, Joe Horn's flying circus, spook house, Harvard "boat race," penny arcade, ring the bell, the spider lady, photo studio, seesaws, swings, tree-house, ball field, spring houses, picnic areas and a tunnel of love.  Admission to the park was free, amusement rides were 5¢ and a good dinner could be bought for 40 to 50¢. ♦ The big Edison cement plant at New Village was placed in full operation, with 400 employees. ♦ Two special trains filled with members of the Masonic Order from MI and upper NY state, passed over the Bel-Del en-route to the Shriners convention in Atlantic City. ♦ The Bangor & Portland RR (DL&W RR) lease of the Easton & Northern RR expired on 6.30.  The LV RR then leased it, became the operator, and passenger service was reduced to one daily (except Sunday) mixed train in each direction. ♦ From 80 to 100 cars of zinc ore were shipped daily from Franklin, NJ via the L&HR and the Bel-Del to the CNJ in PA. ♦ The Lehigh Power Co. was purchased at a foreclosure sale by new owners who incorporated as the Clymer Power Co.  They got the 33" and 45" McCormick turbines operating and sold power to the Philadelphia & Easton Transit Co. and the Raubsville Paper Co. ♦ Because of a wreck north of Phillipsburg on the Bel-Del, PRR trains were temporarily dispatched between Phillipsburg and Belvidere via the DL&W through Washington, NJ. ♦ President Teddy Roosevelt made a campaign speech from an open platform observation car at the LV RR Phillipsburg station. ♦ Through trolley service (wide gauge) between Easton and Doylestown commenced (with connections to Philadelphia) on the Philadelphia & Easton Electric Railway Co.  (It was officially known as the Doylestown & Easton Street Railway.)  The line had a very pretty ride, especially along the Delaware River, and became known as "The Road of Wild Roses."  North of Riegelsville, PA a 0.8 mile long wall was built along the Delaware River to keep the track above flood level.  On the wall was painted the world's longest advertisement which could be readily viewed from the Bel Del RR on the opposite side of the river.  The sign read: "THINK OF FLAGS. THINK OF AMERICAN FLAG MFG. CO., EASTON, PA., THE LARGEST FLAG FABRICATOR IN AMERICA. VISITORS ALWAYS WELCOME." ♦ The Easton shops of LV RR were downgraded after the opening of their new shops at Sayre, PA.  The roundhouse roof fell down. ♦ The DL&W RR abandoned its coal chutes at Washington, but by this time they were used mainly for servicing the railroad's engines, with little of any coal being transferred to the moribund canal. ♦ Ingersoll-Rand compressors & drills were put to work on the Panama Canal construction. ♦ The present bridge over the Delaware River at Riegelsville was built and opened, replacing the covered wood bridge which was swept away the year before in the "Pumpkin Flood." ♦ The Belvidere, NJ to Riverton, PA replacement bridge over the Delaware River was completed by the NJ Bridge Co. of Manasquan. ♦ The Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co. purchased control of the Lehigh & New England RR. ♦ Total assessed value of the five railroads and the Morris Canal in the taxing district of Phillipsburg was $1,104,558.  The total miles of main stem of the six entities in the town was 10.959. ♦ Charles M. Schwab founded Bethlehem Steel Corporation, becoming president and chairman of the board.  Facilities included the Bethlehem plant, their first steel-producing facility, iron mines in Cuba and shipyards on the East and West Coasts. ♦ The Phillipsburg Board of Trade was founded.  It later became the Chamber of Commerce. ♦ The Wygadt Canoe Club of Easton was formed. ♦ The DL&W, in consort with other connecting railroads, acquired a substantial share in the ownership of the L&HR RR to thwart an attempted takeover of the L&HR by the New Haven RR. ♦

 

1905 The Ingersoll-Sergeant Drill Co. was established at Phillipsburg.  About this time the Central RR of NJ established a commuter train to operate from the original Ingersoll plant at West Easton to Easton, Phillipsburg and up the short branch to the new Phillipsburg plant.  This service lasted for many years. ♦ Mack completed their first railway unit at Allentown's No. 1 division.  Work was begun on it at the Brooklyn plant in 1903 and it was sold to the Unitah Ry. in Colorado.  It had a 6 cylinder gasoline engine, a four wheel pony truck and a four wheel shaft driven rear propulsion truck. ♦ The Delaware Street Railway Co. began construction of a trolley line between Easton and Martins Creek. ♦ There were less than 50 boats fit for service on the Morris Canal. ♦ The L&HR RR engine house at Hudson Yard, adjacent to the Bel-Del tracks was destroyed by fire. ♦ Two cars near the rear of an L&HR freight train left the track at the frog in front of the Bel-Del PG tower just before they were to have entered the L&HR bridge.  The two cars were thrown against the superstructure of the bridge and were badly wrecked. ♦ The traditional annual launching of a floral boat to honor the memories of all Americans who died while in service aboard a warship was begun on this Memorial Day. ♦ The 10,000 seat Sig. Sautelle and Welch Brothers Combined RR Show came to Easton via the Bel-Del. ♦ The Paxinosa Inn at the summit of Wygadt Mountain in Easton was destroyed by fire. ♦ Alpha Portland Cement Co. purchased the assets of Martins Creek Portland Cement Co. and began to complete the plant. ♦ A cave-in at the DL&W's long Vass Gap tunnel at Manunka Chunk necessitated the temporary rerouting of their trains via the M&E to Phillipsburg and back up the Bel-Del to Manunka Chunk. ♦ Three cars of a L&HR freight train derailed at Belvidere.  The Bel Del wreck train from Phillipsburg was called out to clear the track. ♦ A Railway Post Office (RPO) route was established along the 31 miles of the Doylestown & Easton Street Railway Co. line. ♦ President Roosevelt stopped at the LV RR Phillipsburg and Easton stations en-route to Wilkes Barre and spoke to large crowds which had gathered. ♦ Squabbles began between Delaware Street Railway Co. and Easton which stopped them from building into the city. ♦ LV RR section hands overpowered a madman who tried to wreck a train near Island Park after a fierce battle. ♦ The PRR revived the requirement that baggage cars in a passenger train consist had to be placed next to the locomotive to provide greater protection to the passenger cars of the train. ♦ An article in the Dover Index indicated that the Morris Canal was to be abandoned and that Public Service Ry. wanted the bed of the canal "for a rapid transit road to Passaic, Paterson, Lake Hopatcong, Phillipsburg and all the rich country intervening."  They predicted that the "Road of Anthracite" (DL&W) would probably oppose such a competing line. ♦ The superintendents of the Bel-Del and the New York Divisions and a party of 50 officials took an inspection tour over the Bel-Del. ♦ Trolley trackage was extended west from Easton including a spur with a bridge to Island Park where a loop and a station permitted frequent service to the Amusement Center on the island. ♦ The Doylestown & Easton Street Railway Co. entered receivership. ♦ The Delaware Valley Navigation Co. was organized to run a line of canalboats from Mauch Chunk, PA to New York City.  The route would have used the Lehigh, Delaware and Delaware & Raritan Canals.  They planned to build self-propelled boats 85' long with 14' beam, but apparently overlooked the fact that most of the Delaware Canal locks were only 11 feet wide.  The plan was never implemented. ♦ Lehigh Valley Transit Co. became the successor to Lehigh Valley Traction Co. ♦ The DL&W RR built a new freight station in Phillipsburg and it was opened with an agent. ♦

 

1906 The Central RR of NJ published "In the New Jersey Foot-Hills: A Brief Summary of the Section of New Jersey where one Finds Health and Pleasure in Out Door Life."  It focused on the Warren, Hunterdon and Morris County areas served by the RR with photos of the rural scenery and lists of hotels and their proprietors. ♦ A CNJ coal train derailed as it was entering the L&HR bridge from the Bel-Del passing track at Phillipsburg.  Two cars toppled over spilling tons of coal over the embankment. ♦ The Easton & Washington Traction Co. commenced service from Lovell Square in Phillipsburg to the Ingersoll Rand plant, east of Phillipsburg, on standard gauge trackage.  Four large automobiles were used to transport E&WT passengers between the former point and Center Square, Easton. ♦ The Philadelphia & Easton Electric Ry. Co. experimented in towing Delaware Canal boats with a trolley car south of Easton, where the canal towpath and the trolley were closely parallel.  Car #6 pulled four canalboats loaded with 90 to 100 tons of coal.  The strain on the trolley car was terrific, with movement at only four miles per hour. ♦ Laborers for Easton Transit Co. went on strike one morning for $1.50 per day wages.  That afternoon they settled for $1.35 per day. ♦ The Soldiers & Sailors Monument was dedicated on the grounds of the Lovell School building (now known as Schappel Park).  Civil War mortars were donated to Phillipsburg by the War Dept. through a special act of Congress.  Three of the mortars were placed around the monument and a fourth in the Phillipsburg Cemetery. ♦ The Ringling Bros. Circus exhibited in Easton.  It was transported by a train of 85 cars, each 70' long and constructed especially for the circus. ♦ Easton Transit Co. completed a tunnel under the CNJ main line in Freemansburg, PA and connected with Lehigh Valley Transit Co. ♦ Phillipsburg citizens demanded better trolley service. ♦ The L&HR announced plans to start and terminate all of its through trains in the CNJ yard at East Allentown and plans were made to strengthen the L&HR bridge over the Delaware River. ♦ Easton Transit Co. extended a Phillipsburg trolley line eastward to the LV RR's Alpha station. ♦ A milk train with coaches was placed in service to run nightly from Phillipsburg to Trenton on the Bel Del. ♦ The Quakertown & Eastern RR was leased to the Pennsylvania Eastern Ry. ♦ The Bel-Del discontinued buffet service in its parlor cars to conform to the NJ state liquor law. ♦ In this year railroads came under federal regulation to protect shippers and passengers from imagined monopoly power.  The Interstate Commerce Commission acquired the power to approve all rates and fares for every railroad and effectively froze them. ♦

 

1907 The PA trolley freight car law was signed and Easton Transit Co. subsequently offered limited service over most of its PA routes. ♦ The L&HR Delaware River bridge was rebuilt to permit heavier trains to operate. ♦ The second Paxinosa Inn on Weygadt Mountain was opened. ♦ The Sterlingworth Railway Supply Co. entered receivership. ♦ The LV RR's Black Diamond Express was derailed and wrecked on the NJ side of their Delaware River bridge. ♦ Two rafts of ties for use in the rebuilding were floated down the Delaware River. ♦ Only two canalboats were reported operating on the Morris Canal. ♦ The first RR rail was rolled on the new rail mill at the Saucon Plant of Bethlehem Steel Co. (McKelvey has a commemorative piece in his rail collection). ♦ The Easton & South Easton Transit Co. opened a 12.5 mile trolley route from Easton to Freemansburg, PA.  They also extended the North Main Street route in Phillipsburg to the Ingersoll-Rand plant. ♦ The Doylestown & Easton Street Railway Co. succeeded the Philadelphia & Easton Electric Railway Co. ♦ The Phillipsburg Horse Car RR Co. rebuilt their N. Main St. car barn. ♦ The PRR installed new rail on the Bel-Del. ♦ New steel passenger coaches were tested on the Bel-Del. ♦ The LV RR operated special excursion trains to Buffalo, Niagara Falls & Toronto on 7.25 & 8.15. ♦ The L&HR RR built the first of a fleet of ore cars for zinc traffic between NJ and PA. ♦ Wells Fargo, Adams and Southern express companies were merged by government order into American Railway Express. ♦ A five page feature article was published on the Easton & Washington Traction Co. in Electric Railway Journal.  The accompanying map showed planned extensions of the line to Belvidere; High Bridge/Clinton; and to Port Morris (Lake Hopatcong) via Hackettstown, Waterloo and Stanhope.  At Lake Hopatcong it was planned to connect with the Morris County Traction Company system. ♦ The CNJ RR started paying employees by check in this year. ♦

 

1908 Warren Chemical Fire Co. was founded at Phillipsburg. ♦ A considerable portion of the record Pocono ice harvest, cut during the winter, was shipped south over the Bel Del. ♦ Central RR of NJ 4-4-0 steam locomotive #500 was dismantled at Ashley, PA and the boiler was moved to Phillipsburg to supply steam to the roundhouse complex. ♦ A special train carrying President McCrea of the PRR and party traveled up the Bel-Del. ♦ Easton Transit Co. replaced Easton Consolidated Electric Co. as controlling body of the Easton-Phillipsburg street railway systems.  In the process ETC absorbed Easton, Palmer & Bethlehem Street Ry. Co. and Northampton Central Street Ry. Co. into the main organization. ♦ Easton Transit Co. inaugurated direct Easton to South Bethlehem trolley service. ♦ The Pennsylvania RR issued a one page circular on proper locomotive firing that urged its enginemen and firemen to "save coal and reduce smoke." ♦ The RPO route on the Philadelphia & Easton Electric Railway was discontinued. ♦ LVT inaugurated Chestnut Hill - Delaware Water Gap summer excursion trolley service via Allentown, Bethlehem and Nazareth. The "Delaware Water Gap Limited" took 6 hours and 40 minutes to cover the route.  Passenger amenities on the electric cars included: black leather seats with arm rests, baggage racks, carpeted floor, iced drinking water, lavatory facilities and a uniformed guide to provide factual commentary on the route. ♦ The Philadelphia & Easton Electric Railway Co. quickly responded with competing service on their "Delaware Valley Route.  Unfortunately, their route required five changes of cars.  Because of the intense rivalry with LVT, a guide met northbound excursionists at the terminus of the Philadelphia & Easton Co. in Easton and walked them through the business district to the Northampton Traction Co. connection rather than patronize the Easton Transit Company's city service. ♦ A thousand men were at work north of Phillipsburg installing new sidings to accommodate the increased number of freight and coal trains being operated over the Bel-Del. ♦ William Jennings Bryan, the Democratic Nominee for president of the US delivered a speech from the observation car of his special train at stations along the Bel-Del.  At the Phillipsburg stop, where 15,000 gathered, he spoke from a platform opposite the South Main Street Methodist Episcopal Church.  He re-boarded his train which in the mean time had been switched from the Bel-Del to the CNJ Main St. station.  On Oct. 23rd. he also made a whistle stop at Hampton Jct. on his third and last attempt to become our nations leader. ♦ The city of Easton sued Easton Transit Co. to force them to provide ten minute headway service. The city lost. ♦ "Jim's Doggie Stand" opened at Union Square, Phillipsburg. ♦ Alpha Portland Cement Co. began production at plant #4, south of Martins Creek, PA. ♦ The Riverside Canoe Club of Easton was established.  It grew to over 150 members.  In their heyday on summer weeknights they decorated their canoes with lanterns and paraded past Island Park.  The trolley company put up trophy money for the best in the procession. ♦ The Hudson Special (known locally as the "Windsplitter") train between Newburgh, NY and Easton, PA via the Erie, L&HR and Bel Del RR's ceased operating. ♦ The Phillipsburg School Board erected a new high school next to the Lovell School. ♦ Extensive improvements were being made to the Bel Del, especially between Phillipsburg and Belvidere making that section practically double-tracked.  A block signal system had been installed between Belvidere and Lambertville. ♦ The Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co. annual report for this year stated: "Study of canal traction by electricity justifies its use if canal traffic increased to 450,000 to 500,000 tons (per year)." ♦ A revolutionary rolling mill was installed at the Bethlehem Steel Co. plant, known as the Grey mill.  It began producing the first wide-flange structural shapes to be made in America.  These shapes ushered in the age of the skyscraper and established the Bethlehem plant as a leading supplier to the construction industry. ♦ The 1848-9 Durham Furnaces ceased operation and the facilities were totally dismantled. ♦ The Continental Silk Co. was established in Phillipsburg. ♦ Street Railway Journal issues which focused on pleasure resorts and amusement parks had articles on Bushkill Park and Island Park, both in Easton, PA. ♦

 

1909 Lincoln Engine Co. No. 2 was founded at Phillipsburg. ♦ A Philadelphia & Easton Electric Railway car ran into a landslide at Rocky Falls near Riegelsville, PA.  No one was injured as there were no passengers on the car.  The slide occurred the night before but the crew on the first car out the next morning were not notified. ♦ The LV RR published a 40 page travel promotional book: Land O'Lakes & Mountains. ♦ The CNJ RR operated 11 excursions to Mauch Chunk, Glen Onoka and the Switchback RR at a fare of $1.50, round trip. ♦ The first taxi company in Easton began operations. ♦ A NJ State Highway Commission was established. ♦ A special train carried PRR President McCrea and General Manager Myers over the Bel-Del to participate in an inspection of the L&HR RR with President Melen of the NYNH&H RR. ♦ A special train of two new steel coaches carried officials over the Bel-Del to ascertain if conditions were favorable for operation of such cars. ♦ Easton Transit Co. began through service to Allentown. ♦ An office annex was added to the LV RR Easton station for the Division Superintendent, Chief Dispatcher, RR Police, and the Electrical Department. ♦ At this time Easton Transit Co. owned 61 single truck open cars, 47 closed cars, 9 double truck cars and had acquired via leases 30 other single truck cars. ♦ The Clymer Power Co. hung lines up the Delaware Canal towpath and sold excess power to the Easton Gas & Electric Co. ♦ Four steel schooner barges were built for the LV RR at Camden, NJ.  "Bloomsbury" was later given the number 706 and "Bellewood" became #703.  ♦ The J.G. Brill Co. of Philadelphia built an open sided, double truck car designed to carry hay for the Philadelphia & Easton Transit Co. ♦ LV RR records document losses of almost 11 million dollars to this date on their lease of the Morris Canal. ♦ The Tidewater Oil Co. pipeline from Corryville, PA through Warren County to Hampton, NJ and Bayonne, originally opened in 1883, was double piped in this year. ♦ The Central Park Amusement Co. was incorporated in this year. ♦

 

1910 A new passenger route was inaugurated between Belvidere and NYC via the L&HR RR to Andover and the DL&W to NY on 1.22.  Passengers left Belvidere at 8:18AM and arrived in NY at 11:40AM.  Returning, they left NY at 4PM and arrived back in Belvidere at 7:09PM.  The round-trip fare was $3.30. ♦ A violent strike against Bethlehem Steel began in February and lasted nearly five months.  It involved the first intervention of the Pennsylvania State Police in labor disputes. ♦ The Lackawanna RR demolished 9 of 14 stalls of their Phillipsburg roundhouse to make way for a five foot longer turntable. ♦ The Hay family of Easton, controllers of Northampton Traction Co. gained control of Easton & Washington Traction Co. and changed the corporate title to Northampton-Easton & Washington Traction Co.  They planned, but could not finance and never built, a new bridge across the Delaware to connect the two systems. ♦ The Agricultural Lecture Train, sponsored by the NJ Board of Agriculture, the State Agricultural College, the Granges, and the Pennsylvania RR, traveled over the Bel Del making various stops.  Lectures were given in two classroom cars on the results of new experiments conducted on the cultivation of various cereals and fruits. ♦ For a few years the CNJ granted operational rights to the L&HR RR between Easton and Mauch Chunk (Jim Thorpe, PA), to allow the L&HR to provide direct transportation of ores and other products between NJ Zinc Co's. mines in NJ and their two plants in Palmerton. ♦ The Philadelphia, Bethlehem & New England RR was incorporated to serve the Bethlehem Steel works.  It was originally planned to interchange with the Bel Del opposite Durham, PA and with the L&NE RR at Nazareth. ♦ On August 4th the L&HR RR ran the only excursion of the season.  It operated from Warwick, NY to Cranberry Lake, NJ and Island Park, Easton, PA at a fare of $1.25. ♦ An excursion train operated from Bel-Del stations to Atlantic City on Aug. 7th.  A similar 13 car train was operated on 17 Aug., followed 11 days later by a similar 17 car excursion. ♦ The LC&N Co. acquired two producer gas tugs to tow strings of 5 or 6 canalboats.  The gas was produced by burning buckwheat coal in an enclosed furnace to fuel an Ingersoll-Rand internal combustion engine.  They could go faster than mules, but lost a lot of time at the locks. ♦ The New Jersey Central RR offered reduced rates to passengers going to the Pennsylvania State Fair at Bethlehem from Bound Brook, Scranton and intermediate points. ♦ Special rates were offered from Bel-Del stations for patrons traveling to the Trenton Interstate Fair, which featured Wilbur and Orville Wright with their new airplane. ♦ The CNJ Veteran Employees Association held their annual meeting at Dorney Park, Allentown on 9.17. ♦ The New Jersey & Pennsylvania RR (Rockaway Valley RR) ran special trains to connect with the CNJ for the Allentown Fair. ♦ A private corporate train went down the Bel-Bel with Tsai Hsun, an uncle of the last emperor of China, and Charles M. Schwab, president of the Bethlehem Steel Co. aboard on 9.25. ♦ Treadwell Engineering Co., founded in Lebanon, PA in 1860, relocated to Easton.  The firm manufactured hot melt cars for the steel industry; special steel equipment for liberty ships, aircraft carriers, battleships and heavy cruisers; and steel castings for gears for the SS United States. ♦ The largest trailer in the world at the time left the Eastern Car & Construction Co. plant in Easton for a US Army base in Maryland. ♦ The fourth annual exhibition of the Easton Poultry Assn. was held. ♦ Detectives of the CRR of NJ captured James Kelly at Brainerds for taking one of their locomotives for a ride from Rockaway to Hibernia and back.  He was in custody at Phillipsburg in spite of his handling the loco like a veteran. ♦ While the delivery wagon of the United Furniture Co. was descending the Hudson St. (Tar Walk) grade in Phillipsburg, the wheels slipped on the ice and the vehicle was upset.  The driver was severely injured when he was thrown to the street and the horse fell upon him. ♦ The DL&W RR published "Facts for Farmers," by DeWitt Carpenter. ♦ In this year LV RR train #6 was derailed at W. Portal, NJ. ♦ The DL&W RR closed their Broadway station on the Phillipsburg branch.  It was soon reopened after a protest by local residents. ♦ The Locomotive Engineers & Conductors Mutual Protective Association was founded to provide job protection for railroad employees. ♦ Mack Trucks predecessor, International Motor Corp. produced the first motorized hook-and-ladder truck in the US for Morristown, NJ. ♦

 

1911 An article "Interurban Cars for Eastern Pennsylvania: Steel Underframe" (Northampton Traction Co.) appeared in Vol. V, No. 2, the Brill Magazine. ♦ The tragic wreck of the teachers excursion train occurred 1/2 mile south of Martins Creek Station, NJ.  Thirteen people were killed and the five wooden cars were destroyed by fire.  The 169 school teachers and administrators were on their way to Washington, DC from central New York state. ♦ The floral boat honoring American servicemen who died at sea, which was released from the Northampton Street bridge, Easton on Memorial Day was found in the ocean at Cape May, NJ, in mid-June.  The floral boat launching custom continues to the present day. ♦ A penny slot machine which furnished drinking cups to thirsty travelers was placed in most Bel-Del stations. ♦ Pay-as-you-enter trolley cars went into service in Easton. ♦ The last steam locomotive was rebuilt at the LV RR So. Easton Shop.  Since 1869 they had rebuilt 106 units. ♦ William Rau, official photographer for the PRR & LV RR took a 300̊ panoramic view of the Phillipsburg/Easton area from the top of Mt. Ida. ♦ Civil and hydraulic engineer, Ford Kurtz submitted a report on the proposed electrification of the Morris Canal to make it a perfectly feasible and valuable water transportation route. ♦ The former Pennsylvania Eastern Ry. (Quakertown & Eastern RR) was reorganized and reopened as the Quakertown & Delaware River RR. ♦ The first regatta between the Riverside Canoe Club of Easton and the Allentown Canoe Club occurred. ♦ The Easton Board of Trade published a promotional piece in Easton, City of Resources.  In it they touted that they had: 8 local railroads (LVRR, PRR, DL&WRR, L&NERR, L&HRRR, P&RRR, B&PRR and the CRR of NJ); advantageous freight rates; 60% of entire American slate output and 50% of American Portland Cement output within a radius of 25 miles; 8 interurban electric railways; 1/10 of the population of the US was within a radius of 100 miles; and that they were "100 minutes from Broadway." ♦ The LV RR completed their Southside Industrial Branch to serve industries in the upper section of So. Easton.  The 2.2 mile line left the main in the vicinity of Glendon and climbed up grades as much as 2.5% through Morgan Valley on a horseshoe curve.  The branch terminated in the area west of the toll plaza and Morgan Hill Road along present day Rt. I 78.  It served several customers including the Aerni & Hitzel Coal Co. ♦

 

1912 "New City Cars for the Easton Transit Co.: Brill Plain Arch Roof" article appeared in Vol. VI, No. 1 of the Brill Magazine. ♦ The original CNJ/DL&W joint station at Phillipsburg was demolished. ♦ A southbound Bel-Del passenger train derailed on a defective switch just below the Phillipsburg station.  The engine and tender passed over it, but the mail car and two passenger coaches were thrown onto a side track. ♦ The PRR filled its large ice house in Belvidere with 12" ice brought up from Frenchtown. ♦ The South Easton & Phillipsburg RR (bridge) Companies merged with the L&HR RR. ♦ The Phillipsburg Horse Car RR Co. constructed a second crossing over the Bel-Del at Union Square. ♦ The NJ legislature directed the State Highway Commission to establish a comprehensive scheme of roads to be known as the State Highway System. ♦ New steel coaches began to be used on the Bel-Del. ♦ The special campaign train of President William Howard Taft came up the Bel-Del to Phillipsburg where he spoke to 3,000 supporters.  He departed on the CNJ for Somerville. ♦ The special campaign train of "Teddy" Roosevelt arrived at the DL&W Phillipsburg Station.  He made a speech at Union Square and then departed on the Bel-Del for Trenton. ♦ The LV RR Black Diamond again derailed in Phillipsburg, this time at the Warren Foundry switch at Black Dan's Cut. ♦ The traditional annual Memorial Day floral boat that was set adrift by the Grand Army Post at Easton on the Delaware River was found one week later at North Wildwood, NJ. ♦ All freight trains were annulled on the Bel-Del for Independence Day. ♦ The PRR purchased the former property of the Andover Furnace to extend the size of the Bel-Del Kent Yard. ♦ A Bel-Del excursion to Atlantic City had 15 crowded coaches. ♦ A CNJ RR camelback locomotive derailed near the Market St. grade crossing, Phillipsburg on 9.15. ♦ The local Phillipsburg trolley system experimented with women conductors on their new pay-as-you-enter cars. ♦ The Ringling Brothers World's Greatest Shows arrived in Easton by rail. ♦ The NJ Supreme Court ruled that if NJ RR's furnished free drinking water on their trains, they had to provide free drinking cups for their patrons as a sanitary measure.  The use of common drinking cups in public places were no longer permitted. ♦ The Phillipsburg Board of Health Ordinance #8 governing the heating and cleaning of Phillipsburg Horse Car RR cars was passed. ♦ The famed PRR Federal Express traveled from Washington to Boston via Phillipsburg, Maybrook, NY and the Poughkeepsie Bridge from 1912 to 1917. ♦ The first successful solid concrete highway in NJ, and one of the first in America, was constructed between Stewartsville and New Village, along the Morris Turnpike.  (Actually, the first concrete road was placed at this location in 1905, but it quickly disintegrated.  It was rebuilt twice more and the same thing happened.  Thomas Alva Edison closely supervised the successful work using donated Portland Cement manufactured in his New Village plant, as well as the Alpha and Vulcanite plants. ♦ Ingersoll-Rand moved their Cameron Steam Pump Works to Phillipsburg. ♦ The Andover Iron Company furnace ceased operation.  At its peak it employed 200 men and turned out 50,000 tons of iron annually. ♦ Alpha Portland Cement Co. closed their plant #1 in NJ. ♦ The L&NE RR obtained trackage rights for movement of coal trains over the NYS&W RR from Swartswood Junction to Little Ferry which continued until 1918. ♦ A young George Cawley was extra fireman on a freight run from Trenton to Phillipsburg and return on the Bel Del.  His story of that experience appeared in the Fall, 1976 issue of the Railroadians Train Sheet as A Day on the "Harlem River." ♦ An article "High Speed Service Between Allentown and Philadelphia" (the LVT Liberty Bell Route) appeared in Vol. XL, No. 17 of the Electric Railway Journal. ♦ The Brotherhood's Relief and Compensation Fund was organized to provide job income protection for US and Canadian transportation workers. ♦

 

1913 A strike in the power house tied up all Easton Transit Co. cars. ♦ L&HR RR trains were permitted to stop at the Phillipsburg station in exchange for their honoring PRR tickets on their trains. ♦ A 210' x 50' raft of timber was floated down the Delaware from Callicoon, NY to Bordentown, NJ (the entrance to the Delaware & Raritan Canal).  This was one of the last revenue timber rafts seen on the river. ♦ Patrol boxes were placed along the Bel-Del and trackmen carried a clock to register the time they pass these points. ♦ Lehigh Valley Transit Co. (LVT) purchased a controlling interest in Easton Transit Co. (ETC) and Harrison R. Fehr became president of both companies. ♦ Through Easton-Bethlehem-Allentown (Easton Limited) trolley service was inaugurated jointly with LVT & ETC. ♦ Trolley freight service was extended from Bethlehem to Easton by LVT. ♦ Easton sponsored a 5 day Old Home Week celebration.  The schedule included a different parade each day, circuses, athletic events, singing groups, and Ruth Bancroft flew her airplane overhead to perform breathtaking aerial acrobatics. ♦ LVT opened the massive 1,950-foot-long, concrete arch Eighth Street Bridge in Allentown.  It was the longest concrete-arch bridge of its type in America when completed.  Built for street railway and interurban cars of LVT, it shortened the high-speed Liberty Bell trolley route between Allentown and Philadelphia.  It also operated as a toll road for vehicular and pedestrian traffic. ♦ The Morris Canal Investigating Committee (a commission appointed by the NJ Legislature) toured the waterway from Jersey City to Phillipsburg to examine its condition and possible uses.  Fred G. Stickel, Jr. kept a journal of the trip. ♦ As a result of the burning of the PRR Greenville Bridge, most of the heavy New England freight traffic was temporarily diverted from the NY Division to the Bel-Del. ♦ The Veteran Employees Association of the PRR held their annual excursion to Atlantic City. ♦ A special train containing a company of NJ National Guard, en route from Camden to Tobyhanna passed over the Bel-Del. ♦ The Labor Day rush to the Delaware Water Gap via the Bel-Del and the DL&W was the "greatest in years." ♦ In conjunction with the construction of the Iron or Black bridge to carry S. Main St. over the CNJ, in Phillipsburg, a new, handsome two-story brick CNJ-DL&W Union Station was being built between the tracks of the two railroads facing S. Main St.  It was within easy walking distance of the Bel-Del Lehigh Jct. station and opened in 1914.  It was designed by Frank J. Nies, chief engineer of the Lackawanna. ♦ The Quakertown & Delaware River RR purchased used four wheel trolley cars and installed gasoline motors in two of them for use in passenger service on their line. ♦ A Sunday excursion to Washington, DC operated over the Bel-Del was so popular that it required 34 cars in three sections to carry the 2,000 passengers. ♦ Telephones were to be installed to replace the telegraph between all stations on the Bel-Del. ♦ The Easton Car & Construction Co. was founded to manufacture custom made hauling equipment at Glendon. ♦ Ingersoll-Rand introduced the world's first RR tie/ballast tamper & compressor.  The first unit was made for the NYC RR and they later rehabilitated it for display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C.  Due to lack of space, the museum returned the machine to the NYC in 1942. ♦ The Peoples Water Co. completed their steam powered water pumping plant at Phillipsburg.  The plant and the Allis Chalmers tripple expansion steam engine survives and under the custodianship of "Friends" is being cleaned up and restored so it can be opened for future display/operating demonstrations. ♦ Navigation of the Upper Delaware, by J. A. Anderson, of Lambertville, was published. ♦ Greyhound Bus Lines was founded. ♦

 

1914 The 4.37 mile Easton & Western RR, owned and operated by the CNJ, was incorporated. ♦ The Phillipsburg Horse Car Co., a subsidiary of the Easton Transit Co. (ETC) was acquired by the LVT. ♦ A blizzard paralyzed railroads in NJ & eastern PA. ♦ Map and Illustrations of the Morris Canal Water Parkway: A Recreation Project 100 Miles Long was published by the Morris Canal Parkway Association.  The group attempted to preserve the Morris Canal from Phillipsburg to Newark for recreational purposes. ♦ A DL&W train experimenting with train-station wireless communications between East Stroudsburg, PA and Washington, DC ran down and back on the Bel-Del. (Mar. 8&9)  The wireless telegraph system demonstrated its effectiveness in bad weather. ♦ It was reported that the PRR was preparing to move their roundhouse and machine shops from Coalport, Trenton to Phillipsburg, thus making Phillipsburg the headquarters for the machine shops and locomotives for the division. ♦ LVT utilized modern methods to publicize Liberty Bell Route services.  Lehigh Valley area movie theaters projected a 1000' 35mm film entitled A Honeymoon Trip to Delaware Water Gap.  The professionally prepared film followed the honeymooner's journey from Philadelphia to the front door of a resort hotel on the Delaware River at the Gap. ♦ An Agricultural Exhibition train co-sponsored by the PRR and the state of NJ visited Phillipsburg. ♦ A special one-day $3 round trip excursion train was operated from the Bel-Del line to Washington, DC for high school seniors. ♦ Easton Transit Co. completed conversion of all Phillipsburg trolley trackage from 5'2 1/2" to standard gauge and Phillipsburg cars were thereafter based at the Easton carbarn. ♦ 100 pound main line rail on the Bel-Del was replaced with 120 pound rail. ♦ The PRR 4-4-2 E-2 "Atlantic" locomotive was introduced on the Bel-Del to haul passenger trains. ♦ Ingersoll-Rand experimental work on diesel engines was begun at their Easton plant by a man named Christmas.  The "Christmas" engine was a combined engine-compressor unit based on earlier gas designs. ♦ Phillipsburg Fire Co. No. 1 was founded. ♦ Mack introduced the AB, its first high volume truck model. ♦ The Panama Canal was completed and opened.  Most of the cement used to construct it came from the Lehigh Valley/Phillipsburg area. ♦

 

1915 A special train carrying 150 US Marines from Philadelphia to Boston traveled north on the Bel Del. ♦ An article "More Semi-Convertible Cars for Easton Transit Co.: Single and Double Truck Types" appeared in the Brill Magazine, Vol. IX, No. 3. ♦ Circus trains frequently operated over the Bel-Del.  The Barnum & Bailey - "Greatest Show on Earth" required 85 double length rail cars to transport their 1280 people, 700 horses, 40 elephants, and a menagerie of 110 cages. ♦ The last Bethlehem Steel open top blast furnace was razed on June 15th. ♦ The Liberty Bell traveled down the Bel-Del en-route back to Philadelphia from the Pan American Exposition at San Francisco. ♦ S.J. Wildrich of Phillipsburg began operating a bus making four round trips between Phillipsburg and Belvidere for a 30¢ fare. ♦ A PRR switch engine jumped the tracks at Phillipsburg and slid down the embankment into the Delaware River. ♦ Jess Willard's Wild West Circus, conveyed by three trains of 30 cars each, exhibited in Easton. ♦ The LV railroad club was reorganized. ♦ A special excursion train was operated to Atlantic City for Bel-Del retirees. ♦ National Guard troops camped on Island Park in the Lehigh River. ♦ The Quakertown & Delaware River RR suspended operations. ♦ A special test train with wireless radio equipment aboard passed over the Bel-Del on a round trip between the DL&W at Manunka Chunk and Washington, D.C. (Oct.) ♦ The Deeper Waterways Committees of the Boards of Trade of Phillipsburg, NJ & Easton, PA produced a report on the subject. ♦ The Liberty Bell Special returning from San Francisco passed down the Bel-Del.  The special stopped at Union Square in Phillipsburg, where it was viewed by a noisy throng of 10,000. ♦ Easton Transit Co. and owners of Paxinosa Inn abrogated the contract for operation of The Weygadt Mountain Ry. and the transit company terminated service over the College Hill route beyond Parker Avenue. ♦ The Taylor-Wharton Iron & Steel Company opened their new Easton plant.  It had 430,000 square feet under roof on 50 acres of ground.  Their expertise was the manufacture of specialty trackwork for street and electric railways as well as railroads. ♦ An ad in the 9.18 issue of Electric Railway Journal promoted the new Easton plant of Wm. Wharton, Jr. & Co., Inc. for the manufacture of street and steam railway special trackwork. ♦ The Easton Sunday Call published an illustrated feature supplement devoted to good roads, deeper waterways and commerce in the area. ♦ A Mummers parade special operated over the Bel-Del to Philadelphia. ♦ Mack introduced its AC "Bulldog" truck model. ♦

 

1916 A Phillipsburg trolley jumped the track and crashed into a home on Heckman St. ♦ A strike was called by Bel-Del trackmen to gain parity in their wages with the trackmen of the NY Division.  The Bel-Del men earned $1.66 a day while their more fortunate colleagues earned $2.00 per day. ♦ The LV RR Pittsburgh Flyer or Lehigh-Pennsylvania Express began operating between Phillipsburg, Easton and Pittsburgh over the LV & PRR via Bethlehem, Allentown, Hazelton, Mt. Carmel, Sunbury and Tyrone. ♦ The biggest, and fifth annual regatta between the Allentown Canoe Club and the Riverside Canoe Club occurred at Easton. ♦ The Quakertown & Delaware River RR, reorganized as the Quakertown & Bethlehem RR, was purchased by a new owner, who planned, but never built a bridge across the Delaware River to connect with the Bel Del. ♦ The PRR temporarily rerouted the Federal Express on its original route via Phillipsburg in lieu of the new route through NYC to help prevent the spread of infantile paralysis which was epidemic in NYC at the time.  At the same time the train was reduced to one trip per week. ♦ President Woodrow Wilson traveled over the Bel-Del en-route to his vacation home in New England. ♦ Riverside Canoe Club members took a trip from Easton (Phillipsburg) to Lake Hopatcong via the Morris Canal.  The carried their canoes up each plane. ♦ The LV RR's Bellewood (amusement) Park closed after only 12 years of operation.  It was located at the east end of Pattenburg Tunnel and was a popular destination for excursion trains from both central NJ and Phillipsburg/the Lehigh Valley. ♦ The Easton Transit Co. subsidiary Phillipsburg Horse Car Ry. Co. was reorganized as the Phillipsburg Transit Co. ♦ Governors Feider of NJ and Brumbaugh of PA traveled north to Phillipsburg on the Bel-Del.  They were en-route to Easton where they participated in the dedication ceremonies opening the new concrete William Penn Highway between Easton & Allentown. ♦ Railroad route mileage in the United States reached a peak of 254,037 and gradually declined thereafter. ♦ The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. introduced the pneumatic tire for vehicles. ♦

 

1917 The PRR placed guards on or near all bridges on the Bel Del to protect them from "German sympathizers" as the US was on the verge of a declaration of war with the German Empire. ♦ The LV RR placed ads in the local newspapers opposing labor organization. ♦ Easton Taylor-Wharton Iron & Steel Company celebrated their 175th anniversary of the making of iron and the 25th anniversary of the making of manganese steel at High Bridge, NJ.  They published a 52 page commemorative book titled "Historically Speaking."  At the time their new Easton plant had only been open two years. ♦ "Catch-as-Catch-Can Cruising," by Mabel R. Hutchins, a series of articles which appeared in Outing Magazine described a canoe trip west through the Morris Canal and south on the Delaware Canal. ♦ About 100 US soldiers were stationed at LV RR's closed Bellewood (amusement) Park.  After the US entered World War I there was regular movement of troops in and out of the area. ♦ The first of the Phillipsburg inductees for World War I departed the Bel-Del depot for Fort Dix. ♦ During WW I, a single raft appeared on the Delaware River en-route to Bordentown with logs to be used for pilings. ♦ The 10,000 men of the entire 42nd (Rainbow) Division were transported over the Bel-Del in 7 sections of 20 cars each. ♦ LVT shop forces transformed an old open trolley car into a mock Army tank to patriotically promote the fourth Liberty Bond campaign.  The car toured Lehigh Valley routes with messages such as "Liberty Bonds Buy Tanks," "Tanks Will Bond Berlin," and "Treat 'em Rough." ♦ Leslie C. and Carrie M. Frick began hauling baggage for the PRR at Phillipsburg with one truck.  The trucking business became Frick Transfer, Inc.; has expanded into rigging, moving and storage over the years and is now based in Easton, PA. ♦ A fire destroyed the LV RR freight station in Phillipsburg.  Fifty one years later another fire destroyed the replacement building. ♦ The NJ State Highway Department was created with 15 routes comprising the nucleus of the system.  Two of those original routes served Phillipsburg - Rt. #9 from Elizabeth (via Westfield, Plainfield, Bound Brook, Somerville, Whitehouse, Clinton, West Portal and Bloomsbury) and Rt. # 12 from Paterson (via Little Falls, Pine Brook, Parsippany, Denville, thence over Rt. 5 to Budd Lake, Washington and Broadway). ♦ Most of the Bel-Del telegraph operators joined the division-wide strike, but two remained on duty at Phillipsburg.  The PRR issued an ultimatum to the operators to return to work or lose their places with the company.  Most were back on the job the next day. ♦ The first inductee special operated over the Bel-Del to Fort Dix with 84 boarding at Phillipsburg and 104 from a DL&W connection boarded at Lehigh Junction Station. ♦ James Lee was born.  He became the most celebrated historian, lecturer and author of the Morris Canal. ♦ The Electric Bond & Share Co. became manager of the LVT properties. ♦ The PA Utilities Co. applied to Easton City Council to haul coal and ashes between the Dock St. Power Plant and Odenweldertown. ♦ The United States RR Administration took over control of railroads and canals. ♦ The Andover Iron Company furnace demolition was completed. ♦ Bethlehem Motors Corp. began building trucks at Allentown, PA. ♦

 

1918 By this year a drum, fife & bugle corps was established at the LV RR's Easton shops. ♦ The government took over operations of local trolley lines of LVT. ♦ Numerous conscription trains operated on the Bel-Del to carry inductees to Fort Dix, NJ. ♦ Local draftees marched down Third St. to board trains at the LV RR Easton Station. ♦ The Federal RR Administration ordered that passenger fares be increased 25% and all special excursions were discontinued. ♦ In another wartime measure, the federal government consolidated the domestic business of Wells Fargo and other express companies into American Railway Express (later reorganized as the Railway Express Agency) on 6.30. ♦ The Workman's Compensation Insurance Act became applicable to Phillipsburg Transit Co. ♦ Lafayette College became Camp Lafayette, and soldier trainees were transported from the RR depot to the camp in trucks. ♦ The War Trophy (Relics) Train No. 2 visited Phillipsburg with exhibits of captured enemy weapons and paraphernalia to support a subscription drive for the 4th Liberty Loan. ♦ Ingersoll-Rand hired William T. Price, of Price Engine Co., to get his patented Price Combustion Chamber.  This enabled I-R to introduce a line of single-cylinder horizontal stationary internal combustion engines.  A NJ factory kept an I-R low RPM engine operating continuously for 8 months and 10 days. ♦ Reilly's Auto Transfer, a Phillipsburg trucker, commenced operating. ♦ Beginning in this year all CNJ locomotives were equipped with steam turbo generators for electric lighting. ♦ Alpha Portland Cement Co. ceased production at their plant #2, the last in NJ. ♦ The Reading RR completed their Saucon Creek Roundhouse project and installed a 100' turntable. ♦ Anthracite coal mining peaked at over 85,000,000 tons per year. ♦ Employment at Bethlehem Steel rose to 42,000 workers. ♦ The LV RR carried more than 40 million tons of freight as well as 7 million passengers in this year. ♦

 

1919 During WWI the US government seized 11 farms totaling 800 acres to build a US Navy Supply Depot for food storage in Stewartsville.  The site was to be served by a rail siding from the Lackawanna RR which was built across the Morris Canal.  The war ended and the work was terminated and farmers got back their properties.  From Through the Years (with a photograph) by the Greenwich Twp. Historical Society. ♦ Freshet damage to the Easton Transit Co. trolley trestle providing sole access to the Island Park Amusement Center at Glendon, PA resulted in the closing of the park.  Attractions of the park included a miniature railway with a live steam replica of LV RR 4-4-0 locomotive #2002, a mammoth carousel, a figure-eight roller coaster, a picnic grove, camping ground, ye olde mill, a childrens playground, a wading pool, a tent village, five miles of boating, booths for bathers, a baseball diamond, a tennis court, comic operas, musical comedies, vaudeville, motion pictures, dancing, and gorgeous electrical effects.  The carousel was moved to, and continued to operate for many years at Bushkill Park, PA. ♦ On 5.20 the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus exhibited in Easton. ♦ A parade was held for the Easton City Guard to celebrate their homecoming from WW I and demobilization at Camp Dix. ♦ NJ author and waterway explorer, James S. Cawley paddled his canoe up the Delaware Canal to Easton and then back down the Delaware River. ♦ During the Hay trolley strike, street car wires were cut during the night. ♦ Raynor W. Kelsey read a paper entitled "At the Forks of the Delaware 1794 - 1811" before the Northampton County Historical & Genealogical Society.  It was a chronicle of early travel to Easton and neighboring parts of PA & NJ. ♦ The Phillipsburg Board of Trade was reorganized as the Phillipsburg Chamber of Commerce. ♦ Anthracite coal production at Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co. peaked in this year when 11,000 employees produced 5 million tons of hard coal, all from underground mines. ♦

 

1920 The U.S. RR Administration returned control of the nations' railroads to the owners. ♦ After the Lehigh River flood waters subsided a huge, man-sized block of ice settled on the trolley tracks along Lehigh Drive, blocking cars. ♦ Phillipsburg RR men from the Bel-Del, CNJ and L&HR secured a charter to operate a store with an initial capital of $10,000 under the name of Railroadmen's Cooperative Association. ♦ The Trainmen's strike occurred, but was declared a failure. ♦ On 5.25 the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus exhibited in Easton. ♦ Easton Transit Co. abandoned trackage to Island Park in the first of several abandonments which followed. ♦ Taylor Wharton assisted the Easton Spanish War Veterans in building a float of the battleship Maine for the Independence Day parade. ♦ Ingersoll-Rand developed and began to sell multi-cylinder vertical oil (diesel) engines. ♦ In order to fill a post war void, the Bethlehem Steel Co. solicited RR repair work.  They temporarily became one of the largest shops for steam locomotive repair and rebuilding work.  Tender booster units developed by the steel firm were known as The Bethlehem Booster. ♦ The PRR initiated door-to-door truck pick up and delivery of less than carload freight. ♦ General Electric advertised to engine builders for a diesel engine for railroad use. ♦ The Philadelphia & Reading Railway operated one-day Leaf Excursions to Mauch Chunk (now Jim Thorpe) in Sept. & Oct.  The trips departed Trenton and made additional pickups at Trenton Jct., and Yardley, Langhorne, Trevose, etc. in PA.  They then traveled up the Bethlehem Branch and the CNJ to Mauch Chunk.  The round trip fare was $3 with the war tax an additional 24¢ and Switchback tickets cost 76¢ extra. ♦ The former CNJ RR double-track steel bridge over the Delaware, later used by Conrail (now Norfolk Southern), was completed.  At that time, the old bridge was rebuilt and strengthened as a single track structure and became track 3, eastbound. ♦ The Mack Allentown plant built the first two and one-half ton Model AB omnibus type passenger rail motor car for the Chesapeake Western Ry. ♦

 

1921 Ingersoll-Rand responded to the General Electric desire for a RR diesel and began working on adapting their engine to the new use. ♦ The Easton Car & Construction Co. was incorporated.  They became manufacturers of material handling cars, trucks & trailers with capacities of from 2,000 to 1,300,000 lbs. ♦ Maccar, "The Truck of Continuous Service" was advertised in the Easton Express.  Automobiles advertised included Buick, Cole Aero-Eight, Dodge Bros., Essex, Haynes, Hudson, Nash, Oakland, Overland, Scripps Booth, and Studebaker. ♦ Stockholders of the Easton & Phillipsburg Delaware River Bridge Co. accepted an offer of $300,000 from the Delaware River Joint Bridge Commission for the Northampton St. bridge.  The tolls on the bridge were abolished six months later. ♦ The LV RR was granted permission to cross Canal St. to serve the new Swift & Co. warehouse at So. Easton. ♦ Eighteen of 23 LV RR section hands were injured when their two motor cars crashed into a locomotive in Pattenburg Tunnel. ♦ The first regular meeting of the LV RR Veterans Assn. was held in the Odd Fellows Hall at Easton.  The turnout of employees with 20+ years service from NY to Sayre totaled 100. ♦ The regular monthly meeting of the Easton Motor Assn. featured movies of road construction produced by the Holt Co., a manufacturer of road building machinery. ♦ A special LV RR train was chartered by the Odd Fellows from Easton to attend their 100th anniversary celebration in Philadelphia. ♦ The Mack Allentown plant built a 33 ton, chain drive, four wheel, steeple cab, switching locomotive (#1) to serve their Allentown shipping center.  It utilized two four cylinder gasoline engines.  The hoods for both were of the "bulldog" type. ♦ On 5.25 the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus exhibited in Easton. ♦ Work began to replace 85 lb. rail on non-main line portions of the Bel-Del with 100 lb. rail. ♦ The Easton branch of the National Assn. of Owners of RR Securities was formed. ♦ An Easton Transit Co. welder died at the Easton carbarn when the varnish barrel on which he was working exploded. ♦ Seven veteran canal boatmen, all over 70, traveled on a two week journey on the Lehigh & Delaware Canals from Mauch Chunk to Bristol and return.  They utilized a scow, The Mabel, fitted with a tent over their cooking, eating and sleeping accommodations.  William H. Curry of Jersey City was the only member from NJ. ♦ LVT reduced the 44 to 50¢ hourly wages of trolley motormen and conductors by 5¢. ♦ Phillipsburg Transit Co. was notified by the town to make improvements to several streets upon which their trolleys ran. ♦ CNJ RR provided a special train for the annual Veteran Employees Assn. outing.  The train departed Scranton at 2 AM, picking up 734 employees and their family members along the way to Jersey City, continued on to the Bear Mountain Inn via steamboat for lunch.  Those from Phillipsburg & Easton were returned by 9 PM. ♦ Beset by financial difficulties, the Philadelphia & Easton Street Railway Co. (formerly the Doylestown & Easton Street Railway Co.) was reorganized as the Philadelphia & Easton Transit Co. ♦ Four Easton men were arrested at Kearny, NJ for transporting two truck loads of beer containing more than 1/2% of alcohol from Bethlehem to saloons at Hoboken. ♦ LVT proposed a double track, counter rotating, loop system around the Easton Circle.  It was not implemented. ♦ An 11 year old girl saved the lives of a trolley crew & passengers when the fill below the tracks near her home, south of Easton, collapsed.  The girl, realizing the 10 PM car from Easton to Doylestown was due, ran up the tracks and warned the motorman. ♦ The Fritch Coal Co. was formed by merger of the Lehigh & Stahr yards.  Fritch, located in Bethlehem, was the largest coal yard on the Lehigh Canal. ♦ The LV RR installed a mechanical interlocking plant at Abbott Street, Easton which had the call sign "NG." ♦ Central RR of NJ steam locomotive #321 was disassembled at Elizabethport and the boiler moved to Phillipsburg to supply steam to the roundhouse complex. ♦ The Railway & Locomotive Historical Society, Inc. was founded. ♦ The Mack Allentown plant built the first five ton Model AB omnibus type passenger rail motor car for The New York, New Haven & Hartford RR.  They also built a 33 ton, chain drive, four wheel, steeple cab, switching locomotive to serve their Allentown shipping center. ♦

 

1922 The LVT leased the ETCo. and PTCo. properties. ♦ Easton's new four story YMCA building at 3rd & Spring Garden Streets was dedicated on 3.6. ♦ The Mermaid, a summertime passenger excursion train was inaugurated by the CNJ to carry summer vacationers from Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Mauch Chunk, Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton to Point Pleasant on the Jersey Shore via Elizabethport.  This run of 231 miles was the longest handled by the CNJ.  East of Phillipsburg the trains were handled by 4-4-0's, but on the west leg husky 4-6-0's were used. ♦ The Mack Truck Co. rail car department displayed an unidentified omnibus rail motor car at the Railway Supply Manufacturers Association exhibit in Atlantic City and later conducted demonstration tests over eastern and midwestern railroads. ♦ Railroad shop unions called a national strike that became a titanic struggle between some 400,000 workers, the railroad companies and state and federal authorities, July - Sept. ♦ Non-striking Bel-Del car shopmen at the Phillipsburg yard were attacked at Sand Island Beach on the Delaware River during the Shop Craft (Car) Workers strike. ♦ General Electric began work to adopt an old test carbody to receive the new Ingersoll-Rand diesel engine. ♦ The Lee House, at Union Square, Phillipsburg, became known as Wardel Hotel. The name was derived from "Warren County" and "Delaware River" in a contest. ♦ The Delaware Valley Cement Road from Easton to Philadelphia opened. ♦ The toll on the Northampton Street Bridge was abolished. ♦ The Telephone Pioneers of America sponsored a General John J. Carty special train on the LV RR to their annual meeting at Cleveland 9.29-30. ♦ The State of NJ took over the Morris Canal, but the LV RR retained sections in Jersey City and from Greens Bridge to the Delaware in Phillipsburg.  Green's (Road) Bridge which carried S. Main Street over the canal and Lopatcong Creek a/k/a Morris Canal Bridge #2 marked the western limit of canal property acquired by the state.  The RR had to maintain it as a canal until March 1, 1923 and had to pay the State $875,000 for the property they retained.  The money the LV RR paid was used to defray the cost of dismantling the Morris Canal and the surplus went to the Board of Commerce and Navigation to study a new canal - the NJ Ship Canal, projected to replace the Delaware & Raritan Canal. ♦

 

1923 In April General Electric shipped the carbody they prepared and the main generator to Ingersoll-Rand's Phillipsburg plant for installation of the 300 HP I-R diesel engine. ♦ Immigration officials visited the Central RR of NJ Phillipsburg shops and took Greek workmen away. ♦ A Sunday $4 day-return excursion to Washington, DC was operated from the Bel-Del line. ♦ The former Easton & Washington Traction Co. was reorganized under new ownership as the New Jersey Interurban Co. ♦ Lehigh Valley Transit Co. completed a modernization of rolling stock which included painting of all Easton cars in LVT's red, tan, gold and black paint scheme. ♦ The Forks of the Delaware (Phillipsburg/Easton) were photographed from the air by Fairchild Aerial Survey Corp. of NYC, NY.  The view clearly shows five RR bridges across the Delaware - two each for the CNJ & LV and one for the L&HR RR.  A biplane was used to take a number of other views - most of the 8" x 10" glass plate negatives are in the collections of the Eleutherian Mills Historical Library near Wilmington, DE.  On the day the photos were taken, 5.25, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus was in Easton.  The flat cars carrying the circus wagons were unloaded at the CNJ Phillipsburg freight yard at So. Main St., south of the Black Bridge.  The circus troupe paraded up So. Main St. to Union Square and west over the Delaware River bridge on Northampton St. to the parade grounds on 12th St. in Easton. ♦ Central RR of NJ 4-6-0 steam locomotive #401 was disassembled at Elizabethport and the boiler was moved to Phillipsburg to supply steam to the roundhouse complex. ♦ A Bel Del excursion train to Atlantic City, carrying Standard Silk Mill employees from Phillipsburg, struck an open switch at Wilburtha and ran out onto a coal trestle.  The engine demolished an empty hopper car on the structure and plopped off the end of the elevated structure.  The coaches were not damaged or derailed and there were no injuries.  After an hour delay the train proceeded to the seaside resort with a replacement locomotive. ♦ Under order from the US Government, the LV RR sold all their anthracite holdings. ♦ Ingersoll-Rand completed the first diesel-electric locomotive (GE #8835) and it was run outside for photographs and to make test runs on I-R's extensive plant trackage on 12.17. ♦ The Keystone Iron Co., a subsidiary of the Thomas Iron Co., which was located south of the Lehigh Canal (Hugh Moore Park) guard gate and locktender's house, went out of business. ♦ The Ironton RR was purchased from the Thomas Iron Co. jointly by the LV RR and the Reading Co. ♦ Net income of the LV RR for this year was $8,586,613. ♦ The Phillipsburg Free Public Library was established. ♦

 

1924 The various companies of the Philadelphia & Reading RR system were merged into the Reading Co. which became the operating entity and assumed operations on 1.1. ♦ Ingersoll-Rand unveiled their new diesel locomotive (GE #8835) to representatives of the B&O, PRR, Boston & Maine, NYC, Reading and LV Railroads on 2.28.  The railroad men were impressed, but not sold.  They wanted to test it in actual service. ♦ A truck with three Easton draymen aboard broke through a guardrail and plunged into the Delaware Canal along So. Delaware Drive.  The truck remained upright with all four wheels on the bottom of the canal.  The men scrambled to the roof of the truck which was above water.  A passing motorist alerted police who called the fire dept. which rescued the men with a ladder.  (It could have been worse, since the canal was still in operation there might have been a truck - canalboat collision or vice versa! Ed.). ♦ An automatic, Stop & Go, traffic signal device, operated by electricity, was tested in Easton. ♦ A bill provided that the Morris Canal and Banking Co. continue as a corporation, for an additional 50 years, holding the property as a trustee for the State, that operation of the canal be ended, that Lake Hopatcong, Lake Musconetcong, Cranberry Lake, Bear Pond, Saxton Falls and Greenwood Lake be retained for public use, and that the remaining property be sold. ♦ John M. Mack, designer of the Mack Motor Truck and founder, former president and general manager of the plant in Allentown where the machines were made was killed instantly.  His auto and a line car of the LVT system collided at a grade crossing on the LVT Slatington line north of Allentown. ♦ Navigation on the Morris Canal was legally abandoned. ♦ About 400 LV RR enginemen between New Market, NJ and Penn Haven Jct., PA received raises averaging 4¢ an hour or about a 5% increase. ♦ The LV RR tested a three cylinder steam locomotive, #5000, with excellent results. ♦ Ingersoll-Rand demonstrator diesel (GE #8835) was released for demonstration service.  It made its first appearance on the NYC RR West Side Line.  The 300 HP 60 ton locomotive got a 93 car train moving on level track!  No. 8835 was also successful in a tug-of-war with one of NYC's shrouded Shay steam locomotives used on street trackage in Manhattan.  The I-R engine hauled the thrashing, smoking, Shay away without spinning a wheel.  Because it was twice as expensive as a steam locomotive, no orders were generated until a law was passed which would prohibit steam locomotives in New York City.  Undaunted I-R proceeded to begin manufacture of engines for future sale. ♦ A carload of "perfectly good" beer which arrived in the LV RR Phillipsburg yards was seized by Federal authorities - it had been labeled "Fish - Perishable" and consigned to a fictitious individual.  The car of prohibited cargo was re-shipped to Newark where the contents were stolen... ♦ A canalboat, owned by John Keller of Kintnersville, PA, en-route to Mauch Chunk broke loose and went down the Lehigh River in May.  The towline broke in lock #49 and the boat swiftly backed out of the lock and into the river.  It continued down the Lehigh River and took a graceful dive over dam #9 and into the Delaware River.  The bow of the boat then crashed into a pier of the railroad bridge and it sank. ♦ The Morris Canal was drained. ♦ Sixteen employees were injured when the big Binney & Smith bus, in which they were riding home from work, crashed en-route to Easton. ♦ The LV RR advertised their new "Chicagoan" train. ♦ Easton's 3rd Street theater advertised the Warner Bros. 6 reel movie "Conductor 1492" (trolley), starring Johnny Hines, while the competing Strand advertised "The Arizona Express," described as a roaring railroad romance by Lincoln J. Carter. ♦ The Toonerville Trolley cartoons by Fontaine Fox began to appear in local newspapers. ♦ Six cylinder Oldsmobile Touring cars were advertised for $698 while the competing Ford "universal car" sold for just $295. ♦ Service brand motor trucks were sold by Amos Garr in Easton. ♦ The Buffalo Express crashed into the Chicago Express at the LV RR Easton station, but only two men were injured. ♦ Ingersoll-Rand completed the manufacture of the largest condenser ever made at their Phillipsburg plant.  It required 7 cars for shipment to the NY Edison Co. ♦ A 13 car special train traveled from New Jersey to the Lehigh Valley Railroad Veterans Association annual picnic at Auburn, NY on July 20th. ♦ Two Easton Transit trolley cars collided west of Bethlehem, injuring three. ♦ The CNJ Queen of the Valley derailed at Vulcanite, NJ, a few miles east of Phillipsburg.  The loco fell on its side, but only a few persons were injured. ♦ The ICC approved the joint purchase of the Ironton RR by the LV RR and the Reading Co. ♦ The Ingersoll-Rand Phillipsburg plant received the fifth order for their oil (diesel) electric power plants from the Atlantic Refining Co.  Arco installed them in their tugboats Van Dyke I, II, & III, as well as their tankers Anahauc & Allentown (the latter was to be renamed the J. W. Van Dyke). ♦ A driver, traveling recklessly at a high rate of speed was killed when his auto hit the side of a College Hill trolley car in Easton at night.  The driver had been arrested, after a lesser accident, the previous Saturday evening for driving while under the influence of liquor. ♦ The Easton Automobile Co. advertised the new one ton Graham Bros. truck, powered by a Dodge Bros. engine, for $1,240. ♦ The LV RR awarded a contract to rebuild the two track Green's bridge.  It was planned to later expand it to 4 tracks, as they expected the entire line from Easton through NJ to become a 4 track line. ♦ A Mack truck of the Charles A. Lawler firm, operating between NY, Paterson & Allentown, crashed going down a hill in Easton.  The cargo was removed and the driver vanished before police arrived.  The license plate was found to be neatly hand painted into the current year. ♦ Ingersoll-Rand shipped their new diesel engines to the General Electric plant at Erie, PA for installation in carbodies manufactured by American Locomotive Co. at Schenectady, NY and also shipped to Erie. ♦ The Madesco Tackle Block Co., located in Palmer Township, PA, was formed to supersede Marine Decking & Supply Co. which made ship decking.  The emphasis of the new firm was shifted to tackle blocks for marine service and later for the construction industry.  Their plant buildings survive off Freemansburg Avenue. ♦ The LV RR built an electrical interlocking plant at the Phillipsburg junction with the Pennsylvania RR, which had the call sign "RG." ♦

 

1925 The NJ Interurban Coach Co., successor to the Easton & Washington Traction Co., replaced trolleys with autobuses between Port Murray and Phillipsburg with extended service to Easton. ♦ Lehigh Valley Transportation Co., the bus subsidiary of LVT was formed to supplement streetcars with buses and to operate where car line extensions could not be economically justified. ♦ Ingersoll-Rand diesel demonstrator #8835 returned to Phillipsburg to work as their plant switcher. ♦ The Supreme Court ruled to remove interstate carriers from state economic regulation on Mar. 5. ♦ The first production diesel-electric locomotive in America was completed by General Electric and tested at Erie, PA.  It was operated under its own power from Erie to Phillipsburg.  The 470 mile run was made in 16 hours, using 110 gallons of diesel fuel at a total cost of $5.50! ♦ The demonstration service of the Ingersoll-Rand diesel locomotive (GE# 8835) ended.  In 13 months it had worked on 13 railroads, including the CRR of NJ; the Philadelphia, Bethlehem & New England (Bethlehem Steel) @ Bethlehem, PA; the DL&W RR; the Hoboken Manufacturers RR; and the Chestnut Ridge RR (NJ Zink Co. @ Palmerton, PA). ♦ A general alarm fire occurred at the J.T. Baker Chemical Co. in Phillipsburg. ♦ A disastrous wreck of a DL&W eastbound excursion occurred at Rockport, near Hackettstown on June 16th.  The locomotive and three cars of the special left the track when they hit dirt which was washed over a grade crossing by a torrential rain.  The ill-fated 10-car train was carrying German nationals to Hoboken where they planned to board an ocean-liner to visit their homeland.  Forty six died and 75 others were seriously injured.  Many of the injured were moved by a special train back to hospitals in the Phillipsburg-Easton area. ♦ Beginning on 6.18 the NJ Interurban Coach Co. operated summer excursions from Phillipsburg to Budd Lake and Lake Hopatcong via Washington, Hackettstown and points between. ♦ Mack's Allentown plant completed two Model ACP demonstrator cars: combination car No. 0102 and passenger car No. 0304.  During July and August, Mack technical and mechanical employees and a qualified Philadelphia & Reading Ry locomotive engineer thoroughly tested Nos. 0102 and 0304 on a spur leading from P&R's Catasauqua & Fogelsville branch at Trexlertown to an abandoned iron ore pit near Breinigsville.  When needed the cars were even used to haul and set off loaded freight cars at sidings along the spur. ♦ Shortly after NY City banned the use of steam locomotives, the first unit (#9681) was sold to the CNJ RR as their #1000 in July.  It was delivered under its own power from Phillipsburg to Elizabethport and soon went to work in their Bronx carfloat yard.  Clarence Laubach, father of "Friends" member Jim Laubach, was an engineer for the CNJ and was the pilot on the maiden/delivery run.  Number 1000 survives in the Baltimore & Ohio RR Museum in Baltimore.  Two other 60-tonners were quickly sold to the B&O and LV Railroads to work in yards on the west side of Manhattan. ♦ A new electrically operated turntable was installed at the LV RR So. Easton shops. ♦ The Interurban Coach Co. was granted permission to operate in Phillipsburg. ♦ A new Easton to Trenton bus line was started. ♦ The new Union passenger station was placed in service at Bethlehem. ♦ LVT subsidiary, Lehigh Valley Transportation Co. ordered 5 buses from Mack and 3 from Yellow "Taxicab" Co. to begin charter bus service. ♦ LVT applied to the state of PA for approval of the additional right and privilege to operate motor vehicles as a passenger common carrier. ♦ The Easton Division of LVT began operating their first bus line - from Easton to Seipsville. ♦ The Waer Bus Line began operating a Phillipsburg - Easton - Philadelphia run. ♦ The US Navy airship Shenandoah, en route to St. Louis, flew over the Delaware River valley for the last time.  It crashed in Ohio early the next morning, killing 14 of the 43 man crew. ♦ Mack Model ACP demonstrator combination car No. 9050 was completed for the Rock Island RR.  Mack representatives and railroad personnel delivered the car on wheels from Allentown via the P&R Ry, LV RR and NYC RR to Chicago on 9.12.  A few weeks later shaft trouble induced its return to Allentown for revisions, but Mack never sent it back. ♦ Mack built a Model ACX inspection railcar (#105) for Western Union Telegraph Co.  It traversed railroads of the US and Canada inspecting WU telegraph wires and poles. ♦ Mack rail cars No. 0102 & 0304 operated in tandem during October & November on the LV RR.  They maintained regular LV local schedules between Newark and Mauch Chunk and from Easton to Jersey City.  The gasoline cars consistently bettered the best performance of the regular steam locomotive drawn train. ♦ A 600 HP Ingersoll-Rand/ GE/Alco switcher was sold to the Long Island RR.  It pulled a seven car train from Erie, PA to NY on its delivery move. ♦ I-R ordered 8 more diesel locomotives as stock for future sales. ♦ Bath Portland Cement Co., with a plant in Bath, PA, starts to build a plant at Sandts Eddy, along the Delaware River. ♦ The Supreme Court ruled to remove interstate carriers from economic regulation by states. ♦ The Lehigh Co. began building the Lehigh truck in Allentown. ♦ The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was founded. ♦

 

1926 I-R ordered 15 more diesel locomotives as stock for future sales.  Early sales of the new diesels were made by I-R to the Chicago & North Western, Erie, DL&W, and Reading Railroads. ♦ The Philadelphia & Easton Transit Co. replaced trolley service with buses.  This ended an arrangement with Philadelphia Rapid Transit Co. who used the P&ET tracks to reach Easton.  Until this year PRT frequently sent their work cars up to Easton to transport track and switch specialwork back down to Philadelphia.  Easton Transit/LVT would bring these items over from the Taylor-Wharton plant in W. Easton, where they were manufactured, to the point where the tracks of the two lines came close to each other at So. Easton.  Here, near Mt. Ida, they would be transferred from one car to the other due to the track gauge difference.  This greatly reduced the cost of freight for PRT and in exchange P&ET was allowed to use PRT work equipment and snow sweepers.  Over the years the line also hauled mail, milk, general freight and cement for the new road which speeded the end of the trolley. ♦ The LV RR published Seen from the Train, a 48 page travelogue with a four panel foldout map. ♦ The Elks building on So. Main Street, Phillipsburg was dedicated. ♦ L&HR trains began running through to Allentown and Mauch Chunk on the Jersey Central. ♦ Stock of the Clymer Power Co. was acquired by the Pennsylvania Power & Light Co. ♦ The Walter L. Main 3 Big Ring Circus train came through Phillipsburg en-route from Stroudsburg to Lambertville. ♦ LV RR replaced the former large High Victorian style Easton passenger station with a strictly utilitarian structure. ♦ The Phillipsburg & Easton trolley line ceased carrying mail. ♦ In Easton, a fire destroyed the F.W. Woolworth store.  LVT brought out a crane to remove debris away from their tracks. ♦ A CNJ - LV RR collision at Bethlehem killed 9 and injured 28. ♦ The West Jersey Motor Club of the American Automobile Association established a small office in the Elks building on Main Street in Phillipsburg for their 346 members. ♦ Ingersoll-Rand #90, the Phillipsburg plant switcher was built.  The unit was equipped with roller bearing journals, one of the earliest applications to any sort of locomotive.  It was also equipped with electric starting, setting the precedent for most diesel locomotives which followed. ♦  Construction was begun on a new tunnel at Pattenburg for the LV RR. ♦ Lehigh Portland Cement Co. of Allentown, PA purchased the assets of Bath Portland Cement Co. and completed the Sandts Eddy facility. ♦ Real estate promoters from Newark purchased land in Anderson, near Washington in Warren County for development into housing and factory sites.  On one Autumn Sunday afternoon they brought 300 African Americans to the site in eight large omnibuses and several private automobiles.  Several Sundays later a second Newark to Anderson excursion of 270 came by chartered Public Service buses, six cars and a repair truck.  The visitors were given refreshments, a sales pitch, and they purchased a total of over 700 lots at "Hillcrest Manor."  Although a few homes were eventually built, the promised factories never materialized and most of the purchasers forfeited their land or lost money. ♦ LVT advertised a special $2 round trip fare for members from Allentown attending the American Legion National Convention at Philadelphia via its high speed Liberty Bell interurban trolley route. ♦ On Sept. 26th 29 members of the Sons & Daughters of Liberty departed Washington, NJ for Richmond, VA in a de Luxe bus of the NJ Interurban Coach Co.  The bus traveled 1,115 miles using 172 gallons of gas and 4 gallons of oil. ♦ The CNJ RR built a new roundhouse at Bethlehem to replace a smaller facility near the former "JU" tower.  The roundhouse had 18 stalls and the turntable served a total of 54 tracks. ♦ The LV RR built an electrical interlocking plant at the Easton junction which was also used by the DL&W, L&HR and CNJ, which had the call sign "Q." ♦ The Neumeyer Theater opened in Easton presenting vaudeville acts and "motion" pictures.  Admission was 10¢.  The facility is now known as the State Theater. ♦ The beautiful five story stone and masonry Elks building was completed at #75 So. Main St., Phillipsburg.  It later became a drinking establishment known as the Castle Inn, and is presently a NJ Dept. of Labor office. ♦ The American Bus Association was founded. ♦

 

1927 The new 175 room Hotel Easton was opened with a staff of about 400. ♦ LVT revitalized trolley freight service by inaugurating store door pick-up and delivery service with a fleet of motor trucks. ♦ The NJ Public Utility Commission allowed the PRR to remove several trains between Trenton, Phillipsburg and Stroudsburg. ♦ On 6.1 the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus exhibited in Easton. ♦ The injured from the DL&W Rockport wreck were transported by the RR to local hospitals in the Phillipsburg/Easton area. ♦ LVT Easton Division city cars were converted to one man operation. ♦ The NJ highway route numbering system was revised.  Rt. 9 from Phillipsburg, Somerville and to the east became known as Rt. 28. Rt. 12 from Phillipsburg to Washington became known as Rt. S-24 and from there to Hackettstown became known as Rt. 24. ♦ The American Horse Shoe Co. of Phillipsburg advertised their mule shoes in local papers. ♦ The Public Utilities Commission increased taxes for Phillipsburg Transit Co. ♦ The Glendon & W. Easton to 4th & Northampton Streets trolley line was abandoned. ♦ The present reinforced concrete Green's Bridge which carries South Main Street over Lopatcong Creek was erected by the Morris Canal & Banking Co., trustee, for the state of NJ. ♦ The Bethlehem Motors Corp., which built 3/4 to 4 ton trucks in Allentown for a decade, went out of business. ♦ The Lehigh Co., builder of the Lehigh truck in Allentown, ceased production. ♦ W. G. Hahn & Brother which manufactured Hahn trucks at Hamburg, PA produced trucks in Allentown. ♦

 

1928 Leonor F. Loree, president of the Delaware & Hudson Co., announced that his RR had purchased a controlling interest in the LV and Wabash railroads and asked the ICC for permission to make this the nucleus for another trunk line.  The ICC refused permission and ordered the D&H to sell the stocks.  Loree sold the stocks to the PRR at a profit of $23,000,000 to the D&H.  Both the LV and Wabash were very hard hit in the 1929 crash and their stocks were later only a small fraction of their earlier value. ♦ Interurban bus companies objected to an Easton plan to move their bus stops from Center Square to Second St. terminals. ♦ A westbound LV RR freight train derailed near Green's Bridge just before the Buffalo to Jersey City Express train was due.  The express crashed into the first derailment causing a blockage of all 3 tracks. ♦ The Easton trolley line which ran on Ferry St. from 18th St. to Walnut St. was abandoned. ♦ Ingersoll-Rand sold the first tri-power diesel-electric/electric/battery switcher to the NYC RR. ♦ Easton Transit Co. received permission to remove trolley tracks from W. Ferry St. and reroute cars onto other streets. ♦ The city of Easton failed in their attempt to move interurban buses out of Center Square. ♦ LVT announced plans to install a new single loop track around Center Square, Easton, with platforms for boarding passengers. ♦ The NY Times reported that eastern RR's would be merged into 4 great trunk lines. ♦ An Easton trolley crashed into a Waer Co. bus, injuring members of the high school track team and other passengers. ♦ The LV RR broke through the last barrier in their new Pattenberg tunnel being constructed to replace the 1875 bore.  The final blast was signaled from the office of Edward Loomis, president of the LV RR from his NYC office.  Later in the day a special train carried him and other officials to the east end of the tunnel where they boarded the small cars of the construction railroad and were pulled through to the west end by a small electric locomotive.  Bates & Rogers of Chicago, the tunnel contractors, provided a chicken dinner to all the workmen and guests. ♦ The former Clymer Power Co. plant was merged with the Pennsylvania Power & Light system and was designated the Raubsville Hydroelectric Station.  It was improved to generate 1,440 kilowatts from the Delaware Canal water supply. ♦ The DL&W RR attempted to cut their 4 daily round trip trains to Phillipsburg to two. ♦ Ingersoll-Rand produced a box-cab 2-D-2 diesel, #510, for the NYC RR which qualifies as the first diesel road locomotive. ♦ The Coast Artillery Regiment of the PA National Guard departed the CNJ Easton depot, for Mt. Gretna, on a train of 12 coaches and 5 baggage cars. ♦ After a year long experiment with another locomotive, the C RR of NJ Elizabethport Shops installed a Bethlehem auxiliary locomotive under the tender of 0-8-0 switcher locomotive #305 to assist her in shoving freight cars over the hump at Allentown yard.  These tender trucks were designed and marketed by Bethlehem Steel Co. to provide additional tractive power for locomotives. ♦ Baldwin Locomotives, a magazine produced by The Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia for the railroad industry, reviewed L&NE RR locomotives and operations in general in their July issue. ♦ Phillipsburg Fire Co. No. 1, formerly Centennial Engine Co., purchased the first motorized fire apparatus in town. ♦ American Rolling Mills (Armco Steel), which purchased the first diesel bought by any steel mill, ordered three more Ingersoll-Rand units.  These units pioneered the use of multiple-unit control on diesel locomotives, now a standard feature. ♦ A large Chicago to NYC bus skidded off Wm. Penn Highway near the Taylor Wharton plant and crashed.  The passengers, who escaped injury, were put up in an Easton hotel for the night and continued to NY the following day. ♦ Tippet & Wood built a 100 ton mobile mast to move the dirigible Los Angeles in & out of its Lakewood, NJ hangar. ♦ Two beer trucks broke through a Delaware Canal bridge at Upper Black Eddy, drowning one driver.  The locals helped themselves to "refreshments" before Federal Agents arrived. ♦ LV RR Board of Directors inspection party traveled through the new Musconetcong (Pattenburg) Tunnel on the 3' gauge, battery powered, construction railway. ♦ NJ Power & Light Co. began construction of the first high pressure electric generating station (a/k/a Gilbert) in the U.S. south of Phillipsburg.  Until 1972 the plant received 10 to 20 carloads of coal daily from the Bel-Del. ♦ The L&HR Brill motor car M1 went into service. ♦ Walt Disney produced Steamboat Willie, the first Mickey Mouse cartoon and the first cartoon with sound. ♦ LV RR opened their new 4,875-foot, 2 track Pattenburg (Musconetcong) tunnel.  It was completed by the Chicago firm of Bates and Rogers for $3,000,000.  The first train through the new bore was powered by LV RR steam locomotive #2095 on 11.24.  Railroad officials posed with it for photographs.  The engineer was E. Bisbing and the fireman J. Lear. ♦ The Phillipsburg town commissioners refused to allow Royal Blue Bus Co. the same privileges as Phillipsburg Transit Co. ♦ The Railway Express Agency was organized to handle nationwide express business. ♦ Thomas N. McCarter, president of Public Service Corp. of NJ was optimistic that prosperity would continue in 1929 - he was wrong - the stock market crashed in that year. ♦ A Studebaker ambulance was donated to the Stewartsville Volunteer Fire Co. No. 1 by Ingersoll Rand. ♦ L&NE RR installed auxiliary booster trucks under the tenders of two steam locomotives and in later years 9 additional locomotives were so equipped. ♦ Frey's Trucking was established at Phillipsburg. ♦

 

1929 The L&NE RR built a new yard and enginehouse at Tadmore, between Bath and Nazareth. ♦ After testing the tri-power diesels, NYC RR ordered 41 more units, from Ingersoll-Rand.  This was the largest diesel order for I-R and the largest until the WW II dieselization rush began.  The DL&W RR also ordered two of the tri-power units at about the same time. ♦ A freight car in the LV RR Easton yard, labeled "disinfectants in bulk" was found to have 200 barrels of illegal beer aboard. ♦ The first annual auto show was held at the Easton Armory. ♦ The LV RR closed their 1890 Phillipsburg passenger station and opened the fourth and last station in Easton. ♦ The Reading RR substituted a gas-electric motor car to the Allentown-Philadelphia passenger service via the Perkiomen Branch in May. ♦ On 5.30 the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus exhibited in Easton. ♦ The PRR applied for and received permission to abandon the Lehigh Junction Station in Phillipsburg. ♦ CRR of NJ locomotive #825 ran into the side of an eastbound LV RR train at Bethlehem.  The event was photographed by Frederick E. Barber, a long time employee of LVT. ♦ Ingersoll-Rand touted the good record of three years continuous service of the diesel locomotive they sold to the B&O RR.  It was the basis for a full page ad in the June 8th issue of Railway Age magazine. ♦ The L&NE RR let a contract for the construction of a brick freight station and office along Hanover Ave. in Allentown at the terminus of their Allentown Branch. ♦ The Jersey Central RR completed their new Bethlehem engine terminal.  The round house had 16 tracks and a total of 64 tracks led from the turntable.  The round house had a unique exhaust system which discharged locomotive smoke through a high stack. ♦ Phillipsburg's American Horse Shoe Works ceased operation. ♦ On 11.7 the Bullet passenger train was established between Wilkes-Barre and Jersey City on the CNJ. ♦ Charles "Walter" Eick of Whitehouse, NJ began operating Royal Blue Coaches with three Studebaker buses. ♦ The stock market "crashed" on 11.29.  Within five days the quoted value of stocks dropped from $87 billions to $57 billions. ♦ The dirigible Los Angeles, "Pride of the Navy," passed over Phillipsburg and Easton en-route to and from Akron, OH. ♦ The Reading Transportation Co. extended their Harrisburg to Allentown bus route to the new Central Union Bus Terminal in the Dixie Hotel in NYC.  East of Allentown the route passed through Easton / Phillipsburg and service was conducted "on behalf of" the Jersey Central Transportation Co. ♦ The Mack Plainfield Plant completed a Model BR Special 12 ton gasoline locomotive for the Edison Portland Cement Co. New Village, NJ quarry.  It was tested in August on Plainfield Plant trackage. ♦ Alpha Portland Cement Co. closed their plant #3 at Martins Creek, PA. ♦ A book entitled "The Majestic Delaware, the nation's foremost historic river," by Francis Burke Brandt was published. ♦ The LV RR installed an electrical interlocking plant at Greens Bridge, Phillipsburg which had the call sign "GB." ♦ The L&NE RR published an industrial and shippers guide containing alphabetical and geographical lists of stations, shippers & receivers of freight and information pertaining to the commercial resources & advantages of the principal towns on its line. ♦ The American Railway Express became the Railway Express Agency.  Participating American railroads each owned one share each. ♦ L&HR trains ceased operating into Mauch Chunk, PA on trackage rights over the CNJ RR. ♦

 

1930 A run-away Southside bound trolley careened madly down Northampton Street, Easton, to Fourth Street where it crashed into two automobiles and a College Hill bound trolley. ♦ Many Bel-Del telegraph offices were closed but Phillipsburg was retained. ♦ Porters on first class  trains on the Bel-Del were eliminated. ♦ The dirigible Los Angeles flew over the Forks of the Delaware. ♦ The Williamsporter passenger train was established by the CNJ between Williamsport, PA and Jersey City and RPO service was begun on that train. ♦ LV RR gasoline-electric cars replaced steam locomotives and coaches in Easton-Lehighton local service and on the Pittsburgh Flyer. ♦ General Motors Aviation Corp. began air service betweem Easton and NYC. ♦ Edwards Lakes-to-Sea-System was advertising a bus route via connecting carriers from NY to Chicago.  NJ Rt. 29 (which became US 22) was utilized through NJ and the Lehigh Valley with 10 minute rest stops at Somerville & Easton westbound and at Easton eastbound. ♦ The LV RR discontinued passenger service on the Easton and Northern branch. ♦ The Quakertown & Bethlehem RR was rehabilitated in conjunction with the opening of sand and gravel pits on the line. ♦ Great Eastern Stages, Inc. was formed.  One of their four bus routes went from Philadelphia to Scranton via Easton. ♦ Lehigh Portland Cement Co. added two additional 160' rotary kilns at their Sandts Eddy plant. ♦ The Edison Portland Cement Co. became the Edison Cement Corp. ♦ The NY, Pittsburgh & Chicago RR made Easton Express front page headlines on 11.18.  They attempted to get a permit from the ICC to build a new direct railroad line from Easton to Pittsburgh.  The planned line was estimated to cost $175,000,000 and provide work for 20,000 men.  It would have saved 75 miles with much gentler grades than railroads existing at the time.  The charters had been purchased by E.H. Harriman in 1907 and the promoter was working for Harriman's estate.  This project, sponsored by L.F. Loree, with the Harriman millions behind it, had been before the commission for nearly seven years and was bitterly fought by the eastern trunk lines. ♦ The Portland Cement Association "Safety Follows Wisdom" safety trophy was awarded to the Vulcanite Portland Cement Co. Mill No. 2 at Alpha, NJ for their perfect safety record. ♦ Bethlehem Steel Co. never promoted locomotives on its own, but did produce carbodies for other builders.  Three Electro-Motive Corp. "Model 60" bodies were produced in this year. ♦

 

1931 On 1.13 Quaker City Lines, Inc. advertised bus service between Easton and Philadelphia for $1.10 each way on a 10 trip ticket. ♦ The Interstate Commerce Commission investigated the excess income of the Lehigh & Hudson River Ry. ♦ Reading Transportation Co. and LVT began joint bus operations between Philadelphia and Allentown via Bethlehem. ♦ The second Paxinosa Inn at Easton was gutted by fire. ♦ Timken Roller Bearing equipped 4-8-4 #1111, built by Alco operated several times through Phillipsburg in demonstration service on the Lehigh Valley RR. ♦ Baldwin Locomotive Works built the first of a new design of 4-8-4 steam locomotive for the Lehigh Valley RR.  The first one, #5100, was extensively tested on their main line. ♦ Great Eastern Stages became part of the Short Line (bus) System). ♦ Famous author S. Kip Farrington traveled through Phillipsburg on the LV RR from Manhattan Transfer to Wilkes Barre on train #3, Lehigh Limited on K6b engine #2138 on 5.3 ♦ The Phillipsburg municipal bathing beach, Ferry Beach (Sloppy Beach), north of Union Square and west of the Bel-Del, was opened to the public. ♦ L&HR passenger service between Easton, Phillipsburg and Warwick, NY came to an end when their gasoline electric power car was demolished in a grade crossing accident. ♦ On 6.10 the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus exhibited in Easton. ♦ After only 21 months, the CNJ's Bullet train between Jersey City and Wilkes Barre was discontinued. ♦ Earl S. Eckel erected Eckel's Autogiro Port, "First Exclusive Autogiro Airport in America" on Mill Pond Road, Washington Twp.  He had two Pitcairn Autogiros operating from the 100 x 300 yard field. ♦ The first Alco diesel in what became known as a switcher body, #301, a 300 hp model was built in July.  A few months later it was sold to the LV RR where it became their #102. ♦ Henry Ford visited the Edison Portland Cement Co. plant at New Village to inspect an old industrial steam locomotive which he purchased for the Ford Museum at Dearborn.  It was later deaccessioned by the museum and sold to an individual in Dallas, TX. ♦ The State of PA took possession of the Delaware Canal. ♦ The Phillipsburg Transit Co. trolley routes were abandoned. ♦ The Reading Transportation Co. commenced a new bus service between Allentown (via Hamburg) & Harrisburg on 10.22.  It later became part of the National Trailways Bus System (Reading Trailways). ♦ The Akron, the largest U.S. dirigible ever built passed over Phillipsburg. ♦ LVT introduced improved, direct, deluxe interurban trolley service between Easton, Allentown and Philadelphia. ♦ The Third Street theater strike occurred in Easton. ♦ The Delaware Canal closed. ♦ Most of the Lehigh Canal was closed and dozens of boats were scuttled in a cement quarry in Northampton. ♦ Selden-Hahn Motor Truck Co., formerly W. G. Hahn & Bro., ceased production of Hahn trucks at Allentown and consolidated operations at Hamburg, PA. ♦

 

1932 The LV RR operated a special $1 Sunday excursion train from Catasauqua, Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton to New York. ♦ Charles W. Eick began a bus line from Alpha, NJ to Easton, PA via Phillipsburg, operated by his Royal Blue Coaches in competition with LVT. ♦ The Phillipsburg town commissioners took action to fill in the Morris Canal bed and make the Bel-Del repair its crossing at Union Square. ♦ Considerable amounts of coal were being stolen from the railroads in the Phillipsburg area. ♦ Recreational development proposals for the Delaware Canal in PA included passenger boats, two dance barges, repair barges and cabin boats which would "make it possible for family or organization groups to spend vacations on the canal."  The ambitious plans were never acted upon. ♦ The trolley line from Broad & Main Sts., Bethlehem to Browns Siding via Main St., Elizabeth Ave. & Easton Ave., Easton was abandoned. ♦ Chain Dam on the Lehigh at West Easton was rebuilt.  The wood cribbing was in part filled with stone obtained from buildings near Lock #45 which were demolished.  The area was known as Republic Hill, a flagstop on the Central RR of NJ. ♦ The Easton & South Bethlehem Transportation Co. was chartered to provide autobus service between the two cities. ♦ A LV RR gas-electric car and trailer handled the local runs between Easton and Mt. Carmel, PA. ♦ Reverend Francis S. Williston of Phillipsburg ended a 35 year career as a canal missionary.  He ministered to boatmen, lock tenders and others on the Lehigh and Delaware canals from Mauch Chunk to Bristol, PA and on the Morris Canal between Phillipsburg and Washington. ♦ The Easton to So. Bethlehem trolley line via Freemansburg was abandoned. ♦ The LV RR operated a special 30-car excursion train from Easton and other principal communities in the Lehigh Valley to Niagara Falls on the evening of Aug. 20th, returning on the following night.  The round trip fare was $2.50 and the train, running in two sections, carried a total of 3,713 passengers.  Their new Baldwin-built 4-8-4 locomotives were used.  The excursion proved so profitable financially and was such an unqualified success, that the RR planned a similar excursion for Labor Day, operating three trains in each direction. ♦ Direct, high speed, deluxe, limited interurban trolley service between Easton-Allentown and Philadelphia was eliminated. ♦ The last boatload of sized coal on the Lehigh Navigation was carried by Capt. Clifford Best from Laurys Station to the Saquoit Silk Mill in Bethlehem.  However, dredged coal dirt, which accumulated behind Lehigh River dams, was transported from reclamation plants on portions of the LC&N, primarily to the NJ Zinc Co. plant at Palmerton, until 1942. ♦ The Federal Motor Carrier Act gave the ICC power to regulate trucks. ♦ The Federal government imposed a 1¢ per gallon excise tax on all gasoline sales. ♦ Four oxen pulled a large wagon over the Free Bridge enroute from New York City to California. ♦ Improving navigation on the Delaware River, with some account of its ferries, bridges, canals and floods, by Benjamin Franklin Fackenthal, Jr. and A Rafting Story of the Delaware River by Joshua Pine III, were published by the Bucks County Historical Society in their Vol. VI. ♦

 

1933 Incidents of coal theft escalated, especially in the Black Dan's Cut area, resulting in battles with RR police, one of which shot and killed a pilferer. ♦ A crowded Lehigh Valley Transportation Co. bus (the bus subsidiary of LVT) was struck by a Bel-Del passenger train at Union Square on 1.27, but only resulted in some minor injuries. ♦ LVT reduced their Easton to Alpha bus operation and Royal Blue Coaches expanded their bus service. ♦ Northampton Transit Co. discontinued trolley service from Easton to Bangor after 33 years of continuous service. ♦ By this time 15 million workers in the US were unemployed due to the great depression. ♦ Gangs of coal thieves resorted to greasing rails to slow coal trains so they could more easily board them and throw coal off.  The police of Phillipsburg, the state of NJ, and the several local railroads organized to stop the wholesale theft of coal - they were not completely successful. ♦ The Reading Co. acquired control of the CNJ RR. ♦ Royal Blue Coaches added a bus route from Belvidere to Frenchtown. ♦ The L&HR RR lost their railway post office contract (Route 252). ♦ Edwards Lakes-to-Sea-System established through bus service between NY and Cleveland via Phillipsburg and Easton. ♦ Sparks from a Bel-Del drill engine reportedly set fire to and destroyed several buildings of the McNeill Cooperage along the Bel-Del north of Union Square on Apr. 7. ♦ The Great Canoe Marathon was a race which began at Eddyside, above Phillipsburg, at dawn and the winner ended at the Philadelphia city limits, 86 miles downstream at dusk. ♦ Ray Creveling filmed the Hay trolley line in May. ♦ The Delaware Valley Protective Association (DVPA) was organized to oppose the paving over of the Delaware Canal for a roadway.  The DVPA is credited with the saving of the Delaware Canal. ♦ M.A. Carty of Phillipsburg was the low bidder for the construction of the Belvidere-Massenatt Corner Road.  He was only $16.52 below the bid of Korp & Korp, also of Phillipsburg, but the Carty bid was $6,000 above the $35,000 available for the job. ♦ On 8.17 & 18 the final days of the Allentown & Reading Traction Co. were photographed by members of the North Jersey Chapter, NRHS and their negatives remain in the collections of the Chapter. ♦ Great Eastern Stages sold out to Greyhound due to financial troubles. ♦ Vulcanite Portland Cement Co. ceased operations. ♦ Earle S. Eckel flew his Autogiro from Washington to Montreal for an air show. ♦ The Reading Co. dismantled their East Penn enginehouse and service facilities at Allentown and combined servicing with the Central RR of NJ in Bethlehem. ♦ Twenty-two RR carloads of NJ Emergency Relief Administration salted pork arrived in Phillipsburg in October for distribution state wide: 16 cars went to Jersey City for storage and distribution to No. & NW NJ; 5 cars to Camden; and one car went to Newark. ♦ Warren County Freeholders voted to install scales at the Delaware, NJ bridge from PA.  Six or seven hundred (overweight) trucks were coming over the bridge daily with so-called "bootleg" coal from Scranton.  Dealers also claimed that considerable additional tonnage of coal was coming over the Phillipsburg-Easton bridge. ♦ Lehigh Valley Transit Co. purchased three Mack Model AB gasoline rail motor cars from the Wilkes Barre & Hazleton Ry. which had used them as a substitute for electric interurban cars for only one year.  LVT reconverted and operated the three omnibuses (#125, 6 & 7) as highway vehicles until 1939. ♦ Several predecessors merged to form the American Trucking Associations. ♦

 

1934 Vol. 1, No. 1 of The Model Railroader magazine was published at 10¢ a copy. ♦ Famous author S. Kip Farrington traveled through Phillipsburg area on the DL&W RR from Hoboken via Washington to Scranton on train #1, returning empty milk cars to Binghamton on 4-8-4 Q4 class locomotive #1641 on 1.13. ♦ The Franklin Construction Co. of Newark was awarded a $100,000 contract to construct a new viaduct (for the current Rt. 57) over the DL&W tracks at Port Colden. ♦ A Greyhound bus en-route from NY to Pittsburgh hit a parked truck on the Wm. Penn Highway west of Easton injuring more than a dozen passengers. ♦ A Delaware River ice jam tore out 90 feet of the Delaware Canal bank at Raubsville.  LC&N Co. employees repaired the damage to restore the supply of water to the PP&L Co. generating plant nearby. ♦ In mid-March a huge 12 ton truck owned by the Electric City (Scranton) Transportation Co. was destroyed by fire on the road between Belvidere and Butzville.  The $10,000 cargo was destroyed excepting three coffins (which were probably cement). ♦ Ingersoll-Rand Co. received an order for two oil-electric (diesel) locomotives from the DL&W RR.  The RR also ordered two similar locomotives from General Motors. ♦ Nearly 800 patrons of the LV Transportation Co. buses on the No. Main Street route to the hill section of Phillipsburg signed a petition demanding better buses and service.  They also criticized local authorities for allowing the old trolley rails to remain in the streets. ♦ On 5.31 the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus exhibited in Easton. ♦ A freight train derailed near Island Park, blocking the CNJ RR main line with about a dozen cars.  Their trains were temporarily rerouted over the parallel LV RR. ♦ The Gentry Bros. Circus, during its first visit to the eastern states in 25 years, exhibited in Easton at 23rd & Northampton Streets on 6.25 and on the following day in Phillipsburg at the South Main Street show grounds. ♦ The NJ State Assembly passed the Easton-Phillipsburg toll bridge bill authorizing the appointment of a Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission to proceed with the construction of a bridge. ♦ A new Post Office was completed and opened at Phillipsburg at a total cost of $90,000. ♦ A truck descending Northampton St. in Easton skidded into an ascending bus when the truck driver claimed his wheels caught in the trolley tracks.  The Sunset Motor Stage bus was en-route from NY to Cleveland. ♦ Phillipsburg's NJ Interurban Coach Co. buses all passed 2 day surprise Board of Public Utilities roadside inspections. ♦ Many flagmen at grade crossings on the PRR were laid off, with their duties assigned to telegraph operators or ticket agents at stations. ♦ The Northampton & Bath RR became the first completely diesel powered common carrier in the US/Canada. ♦ Mack's first trolley-coaches were built for Community Traction of Toledo, OH.  Eventually 275 of the model CR's were built for many cities. ♦ The Easton to Phillipsburg free bridge was crossed by 3,327,742 vehicles in this year. ♦

 

1935 The only export sale of an Ingersoll-Rand diesel was to the Tata Iron & Steel Ltd. of India.  A modification for Tata was the cutting down of the short hood creating the original low-nose hood unit.  It was not until 1955 that this design became popular in the US. ♦ In preparation for the Army's first maneuvers since World War I, 5,023 officers and men were transported over the Bel-Del in 19 special trains to camps in PA and NY. ♦ The National Railway Historical Society was founded. ♦ Walker Evans, a famous American photographer, took documentary industry/canal views in the Easton / Phillipsburg area for the Farm Security Administration. ♦ The LV RR Phillipsburg station was closed in connection with the discontinuance of Easton to Jersey City trains #52, 53, & 67. ♦ In a full page ad in the Phillipsburger newspaper, Standard Quality Anthracite coal was advertised at from $5.10 (for rice) to $8.75 (for stove) per ton in 2 ton lots from various local dealers. ♦ "The Farmer Takes A Wife" was filmed on the Lehigh Canal in Freemansburg, Bethlehem and Allentown.  The movie, directed by Victor Fleming, starred Henry Fonda and Janet Gaynor and depicted the Erie Canal in the 1850's.  Replica boats were built and their nameplates are now in the collections of the National Canal Museum at Easton.  The filming was done in the Lehigh Valley because much of the Lehigh Canal was intact and parts were still in use, whereas the old Erie Canal (superseded by the new Barge Canal) was derelict and disused. ♦ "TRANSIT" was Easton's popular family theater for movies at 10 & 25¢. ♦ The great Hagenbeck-Wallace & Forepaugh-Sells Bros. combined circus came to Easton. ♦ Special Atlantic City summer excursions departed every Sunday from the Waer Bus Terminal at #7 No. Second St., Easton.  Daily express service to Philadelphia was advertised at a special $2 round trip rate. ♦ Tom Tabor organized a rail excursion for the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society on the DL&W RR on 7.17.  It began at Hoboken and went to Scranton via the old main line using locomotive #1035, a 4-6-0 Camelback.  It stopped for water at Washington, NJ.  The return was via the Cut-off.  The train had four coaches and a diner in the middle. ♦ The last link of the great New Brunswick through highway was completed in Phillipsburg.  Two miles of So. Main Street were torn up and paved with concrete.  Sixty-seven new standard lights were installed from Union Square to Sawmill Street.  The formal opening was attended by Governor Hoffman and included an auto parade with floats. ♦ Commercial air service came to the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton Airport. ♦ The Reading Railway advertized a special train to "Follow... Steelton High to Allentown" on Saturday, Oct. 12th.  The special train departed Harrisburg at 8:10 am, returned at 10 pm and the special round trip fare was $1.75. ♦ The National Model Railroad Assn. was organized. ♦ Melvin A. Carty, Sr. incorporated his contracting business as the Phillipsburg Bridge and Construction Co., Inc. with headquarters at 309 S. Main St., Phillipsburg.  Over the years his firm has built numerous bridges, industrial, commercial and office buildings, schools, hospitals and other structures in the region.  The business continues in the capable hands of his son, Mel Carty, Jr. ♦ Public Service Coordinated Transport began replacement of street cars with the new hybrid gasoline-electric All-Service Vehicle.  Starting in this year the more than 400 of the new ASVs (trolley buses) were transported east to NJ on flat cars via the CNJ Main Line. ♦ Title to the old Oxford Furnace was transferred from the Warren Foundry and Pipe Co. to the State of NJ. ♦ The Congress of the US approved a compact between NJ & PA, which created the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission and transferred to it all powers and duties of the original joint commission. ♦ Congress passed the Motor Carrier Act and it was signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt.  It fixed rates and routes and gave regulatory power to the ICC. ♦ An 81 foot high star was erected on South Mountain, Bethlehem.  It is believed to be the largest electrically illuminated star of its type in the world.

 

1936 The Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Engineers, Delaware & Lehigh lodges held an all day (Sunday, 1.12) meeting in the Phillipsburg Elks auditorium.  The subjects covered included: ambitions for a 6 hour day; accident compensation; maximum train length laws; full crew legislation; and union amalgamation.  In the past year 135 new members had been added.  Their next meeting was scheduled for Dorney Park with a picnic. ♦ The C-C diesel wheel arrangement was introduced in the US with the Illinois Central RR #9200, a 171 ton unit with two Ingersoll-Rand 900 HP diesel engines. ♦ The Lehigh Valley RR reduced fares to 2¢ a mile in coaches and 3¢ a mile in Pullman cars (with surcharge eliminated) in their "Scenic Trails & Scenic America Tours" campaign. ♦ The Spring freshet of 3.19 on the Delaware River nearly reached the high water mark of the 1903 flood - the worst ever.  The Phillipsburg-Easton bridge was the only one open on the river between Port Jervis and Trenton.  The flood did great damage to the Lehigh Canal.  Dredging, repairs to damaged towpath embankments and rebuilding of dams was accomplished by LC&N. ♦ For two days the PRR was unable to get their trains through to East Stroudsburg on the Bel-Del due to flooding.  At several places along the line the tracks and ballast were washed out and the rails left hanging in the air. ♦ On 6.4 the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus exhibited in Easton. ♦ William Henry Walters, a prominent member of the Bar and a life-long Phillipsburg citizen donated 24 acres and 10 houses as a public park site for his town, for its Diamond Jubilee celebration. ♦ The two mile long Phillipsburg Diamond Jubilee Civic & Industrial Parade attracted 40,000 along its route. ♦ The LV RR Black Diamond train was provided with air conditioning. ♦ Ground was broken for the new $2,500,000 Phillipsburg-Easton steel toll bridge for Rt. 22. ♦ A Greyhound bus and a commercial truck collided and burned on the Lackawanna Trail between Martins Creek and Richmond, PA.  Ten bus passengers were injured, but the truck driver was killed. ♦ (Sept. 20) The first of a series of "Off the Beaten Track" excursions was operated through NJ by the Pennsylvania Railroad.  It was routed from Philadelphia via Trenton, the Bel Del (through Phillipsburg), the Delaware Water Gap, Scranton, Nanticoke, Glen Lyon, Tamenend, Norristown and return to Philadelphia.  The "350 miles of spectacular scenery through mountains and mines and along three river valleys" cost only $3.50. ♦ After being idle for years, the Vulcanite Portland Cement Co. plant at Alpha was readied to resume production. ♦ (Oct. 11) A PRR "Off the Beaten Track" excursion was operated from NY via South Amboy Jct., Jamesburg, Bordentown, Trenton, the Bel Del to Stroudsburg and return to NY via Trenton.  On the same day another PRR "OBT" excursion departed Philadelphia via Pottsville and Wilkes Barre to Scranton and returning via the DL&W to Stroudsburg, the Bel-Del to Trenton and back to Philadelphia.  The locomotive on the first train turned at Stroudsburg to bring the second train back to Trenton. ♦ A LV RR steam excursion departed their Meeker Avenue, Newark station on 10.25 for a 542 mile round trip journey to visit their Sayre, PA shops.  On board was 13 year old "Friends" member Raymond Neveil, who lived in Bloomfield at the time. ♦ On Sunday, 11.8, the CNJ RR operated their first sightseeing excursion.  The all-day 325 mile low cost tour was only $3.25 per person.  It began at Jersey City (NYC by ferry) and covered their main line through Phillipsburg to Mauch Chunk, then Tamaqua, Pottsville, Reading, Valley Forge, Philadelphia and back to NY.  The trip was narrated via a public address system through the entire train, a first in railroad history. ♦ A party of 63 Reading Company Boosters of Reading, PA traveled to Jersey City in a special car attached to the Queen of the Valley train.  At Allentown a diner was attached for the group.  Their destination was a tour of the CRR of NJ Marine Dept. at Jersey City, to which they were transported by tug boat #29.  After the tour they were returned by the tug and back to Reading on the Queen of the Valley. ♦ A WPA aid project was approved to remove trolley tracks from No. Main Street, Phillipsburg. ♦ The NJ Public Utilities Commission began a program of bus inspections. ♦ Frank Martz Coach Co. cut back service to their two strongest routes - Wilkes Barre to NYC and Wilkes Barre to Philadelphia via Easton. ♦ LVT became the last trolley operator in the Lehigh Valley when Allentown & Reading Traction Co. service was replaced by Allentown & Reading Transit buses. ♦ The Easton Planning Commission proposed a tunnel under Mt. Jefferson to provide a direct road route to the west from the Bushkill Street bridge. ♦ The Quakertown & Bethlehem RR ceased operations. ♦ The Phillipsburg Emergency Squad obtained their first vehicle, a 1936 GMC truck, equipped with flood lights. ♦ The CNJ began to report losses on its intrastate passenger operations. ♦

 

1937 Bethlehem Steel Co. began fabricating the 4,277 tons of steel for the new Rt. 22 bridge over the Delaware. ♦ One LV RR freight train rammed the rear of another just west of the South Main Street bridge, Phillipsburg in a dense fog.  Locomotive #282, a 2-8-2, and one car rolled down the 30 foot embankment.  All LV traffic temporarily detoured over the parallel CNJ line.  A total of four wrecking cranes were sent from Easton, Jersey City, Mauch Chunk and Sayre.  They finally got the locomotive back up the embankment on 1.12. ♦ A new $15,000 auto inspection station was built at Washington in anticipation of the new state inspection program.  It covered all vehicles except those used for transportation of passengers for hire, which came under the Board of Public Utilities. ♦ The PRR agreed to give a strip of land to the town of Phillipsburg that would be used to widen and improve Delaware Drive, which runs from Union Square north along the municipal bathing beach to the property of the American Horse Shoe Co.  In return PRR received permission from the town to eliminate the First and Second Streets grade crossings. ♦ Trolley track was removed from N. Main Street, Phillipsburg. ♦ Typical Lehigh Valley RR dining car menu prices for complete meals ranged from $1.05 (Broiled Shad) to $1.40 (Prime Ribs of Beef, Au Jus). ♦ The LV RR discontinued passenger service on their Clinton and Pittstown branches. ♦ Filming for the original version of the Twentieth Century Fox movie "Farmer Takes a Wife" was done on sections 7 and 8 of the Lehigh Canal around Freemansburg, PA although the story actually was set on the Erie Canal during the 1850's in upstate New York.  The construction of the NY State Barge Canal had caused the abandonment of the towpath sections of the Erie Canal and the Lehigh was the only remaining operational towpath canal. ♦ On 6.9 US Army tanks sped through Easton and Phillipsburg at 4 pm.  The streets were cleared by the loud screaming of a siren on a motorcycle leading the way.  The tanks came down Northampton Street, over the Delaware River bridge and onto South Main Street, Phillipsburg to the New Brunswick highway toward New York. ♦ (June 27) The first of the three famed PRR "Off the Beaten Track" Poughkeepsie Bridge trips was run.  It departed Philadelphia at 7:22 AM via Trenton and was scheduled to arrive in Phillipsburg at 9:28.  It was routed via Maybrook, Poughkeepsie, Danbury, South Norwalk, Hell Gate Bridge, NYC and back to Philadelphia for a scheduled 7:30 PM return.  The trip was sold out and the lengthy train required double headed K-4 locomotives.  A special $1 dinner was available in the diner en-route. ♦ John B. Pitts, engineer and fireman on the Bel Del for 31 years, was selected as a member of the Phillipsburg Board of Education by Mayor John F. O'Donnell. ♦ The boiler of former CNJ steam locomotive #321, used to supply steam for many years at the Phillipsburg roundhouse complex, was scrapped. ♦ Air mail service was inaugurated from the Allentown Bethlehem Easton Airport on 7.8. ♦ Clinton Andrews photographed CNJ 4-6-2 Pacific steam locomotive with Blue Comet coaches traveling northeast on the L&HR bridge at Phillipsburg. ♦ The Federal Railroad Retirement Act went into effect for all railroad employees, replacing voluntary retirement and disability benefits on some 80 major railroads. ♦ The Philadelphia Chapter, NRHS sponsored a trolley excursion on LVT which included a round trip to Easton from Allentown. ♦ Phillipsburg merchants complained that they were being discriminated against in the limited franchise held by the (Royal) Blue Bus Co. operating with a 5¢ fare, buy not being allowed to discharge westbound passengers in Phillipsburg. ♦ E. Schneider of Allentown contracted to pay Phillipsburg $13.10 per ton to remove old trolley rails from Summit Avenue and Lewis Street. ♦ Six new buses were ordered by LV Transportation Co. for Phillipsburg-Alpha lines. ♦ (Aug. 1) The PRR re-ran the Poughkeepsie/ Hell Gate Bridges trip in two sections with a total of 2,000 excursionists.  At Trenton the two sections diverged; one went clockwise and the other counter clockwise.  They didn't have to deadhead the power back, just swap with the other section. ♦ The new Phillipsburg emergency truck (GMC engine & chassis and a Boyertown Body Works body) was delivered. ♦ Upwards of 7,000 people witnessed Phillipsburg's 2nd Annual Coaster Derby.  A 14 year old Paterson lad won with an average speed of 35 mph. ♦ (10.3) Ninety-three NRHS members from Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, NYC and other areas toured the LVT Liberty Bell Route interurban trolley route and city lines.  They had dinner in the historic Old Sun Inn at Bethlehem, built in 1758.  They made many photo stops and toured the Allentown and Easton routes. ♦ Lester E. Smith, a Standard Oil Co. truckman of Belvidere, was awarded the title of America's Safest Driver by the American Truckers Assn.  He drove his truck 350,000 miles and his "private machine" 300,000 miles over 22 years without one accident. ♦ LV RR began use of diesel-electric switchers in the Easton area. ♦ Royal Blue Coaches had 22 buses at this time.  They purchased the Golden Arrow route from Alma Line owner Emily B. Libe of Phillipsburg.  This transaction included the Somerville to Easton route. ♦ Ingersoll-Rand sold the last of their diesel locomotives to Milwaukee Coke & Gas (Milwaukee Solvay Coke) and withdrew from the diesel locomotive manufacturing business to concentrate on non-rail diesels for industrial service.  Over the years more than 120 locomotives had been powered by I-R diesels. ♦ Railroaders Day was observed in Phillipsburg at Wesley M.E. church with special services morning, afternoon and evening.  The services were dedicated to 81 year old Edgar Platt who worked for the CRR of NJ for 46 years as fireman and engineer.  All railroaders were welcomed to the services. ♦ Eight new LVT buses arrived at the company barns at Easton - 6 of them for service on the Phillipsburg line.  Each of the 25 passenger vehicles had green leather seats and motor in the rear.  At the same time a loop service through Phillipsburg was instituted between downtown and the hill sections.  Shortly after delivery, all 8 of the new Mack buses and their smartly uniformed drivers were posed for a group publicity photo at Union Square, in front of the Wardel Hotel and Barnet & Walters Hardware store. ♦ Twenty passengers and the engineer of a southbound PRR train were injured when the engine and 2 of the 3 coaches left the tracks at Pinchers Point, between Carpentersville and Riegelsville. ♦ The Philadelphia, Bethlehem & New England RR purchased their first diesel-electric locomotive. ♦ The Washington Boro Fire Dept. purchased a 1937 Dodge chassis with donations.  The emergency truck body was built by members of the fire dept.  It served until 1952 when it was sold to the Sergeantsville (Hunterdon County, NJ) Fire Dept.  Sixty years later it was re-purchased from a Massachusetts owner and returned to Washington for restoration. ♦ John M. Smith, Warren County Supervisor of roads reported that 22 miles of snow fence had been erected.  (This was an annual ritual which was also performed by interurban trolley operators to help prevent wind driven snow from blocking their lines with drifts.) ♦ A home Christmas lighting contest was begun in Bethlehem, PA, and they decided to become known as Christmas City, USA.  Mail was sent from all over the nation to receive the "Christmas City" cancellation.  A community Putz was set up to tell the Christmas story. ♦ For the first time merchants erected lights along Main Street, Phillipsburg for the Christmas holiday season.  They were switched on by Santa Claus. ♦ The new US Rt. 22 bridge across the Delaware north of Union Square, Phillipsburg was opened.  The first vehicle across was an ox-drawn wagon.  This was the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission's first toll bridge financed by revenue bonds. ♦ The ICC introduced motor carrier safety regulations. ♦ The first annual American Trucking Association national truck driving championship was held. ♦

 

1938 In this year the LV RR provided day train service each way between Phillipsburg and Pittsburgh via a Mt. Carmel, PA connection with the Pennsylvania RR.  The train had coaches, Broiler-Buffet Service, and a Drawing-room Parlor Car from Sunbury to Pittsburgh.  It departed Phillipsburg at 6:35 AM and arrived in Pittsburgh at 7:30 PM. ♦ Two 900 hp diesel yard locomotives were delivered from Chicago to replace steam locomotives in the LV RR Easton yards and in interchange service. ♦ A group of engineers selected by the Electric Bond & Share Co. studied LVT Co's. entire railway properties.  They recommended retention and upgrading of the LVT Easton - Bethlehem - Allentown interurban trolley service but recommended conversion of all Easton local trolley routes to bus.  Shortly thereafter LVT began a major modernization program by purchasing many modern, second hand trolleys, rehabilitating 89 trolleys, scrapping 66 others and purchasing 62 new Mack L-3G buses.  LVT produced a 16 mm color film documenting the upgrading and revitalization of their rolling stock. ♦ Phillipsburg Bridge & Construction Co. completed the Lehighton - Weissport, PA bridge over the Lehigh River.  The foundation for the east pier was placed in the bed of the abandoned Lehigh Canal. ♦ LVT rerouted their Phillipsburg bus lines over the new Delaware River Toll Bridge. ♦ (Jun. 19) The National Railway Historical Society and the Central RR of NJ operated an "Out-of-the-way Places" excursion for $2.50 using 4-6-2 #812.  It ran from Jersey City to Phillipsburg; Easton, PA; the L&HR to Andover Jct. & Port Morris; the DL&W to Lake Jct.; the Wharton & Northern to Green Pond Jct. & return; and the CNJ back to High Bridge and Jersey City. ♦ The LV RR announced that it planned to demolish their Phillipsburg passenger station which had been closed since 1935. ♦ Earl S. Eckel of Washington Boro performed endurance tests on fire trucks equipped with Franklin air cooled engines, Fuller transmissions, and Northern centrifugal pumps using Blue Sunoco motor fuel and Sunoco bus and truck oil.  The tests were done at the edge of the former Eckel's Mill Pond, on Mill Pond Road, Washington Township. ♦ A northbound L&HR RR, Allentown - Maybrook, freight train headed by a CNJ locomotive hit a large boulder, two miles north of Phillipsburg, which had rolled down upon the track from the cliff above.  The engine rolled over and eight of the twelve cars which derailed bounded over the embankment with two landing in the river. ♦ LVT sold its motor truck franchise to a competitor and contracted with the purchaser to haul its through freight by trolley between Easton, Allentown and Philadelphia. ♦ A Soapbox Derby was held on Morris St. in Phillipsburg. ♦ Quakertown & Bethlehem RR, formerly the Quakertown & Eastern, was dismantled, permission having been granted in 1936. ♦ (Aug. 14) The PRR sponsored a two train "Off the Beaten Track" trips from their Broad St., Philadelphia station, over the Pocono Mountains to Avoca/Scranton and return.  The first train traveled to Trenton; up the Bel Del through Phillipsburg and Manunka Chunk; the DL&W through the Delaware Water Gap and their route to Scranton/Avoca; return was via the Wilkes-Barre & Eastern and Susquehanna to Jersey City and then via the PRR for the return to Philadelphia.  The second train took the reverse journey from Trenton, going to Jersey City first.  The two trains met and passed at Ash Gap, west of Pocono Summit and exchanged locomotives.  The fare for the 400 mile figure 8 trips, which departed Philadelphia at about 6:30 AM, was $4. ♦ Canalboat rides were offered on the 9 miles of the Delaware Canal between Easton and Raubsville for a couple of years. ♦ A Railroad Enthusiasts excursion from Jersey City, powered by Lehigh Valley 2-8-2, visited the Lehigh & New England Pen Argyl shops and roundhouse. (exact date unknown) ♦ (Oct. 16) A Lackawanna Rail-Camera Safari was operated from Hoboken via Summit & Dover to Phillipsburg, the CNJ to Mauch Chunk, Ashley & Taylor and back to the DL&W to Scranton Shops, Pocono Summit, Delaware Water Gap, Summit & Hoboken.  A near identical flyer was produced by the RR Enthusiasts/Ry & Locomotive Historical Society with Rogers E. M. Whittaker (E.M. Frimbo) handling the reservations.  Fare for the 350 mile round trip was $3.50. ♦ Free local bus service was offered by the Town of Washington on Saturdays to help solve parking in the business district for shoppers. ♦ The grade crossing at Union Square in Phillipsburg, the busiest crossing in NJ, was rebuilt in 48 hours. ♦ The LV RR began its passenger service modernization program with the help of industrial designer Otto Kuhler.  He gave a gasoline-electric motor car a very attractive appearance with some added sheet metal and a smart orange and black paint scheme.  It pulled a coach and a diner in a new LV service between Mauch Chunk and Newark. ♦ On 11.13 the North Jersey Chapter, NRHS sponsored a trolley trip between Allentown and Easton using LVT cars #182 and #222. ♦ Phillipsburg acquired their first emergency squad truck. ♦ The CNJ Phillipsburg roundhouses were probably demolished in this year. ♦ "Joe's Steak Shop" opened on South Main Street, Phillipsburg. ♦ Col. Tim McCoy's Real Wild West Show went broke at Bethlehem and the L&NE RR seized the rail equipment to pay the bill for siding rental. ♦ A flood along the Monacacy Creek at Bethlehem washed out track and temporarily stranded L&NE 2-10-0 #404.  L&NE RR service from Bethlehem to Pen Argyl ended. ♦ LVT Liberty Bell Route car #810 body was sold and moved by truck to Hellertown, PA where it became a diner. ♦ Famous author S. Kip Farrington traveled through Phillipsburg area on the LV RR from Wilkes Barre to Newark, train #10, Black Diamond Express on K6b engine #2096 on 12.9.38. ♦

 

1939 The LV RR John Wilkes full streamlined train entered service, and the Asa Packer made its first run. ♦ A "Billboard on Wheels" trolley car advertised the movie Man of Conquest on various local Easton streetcar routes. ♦ The guide booklets for the NY World's Fair were printed in Phillipsburg by (Tom) LaMonica's Printing, which was located on South Main Street. ♦ William G Baker, of 30 Reese's Court, Phillipsburg, a Lehigh Valley RR Towerman was chosen out of 50 entrants to be the operator of the model railroad at the 1939-40 NY World's Fair. ♦ On May 7th the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society operated a single car fan trip from Allentown to Reading & return with a Blue Comet observation car. ♦ (May 21) The Railroad Enthusiasts and Railroad Magazine operated an "off-the-beaten-track" excursion from Washington Street Terminal of the Lehigh Valley RR in Jersey City (adjacent to the CNJ Terminal) via Oak Island Yards and Phillipsburg with a stop at the LV Easton Station.  The Easton & Northern branch was traversed to Stockertown, the L&NE RR Nazareth Branch to Pen Argyl where a two hour stop was made to inspect locomotives on display, then on to Tamaqua.  From there a Reading Branch was used to Quakake to return via the LV RR to Phillipsburg and Jersey City.  LV RR 2-8-2 #406 was used from Easton to Quakake. ♦ (Jun. 19) The newly organized Railroadians of America operated their first inspection train, the first using a 4-4-0 in the NY area.  Lackawanna locomotive #970 hauled the six car train, including the first gondola to be used on such a train in the NY area.  From Hoboken they traveled to Morristown; via the Morristown & Erie to Essex Fells & return; next to Port Morris, then Andover Jct.; the L&HR RR to Warwick and south to Phillipsburg/Easton where the train was backed over the CNJ bridge to Phillipsburg; the return to Hoboken was via Madison.  Robert F. Collins handled the reservations (at $3.75 each & limited to 150) and a special 85¢ lunch was available in the air conditioned diner. ♦ Governor James of PA signed a bill to convert the Delaware Canal properties into a state park. ♦ LVT substituted buses for all local Easton trolley service, except for the Easton Limited which was supplied with second hand, but modern and rehabilitated, light weight cars.  Before the upgraded trolley service commenced, one of the refurbished cars was displayed in the center of Easton.  Substitute bus service was provided on the local lines by subsidiary Lehigh Valley Transportation Co. and abandoned trolley trackage was soon torn up. ♦ A PRR "Off the Beaten Track" excursion was operated on 10.15 from Philadelphia to Trenton - Phillipsburg - Wilkes-Barre and return via the Schuylkill Branch.  From Phillipsburg to Wilkes-Barre the 12 car special was hauled by a LV RR T-3 4-8-4 "Wyoming" locomotive. ♦ Eight new buses were purchased for the Reading - Jersey Central line between NY and Harrisburg. ♦ The American Branch of the Newcomen Society witnessed a blast in the #3 Quarry of the Sandt's Eddy Plant of Lehigh Portland Cement Co. which used 28,400 lbs. of DuPont Gelex dynamite. ♦ The CNJ RR filed for bankruptcy. ♦ The Mack Allentown Plant acquired two double truck box cab electric switching locomotives from a lead mine near Joplin, MO, and converted both to diesel-electric operation.  Two Mack 6-cylinder diesel engines and generators were installed in each, but the original traction motors remained within both Taylor trucks.  They provided faithful switching service at the No. 5 division shipping center for many years. ♦ The 200th anniversary of Warren County was celebrated in this year. ♦ Future "Friends" founding directors, Walter Grosselfinger, Bill McKelvey (Past President), Dave Phraner (Past President) & John Wilkins (Past President) were born. ♦ The Works Public Administration published "The WPA Guide to 1930's New Jersey," the most comprehensive book about the state ever written.  It was produced beginning in the prior year by the Writers Project of the WPA.  A part of the large book was devoted to 37 road tours.  Phillipsburg was described as follows: "63.7m (from Newark) (19,255 pop.) ...has all the smoke and grime of a little Pittsburgh.  The city is built on a series of hills dropping down to the Delaware River.  From the Ridge of Ingersoll Heights its dark rooftops stretch to an L. in a solid pack; scarcely a street intersection is visible from the Heights...  They overlook the industrial heart of the town, a sharp slice of cindered earth cluttered with flatcars and smokestacks, intersected by the long gleam of the Pennsylvania RR tracks (they meant the Jersey Central, Lackawanna and Lehigh Valley Railroads - ed.)." ♦

 

1940 Vol. 1, No. 1 of Trains magazine was published. ♦ Bethlehem Steel razed a block of properties to expand their Bethlehem plant for alloy steel production. ♦ On 1.16 A.N. Williams was elected president of the LV RR at the annual stockholders meeting held in Bethlehem. ♦ A plan to remove all trolley rails from the City of Easton was endorsed by the city council. ♦ A one foot snowfall driven by high winds caused drifts up to 12 feet in Warren County 2.13-15.  Nearly 1000 local residents who went to the Ice Follies at Hershey, PA on a special 15 car CRR of NJ train did not arrive back in Easton until 4:45am due to the same storm. ♦ An Alpha, NJ coal truck operator was held by Easton Police until he paid a $100 fine for a license to do business in Easton. ♦ On April 7th, 17 year old "Friends" member Raymond Neveil departed the CNJ Broad Street Station, Newark on an excursion to tour the Reading Co. shops at Reading, PA.  The train of three CNJ Blue Comet coaches and three Reading coaches was powered by Reading G2sa Pacific #175, built by Baldwin in 1926.  The 126 mile trip via Phillipsburg took about 2 1/2 hours.  Several steamers were posed at Reading for photographs, including an E4a 0-8-0 camelback built in 1892. ♦ On 5.31 the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus exhibited in Easton. ♦ A Hoboken to Scranton DL&W train hit, wrecked and dragged a truck 0.4 of a mile at a grade crossing near Port Coldon, NJ, killing the three men in it.  Their business was installing guard rails for the NJ State Highway Dept. ♦ On 6.1 Taylor-Wharton Iron & Steel Co.'s Easton plant received a War Ordnance Dept. contract for $126,770 for forgings for shells. ♦ On 6.3, 250 pieces of motorized equipment of the 16th Infantry Division passed through Easton and Phillipsburg en route home to Fort Jay, NY after war maneuvers in Louisiana. ♦ All Phillipsburg and NJ Interurban buses began loading and unloading at Center Square, Easton, eliminating several downtown stops. ♦ Hervey Love, former commercial agent for the DL&W RR died on a LV Transportation Co. bus at Center Square, Easton.  He lived on Bushkill St. in Easton, but was freight and soliciting agent at Phillipsburg. ♦ On July 29th, a Syracuse to NYC Greyhound bus was nearly destroyed by fire at Manunka Chunk, north of Belvidere.  It ran out of gas a mile north of the Greyhound Post House Restaurant.  Gas was brought to the bus in a can, but while filling it tipped over and the flammable liquid flowed to a road flare and then flashed back to the bus, severely burning the fuel attendant. ♦ Military trucks, loaded to the limit with men and supplies moved the Easton City Guard (Battery D, 213th Coast Artillery) to the Lisbon, NY area for training. ♦ An out of control tractor-trailer loaded with 17 tons of coal crashed into the living room of a home in Bath, PA but there were no injuries. ♦ Ingersoll-Rand got a $720,765 contract for air compressors for the Navy. ♦ Phillipsburg's Warren Foundry & Pipe Corp. made 96" diameter cast iron water pipe, the largest ever made anywhere.  It was used in the LI RR, Atlantic Avenue, Queens, NY Government Project.  At the time Warren Foundry had an iron mine at Mt. Hope, NJ. ♦ The annual banquet of the West Jersey Motor Club was held in the Phillipsburg Elks building on Oct. 30th.  Over 300 of their 2,000 members attended. ♦ Due to the high price for scrap trolley rails received by the City of Easton, their rail removal program netted them $5,000. ♦ The Easton & South Easton Bridge Co. sold its bridge to the City of Easton for $1,000. ♦ Two draftees arriving in Phillipsburg via the Bel-Del were joined by four locals at the CNJ Phillipsburg station where they all boarded the CNJ's Queen of the Valley for Somerville on 11.30.  The Inter-State Band of Phillipsburg and Easton played at the station for the first draftees from Warren County to be called up under the new selective service law. ♦ The first run of the LV RR streamlined Black Diamond was made. ♦ The Central RR of NJ, which was under reorganization in Federal Court, was ordered to pay 60% of its $3,464,000 NJ tax levy for this year. ♦ Mellor's of Wilson Borough advertised the "largest (Lionel) display in town," and sets at $7.95 and up.  Wm. Laubach & Sons of Easton offered 28 piece Lionel train sets for $9.95. ♦ The LV RR began to offer automobile rentals to passengers. ♦ The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffers, Warehousemen and Helpers Local 773 was established in Allentown. ♦ An Easton Exchange Club excursion to the Ice Follies carried 800 to Hershey, PA on Dec. 18th.  The 14 car train departed the 4th St. station of the Jersey Central in time for the 8:30 pm show and returned at 2:30 am. ♦ The Delaware Canal in PA became Roosevelt State Park. ♦ The Union Model RR Club, with O & HO gauge layouts, housed in the Bel Del Phillipsburg station was disbanded. ♦  Ingersoll-Rand hosted a Christmas party for 6,000 boys and girls and 2,000 parents in 5 sessions over two days.  The Elks and the Rotarians assisted with the preparations at the Hillcrest Club. ♦ A Brooklyn coal truck driver was charged with attempting to kill an Easton police officer on 12.21.  The policeman attempted to stop the truck on Bushkill Street, but the driver failed to halt.  The officer jumped on the running board but the truckman kept right on going, carrying the law officer over the Delaware River toll bridge to NJ.  Finally the officer broke the window of the truck, forcing the driver to stop. ♦

 

1941 A short strike by the CIO's Steel Workers' Organizing Committee resulted in Bethlehem Steel Corporation's recognition of the steel workers union. ♦ Alfred J. Ferraro purchased the bus operating rights of the N.J. Interurban Coach Co. (successor to the trolley operator NJ Interurban Co.) between Port Colden, NJ and Easton, PA.  He began operating under the name of Trans-Bridge Lines. ♦ All passenger service was withdrawn from the DL&W Phillipsburg to Washington line. ♦ Former NJ Assemblyman Chester J. Shafer of Washington allowed several men "who need the money" to salvage iron from his Morris Canal Plane No. 6W near Port Colden.  Shafer had purchased the plane and planetender's house four years prior and renovated it into a summer cottage.  Well over 10 tons of scrap were extracted including the 4 ton turbine and 2,000+ lb. shaft.  Many items were picked up by Mr. Shafer, including spikes and huge iron prongs.  Numerous bags of coal were salvaged from the canal bottom. ♦ The US District Court in Newark directed the trustees of the CNJ RR to pay all back rent due to the LC&N on their lease of the Lehigh & Susquehanna RR and branches. ♦ Jim Lee began working for the CRR of NJ.  Within 6 months he was inducted into the military, where he served three years in the Army. ♦ Thomas Edison's New Village cement plant and RR near Stewartsville closed.  The production equipment was sold to a South American phosphate producer. ♦ The L&NE RR acquired their last steam locomotives to help handle the increased traffic of WW II.  Four L-1s class Mikados, built at Juniata in 1918, were purchased from the PRR. ♦ A stunt car was driven up a ramp and "jumped" over the full length of a Royal Blue Coaches (of Whitehouse Station, NJ) bus at the Allentown Fairgrounds. ♦ A westbound freight on the CNJ struck fallen rock at Freemansburg, PA.  Jim Lee was the head brakeman on the steam locomotive which derailed along with several cars, but all stayed upright.  The only injury was to the fireman who jumped and broke his legs. ♦ Experimental installation of the Union Train Communication System was authorized by the PRR on their Belvidere branch. ♦ The Lehigh Valley Chapter, NRHS was founded and they sponsored a special trolley trip (9.28) from Allentown to Easton & Norristown using LVT Liberty Bell Route club car #1030 (former Indiana RR).  North Jersey Chapter members were aboard and negatives survive in the No. Jersey NRHS collection. ♦ The first parking meter in the Lehigh Valley was installed in Easton on 10.20. ♦ Volume 1, No. 1 of Lehigh Lines was published by the Lehigh Valley Chapter, NRHS. ♦ Jersey Central Power & Light Co. Gilbert Generating Station purchased a GE 45 ton plant switching locomotive #1 (serial #15292).  This unit, and its sister #2, a 35 ton Plymouth, remain on the property, out of service. ♦ The Lehigh Navigation Coal Co. showed a profit for the first time since 1927. ♦ Jersey Central 2-8-2 #917 was photographed on the L&HR RR with train #2-92 by Robert F. Collins on 12.7. ♦ With the beginning of World War II on 12.8, the country was jolted out of the Depression as spending by the government for war purposes soared.  Gasoline rationing and conservation of rubber, steel, aluminum and other raw materials was imposed.  Rail and transit ridership rose precipitously as private automobile use was restricted. ♦ Canal missionary, Rev. Francis S. Williston died and was buried in Phillipsburg. ♦ In this year private motor carriers came under Federal rules restricting what they could haul and for whom. ♦

 

1942 WW II government rationing imposed a quota of 15 new car tires and 13 new tubes on the City of Easton. ♦ Five 1924 Alco-built Lackawanna 4-8-2 locomotives were leased to the L&HR. ♦ A fire, apparently smoldering for years under thousands of tons of refuse that had been dumped into the large, abandoned Port Delaware Canal basin between the old boat yard and the Bel-Del Old Main Yard, was finally extinguished.  The basin had been used for many years by the LV RR as a depository for refuse and for used oil-soaked waste from their car cleaning department. ♦ One round trip passenger train on the Bel-Del was eliminated because the equipment was needed for wartime troop movements.  However, after they were removed a locomotive and a single mail car kept the same schedule. ♦ Thirty-one men were killed in the Lehigh Portland Cement Co. quarry at Sandts Eddy, three miles north of Easton.  Twenty tons of dynamite exploded prematurely as Hercules Powder Co. demonstrators were preparing a "big blast" on 3.26.  The detonation was felt as far away as Camden and Morristown, NJ. ♦ Many troop trains were required to move the Texas Division of the National Guard north on the Bel Del to Camp Edwards in Massachusetts.  They later went into action in WW II in Italy. ♦ LVT was negotiating with the Office of Defense Transportation to purchase 25 double ended PCC trolleys from Pullman Standard.  The deadly July 8th collision on the Liberty Bell Route killed the deal. ♦ The Edison Cement Corp. discontinued production in June and made their last shipment in August from their New Village plant. ♦ The United Steelworkers of America, AFL CIO was established.  Local 5503 covered the Phillipsburg area. ♦ To aid the wartime scrap drive, each child who brought scrap metal or rubber was admitted to the Washington Movie Theater free. ♦ The Phillipsburg Elks lodge observed "railroad night" to honor railroaders who were retired from the five railroads of the community. ♦ An excursion on the Jersey Central/Reading from Jersey City to Harrisburg, PA was sponsored by the Railroad Enthusiasts.  Blue Comet cars were used. (6.21) ♦ Transportation of coal silt by canalboat on portions of the Lehigh Navigation ceased due to flood damage to the canal.  Gasoline tractors were used on the towpath in place of mule power in the latter years of these operations.  The LC&N had continued maintenance of the canal until the flood.  The Lehigh achieved the distinction of being the longest surviving towpath canal in the US as well as the last one to operate. ♦ On Aug. 10th, the Red Cross showed two talking films at the Phillipsburg Beach on the Delaware River.  The films, "Heads Up" and "Oars & Paddles" were on water safety. ♦ Four persons were injured when their automobile collided with a PRR freight locomotive at Union Square on 8.13. ♦ PRR experimented with a radio telephone system on the Bel-Del which proved a success and was later adopted by them and other railroads. ♦ All rubber-tired transportation came under the control of the Office of Defense Transportation.  Shortly thereafter national highway speed limits were dropped to 35 mph to conserve fuel and aid the war effort. ♦ The Edison Cement Corp. was dissolved. ♦ Ron Luckock's father took a photo of him at age 1 1/2 and his mother from Jefferson St., Easton looking south.  The LV RR roundhouse and a steamer can be seen behind them, across the Lehigh River. ♦ The Phillipsburg Board of Commissioners resolved to make available to the war effort all the steel trolley rails embedded in Heckman Street.  The 60 tons of rails, formerly the property of the Phillipsburg Horse Car Railway Co., were given to the metal salvage section of the War Production Board. ♦ The Ingersoll-Rand plant was presented with the Army and Navy "E" flag/award for excellence in war production. ♦ On 11.19 H.L. Goble & Co., Inc., Motor Freight Transporters of Great Meadows, NJ placed a full page ad in the Phillipsburger promoting the purchase of War Bonds. ♦ In this year the US Army ordered 880,000 new military trucks. ♦

 

1943 The Easton-Phillipsburg Regional War Transportation Committee developed recommendations to help improve local transportation.  Their suggestions: shoppers should ride before 3pm and after 6pm; have fare ready; move back from entrance; walk short distances instead of riding the bus; take other workers if you use your car; and give neighbors rides in your car. ♦ Modern Transfer Co., a trucking firm, acquired the LVT Trolley Freight Division and continued the service, using LVT for their line haul operations. ♦ The control center of the Phillipsburg Defense Council was given a Certificate of Approval by Leonard Dreyfus, the NJ Civilian Defense Director.  It was located in the old town hall which stood where Shappell Park is now located.  The center had 11 phones. ♦ During March the Pennsylvania, Lehigh Valley and Jersey Central Railroads placed ads in local papers touting their part in the war effort. ♦ Phillipsburg's "Buy a Bomber" War Bond effort raised enough money to buy a four engine bomber named "City of Phillipsburg, NJ." ♦ Following a dramatic wreck, officials of the Atlantic Coast RR Co. visited the Bel Del to observe the PRR train-telephone system in use between Phillipsburg and Trenton.  ACL was impressed enough to buy the system from Union Switch & Signal and installation was begun a year later. ♦ Delaware River Coach Lines (DRCL) received PUC approval to purchase the Phillipsburg franchises of Lehigh Valley Transportation Co. that originally belonged to the Phillipsburg Horse Car Railway.  Four LVT buses were included in the sale.  At the same time DRCL and Trans-Bridge Bus Lines were combined under the same management which was Alfred J. Ferraro and his children. ♦ Members of the Lehigh Valley Chapter, NRHS embarked on a group tour from Allentown at 8:10am on 6.27 via LVT "Easton Limited" trolley #1102 (with 25 standees).  From Easton they walked across the Northampton Street bridge and caught the 10:25am northbound Bel Del train at the Phillipsburg depot, which was powered by PRR locomotive #4898.  At  Stroudsburg they transferred to a DL&W train powered by #2104 & 1138 for Scranton.  At that city they rode Lackawanna & Wyoming Valley RR (Laurel Line) to Wilkes-Barre and took the Lehigh Valley RR Asa Packer train, with loco #2112, back to Allentown. ♦ The Tippett & Wood works, located just below the PRR Phillipsburg roundhouse was manufacturing buoys for the U.S. Coast Guard.  During WW II they fabricated at least one steel barge for transporting gasoline.  It was approximately 25' x 75.'  One of the largest items they ever fabricated was an 80 ton cement kiln that was 125' long and had to be transported on three railroad flat cars.  (Although T&W did make boilers in the late 1800's, they were more known for their elevated tanks and towers, structural steel and specialty steel work.) ♦ Royal Blue Coaches, (local bus operator) was incorporated. ♦ Sixty-seven inductees, including Warren F. Lee, renowned Bel-Del author, boarded PRR train #375 and departed Phillipsburg for Fort Dix and a wartime career in the Army. ♦ The US Army activated the Reading/CNJ RR 712th Railway Operating Battalion. ♦ Mildred B. Young filed a suit against the PRR for $100,000 for the loss of a leg while performing her duties as a brakewoman on a freight train on March 12th.  This was the first case on record under the Federal Employers Liability Act. ♦ L.R. Dohm, president of the Warren Foundry & Pipe Corp. of Phillipsburg was elected to the board of directors of the Wharton & Northern Ry. Co. and the Mt. Hope Mineral RR Co., both subsidiaries of the CRR of NJ. ♦ A 500,000 cubic-foot storage tank of the Easton Gas Co. adjacent to the entrance to the Rt. 22 toll bridge on the west side of the Delaware River exploded.  Three gas workers were killed and 20 other people were injured.  The North Front Street plant did not reopen. ♦ Trans-Bridge Lines purchased additional bus rights from Lehigh Valley Transit Co. and named their local transit operations Delaware River Coach Lines. ♦ An oil lifeline was established over the DL&W RR.  Many dedicated petroleum tank trains operated over the DL&W through Belvidere and Washington to Hampton where they continued eastward on the CNJ RR. ♦ The "Big Inch" oil pipeline of 24" diameter was completed its full length from Longview, TX and across NJ to the NY Harbor area.  ♦  CRR of NJ steam locomotives were leased to the L&HR RR to help them handle the wartime traffic boom. ♦ The Delaware River was frozen from Phillipsburg to Easton. ♦

 

1944 The directors of the Easton & Western RR, a CNJ subsidiary, voted to change the name of their company to Central RR of PA. ♦ A PRR employment office was located in the Phillipsburg Depot. ♦ The CNJ RR inaugurated their employee magazine, The Coupler. ♦ An article on the innovative PRR Bel Del Train Telephone Communication system appeared in the Feb. 12th issue of Railway Age.  The first such installation of this Union Switch & Signal system was on the Bel Del between Phillipsburg and Trenton. ♦ The front engine of a heavy eastbound CNJ freight train derailed in Phillipsburg, but the force of the pusher engine on the rear in PA caused a loaded coal car near the center of the train to buckle in the middle of the Delaware River bridge.  In order to facilitate the removal of the damaged car, the coal in it was dumped into the river. ♦ Railfans Ralph E. Hallock and Dave Noble embarked on a ten state private excursion.  Their first leg was west on the Jersey Central's Queen of the Valley through Phillipsburg.  Their story "Operation Railfan - 1944" appeared in the May/June, 1999 issue of Vintage Rails. ♦ The Bel-Del became the first line in the US to use a radio-telephone communication system.  The system was then installed on the PRR main line between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh. ♦ The Central Railroad Company of New Jersey was renamed the Jersey Central Lines.  At the same time they adopted the Statue of Liberty emblem. ♦ On Aug. 10th Jersey Central management informed G.H. Creitz, Agent at Lebanon Station, that a carload of cinders could be furnished to the Excell Foundry & Machine Co. at Lebanon for $15 per car plus freight from either Phillipsburg or Raritan. ♦ President Franklin D. Roosevelt departed Washington for a Labor Day weekend at Hyde Park, NY via an unusual PRR Phillipsburg-L&HR RR route which he never repeated.  The train made a long stop at Allamuchy, NJ while FDR went away and secretly met with a lover, Lucy Mercer Rutherford, who lived in the area. ♦ Royal Blue absorbed Waer Bus Lines, which operated buses from Easton to Wind Gap, Portland, Bangor, Stroudsburg, Philadelphia via Riegelsville & Doylestown, etc. in PA. ♦ On 11.19 the Jersey Central Veteran Employees Association met at the Elks Club in Phillipsburg.  It was announced that the railroad was planning to issue gold lifetime passes to employees with 50 or more years of service. ♦ The last three steam locomotives of the L&HR RR were delivered by Baldwin Locomotive Works.  They were "war baby" 4-8-2's built from the blue prints of the handsome Boston & Maine R-1d class. ♦ The LV RR West Portal Station was removed. ♦ The "City of Phillipsburg," a WW II bomber was paid for by the citizens of Phillipsburg. ♦ Rail passenger travel reached a peak of 95.6 billion passenger miles due to war restrictions on other modes. ♦

 

1945 Fifty passengers on two buses (Martz and Greyhound) en-route from Wilkes Barre to Easton were marooned near Wind Gap by snow drifts and had to spend the night at an inn. ♦ The "Interstate Express" trains began operating on the 163 mile run between Philadelphia and Scranton via the Reading's Bethlehem Branch and the Jersey Central main line northward. ♦ The Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey circus train came to Allentown on 7.7. ♦ A torrential rain, in excess of 6" in 3 hours, caused the collapse of an enormous mass of earth and rocks on an apartment building on No. Main Street, between the Free Bridge and the Toll Bridge, Phillipsburg, killing 4 residents.  The same cloudburst caused run-offs that undermined the roadbed at the PRR lower yard in Phillipsburg.  Rain water flooded a considerable part of Union Square interrupting local rail traffic for several hours. ♦ A LV RR locomotive and 10 cars of an 87 car eastbound freight train known as "8J2" derailed in Richards Yard, Easton, blocking four tracks.  Wrecking crews from Newark, Coxton & Packerton responded. ♦ A fireman was killed as a DL&W locomotive crane toppled while working at a washed out bridge north of the old station at Stewartsville. ♦ A reporter did an article on the radio-telephone system which had been installed on the Bel Del.  The article appeared in the NY Sunday Mirror on 7.27.  The PRR engineer at the time was G. Douglas Moore, a big man who drove a Volkswagen "Beetle" to and from work.  Moore was featured in a PRR magazine ad touting the new system. ♦ A large Greyhound bus crashed into a dwelling on College Hill, Easton.  It had broken down north of Easton and was being towed back by another bus. When an auto ahead stopped short, the towing bus swerved and spun, breaking the tow bar between the two buses.  The disabled bus, which had no brakes, then bounded down the hill, crashing across terraces and lawns, finally coming to a rest after destroying the last porch and scattering furniture and debris across the lawn. ♦ The locomotive and tender of a south bound Bel Del freight train were derailed by a washout below Frenchtown. ♦ The Morris & Essex RR Co. was officially merged into the DL&W. ♦ The Lehigh Valley Chapter NRHS sponsored a 73 mile trolley tour, including the line to Easton on 8.12.  The 57 enthusiasts traveled on LVT cars #302 and 613. ♦ The landmark LV RR So. Easton station, empty for five years, was demolished. ♦ After omitting some outings due to the war effort, the Jersey Central Veteran Employees Association met at Dorney Park in Allentown on 8.28.  Total membership reached a new high of 1,098. ♦ V-J Day ended World War II.  During the 45 months of war, railroads moved 90% of all Army and Navy freight and more than 97% of all military personnel in organized groups within the US.  This included the operation of 113,891 special troop trains. ♦ A driver was badly hurt and his milk truck was demolished when it was hit by the locomotive of LV RR train #37 in fog at Kennedy's Crossing Station on the Springtown - Warren Glen Road. ♦

 

1946 Robert B. Meyner, who later became governor of NJ, was elected president of the Phillipsburg Chamber of Commerce. ♦ The Jersey Central Railroad received permission from the Phillipsburg Board of Commissioners to operate 5 buses daily between Jersey City, Phillipsburg, Allentown and Harrisburg via Rt. 28 in January. ♦ In celebration of the centennial of the LV RR all name train locomotives carried a placard above their pilot and were lavishly decorated with flags and bunting. ♦ Alfred J. Ferraro of Phillipsburg (owner of Delaware River Coach Lines) attempted to buy the Lansdale to Chestnut Hill bus line (the former and first line of the Liberty Bell Route interurban trolley) from Lehigh Valley Transportation Co., but was blocked by the PA PUC. ♦ War broke out between the operators of two bus lines in Phillipsburg.  Delaware River Coach Co. and the (Royal) Blue Coach Co. fought over franchise rights and routes operating on So. Main Street.  The controversy was settled by the PUC board. ♦ On Apr. 13th the PRR celebrated their 100 year anniversary. ♦ The LV RR celebrated their Centennial on Apr. 20th. ♦ The 6th annual testimonial dinner at the Phillipsburg Elks Home was attended by 400 retired railroad men.  It was sponsored by the Order of Railroad Conductors, Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Engineers. ♦ An excursion scheduled over the CNJ from NY to their Ashley Planes was sponsored by the Railroadians of America, RR Enthusiasts, NRHS, Electric Railroaders Association and the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society. ♦ Delaware River Coach Lines built a new garage on Broad St. in Phillipsburg to house their transit bus fleet. ♦ The Jersey Central converted their CRR of PA into an operating subsidiary in the hopes that they might shift ownership of rolling stock to PA and help avoid the higher and ever increasing tax burden levied on their NJ properties.  The effort was not successful. ♦ Jim Lee and his late wife, Mary purchased Morris Canal Plane 9 West and the plane tenders dwelling as their home. ♦ During June & July a new American Locomotive Co. model PA A & B diesel set #51 operated in demonstrator service hauling the Black Diamond on the LV RR.  The LV was so impressed that they ordered 14 PA-2 diesels.  Demonstrator #51, Alco's 75,000th locomotive, was later sold to the Santa Fe RR. ♦ Jersey Central General Passenger Agent B.D. Branch spoke at the Phillipsburg Rotary about how his railroad transported a million servicemen with out a single accident. ♦ The Lackawanna RR rebuilt the Warren St. underpass in Phillipsburg to make it wider and safer for autos. ♦ The Newcomen Society paid tribute to the LV RR on the occasion of their 100th anniversary.  Special trains carried guests from NY and Philadelphia to Bethlehem. ♦ Rt. 22 was widened from 2 to 4 lanes in Phillipsburg.  The "Super-Highway Approach" to the Bushkill St. toll bridge was dedicated by NJ governor Walter Edge, Phillipsburg mayor George Hartman and others.  Jay Miers, then Director of the Warren County Dept. of Economic Development & Tourism took a 16mm movie documenting the event. ♦ Two LV RR freight cars derailed and fell into the Lehigh River at So. Third Street. ♦ The new Greyhound Bus Terminal & Post House Restaurant (which seated 160) at Front & Bushkill Streets, Easton, was formally opened on Sept. 6th.  The terminal was used by Pennsylvania Greyhound Lines, Jersey Central Transportation Co., Reading Transportation Co., and Waer Bus Line.  The location was formerly occupied by the Seitz Brewery. ♦ A short strike of LVT operators was ordered by their union, The Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway & Motor Coach Employees of America. ♦ Trans-Bridge and Delaware River Bus Lines celebrated the opening of their new Phillipsburg terminal with a full page ad in the Phillipsburger of 9.26.  They had 16 drivers and 18 buses.  Steel for the new building was fabricated by Tippet & Wood.  At the same time Alfred Ferraro, president of Trans-Bridge started a new business - Trans-Petroleum Corp. to distribute Gulf Refining Co. products. ♦ The Philadelphia, Bethlehem & New England RR retired their last steam locomotive. ♦ The Jersey Central RR applied to the PUC to abandon passenger, baggage and mail service at the Phillipsburg station.  The Easton station would have to be used instead. ♦ Alpha Portland Cement Co. purchased the First National Bank Building at Center Square, Easton for their headquarters and renamed it "The Alpha Building." ♦ The Jersey Central exhibited their new double-ended Baldwin diesel locomotive #2000 at Allentown Station.  These units were the first diesel-electric locomotives to be placed in suburban passenger service by any railroad in the world. ♦ The Rt. 22 Delaware River approach road in Phillipsburg was officially dedicated as Memorial Parkway. ♦ The "Hobby Hangout" model railroad hobby shop opened for business in downtown Easton. ♦ Railway Express Agency shipments for this year surpassed all existing records at 233,520,508 parcels. ♦ The home-built Mack 33 ton, chain drive, four wheel, steeple cab, switching locomotive (#1) was retired and scrapped.  It had served various Mack Allentown facilities since 1921. ♦ 

 

1947 An LVT trolley car and a tractor-trailer collided in Bethlehem.  The truck drivers, Frank Trink and Alfonso Firrarrotti, both of Lyndhurst, NJ, were employed by the (NY &) Chicago Express Co. ♦ LVT filed a reorganization plan with the Securities & Exchange Commission. ♦ The NYS&W RR which had dieselized on July 1, 1945 had an upsurge in traffic and leased a couple of steam locomotives from the Lehigh & New England RR for several weeks until their four additional diesels arrived. ♦ On 6.28 the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus exhibited in Easton. ♦ The Lehigh Valley Chapter, NRHS operated a trolley trip from Allentown to Easton and return using LVT car #812 (6.30). ♦ The LV Chapter ran a special trolley trip on Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton lines with cars #219 & 435 (7.13). ♦ Two new Budd built Vista Dome coaches (Silver Island & Silver River), the first of an order for 40 for the Burlington RR were attached to the LVRR Asa Packer train on a demonstration run west from New York.  This was the first time that production vista domes appeared on any RR and Edward Q. Budd was among the dignitaries aboard.  They were touted as the greatest innovation since the 1934 Pioneer Zephyr. ♦ New CNJ RR GM EMD F-3 locomotives #52/52B/53 were displayed at Allentown Station. ♦ The CNJ RR placed into operation their first long distance freight diesels - the GM EMD F-3's. ♦ On 8.18 three of the new Jersey Central units were damaged in a collision and derailment at Glen Gardner.  A 128 car eastbound freight train stopped and was rammed from behind by a 52 car freight powered by the new diesels.  Injured were Conductor R. Simms and Flagman Paul Trauger, both on the moving train and both from Phillipsburg.  While the line was blocked all Jersey Central freight and passenger traffic was rerouted via the Lehigh Valley RR between Bound Brook and Easton. ♦ A record 7 mile long parade in Phillipsburg for the NJ State Exempt Firemen's Assn. was viewed by an estimated 25,000 people.  The parade, which included 156 pieces of apparatus, emergency squad trucks, 51 auxiliaries and 50 bands, was one of the greatest firemen's parades ever held in NJ.  The spectacle climaxed the two day 61st annual convention in Phillipsburg, where the first unit of volunteer firemen was organized and where the state organization was formed in 1887. ♦ Bel-Del passenger service was reduced to one daily round trip between Trenton and Phillipsburg and a Sunday round trip from Trenton to East Stroudsburg. ♦ A motor truck mail route between Phillipsburg and East Stroudsburg was established to fill the gap caused by removal of Bel-Del passenger trains. ♦ The first trainload of American honored dead from the battlefields in Europe passed through Phillipsburg/Easton on the LV RR on 10.29.  The 464 bodies had arrived in NYC on the SS Joseph V. Connolly. ♦ The Jersey Central adopted a new slogan - "The Big Little Railroad." ♦ The original "Freedom Train" visited the Jersey Central Allentown station on Nov. 19 & 20.  An estimated 3,000 people were turned away.  NJ stops were made in Atlantic City, Trenton and Camden.  It carried 127 original historic documents of American Liberty to 326 communities in all 48 states and was sponsored by the American Heritage Foundation.  A total of 3,521,841 visitors toured the train during its 37,160 mile, 16-month tour over 52 different railroads. ♦ A 4,500 horsepower Baldwin diesel locomotive was operated in demonstrator service on the Jersey Central. ♦ The municipal governing board of Phillipsburg voted unanimously to request the PRR to demolish its Phillipsburg Depot because it was "a dangerous eyesore." ♦ The L&NE RR purchased their first diesel-electric locomotive, a 650 HP Whitcomb, built in 1942 for the US Army. ♦ The Jersey Central requested and got a 25% increase for carrying US Mail retroactive to 2.19.  It was the first raise for railroads since 8.1.1928. ♦ The Philadelphia & Easton Electric Railway was the subject of a feature in The Marker, Vol. 6, No. 2 published by the North Jersey Chapter, NRHS. ♦

 

1948 The LV, Jersey Central and Reading RR's cut passenger service by 25% to conserve coal due to the soft coal strike. ♦ The last circus trains on the Bel Del, the two sections of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey train, traveled up the Delaware River route from Washington, D.C. to Boston.  On June 13th one of the trains, with 26 cars traveled south on the L&HR RR to Phillipsburg pulled by 2-8-2 #91. ♦ The LV RR eastbound advance "Black Diamond" train on Independence Day weekend included all open-window coaches leased from the Reading RR and an old K-21/2 Pacific #2015. ♦ The 16mm promotional film The BIG Little Railroad began to be shown to the public by the Jersey Central. ♦ Brand new Baldwin A-B-B-A "Shark" diesel demonstrator set 6001 made a number of round trips on the L&HR in early August. ♦ A Jersey Central railfan trip behind 4-6-2 #830 ran on the Lehigh & Susquehanna Division from Jersey City on August 19th per Frank T. Reilly. ♦ L&NE Alco FA1 diesels #707 & 709 were tested on the L&HR for three days beginning on Aug. 26th. ♦ A Railfan Special was sponsored by the Philadelphia Chapter, NRHS on Sunday, Sept. 19th for $4.50.  It traveled via the Reading Perkiomen Branch to Allentown and stopped at the Jersey Central Bethlehem Enginehouse.  It then traveled east on the Jersey Central to Elizabethport and then to Port Reading, where a stop was made to inspect and photograph the coal dumper.  The special then returned to Reading Terminal in Philadelphia. ♦ President Harry S. Truman traveled from Baltimore via Reading and Allentown to Elizabeth and Jersey City over the Jersey Central on one of his whistlestop campaigns on 10.7.  The train was operated via a telephone system installed from the engine to the last car.  Truman made 15 minute speeches at the Jersey Central/Reading Allentown Station, Bethlehem and trackside at the Jersey Central Easton station. ♦ The American Heritage Foundation's Freedom Train made a twelve hour stop at the Lehigh Valley Easton Station on Mon., Oct. 11.  The three car train with 127 priceless and famous documents that inspired our nation had traveled over 34,000 miles to it's 341st stop. ♦ On 10.17 the Reading Railfan Society sponsored an Autumn Leaf Rail Ramble from Reading to Scranton, PA and return.  The outbound leg was via the Reading RR to Allentown and the CRR of PA through Mauch Chunk to Taylor.  They went over the DL&W RR from Taylor to Rupert and then returned to Reading on the Reading via Tamaqua.  Photo stops were scheduled at Rockport, Mainville Fill and Ringtown Fill.  The cost for the 10 hour day of travel was only $5.50!  On the same day a CNJ steam powered railfan trip over the High Bridge Branch and the Wharton & Northern RR from Jersey City ran to Green Pond Jct. (with the NYS&W RR) - fare was $4.25. ♦ President Truman's silver campaign train traveled from Baltimore, Philadelphia and Trenton, then up the Bel Del through Phillipsburg on the night of 10.22 to the DL&W connection and on to Scranton.  One of the 1927 Pullman cars used on these trips is currently owned by the Susquehanna RR and is used on excursions. ♦ Diesels replaced steam on the LV RR Black Diamond train. ♦ All steam locomotive helper service between Raritan - Hampton - Phillipsburg ended due to dieselization, saving the Jersey Central $385,000 annually. ♦ Three new double-ended Baldwin passenger diesels were delivered to Jersey Central subsidiary, Central RR of PA, (its first diesels) in Allentown, PA and were soon each running 7,000 miles every three weeks. ♦ All nine buses of the Allentown & Reading Transit Co. were lined up for a roster photo at Dorneyville, PA. ♦ The Reading RR conducted an extensive steam improvement program following WW II.  This effort culminated in the 1948 Reading Shop production of 10 G-3 Pacifics.  They were the last 4-6-2's built in this country. ♦ The Northampton County Model Railroaders formed and began constructing O & HO gauge layouts on the second floor of the former Northampton Traction (Hay Line) headquarters building in Easton.  Before much progress was made the beautiful stone station/office structure was slated for demolition for the new four lane US Route 22 highway and the club disbanded. ♦ The Steelton plant of Bethlehem Steel rolled 155 lb. rail for the Bel Del.  It remains in use on the Belvidere Delaware River Railway as the heaviest rail in NJ. ♦ The Jersey Central Phillipsburg roundhouse and steam locomotive servicing facilities were retired, giving the railroad projected annual savings of $65,000. ♦ LV RR "GB" interlocking at Greens Bridge was abandoned. ♦ The Motor Bus Society was formed in New Jersey. ♦ Trans World Airlines began to operate between Newark, ABE (Bethlehem) Airport and Pittsburgh. ♦ The Jersey Central reported a loss of $9,923,182 on intrastate passenger service. ♦ The CNJ's "PU" tower at Phillipsburg was rebuilt and modernized. ♦

 

1949 The PRR filed a petition to withdraw all passenger trains from the Bel-Del. ♦ (4.15) DL&W 4-8-4 Pocono #1641 passed west through Phillipsburg on the outbound leg of a DL&W RR Rail-Camera Safari excursion.  It traveled from Hoboken via Washington and Phillipsburg; the Jersey Central to Bethlehem (where #1641 was turned on the CNJ turntable) and the L&NE to Pen Argyl (where new L&NE Alco diesels were on display for the railfans).  The return was via Portland and Oxford.  "Friends" member Ira Deutsch was on board. ♦ The Bel-Del Phillipsburg station was torn down. ♦ On 6.1 the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus exhibited in Easton. ♦ A June 5th railfan trip with Reading coaches was operated on the L&NE RR and covered the Bethlehem branch. ♦ The Easton Medina drive-in theater opened on Alt. Rt. 22 (William Penn Highway) 3 miles west of downtown Easton. ♦ Some 50 drivers of the Royal Blue Coach Lines went on strike on 6.16 to protest the exclusion of Waer Bus Lines (which had been taken over by Royal) from their contract. ♦ The Jersey Central offered a low fare, $3 excursion to NYC from Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton and Phillipsburg on 6.19. ♦ Baltimore & Ohio ads in Fortune magazine for their Sentinel Service showed a map with connections to Boston via the "Central States Dispatch" route.  The service used several connecting carriers to the Lehigh Valley where the CSD route utilized two routes to Boston: the L&HR/NYNH&H and the B&M/D&H/CNJ. ♦ The Washington Community Ambulance Squad, Inc. replaced their blue 1941 vehicle with a new $7,000 Buick ambulance. ♦ On 7.21 a cave-in on Thomas Street, Phillipsburg, near Wilbur Avenue revealed a cavern in subsurface limestone rock.  It took the Street Department three days and 440 tons of earth to fill the void. ♦ The "Jersey Barrier" was designed by the state of New Jersey as a way of reducing head-on collisions.  It was first installed on Rt. 22 over Jugtown Mountain and was of concrete construction, 18" high. ♦ Jersey Central RR office employees were changed to a 5 day, 40 hour work week. ♦ A new Studebaker truck of up to two ton capacities and a 100 hp engine was offered by dealers Wm. A. Henderson, Inc. of Phillipsburg and Henry Wieller of Bloomsbury.  Stevens Motors of Phillipsburg offered new Ford trucks with 145 hp V-8 engines. ♦ The LV chapter, NRHS operated a farewell trolley special on the last full day of operation of the Easton Limited.  The Easton Division farewell trip used LVT cars #917 & 955 on Sunday, 8.14.  That evening the last revenue trip departed 11:35pm from Center Square, Easton to Bethlehem and return.  The motorman was Earle Edwin Eisenhardt, #393 and car was #445.  It arrived back in Easton four minutes early with 20 passengers.  The LVT Easton Limited trolley was converted to bus operation, ending the last trolley service in the Easton-Phillipsburg area.  At the same time trolley freight service between Easton and Allentown was also abandoned.  Modern Transfer Co. which did the local trucking for LVT also took over the line haul freight business between Easton and Allentown. ♦ Trans-Bridge bus executives honored a group of drivers at a luncheon at the Pomfret Club in Easton.  Clarence Hann had driven a million miles without an accident and got a gold watch.  Russell Dittmar and William Hubbard received gifts for their 14 & 10 year accident free records. ♦ The Jersey Central Lines emerged from a decade of bankruptcy on 10.1.  A gala ceremony commemorating the event and their 100th anniversary was held in the Jersey City passenger terminal two days later. ♦ Phillipsburg native Richard Kroesen retired from the PRR after working 53 years on the Bel Del and then went to work on a chicken farm. ♦ The L&HR RR obtained bids from EMD, Alco, and Baldwin-Westinghouse for replacement of steam locomotives with diesels.  On 10.17 their motive power committee recommended the purchase of eleven 1,500hp road switchers.  In the same month, EMD introduced their GP7 road switcher, but their bid several months earlier had not included them. ♦ Greyhound advertised their Post House at Front & Bushkill Streets, Easton and one-way fares of $1.90 to NYC; $2.50 to Atlantic City; etc. ♦ "Trolley Heaven," a full page photo story on the Branford Electric Railway Association appeared in the Nov. 7th issue of the Phillipsburger. ♦ The LV RR purchased the 18 sleeping cars which they had been leasing from the Pullman Co. ♦ The Easton & Northern RR and ten other subsidiaries were corporately merged into the parent LV RR. ♦ Two of the former LVT Easton Limited 1100 series cars were sold to the Milwaukee Rapid Transit & Speedrail Co., Kenosha, WI, the other two were scrapped. ♦ The bottom dropped out of the market for anthracite coal, sales of which declined by 24%. ♦ The Jersey Central Phillipsburg engine terminal was closed due to dieselization. ♦ The Easton & Northern RR was absorbed into the LV RR on 12.31. ♦ The Jersey Central Bloomsbury tower was closed. ♦

 

1950 Ridgeway & Pfeffer, a new Chevrolet Agency, opened in Phillipsburg. ♦ Eleven retired L&NE RR steam locos were stored at Bath Junction yards in February awaiting movement to Bethlehem Steel for scrapping. ♦ After the PRR Phillipsburg Depot head house was demolished it was replaced with "The Spur," a gasoline service station which originally utilized RR tank cars on a siding for storing fuel. ♦ New pleasant sounding chime horns were installed on the 6 main line diesels on the LV RR. ♦ EMD supplied GP7 demonstrator #200 to the L&HR for tests.  A month later the L&HR purchased a fleet of Alco RS3 road switchers to replace steam locomotives. ♦ A coal strike (13 Feb. - 16 Mar.) forced a cutback in the use of steam locomotives and the PRR temporarily replaced Trenton - Phillipsburg passenger trains with a Greyhound bus that ran on a highway route nearly parallel to the railroad for a month. ♦ The L&HR RR settled details of their order for eleven 1,600 hp RS3 road switcher locomotives with Alco on 3.8.  EMD GP7 prototype #100 eventually made a demonstration run on the L&HR, but the railroad had already made up its mind with Alco. ♦ The Jersey Central Scranton Flyer trains were discontinued. ♦ In mid May the first four units of a fleet of new diesel-electric locomotives was received on the Bel-Del.  Steam power was entirely replaced by 20 diesel-electric locomotives. ♦ A Washington to Easton bound Trans-Bridge bus developed a fire in its engine compartment.  The 26 passengers were evacuated at the Delaware River bridge plaza.  Three Phillipsburg fire companies responded and doused the flames.  ♦ The L&HR RR charged the World of Mirth Shows Circus Train $2,178 to move their 40 cars from the NYNH&H RR interchange at Maybrook Yard, NY to the PRR interchange at Phillipsburg.  This charge worked out to about 38¢ per car mile. ♦ The suspension bridge over the Lehigh River from Jefferson & 10th, Easton to the south side blew down. ♦ For a week or so in the latter part of July, Reading "Crusader" steam locomotive #118 operated on the Allentown - Perkiomen Branch - Valley Forge passenger run.  The 4-6-2 had been replaced by new diesels on its former Jersey City to Philadelphia runs.  The streamlined Pacific was serviced at the Jersey Central Bethlehem engine terminal while working out of Allentown. ♦ The Hunt Bros. Three-Ring Circus, sponsored as a benefit for the West Jersey Shrine Club, exhibited in Phillipsburg on the Norton Grounds at Roseberry Street in early August. ♦ The LV RR's original Pattenburg tunnel was abandoned.  It was later used for a short time to grow mushrooms. ♦ A full page LVT ad in the Allentown paper advertised the purchase of 24 new Mack buses for $380,000. ♦ The last revenue steam run on the L&HR RR was made by light Mikado #73 on 12.9.  The addition of a new Port Morris train prompted the railroad to immediately purchase two more RS3s.  Thus thirteen identical road switchers replaced their 20 steam locomotives. ♦ The last steam locomotives on the L&NE railroad were replaced by diesels. ♦ The LV RR removed their earlier bridge, south of the present abandoned bridge over the Delaware River. ♦ More than 50 million annual trips were taken on the LVT trolley and bus system that existed in the Lehigh Valley. ♦

 

1951 The Jersey Central's 1867 bridge across the Delaware, south of the present bridge used by NS was removed due to a decline in traffic.  The old bridge was built for two tracks, but in its final years had only one track and even that had weight restrictions. ♦ The Newark News Sunday Magazine published the first of 17 consecutive articles on NJ RR & transportation history by John T. Cunningham.  This was the longest series the News had ever published. ♦ Work began on the initial section of the 22.56 mile Rt. 22 by-pass in the Lehigh Valley. ♦ On 5.28 the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus exhibited in Easton. ♦ The remains of the Easton-south side suspension bridge were demolished.  It was the world's longest foot bridge, built in 1886. ♦ The ICC granted Delaware River Coach (bus) Co., operating out of Phillipsburg, rights to extend its service to points in Easton and nearby towns.  The company announced a 15¢ fare. ♦ The LV RR Phillipsburg tower was abandoned when the interlocking was controlled remotely from Easton. ♦ The NJ Board of Public Utility Commissioners refused to allow the PRR to eliminate passenger service on the Bel-Del. ♦ The PRR replaced steam power on the Bel Del with diesel rail car No. 4388 for the operation of Phillipsburg and Trenton RPO trains Nos. 2359 and 2372. ♦ On Sept. 2nd, the Sunday-only Trenton-Stroudsburg Bel Del passenger train with two coaches was powered by PRR Alco diesel switcher #8900.  Warren B. Crater photographed it at Union Square, Phillipsburg. ♦ Over 3,500 people braved mud and rain to view a model airplane show at Phillipsburg Airport on Rt. 24 (now 57) in Lopatcong Township. ♦ Phillipsburg resident Henry J. Opitz was fatally injured after 50 years service on the PRR.  He was swept from the roof of a moving box car by a canopy at the Riegel Paper Co. at Milford. ♦ Mack completed the first of 10 "FCD" diesel-electric rail buses for the New Haven RR at their Allentown Plant. ♦ LV RR and L&HR RR both became 100% diesel powered. ♦ Ingersoll-Rand's first diesel continued to switch cars on the 15 miles of their Phillipsburg Plant trackage.  However, they decided to replace their standby steam locomotive with a similar I-R diesel and purchased the former DL&W #3001, which became I-R #91. ♦ On Aug. 31 the last locomotive (#5683) was completed by the Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton Corp. at their Lima, OH plant.  It was one of 22 class LS25, 2,500 hp center cab transfer units, each containing two 8-cylinder diesel engines.  They were built for the PRR and were frequently used on the Bel Del through Phillipsburg. ♦ LVT's Liberty Bell Route high speed interurban trolley line between Allentown and Philadelphia was abandoned on 9.6. ♦ A motorcade for General Douglas MacArthur assembled in Phillipsburg and proceeded west over the Northampton Street Bridge.  In the middle of the bridge a ceremony was held and he was made an Honorary Citizen of Phillipsburg; an Honorary Member of the Phillipsburg Chamber of Commerce and he was given the key to the City of Easton. ♦ Pumpernickel Bill's (Troxell) Annual Train Excursion to Niagara Falls was operated from Easton, Bethlehem, Allentown, etc. via the LV RR on 10.13 & 14. ♦ Jersey Central Transportation Co. sold its NYC - Allentown bus route to Somerset Bus Co. which kept the local rights but resold the through route to Royal Blue Coaches. ♦ The CRR of PA Board of Directors voted to spend $3,500,000 to modernize their Allentown, PA freight yard. ♦ Jersey Central dining car service between Jersey City and Allentown ended. ♦ The world's tallest candle, the Peace Candle, was first erected at Christmastide at Easton Circle.  The display has been a holiday tradition ever since.  The Free Bridge was decorated with Christmas lights. ♦

 

1952 LVT Liberty Bell Route car #1030 was loaded on a flat car at Riverside Yard, Allentown for transport to Seashore Trolley Museum at Kennebunkport, ME, by rail. ♦ The new Turnabout Diner on Memorial Parkway (Rt. 22), in Phillipsburg, advertised a businessman's lunch for 70¢. ♦ The Board of Directors of the PRR authorized the construction of the Roxburg Branch, including a new bridge across the Delaware River, between Phillipsburg and Belvidere on 2.26.  It was built to serve a new power plant to be constructed by the PA Power & Light Co. ♦ Ingersoll Rand manufactured the blast furnace blowers for US Steel's new Fairless Works, near Morrisville, PA. ♦ Several new bus stops were established in Easton.  Most were moved a block away from Center Square to keep the circle clear and to aid traffic flow. ♦ The Sunday only passenger trains on the Bel-Del to East Stroudsburg were discontinued on 4.20, ending service north of Phillipsburg. ♦ Pine Creek RR was established on a 2.5 acre site on Rt. 9 in Marksboro, NJ by Jay Wulfson, Jim Wright, and Pete Rasmussen.  They invented the steam tourist/museum railroad industry and continue at Allaire State Park as the oldest steam preservation railroad in the US. ♦ The Lehigh Valley Chapter, NRHS chartered an LVT bus from Allentown to Atlantic City to tour Atlantic City Transportation Co. trolley routes on cars #295 & 6887 on June 8th. ♦ The PRR dieselized their Phillipsburg yard operations. ♦ On 6.17 the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus exhibited in Easton for the last time. ♦ An Army tank and a 2 1/2 ton truck were parked in front of the Embassy theater in Easton to promote the movie Red Ball Express. ♦ The NJ PUC allowed Trans-Bridge Lines and Delaware River Coach Lines to raise fares from 10¢ to 13¢. ♦ Drivers for Trans-Bridge and Delaware River Coach went on strike for a little over a week due to a grievance. ♦ Fire trucks from two Phillipsburg fire companies collided en-route to a fire.  Both vehicles had to be sent back to the manufacturers for repairs.  One went back to Ahrens-Fox. ♦ The NJ State Exempt Firemen's parade set a new record with 200 fire companies and 80 bands participating. ♦ The LV RR hired a contractor to remove their second bridge at Greens Bridge.  The unneeded old span was between their present bridge and the Jersey Central bridge. ♦ The NRHS LV Chapter ran a farewell trolley trip on Allentown-Bethlehem-So. Bethlehem-Hellertown routes using LVT car #957 (10.26). ♦ Two occupants of an auto escaped injury when their car was struck at Union Square by a freight train. ♦ The Royal Blue Coaches passenger franchise was sold to Messrs Geiler, Hawkins & Gall. ♦ All service on the Bel Del was dieselized. ♦ LC&N Co. donated "mine lokie" #51 to Pine Creek RR. ♦ On 11.29 the DL&W RR bunkhouse near Stockton and Chambers Streets was broken into.  Nothing was stolen or destroyed, but someone apparently used the building to sleep and made a fire in the stove. ♦ The rebuilt CRR Allentown, PA freight classification yard was formally opened. ♦ The hourly wages of Trans-Bridge Bus Lines and Delaware River Coach Lines drivers were raised from $1.28 to $1.44. ♦

1953 On Jan. 6th PRR and PP&L officials, civic and industrial leaders toured the new Roxburg Branch to the new PP&L Co. Martins Creek generating plant.  They traveled from Phillipsburg on a train of 3 Pullman cars pulled by a PRR "F" unit diesel locomotive.  They toured the plant site in three chartered buses. ♦ Tung-Sol Electric Co. placed an advertisement in the 1.8 issue of the Phillipsburger.  It announced "special low cost bus transportation" direct to their Washington plant from Belvidere, Oxford, Hazen, Hackettstown, Woodglen, Califon, Long Valley, High Bridge, Clinton, Easton & Phillipsburg areas to lure workers. ♦ Two dump trucks were pressed into emergency service to replace the two Phillipsburg fire trucks damaged in a collision with each other. ♦ A small group of Lafayette engineering students practiced underground surveying in the Ingersoll-Rand mine at the Phillipsburg plant.  The mine had been used since 1910 for the testing and development of I-R rock drills, drill rods, & Jack bits.  It had about 700' of drifts at a depth of 100' in pre-Cambrian rock.  The mine was closed in the late 1970's, the head house removed, and the shaft was filled. ♦ The boiler of former Jersey Central steam locomotive #401, used to supply steam at the Phillipsburg roundhouse complex for years, was scrapped. ♦ NJ state highway route numbers were revised.  Portions of State Rts. 24, 28 & 29, also designated as US 22, became known solely as US 22.  Rt. S-24 and a part of Rt. 24 became known as the present Rt. 57. ♦ The DL&W RR operated their last steam locomotive. ♦ The Kuebler Brewery, located south of the LV RR bridge along the Delaware Canal in Easton, ceased production. ♦ The Jersey Central withdrew the last steam locomotive from the Bethlehem engine terminal. ♦ On May 2nd the Jersey Central Veteran Employees Association held their 11th annual banquet at the Castle Garden auditorium at Dorney Park in Allentown.  At the time the organization had a membership of 1,200 retired CNJ railroaders. ♦ An open house was held at the Easton plant of the Taylor-Wharton Co. on May 2nd.  Visitors were shown all the steps of work which went into the manufacture of railroad and street railway trackwork.  Guests were given a ride on plant trackage behind their 0-4-0 fireless cooker locomotive #548.  The "train" had a flat car fitted with perimeter railings and seats trailed by a Jersey Central caboose. ♦ Two diesel locomotives and 20 cars of a 121 car Jersey Central freight train derailed near Alpha on 4.12.  Since both tracks were blocked, Central trains were shifted to the LV RR.  Passengers were taken to their destinations by taxis. ♦ The LV Chapter operated a farewell to the Allentown-Catasauqua-Northampton trolley route with cars #908 & 952 (4.26). ♦ LV Chapter ran a farewell trip on the Allentown-Bethlehem & Fullerton trolley routes using cars #916 & 932 on June 7th. ♦ Buses replaced trolleys (June 8th) on the last two Bethlehem - Allentown routes, ending trolley service in the Lehigh Valley. ♦ The last LVT trolleys were moved to the Bethlehem Steel Co. scrap yard where they were burned to salvage the scrap metal.  Most of them moved under their own power, or were towed by other trolleys, as LVT had a siding which led directly into the steel facility. ♦ Fairbanks-Morse 2,400hp Trainmaster demonstrator diesel locomotives TM#1 & TM#2 were tested, beginning at Port Reading, NJ, around the Reading RR system including Saucon Yard and PB&NE Hill at Saucon Creek in the Bethlehem area during the first week of July. ♦ A special LV RR train made stops in the Lehigh Valley to pick up Boy Scouts to take them to the National Jamboree at Irvine Ranch, CA.  The routing was LV RR to Buffalo; NYC RR via Detroit; C&NW RR & UP RR via Yellowstone National Park & Salt Lake City.  Return was via the Santa Fe RR. ♦ City Gas Co. converted the Phillipsburg system from manufactured to natural gas.  The work was done by 225 men from the Commonwealth Conversion Co. of NYC. ♦ An open house at the Ingersoll-Rand Phillipsburg plant was held on Oct. 25th to celebrate their first half-century of operations.  Special buses were operated from Easton to the plant and other buses took visitors on tours of the 200 acre plant grounds.  Of the 4,000 plant employees, 500 acted as guides and 500 operated machines and demonstrated manufacturing processes.  More than 21,000 visitors attended. ♦ The Phillipsburg National Guard battalion received two new Walker Bulldog tanks to replace older models. ♦ A mile-long 1 am parade was held in Phillipsburg to celebrate the election of home-town lawyer Robert B. Meyner as governor of NJ. ♦ On Dec. 6th, an Army tank assigned to Co. G, 192nd Armored Cavalry at the Phillipsburg National Guard Armory, crashed into a telephone pole, knocking down wires at the corner of Heckman and Roseberry Streets.  The driver said his steering locked (tanks turn by locking one track and applying power to the other) as he was turning the corner.  The tank was on its way to Washington for display at a recruiting drive. ♦ Lehigh Valley Transportation Co., the former bus and truck subsidiary, became Lehigh Valley Transit Co. ♦ RPO service ended on Route 242, the Bel-Del. ♦

 

1954 The clearance car, which had the appearance of a mechanical porcupine, visited the Bel-Del to verify height and width of clearances along the line. ♦ The Phillipsburg Town Commission approved the plan of E.J. Carol to operate a station wagon bus service between Belvidere and Union Square, Phillipsburg.  He planned to make 8 to 10 trips per day on the former Royal Blue Coach route. ♦ The ICC approved the hauling of trailers on railcars.  By the following year 32 railroads began "piggyback" service. ♦ Morgan Motors of Washington sponsored an announcement in the May 20th issue of the Phillipsburger about the GM Parade of Progress Show.  It was to be exhibited at Branch Brook Park, Newark, May 21-25, and was free to the public.  It included 10 33' long Futureliners, 10 tractor-trailers, 4 trucks, and 18 new passenger cars. ♦ Jersey Central crane #5 was used on the Reading RR to dismantle the abandoned LVT Aineyville Viaduct in Allentown on 4.23. ♦ The Canister Company, a division of the American Can Co., located along the Bel Del in Phillipsburg, ceased operations because of tax problems. ♦ NY Transformer purchased a controlling interest in the Tippett & Wood Co.  During WW II T&W made barges for the US Government. ♦ Fred Diegtel, General Superintendent of the DL&W RR spoke at the Phillipsburg Rotary Club about the new trailer on flat car service his railroad was beginning.  He also talked about the inequities of the taxes the railroads have to pay. ♦ Mule drawn canal scow rides were resumed on the Delaware Canal. ♦ The Jersey Central completed dieselization. ♦ A US Marine Corps. trailer exhibit made a two day (7.17 & 18) stop at Union Square, Phillipsburg.  In the 45' trailer were a motion picture theater, exhibits, models and armaments. ♦ The Ingersoll-Rand company picnic was held at Bushkill Park. ♦ The original 1912 Edison concrete road (now Rt. 57) near New Village was rebuilt.  The old road was used as a base.  A 3" blanket of stone was placed on top of the old road and this was then covered with a new 9" concrete slab.  The roadway was widened from 18' to 24' at this time.  Franklin Contracting Co. of Newark was the low bidder for the rebuilding project.  A 5' square of the old Edison cement road was cut out and incorporated into the new concrete surface.  Unfortunately a part of the widening work resulted in the removal of the foundation of an old Morris Turnpike toll house. ♦ As the nine additional Mack "FCD" railbuses were completed for the New Haven RR they were tested over the Reading Co's. main line between Allentown and Alburtis prior to shipment.  They were then transported on flat cars through Easton/Phillipsburg en-route to the purchaser via the L&HR RR and Maybrook, NY. ♦ The 22.56 mile Rt. 22 by-pass in the Lehigh Valley was partially opened to local traffic. ♦ The Blue Star Memorial Parkway marker, dedicated to the memory of WW II veterans, was unveiled at Phillipsburg. ♦ The Raubsville, PA Hydroelectric Station was closed, equipment salvaged, and the building and land conveyed to the PA Dept. of Forests & Waters for $1. ♦ The World of Mirth Circus/Show train came through the Lehigh Valley and visited Allentown on 9.26. ♦ The Rt. 22 by-pass was fully opened at the end of Sept.  It cut 25 minutes from the time required to travel from Easton to Allentown. ♦ The charter meeting of The Train Collectors Association was held at the Yardley, PA residence of Ed Alexander on 10.16/17, with several men from NJ in attendance. ♦ The Tippet & Wood business was sold to NY Transformer Holdings. ♦ LC&N Co. ended mining of anthracite coal at it's subsidiary Lehigh Navigation Coal Co. ♦ The Franklin zinc mines closed, reducing traffic for the L&HR RR. ♦ Governor Robert B. Meyner received the outstanding citizen award from the Phillipsburg Area Chamber of Commerce. ♦ American Bus Lines, plagued with a post-war ridership decline, competition and other problems gave up and was absorbed by Continental Trailways.  One of their routes went through NJ, Phillipsburg and the Lehigh Valley on US Rt. 22 between NY and Pittsburgh. ♦

 

1955 The old Greens Bridge Hotel was razed.  It was built after the Morris Canal was opened to Phillipsburg.  The building was right on the canal and was a meeting place for boatmen during winter when the waterway was closed. ♦ On Feb. 9th, three officials of the PRR addressed the members of the Phillipsburg chapter of the Pennsy Family Club.  They were I.L. Bell, District Freight Agent @ Easton; E.S. Chaffinch, District Passenger Agent @ Newark (which included the Bel Del) and P.H. Roeper, Supt. of the NY Div. (which included the Bel Del).  They spoke on problems facing the PRR and outlined future plans and scheduled improvements.  More than 300 attended the event which was followed by a turkey dinner, movies and dancing. ♦ The former horsecar barn at 16th & Washington Streets, Wilson Boro, PA, was razed. ♦ The new Phillipsburg telephone emergency voice system was dedicated.  It was the only complete system of its kind in the US and perhaps the world.  It replaced the Gamewell fire alarm system. ♦ The Phillipsburg Board of Commissioners passed an ordinance giving the Jersey Central & DL&W RR's authority to close the Market Street grade crossing, west of So. Main Street.  In return, the rail companies agreed to construct a pedestrian bridge over the DL&W to connect Walters Park with the Firth Youth Center.  The bridge was completed in July using a recycled turntable, turned upside down.  (Perhaps it was donated by the Jersey Central.) ♦ Displays of modern passenger and freight rail equipment were set up at an open house at Thirteenth and Liberty Streets on the LV RR West End Branch May 16-18.  The same equipment was later displayed at Bethlehem and finally at the Dock Street yard in Easton.  The Jersey Central, PRR, L&HR, Reading, L&NE, Northampton & Bath and Ironton RR's joined with the LV RR in supplying exhibited equipment which included L&NE FA diesel #706; refrigerator, RPO, "Piggy Back," box, livestock, Pullman sleeper, cars and other equipment. ♦ On June 12th, the Lehigh Valley Chapter, NRHS sponsored an off-the-beaten-path train trip.  They departed Allentown on a special coach on the LV RR's Black Diamond.  At Lehighton they transferred to LV RR RDC-2 #41 to Mt. Carmel via Hazelton.  The return trip to Lehighton was via Quakake.  At Lehighton they boarded the Asa Packer for Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton. ♦ Colorful "mixed train" operations on the Reading's Perkiomen Branch ended on July 16th. ♦ The Ingersoll-Rand Rock Drill Division at Phillipsburg began producing self propelled, truck mounted, drilling units. ♦ The board of directors of the Jersey Central approved turning over their interest in the Phillipsburg station to the town for $1.  The DL&W, a joint owner of the property, was to turn over its deed.  The basements were to be retained by the Central for the pick up and delivery of local mail. ♦ The Jersey Central Pennsylvania Division "Booster" club showed off their 2/3 size "model" CNJ F-3 locomotive in front of Hotel Bethlehem during the National Model Railroad Association convention.  The good-looking rubber-tired model appeared in several parades and public relations events.  It carried the logos of all Phillipsburg/Lehigh Valley railroads. ♦ The "Killer Flood" spawned by tropical storm Diane (Aug. 18 & 19) caused the collapse of the center span of the Phillipsburg-Easton Northampton Street Bridge, and flowed over the top of the S. Third St. bridge in Easton.  River water was three feet over the roadway at the Easton end of the Rt. 22 bridge.  The L&HR RR put a string of loaded cars on their Delaware River bridge to help secure it.  Thirty-one of 89 Carpentersville homes were destroyed.  The river crested at 43.7' above normal.  Alpha Portland Cement Co. plant #4 quarry at Martins Creek was flooded with 600 million gallons of water.  The 1869 covered wood bridge spanning the Delaware between Columbia, NJ and Portland, PA was washed away and destroyed.  Much of the Bel Del north of Belvidere was washed out and rail service to and from Manunkachunk was abandoned forever. ♦ The same storm (14" of rain in 24 hours) paralyzed the Lackawanna line east of Scranton, forcing it to reroute traffic, including the Phoebe Snow via the LV RR between Phillipsburg and Pittston Jct.  Repairs required 10,000 carloads of rock fill.  Bethlehem Steel gave an emergency order for 3,000 tons of rail - "rights over everything" in its great mill for the DL&W. ♦ On 8.27 the Phoebe Snow traveled west through Phillipsburg with Lackawanna E-8 #811 on the point with four F-3's.  The temporary routing required backup moves by each train in both Pittston and Scranton. ♦ (9.24) The RR Enthusiasts sponsored a steam trip using Jersey Central #774 (the last operating camelback locomotive) from Jersey City, Phillipsburg, Easton, Bethlehem and Allentown to Jim Thorpe with B&O dining car service.  This was the first of many steam trips to be operated through the Phillipsburg area after steam locomotives ceased operating in regular service.  The 9.25 trip was the last time that #774 was operated under steam and therefore the last steam trip operated by the Jersey Central itself. ♦ Mack shipped the first of an order of 400 of their model C49 transit buses to San Francisco.  They departed by rail on flat cars from the Allentown plant. ♦ A 60 mile Rail - Industry Tour was co-sponsored by the chambers of commerce of Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton, Northampton, Catasauqua & Nazareth and the A-B-E Railroad Community Committee for nearly 450 passengers.  The day long program began with a breakfast at the Masonic Temple in Bethlehem.  The rail trip began and ended at Union Station, Bethlehem.  It went east on the LV RR to Easton; north on the Easton & Northern; west on the Lehigh & New England RR; continued west on the Northampton & Bath RR; south and east on the Jersey Central and also included a side trip on the Reading RR to Saucon Junction.  The only cost for the day was $1.25 for the breakfast - lunch was free.  A 25 page brochure provided an excellent orientation / description and map.  Highlights of the trip were: Bethlehem Steel Co. which employed 22,000, produced 3,248,000 tons of ingots annually and covered 1,600 acres; the LV RR Dining Car Dept. at S. Easton (where box lunches for all were loaded); Treadwell Engineering, manufacturers of hot melt cars for the steel industry and steel castings for the maritime industry; Taylor Wharton Iron & Steel Co., manufacturers of specialty track work for railroads and street railways; Frick Co. which manufactured farm, sawmill, ice-making, refrigeration and air-conditioning machinery; the Dixie Cup Co.; Mack Printing Co.; Binney & Smith; the cement district which contained 17 plants producing over 12 billion pounds per year; a guided tour of the Jersey Central East Allentown classification yard; south side of Bethlehem Steel Co.; and the Philadelphia, Bethlehem & New England RR.  The ten car tour train was powered by LV RR Alco PA locomotives.  Theodore Gordown of Phillipsburg obtained several hundred autographs from the passengers. (Nov. 3) ♦ The color of the Easton Peace candle was changed from red to white and has remained so ever since. ♦ The Easton Express published Diane Drowns Delaware Valley, an eighty page pictorial documentary covering the flood disaster of Aug. 18-19.  It sold for $1 a copy. ♦

 

1956 Easton's last blacksmith shop closed. ♦ The Jersey Central Phillipsburg station, the last to be abandoned and the last in the town, was put up for sale.  A later plan to convert it to a town firehouse was turned down by the Board of Commissioners. ♦ A.J. Ferraro, president of Trans Bridge Lines & Delaware River Coach Lines announced new routes and stops for their Jersey buses to conform to the new one way traffic patterns established in Easton. ♦ Jersey Central camelback steam locomotive #774 was scrapped. ♦ The main NJ National Guard armory building for the 102nd Armored Cavalry was completed on Marshall St. in Phillipsburg. ♦ Waer Bus Lines asked for fare hikes of 5¢ & 10¢ on their Bangor & Penn Argyl to Easton routes. ♦ Temporary Bailey bridges across the Delaware River were installed above the Northampton Street bridge.  The United States Geologic Survey map of the Allentown Quadrangle published in this year clearly shows the temporary bridge(s) one block north of Northampton Street. ♦ Two PRR diesels and 10 cars derailed on the Bel Del at Carpenterville on 3.30. ♦ The Phillipsburg Commission acted to minimize the smoke nuisance emanating from the town dump (at Port Delaware - the former Morris Canal basin). ♦ The L&HR RR advertised their "Perfect Shipping Link to and from New England." ♦ The National Circus Museum exhibited their scale model, four section, electric circus trains at Easton.  They had beautifully scrolled circus wagons, animal cages, girls on prancing horses, clowns, the band and even a calliope.  The models were collected and displayed by John Yancey of Newport News, VA. ♦ A 42' replica of the USS Philadelphia passed through Allentown on its way to the Cement Belt Fair.  It was built for the Navy's recruiting program and completely enclosed a flat bed tractor trailer. ♦ Modern Transfer (the firm which took over the trolley freight operations of LVT) was awarded a Federal mail contract to carry bulk mail between the Lehigh Valley and Pittsburgh.  The contract was based on Modern's successful one year contract during which it hauled 363,517 sacks in 932 trailers, each 32' long. ♦ The Lehigh Valley RR built their first piggyback cars to haul truck trailers. ♦ The Barney Brothers circus employees raised $3,000 to cover the show's debt and it opened at Nazareth Fairgrounds on 6.24.  Their 24 vehicles next brought the show to Phillipsburg, Washington and Hackettstown in NJ. ♦ A nuclear bomb fell at Union Square in Phillipsburg, demolishing the town and causing 14,000 casualties in part of a nationwide Civil Defense drill. ♦ LVT began displaying bus route numbers in a rear window so they could be read by a prospective passenger hurrying toward it from the rear. ♦ Bethlehem steel was the low bidder for repairs to the Phillipsburg-Easton bridge. ♦ Two diesels and 5 cars of a 74 car northbound PRR freight on the Bel Del derailed at Frenchtown on Aug. 6th.  It was caused by piles of stones found on the tracks.  The 36th car was also derailed and the 48th car was crushed to half its length. ♦ The last tent show Circus Trains operated in the US. ♦ Five hundred and fifty seven boys from Warren County Midget League were the guests of the Philadelphia Phillies for Governor Meyner Day.  The group left in fourteen buses from the Trans-Bridge Terminal. ♦ John J. Willever, local sales rep of the Alpha Portland Cement Co. showed the film "The Drama of Portland Cement" at the Phillipsburg Exchange club. ♦ Warren County National Guard units departed for Camp Drum: 106 men departed by train from the Jersey Central Easton Station under the command of Lt. Col. Walter E. Foran, and the balance departed in a 43 vehicle convoy from Washington. ♦ A Metropolitan Philadelphia Railway Assn. excursion on 9.30 departed Philadelphia powered by four-year-old Baldwin RS12 #8110.  They traveled east on the main line to Trenton and then to Phillipsburg on the Bel Del.  Here they had a lunch break, but most of the rail fans headed for the PRR roundhouse.  In the afternoon they went back down the Bel Del and via the Trenton Cutoff to Parkesburg, PA then back to Philadelphia. ♦ Ingersoll Rand reprinted and made available gratis an 1873 artists birds-eye-view of the Forks of the Delaware area. ♦ An "Autumn Leaf Rail Tour" was jointly sponsored by the Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley Chapters of the NRHS on 10.14.  It began in Reading Terminal, Philadelphia and had 15 coaches powered by Reading Fairbanks-Morse diesel locomotives #861 & 863.  At Bethlehem the Lehigh Valley members boarded and they proceeded east on the Jersey Central and Lehigh & Hudson River RR through Phillipsburg to Maybrook, NY where a 1 1/2 hour stop was made.  A full-course turkey dinner could be had in the dining car for $3.25.  The return to Bethlehem was via the Lehigh & New England RR. ♦ The LV RR began losing money. ♦ The Jersey Central Pennsylvania Division "Booster" club showed off their 2/3 size "model" Jersey Central F-3 locomotive at the Bethlehem engine terminal. ♦ President Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act.  The adoption of the resulting Federal Interstate Highway legislation authorized construction of a multi-billion dollar, 41,000 mile system, as well as providing aid for primary, secondary and lesser roads.  The system constituted the largest construction program in the nation's history - on the scale of 60 Panama Canals.  Route 78 was projected to run 66 miles from the Holland Tunnel via the Newark Bay extension of the NJ Turnpike to Phillipsburg using a portion of Rt. 22 in rural areas, but bringing it up to interstate standards.  The new Route 24 Freeway was planned to run west from I-78 in Springfield on a separate route to the Delaware River at Phillipsburg.  In addition, Rt. 57 was proposed to be widened between Rt. 46 and Phillipsburg. ♦ The PRR petitioned to end the one train a day on the Bel Del.  As justification they claimed that an average of only 17 passengers a day were riding the train and only one was making the 1.5 hour/50 mile trip between Phillipsburg and Trenton. ♦ Greyhound placed a second order for another 500 bi-level Scenicruiser buses. ♦ The original Pennsylvania-New Jersey (Power) Interconnection, established in 1927, was expanded to become the Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland Interconnection.  At this time Jersey Central Power & Light, New Jersey Power & Light, Metropolitan Edison, Pennsylvania Electric Co. and Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. joined the original partners - Public Service Electric & Gas Co., Philadelphia Electric Co. and Pennsylvania Power & Light Co. ♦ The transition of all Mack Truck operating units to the Mack name was finally completed.

 

1957 A new National Guard armory was built/opened on Rt. 57 in Port Murray for a tank line company.  It became the headquarters for the 2nd Battalion, 102nd Armor. ♦ A.J. Ferraro, President of Trans-Bridge Lines and Delaware River Coach Lines, announced that they filed a request with the PUC to discontinue local bus service on Phillipsburg lines on Sunday and holidays due to lack of patronage and losses. ♦ Ingersoll-Rand employees were back at work on 4.15 after an 8 day strike. ♦ The local Phillipsburg reserve unit, Battery D, 430th Anti-Aircraft Battalion displayed their new M-16 four-place (four guns on the turret) half-track vehicle. ♦ Jersey Central #1000, America's first diesel electric locomotive, (built by Ingersoll-Rand in Phillipsburg) ended it's career not because it was worn out, but because its 300 HP was insufficient.  Its last run was to haul a two-car excursion train from Jersey City to Elizabethport and return for its own retirement party on June 13th.  The unit was then loaned to the Baltimore & Ohio RR Museum in Baltimore. ♦ On Aug. 5th the DL&W RR extended piggyback service to NW NJ from a new ramp at their Port Morris Yard.  Pickup and delivery between Port Morris and Hackettstown, Netcong, Newton, Branchville, Randolph and Succasunna was provided by Servall Trucking Co.  W.H. LaBar Freight Service provided the trucking to and from Phillipsburg, Washington, Blairstown & Stroudsburg.  At the time the railroad had 300 piggyback flatcars and 350 trailers.  Ads were taken out by the DL&W in local papers to promote the new service. ♦ The Phillipsburg Commissioners approved a plan to redevelop the area bounded by Howard, Fayette, Carling & McKeen Streets from residential to industrial.  The area was determined to be a blighted area by the Planning Board.  Part of the plan was to level Mt. Parnassus and to extend Market Street south into the area. ♦ Eight cars of a 91 car northbound L&HR freight train derailed in Hudson Yard in October. ♦ The Easton Car & Construction Co. built the first 32 wheel, 100 ton, "walking action" yard trailer for intra plant handling of heavy loads. ♦ Repairs were completed to the center span of the Easton-Phillipsburg Northampton Street Bridge and it was reopened to traffic on Oct. 23rd.  A luncheon at Hotel Easton was followed by a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by Robert B. Meyner and other officials.  Coverage in the Phillipsburger took the entire front page of the 10.24 issue.  Local businesses promoted "Bridge Opening Sales" for the next three days. ♦ The LV Chapter, NRHS sponsored a group trip on the Bel Del from Phillipsburg to Trenton and return using diesel-electric car #4653, which they chartered. ♦ The former Jersey Central Phillipsburg station was leased/used as local campaign headquarters by Malcom S. Forbes, the unsuccessful Republican candidate for governor. ♦ The Pennsylvania & NY Central Railroads began exploratory merger discussions.  On 11.1 they made a public announcement of merger talks. ♦ The I-R Cameron Pump Division manufactured 6 boiler feedwater pumps for the new Philadelphia Electric Co. generating plant near Chester, PA.  The discharge pressure of each was 6,500 psi at 575.̊  Steam for the turbines was to be produced at 5,000 psi and 1,200.̊ ♦ Trolley tracks were removed from the former LVT Eighth Street bridge in Allentown and tolls on vehicular and pedestrian traffic were abolished. ♦ The Bel-Del ceased to exist as a separate entity as it was merged into the United NJ RR & Canal Co. which was leased to the PRR. ♦

 

1958 The Gold Room of the Hotel Easton offered a buffet supper of PA Roast Prime of Beef for $2.65. ♦ The State of NJ awarded the $3 million+ contract for construction of Rt. 102 (became I-78) between Still Valley, Warren County and Bloomsbury, Hunterdon County to Villa Construction of Westfield. ♦ The Phillipsburg National Guard, 250th Tank Battalion sent a 45 ton Army tank to climb Montana Mountain in New Village to rescue a pregnant woman.  However, she couldn't fit through the hatch and had to ride outside the tank.  In another less successful attempt a tank was used to try to rescue several families in the Port Colden area after a heavy snow.  When it tried to climb a hill its rubber peacetime cleats lost traction and it slid down the hill sideways, almost overturning. ♦ The PRR Phillipsburg roundhouse was demolished. ♦ LV RR combined their Asa Packer and Black Diamond trains. ♦ In April the CNJ RR acquired four additional RDC cars (M-1 through M-4) from the NYS&W RR (which had received permission to end all passenger service three months earlier) and renumbered them #558-61. ♦ The first steel castings were produced in the new Ingersoll Rand steel foundry building at Phillipsburg. ♦ The Disneyland show "Magic Highway, U.S.A." which premiered on TV included a sequence from IR's film, "The Long Street." ♦ DL&W RR was given permission by the ICC to abandon the historic Hampton-Washington segment of the Warren RR. ♦ Eight cars of a 97 car L&HR freight train left the track in Hudson Yard on July 19th. ♦ The Tippet & Wood Co. steel fabricating plant machinery, equipment and real estate was offered at auction on 7.31.  Items available included: shearing & cutting equipment; punches; boring mills; lathes; forming & pressing equipment; bending rolls; drills; pneumatic portable tools; Ingersoll-Rand & Worthington air compressors; electric & gas welding & cutting equipment & supplies; cranes & hoists (including 49' span overhead traveling cranes); towmotors; motor vehicles; a Bacon RR car puller; approx. 720 tons of steel; plus office & engineering furniture, machines & equipment.  Real estate included 215,000 sq. ft. of land; the 60,000 sq. ft. steel fabricating building (with 50' open span; 20' high craneways; overall height 40'), tool crib & warehouse building; air compressor building; layout buildings and office building.  Auctioneers were Weisz & Wershow of Los Angeles. ♦ After sitting idle for almost a year, Reading RR T-1 steam locomotives #2108 and another moved under their own power from Reading via Bethlehem, the Jersey Central through Easton to Phillipsburg and the DL&W from Phillipsburg to Portland, PA.  The steam from the 800,000 pound monsters was used to clean a new boiler at Metropolitan Edison Co's new electric generating station.  When the job was finished the T-1's returned to Reading by the same route. ♦ A Philadelphia Chapter, NRHS railfan trip was operated from Philadelphia over the Reading and L&NE RR using Reading coaches and FP-7's #904 & 905 on 9.28.  It went north via the Perkiomen Branch, Allentown and Bethlehem to Pen Argyl.  The return was via the L&NE with a photo stop at Lehigh Gap. ♦ The PRR studied the "Joint Management" of the L&HR and L&NE.  The proposed plan would have abandoned the L&NE track and route across NJ and utilized the PRR bridge across the Delaware at Martins Creek and L&HR north to Maybrook Yard. ♦ The new $30,000,000 Portland Generating Station of Metropolitan Edison Co. came on line. ♦ The L&HR became the first RR in the northeast to be completely equipped with two-way radios. ♦ The LV RR became the first major passenger carrier to petition for total discontinuance of passenger service. ♦ The first section of the new Interstate 78 highway was completed - the bypass around Clinton. ♦ LVT re-powered Mack C-41GT buses (in the 2421-28 series, built in 1947) with GM engines. ♦ The DL&W abandoned their branch from Washington to Hampton. ♦

 

1959 Gas began flowing through a new 30" natural gas line between Princeton, NJ and Oakford, PA.  It connected with the 2,000 mile main line of Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Corp. between the Rio Grande Valley in Texas and NYC.  The branch line crossed the Delaware River at Sandt's Eddy.  An 8' deep trench was cut across the river bottom for the line.  To do the work, an Ingersoll Rand drill rig was mounted on a barge to drill a line of 120 6" diameter holes in the rock below the water.  Three tons of dynamite were used in the blasting. ♦ Rails were being removed from the DL&W's Warren RR northward from Hampton Jct. and had reached the west side of the Changewater bridge. ♦ The NY Central RR broke off merger negotiations with the PRR due to concern that the PRR would dominate the merged company. ♦ Jersey Central traffic was rerouted over the LV RR between Easton and Bound Brook when a CNJ locomotive derailed at High Bridge, blocking both of their tracks. ♦ Local historian, Ron Wynkoop, photographed his children in the cab window of Alco RS diesel #5665 at Union Square, Phillipsburg. ♦ The worst explosion in the history of the Ingersoll-Rand company killed 4 and injured 30 at the Phillipsburg plant.  A pipe connection blew out while an air compressor was being tested.  The blast blew out one end of shop building #8. ♦ Trans-Bridge Bus Lines, citing declining ridership with an average of only 8 riders per bus, requested cuts in service on their various lines.  They wanted to cut the number of daily bus trips on lines as follows: Valley, 14 to 12; No. Main, 26 to 17; Alpha, 16 to 12; and Washington - Phillipsburg, 8 to 6. ♦ LVT asked the PA PUC to allow them to eliminate tokens from their fare structure. ♦ The steel was removed from the Warren RR Changewater bridge.  The three piers and two abutments of stone and cement construction remain at the location. ♦ The ICC held hearings on the LV RR application to discontinue passenger service.  Strong opposition was voiced by those who would be affected. ♦ The PUC approved an LVT fare hike. ♦ The Jersey Central announced that they would seek a 60% increase in passenger fares. ♦ A bus driver nabbed a man fleeing after robbing the Easton Greyhound Bus Terminal at Front & Bushkill Streets. ♦ The LV RR commenced "Piggyback" (trailer on flat car) service. ♦ The NJ PUC rejected the PRR bid to remove Bel Del passenger trains. ♦ A refurbished amphibious jeep, given by a group of Easton area residents to missionaries in Mexico made a trial run (full emersion baptism) in the Delaware River after dedication at the 1st Baptist Church. ♦ Willard A. Heil of the Railroad Community Committee of the Lehigh Valley area addressed the Rotary Club of Phillipsburg on Apr. 2nd.  Although he was the LV RR freight agent at Easton, he represented all local railroad companies.  Heil recommended that Congress approve the "urgent six" proposals as follow: 1. Permit railroads to use tax-built transport facilities such as highways, airways and waterways for business purposes; 2. Mandate payment of transportation facilities by users rather than by general taxpayers; 3. Repeal of the WW II imposed 10% tax on common carrier (rail) passengers; 4. Amend the RR Unemployment Insurance Act to limit benefit payments to certain employees; 5. Repeal provisions of the ICC that exempts from regulation the transport of certain agricultural commodities hauled by motor vehicle; and 6. Modernize Federal tax policies governing depreciation of plant and equipment. ♦ Six LV RR passenger trains, including the Black Diamond, serving Easton were discontinued on Apr. 4th, but the ICC required them to continue operating four other trains for at least another year. ♦ Due to losses of cement traffic to truckers, the PRR (Pennsylvania Truck Lines) and the LV RR (Black Diamond Express) applied to the PUC to haul cement in their own trucks. ♦ The Post Office replaced the LV RR with trucks for mail haulage between NY and Buffalo. ♦ The Nuclear powered merchant ship N.S. Savannah was launched at Camden.  Ingersoll-Rand supplied condensers fabricated at their Easton Plant and compressors from their Phillipsburg plant. ♦ The North Jersey Chapter NRHS and the NY Division, RR Enthusiasts sponsored a Rail Camera Inspection Tour via the Jersey Central and Reading to "the famous" Reading, PA shops from Jersey City on 5.2.  The train was powered by Fairbanks Morse Trainmaster #2409 and Reading T1 class 4-8-4's in storage were available for photos at Reading.  Al Creamer of Springfield handled the reservations/ticket sales at $8 from NJ and $3.50 from Allentown. ♦ The derailment of an ore train at Lambertville caused the PRR to provide a one day substitute bus to carry Bel Del passengers between Phillipsburg and Trenton. ♦ LVT ended Sunday and holiday bus runs into Easton and night service was cut back. ♦ On June 11th Ingersoll Rand took out a full page ad in the Phillipsburger protesting work stoppages, wildcat strikes and illegal picket lines at their Phillipsburg and Easton plants by the United Steelworkers.  They also stated their views of the violations of the contracts between Ingersoll Rand and the United Steelworkers.  In the 30 months since the International Union of United Steelworkers of America had been in the IR plants the nearly 3,700 local employees were involved in 9 work stoppages - 7 considered illegal.  IR sued the union for $750,000 damages accrued in the illegal strike. ♦ A tugboat strike in NY Harbor caused a lengthy rerouting of Pennsylvania RR cars at Jersey City destined for Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.  They were sent to Trenton, then via Phillipsburg, Maybrook, NY, the Poughkeepsie Bridge, Danbury & Norwalk, CT, and over the Hell Gate Bridge to Bay Ridge. ♦ Ingersoll-Rand announced in early July that they were moving their reciprocating compressor and diesel engine manufacturing operation from Phillipsburg to Painted Post, NY. ♦ Rahway Valley RR steam locomotive #15 was spotted at the Allentown yard. ♦ The N.S. Savannah, the world's first nuclear-powered merchant ship was launched at NY Shipbuilding Corp's. Camden, NJ yards by Mrs. Dwight Eisenhower.  Three huge condensers for the ship were manufactured by IR at their W. Easton plant and were assembled at the Phillipsburg plant. ♦ LVT announced their "Charge-a-fare" credit card system - the first in the nation.  Riders were billed at the end of the month and could make a single payment for the transportation they used. ♦ The Hunterdon County Board of Agriculture sponsored their annual Hudson River Excursion on Tue., August 4th (which they had been doing since 1936).  Two special Central RR of NJ trains were used, one from Hampton and one from Flemington.  At Jersey City a Hudson River Day Liner took the excursionists to Playland, an amusement park at Rye, NY.  The cost for the day including the special train, the steamboat trip & lecturer, and admission to Playland was $4 for adults and $2 for children. ♦ Ingersoll-Rand production and maintenance workers went out on strike.  I-R management personnel and striking United Steelworkers clashed.  The pickets prevented the Jersey Central from removing a train from I-R's Phillipsburg plant which was manned by Jersey Central executives and police.  Twenty days later strikers allowed both CNJ and DL&W trains into the plant to handle defense work. ♦ The Phillipsburg CNJ/DL&W RR station became a pharmacy. ♦ United Steelworkers Union pickets at the I-R Phillipsburg plant gate detained a DL&W train until RR officials came and manned the locomotive. ♦ Canadian National steam locomotive #92 passed through the Reading RR Allentown yard. ♦ Workers at the four Riegel Paper Co. mills in the Delaware valley went out on strike for a month and a half. ♦ Eighteen drivers of Royal Blue (bus) Lines, members of Packer Lodge #85, Brotherhood of RR Trainmen at Easton struck and picketed the RBL Allentown garage/Hq. and Clinton, NJ terminal.  Service between Allentown & NY and Belvidere & Trenton was halted. ♦ The Reading Co. sponsored an Iron Horse Ramble from Harrisburg, PA to East Penn Jct. (12th St., Allentown), and return on 11.1 using one of their T-1 4-8-4 steam locomotives. ♦ B&O RR #1, a 300 HP GE/Alco/ Ingersoll-Rand diesel was donated to the National Museum of Transport at St. Louis. ♦ Trans Bridge Lines informed the Phillipsburg Commission that it intended to reduce service on some routes between Easton, Phillipsburg, Alpha and Washington. ♦ The PRR asked the ICC for permission to end Bel Del passenger trains. ♦ Interstate route 78 was opened between Still Valley and Bloomsbury. ♦ The PUC approved a bus fare increase for LVT Co. ♦ The Royal Blue Coaches bus strike ended after 47 days. ♦ The NJ Legislature created a Division of Railroad Transportation within the then-State Highway Department. ♦ In spite of the ongoing strike of United Steelworkers, Ingersoll Rand treated 3,400 employee children at their 40th annual Christmas party at the Hillcrest Club.  It was one of the oldest and largest such affairs in NJ. ♦

 

1960 The Transport Workers Union strike shut down railroads for 11 days. ♦ A Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus Train was back on the rails, no longer a tent show - they now appeared in arenas only. ♦ The PRR terminated passenger service on the Bel-Del, ending 106 years of service for Phillipsburg. ♦ Reading T-1 4-8-4 steam locomotive #2124 powered an Iron Horse Ramble from Bethlehem & Allentown to Gettysburg, PA and return on 5.8.  It departed Bethlehem Union Station Plaza at 7:30am, scheduled return was 9pm, and the all day fare was $9.  A long play 33 1/3 RPM stereo record of this and other Rambles was produced by John Briggs under his North Jersey Recordings label. ♦ Memorial Day events included the launching of the traditional miniature Memorial Boat at the "Free Bridge" and a low flying single-engine plane dropped a wreath. ♦ Reading steam locomotive #2124 traveled through Easton/Phillipsburg to and from the L&HR to pull their two 100th Anniversary special trains between Warwick and Belvidere on 6.4.  The T-1 pulled one 16 car train and two freshly painted L&HR Alco RS-3's handled the other.  The locomotives switched trains for the return trip.  The 32 coaches were leased from the Erie RR.  No. 2124 was brought down to Hudson Yard at Phillipsburg where a LV RR diesel switcher piloted it over to the LV RR So. Easton turntable to be reversed.  The LV caboose and the diesel trailed 2124 on its way back across the L&HR bridge at Phillipsburg at mid-day. ♦ The State of NJ signed its first commuter rail subsidy contract with the Jersey Central. ♦ The largest road cut east of the Rocky Mountains was completed utilizing Ingersoll-Rand rock drills, for I-78 at Jugtown Mountain (Pattenburg). ♦ The DL&W and Erie railroads merged to form the Erie-Lackawanna in Oct. ♦ Interstate Rt. 78 was opened west to Still Valley, east of Phillipsburg. ♦ The LV RR operated their final annual picnic train to Bushkill Park.  The three car diesel powered train, operated by a volunteer crew began at So. Easton shops; backed to Phillipsburg to pick up LV RR families there; then proceeded over the Easton & Northern branch to Bushkill Park.  In the earlier days the steam locomotive would have been run up to Stockertown to be turned on the "Y." ♦ Boy Scout Troop #166 of Rutherford, NJ toured the Morris Canal from Jersey City to Phillipsburg over seven weekends.  The Phillipsburg troop met the 166ers at Port Colden and accompanied them westward to Phillipsburg.  A cake, baked by a local church was shared by all at Phillipsburg.  Roy Creveling filmed the event. ♦ A Reading Co. Iron Horse Ramble was operated from Wayne Jct., Philadelphia to Schwenksville, PA via East Penn Jct., (12th St., Allentown) on 9.17. ♦ Lehigh Portland Cement Co. shut down their kilns at Sandts Eddy. ♦ Railways to Yesterday, Inc., a non-profit entity was incorporated in the Lehigh Valley to preserve electric railway cars and memorabilia.  Louis Buehler was the organizer and first president. ♦ The Palmeri Corporation began school bus operations in the Lehigh Valley. ♦ The Jersey Central Pennsylvania Division "Booster" club ran their 2/3 size "model" CNJ F-3 "Miss Liberty" locomotive in the Phillipsburg Halloween Parade on 11.2. ♦ Phillipsburg Bridge & Construction completed the jug handle work at the intersection of Rt. 22 and Roseberry St., Phillipsburg. ♦ About this year the GE/Alco/Ingersoll-Rand diesel locomotive formerly owned by Hoboken Manufacturers Railroad was stripped for parts before scrapping by National Museum of Transport at St. Louis to restore their B&O #1. ♦ The last deep anthracite coal mine was closed by the LC&N. ♦ The first annual Christmas Peace Pilgrimage was conducted from Nazareth to Bethlehem, PA, symbolic of the journey of Mary and Joseph.  The 10-mile trek is a Christian witness for peace which has been repeated every year since and takes about 6 hours. ♦

 

1961 The LV RR terminated all passenger service, and RPO service ended on Route 135.  "Friends" past president Dave Phraner graduated from Lafayette College and rode the last LV RR passenger train from Easton to Newark.  He thus departed Easton along with 106 years of LV passenger service.  Due to blizzard conditions, the train arrived in Newark 8 hours late.  PRR refused to accept the train for its last lap into Penn station, NYC. ♦ James P. Hyde, Sr. retired from the Ingersoll-Rand Phillipsburg plant.  He operated the first experimental I-R locomotive from Phillipsburg to Jersey City for its test against a NYC RR steam locomotive on the streets of New York City.  Hyde was given an approximately three foot long model of an I-R twin prime mover locomotive which at the time was still in use at the American Rolling Mills, Middletown, OH.  The model was later sent to the I-R Painted Post, NY plant and subsequently lost. ♦ The Reading Co. operated an Iron Horse Ramble from their Bethlehem station to Gettysburg, PA and return on 5.14. ♦ The last major derailment occurred on the L&NE RR at Portland, PA west of the Delaware River bridge.  Steam crane #700 and diesel crane #694 pulled the cars out of Jacoby Creek. ♦ The LV Chapter chartered an LVT bus from Allentown to Camden for their excursion on the PRSL on RDC M413 to Cape May, Wildwood and Ocean City. ♦ Phillipsburg celebrated their Centennial with a huge parade which included three canalboat floats. ♦ The Reading Co. operated an Iron Horse Ramble from Bethlehem to Indian Echo Cave via North Penn, East Penn and Lebanon Valley Branches and return on Sunday, 7.16. ♦ LVT operated air conditioned motor coach "Happy Wanderer Tours" from Allentown & Bethlehem to Easton and along the Delaware River & Canal to New Hope to ride on the mule drawn barge with a side trip to the Uhlerstown Covered bridge. ♦ Jersey Central service with Rail Diesel Cars was inaugurated between NY & Allentown - it was discontinued in 1964. ♦ Ingersoll-Rand transferred their reciprocating compressor division from Phillipsburg to Painted Post, NY. ♦ In a LV RR derailment at Glendon, PA a caboose almost went into the Lehigh Canal in August. ♦ Even before the L&NE RR was abandoned, the locomotives and cars had already been sold.  Crews at the Pen Argyl shops were busy repairing and painting them for new owners right up to the 10.31 abandonment date.  The last official train order issued by L&NE at 1:32am on 11.1 cleared the movement of diesel #701 from Tadmore Yard to Pen Argyl Engine Terminal via Martins Creek Branch, Bethlehem Branch and the main line.  The largest purchaser was construction firm Raymond International which bought Alco RS-2's, eighty coal hoppers, thirty five flats and a number of low side gondolas.  Other hoppers were sold to the Lake Superior & Ishpeming RR.  The Alco FA's were sold to the Louisville & Nashville RR.  Business car #100 became part of a restaurant near Philadelphia.  Track was abandoned except for about 40 miles in PA (the L&NE Railway) which was mostly sold to the Jersey Central. ♦ After losing a proxy fight with the C&O RR for control of the B&O RR, the NYC RR re-opened merger talks with the PRR which led to a merger agreement. ♦ L&NE RR track was pulled up by the Salzberg family interests using locomotives leased from the L&NE & NYS&W. ♦

 

1962 Most of the Lehigh Navigation system land was sold by LC&N to private and public organizations for recreational use.  The purchase of Hugh Moore Park was made possible by a leadership contribution by Hugh Moore, founder of the Dixie Cup Co. in Easton. ♦ Royal Blue Coaches installed 2-way radios in all of its buses. ♦ Congress passed the Flood Control Act which provided for a huge main-stem dam at Tocks Island on the Delaware River 6 miles above the Water Gap. ♦ On Apr. 2, a fire broke out in the old Murphy 5 & 10¢ store in downtown Washington.  Employees made a grave mistake and opened all the windows and doors to permit the smoke to ventilate.  They created a wind tunnel which caused the fire to roar.  A dozen fire companies, including several from Phillipsburg, responded.  Nearly a block of buildings were lost. ♦ On Apr. 1, Perry M. Shoemaker was elected President of the Jersey Central, succeeding Earl T. Moore who had become Chairman of the Board.  Before the merger of the Erie and DL&W railroads in Oct., 1960, Mr. Shoemaker had been president of the DL&W.  After the merger he became Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Erie Lackawanna Railroad. ♦ The NY Division of the Railroad Enthusiasts and the No. Jersey Chapter of the NRHS jointly sponsored a rail-camera excursion from NY (Jersey City) to Wilkes Barre, PA with a side trip over the freight only Buttonwood Branch on 4.14.  The 12 hour trip via the Jersey Central cost $9.50 from NJ and $6.00 from Allentown. ♦ A failfan excursion on the Erie Lackawanna traversed the DL&W "Old Main Line" and stopped at Oxford, NJ and Bangor, PA on May 6th. ♦ A Reading Co. "Battlefield Special" Iron Horse Ramble was operated from their Bethlehem station to Gettysburg, PA and return on May 6th. ♦ A Reading Co. Iron Horse Ramble operated from Bound Brook and Belle Mead, NJ via their NY, Main Line, East Penn & Perkiomen Branches to Reading and East Penn Jct. (12th St., Allentown) and return on May 20th. ♦ The Interstate Commerce Commission authorized the PRR to gain complete control of the LV RR. ♦ The LC&N Co. was reorganized with certain assets transferred to the L.N.C. Corp. ♦ The Phillipsburg Board of Education purchased their first school bus. ♦ The "World of Mirth" show train visited the Allentown Fairgrounds.  It was parked on the LV RR's West End Branch. ♦ A Reading Co. Iron Horse Ramble was operated from Wayne Jct., Philadelphia to Schwenksville, PA via East Penn Jct. (12th St. Allentown) on 9.15. ♦ The Journal of Commerce printing plant was moved to Phillipsburg.  The paper, founded in 1827, focuses on international trade, commodities, transportation, banking, foreign exchange, insurance, energy and economic development, both domestic and foreign. ♦ Remaining unsold track of the L&NE RR was sold for scrap and taken up. ♦ Delaware & Hudson RR Alco RS locomotives were leased by the L&HR RR to supplement motive power needs. ♦ Public Service Coordinated Transport and Allentown & Reading Transit began joint run-through operations between NYC and Harrisburg/Lancaster/Reading.  Drivers were switched at Allentown. ♦ In this year the Susquehanna RR west of Sparta Jct. was abandoned.  The old right-of-way is preserved as the Paulinskill Valley Trail. ♦ Backyard Railroad - Division of Bethlehem Pattern & Model Shop, 343 Rauch Street, Bethlehem, produced a 24 page catalog of 1.5" scale/7.5" gauge scale outdoor model railroad equipment including: car kits, hand cars, pedal locomotives, diesel locomotives (with gasoline engines), castings for steam locomotives, and track/switches. ♦ Asbury Graphite Mills (now Asbury Carbons), of Asbury, NJ, purchased the Charles Pettinos Graphite Co.  The latter was established in 1891 on the Lehigh River in Bethlehem, PA. ♦

 

1963 The LV RR reduced their main line from West Portal to Phillipsburg to single track.  Bellewood tower was closed.  The last operator there was Jake Glenn. ♦ The "Cookie Wreck" occurred on Apr. 5th in Hudson Yard between freight trains of the Bel-Del and the L&HR RR wrecking the L&HR locomotives, several cars, and scattering a cargo of cookies. ♦ The Jersey Central RR announced completion of an agreement with the LC&N Co. by which it would lease the Lehigh & Susquehanna RR from LC&N for $2,283,482 per year for 35 years beginning May 9th.  This rental money was the main source of income for LC&N at the time.  The Jersey Central went into bankruptcy in 1967 and LC&N never got their money. ♦ A Reading Co. Iron Horse Ramble was operated from Wayne Jct., Philadelphia via their Bethlehem and East Penn Branches through East Penn Jct. to Reading and return on May 12th.  The fare was only $6.50 for adults or $3.75 for children and each passenger got a souvenir! ♦ A Reading Co. Iron Horse Ramble was operated from Bethlehem and Allentown over the picturesque Wilmington & Northern Branch to Elsmere Jct., DE; Reading and return on May 18th. ♦ On June 8th the Railroad Enthusiasts, NY Division, sponsored an excursion on the Erie Lackawanna Ry from Hoboken via Summit & Washington/Oxford to Scranton & Northumberland and return via the Cut-off & the Boonton Line. ♦ The front page headline of the July 25th issue of the Free Press was "Jimmy Hoffa enters local labor dispute."  Hoffa appeared at the Easton Moose Home to open the International Brotherhood of Teamsters drive to unseat the United Paper Makers & Paper Workers International Union at the local Riegel Paper Co. plants. ♦ The World of Mirth Circus Train exhibited at Allentown.  This was their final show in the Lehigh Valley as they went out of business at the end of this year.  The following year 34 of the 40 cars were sold for $1,000 each.  Twelve flats and one stock car were obtained by the Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wisconsin.  They are still used each year as part of the big circus train that transports the wagons to Milwaukee for the famous circus parade.  The World of Mirth Circus was well known and respected along the east coast from Maine to Georgia. ♦ The 21st, 22nd, & 23rd cars of a westbound LV RR freight train derailed at Alpha on Sept. 10th. ♦ The L&HR RR reported that their business was at an all-time high.  They had 98 miles of track and 205 employees and they took delivery of two new ALCO Century 420 diesel locomotives.  The L&HR was the first railroad to own and operate this model locomotive. ♦ The former LV RR Bloomsbury wooden passenger/freight station was leased by Milford Fertilizer Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Agway.  They have a siding and receive carloads of fertilizer which is distributed by truck. ♦ Public Service Coordinated Transport was the successful bidder for the franchises of the former Royal Blue Coach Co. ♦ The stock of LC&N Co. was de-listed from the NYSE. ♦ The late Jersey Central Chapter, NRHS member Dick Forest became the operator at PRR "G" tower at Belvidere.  He controlled the junction between the PRR and the L&HR for three years. ♦ On 10.19 the Railroad Enthusiasts, NY Division, sponsored an excursion from Hoboken, then via the NYS&W RR to Passaic Jct.; the EL Ry to Suffern & Newburgh Jct.; Greycourt (L&HR RR) to Phillipsburg; Easton; Phillipsburg; Washington; Paterson and back to Hoboken. ♦ Jersey Central Power & Light Co. began construction of a 230,000 volt high tension line from Gilbert Generating Station to their Glen Gardner substation.  It was to replace an older lower capacity line. ♦ The LNC Corp. began to sell off remaining assets of the L&NE RR. ♦ An aerial survey of the remains of the Morris Canal east from Phillipsburg, performed by Kenneth R. Hanson, was published in the proceedings of the NJ Historical Society. ♦ Jersey Central Alco RS-3 diesel #1709 fell into the turntable pit at the Bethlehem roundhouse. ♦ The Pennsylvania RR launched a system-wide clean-up week called "Operation Beaver." ♦

 

1964 On 1.7, eleven cars of a 23 car PRR Boston-Chicago piggyback freight train, Jet 1, derailed about two miles north of Milford.  The first four plunged into the river.  A relief locomotive was sent south from Phillipsburg.  En-route it collided with an auto at the Riegelsville grade crossing, injuring the three women in the car. ♦ A broken wheel on the 8th car of a 26 car Jersey Central westbound freight train caused a 12 car derailment near Greens Bridge.  One of the cars was from Picatinny Arsenal and contained explosives. ♦ The first of 14 monorail cars from St. Louis passed through Phillipsburg on Rt. 22  en-route to the NY World's Fair.  They were built by the American Machine & Foundry Co. ♦ The Jersey Central (RR) Booster Club of Bethlehem advertised their excellent 2/3 size replica car body type diesel locomotive for sale.  It was 29' long, mounted on a Buick Roadmaster chassis, equipped with state highway approved lighting and inspection, a public address system & record player and dual diesel locomotive air horns operated by compressed air.  Their ad stated: "It is in good condition and has 8-ply tires, can be equipped with retractable flanged wheels to operate on railroads.  This is an attractive unit and would be a novelty operating on a short line scenic railroad.  Presently it is painted red with white stripes."  Logos of all local railroads were displayed on the sides of the unit.  It was used for several years in Lehigh Valley area parades. ♦ The daily fast freight trains (Jet-1 & Jet-2) between Boston and Chicago via the Bel-Del and L&HR were removed after the derailment at Holland, NJ. ♦ Jim Williams of Amarillo, TX crossed the Free Bridge into Phillipsburg, en-route to the NY World's Fair.  He had his dog "Wolf," a covered wagon drawn by 2 mules and his saddle horse following.  The trip took him almost a year. ♦ A grass fire near Walters Park, Phillipsburg caused the destruction of an Erie Lackawanna RR tool shed. ♦ Flames gutted the interior of the Greyhound Post House on Rt. 46 near Belvidere. ♦ April was the Tercentenary (300th anniversary) of the establishment of New Jersey.  Our state was named by Sir. George Carteret. ♦ A 24' x 26' World's Fair information booth was donated to the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission by R.C. Cramer Lumber Co. of Stroudsburg, PA.  It was installed at the east end of the Rt. 22 toll bridge in Phillipsburg. ♦ Trans-Del Equipment Co. of Phillipsburg purchased another Highway Post Office unit and rebuilt it into a deluxe 41 passenger inter-city coach.  It was assigned to Delaware River Coach Lines. ♦ On 5.3 the Phillipsburg Pistol Club opened a new outdoor range at the foot of Mt. Parnassus. ♦ Photographer Tony Perro hiked through Phillipsburg en-route from Canada to his Brooklyn, NY home.  He traveled around the country taking photos of RR facilities, old buildings, machines, and other bits of Americana. ♦ A Reading Railroad "Iron Horse Ramble" was operated from Bethlehem and Allentown to Reading, West Milton (over their scenic Catawissa Branch) and return on 5.16. ♦ LVT operated special bus service to the NY World's Fair from East & South Allentown. ♦ Jersey Central GP7 #1527 powered a four car inspection trip on the L&NE Martins Creek Branch on 5.27. ♦ The Lehigh Valley Chapter ran two chartered bus trips from Allentown to the NY World's Fair: 3 buses on 6.28 and 3 buses on 9.27. ♦ Public Service Coordinated Transport added some additional runs to its Allentown to NYC schedule and some continued directly to the NY World's Fair. ♦ Reading Co. GP-7 #663 toppled into the Saucon Creek turntable pit with two electrician helpers on board.  They were not injured, but 200 ducks, fish and wildlife were sickened by the oil slick which escaped from a separator.  Three other diesels were blocked in the roundhouse by the accident.  Two 125 ton cranes lifted the errant diesel out of the pit. ♦ On July 18th one of two Jersey Central RR diesels pulling a 95-car freight train caught fire in Phillipsburg.  The second engine was uncoupled and it moved the cars away from the burning engine.  It then was used to push the burning engine near the Stockton St. bridge so it would be easier for firemen to battle the fire.  The interior of the cab of the Fairbanks-Morse 2,400 hp model H-24-66 Trainmaster locomotive was burned out.  The engineer, David Howell of 155 Lewis St. Phillipsburg was unable to shut off the engine because of the flames. ♦ The Phillipsburg Town Commission adopted a resolution on 7.20 granting Trans-Bridge Bus Lines permission to use So. Main Street and Rt. 22 through town to operate bus service between Phillipsburg and Newark. ♦ Phillipsburg Commission granted permission to Public Service Coordinated Transport to use Memorial Parkway (Rt. 22) for its bus route between Allentown and NYC.  PSCT also desired to operate 4 buses from Allentown and Phillipsburg to Atlantic City and return. ♦ Former Erie RR Alco FA's were used on the Phillipsburg to Dover "P'burger" freight run. ♦ An Easton produce dealer was killed when his truck ran into the Delaware Canal. ♦ The Reading Railroad applied to abandon their Philadelphia to Bethlehem branch passenger service.  At the time they operated 7 round trips Mon. - Fri.; 4 on Sat. and 2 on Sun. ♦ Twelve cars of a 48 car Jersey Central freight train derailed just west of Easton. ♦ The Yards Creek pumped storage hydro-electric plant construction was advancing steadily.  Chicago Bridge, the contractor, utilized RR track and a cable-hauled inclined plane to move and place the large diameter penstock sections/pipe sections which were to conduct the water between the lower and upper reservoirs. ♦ Jersey Central coach #959 was struck by a 50 ton boulder which rolled down from a hillside at Freemansburg. ♦ Alpha Portland Cement Co. closed their plant #4 at Martins Creek, ending 73 years of cement manufacturing along the Delaware River. ♦ Twenty cars of a southbound L&HR train left the rails along the Pophandusing Creek just as the train was approaching the Bel-Del on the "Y" track at Belvidere Junction. ♦ The Urban Mass Transit Act (UMTA), a Johnson-era "Great Society" program, signaled a rebirth of the rail passenger and transit industry. ♦ By this time the PRR owned a one-third interest in the Norfolk & Western Ry., but they soon bowed out as the Penn Central merger planning precipitated competitive N&W expansion. ♦ The Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co. advanced the Jersey Central RR $500,000 at 4% interest to help finance coordination of trackage between the Central and the LV RR between Bethlehem and Wilkes Barre.  The changes were made and the railroads began sharing trackage the following year.  The $500,000 note was never repaid and was eventually written off as worthless. ♦ Ingersoll-Rand sales were the highest in the firms 94 year history.  Their net income for this year was $33,616,000. ♦

 

1965 Public Service Coordinated Transport began operating a new express bus service from Belvidere, Oxford, Washington, Hampton, Glen Gardner & High Bridge to Port Authority Bus Terminal in NYC. ♦ Chain Dam on the Lehigh River was smashed by an ice flood. ♦ RPO (mail) service was moved from Jersey Central trains to highway vehicles by the Post Office Department. ♦ The Black Diamond Society of Model Engineers, organized by members of the former Hellertown Model RR Club, were granted a charter as a non-profit corporation in Northampton County and occupied two floors of the Sage building at 214 Northampton St., Easton. ♦ Allentown & Reading Transit Co. was purchased by Safeway Trails bus company (3.15). ♦ The Jersey Central abandoned a section of their main line between Bloomsbury and Greens Bridge on Apr. 26th, to make way for the construction of I-78.  Jersey Central trains were diverted onto the Lehigh Valley for that stretch. ♦ A New York Division, Railroad Enthusiasts excursion on 6.12 originated at Hoboken on the Erie Lackawanna Railway and traveled via the Boonton Line to Dover; Washington & Phillipsburg; on to the LV RR and stopped at Easton.  It followed the LV to Scranton and returned via the Delaware Water Gap on the former Lackawanna.  The Railroad Enthusiasts, NY Div. sponsored the $12.50 trip using Stillwell coaches, a diner and a buffet lounge.  It was powered by diesel locomotives #1404, 918 and 909 - all still painted in Erie colors. ♦ Governor Richard Hughes suggested that a NJ Transit agency may be needed to finance and operate deficit-ridden NJ rail commuter service. ♦ Centralized Traffic Control was installed on 13 miles of the Jersey Central between Hampton and Phillipsburg. ♦ Jim Boyd, former Editor of Railfan & Railroad Magazine (railfan extraordinaire) arrived in New Jersey for the first time and stayed in the Wardel Hotel in Phillipsburg.  His room overlooked Union Square and soon a Pennsy freight headed north powered by Alco GRS-11 locomotives.  Jim said to himself "Wow - what a neat place." ♦ The Lehigh Valley Chapter ran two chartered bus trips from Allentown to the NY World's Fair: 2 buses on 6.27 and 1 bus on 9.26. ♦ On 6.30 the Phillipsburg Police Dept. received a call that a horse was running on the LV RR tracks at Greens Bridge.  Officer Ron Wynkoop corralled "old Paint" in Black Dan's Cut.  The horse, from a carnival at Alpha, "spooked" and threw his owner near Bloomsbury. ♦ The original LC&N Co. was dissolved.  Exclusive use of the Lehigh River, granted to LC&N as part of their charter, ended after 147 years.  The river returned to public ownership. ♦ Phillipsburg's Jersey Hose Co. put their venerable 1917 Ahrens Fox fire engine up for auction. ♦ Trans-Bridge Lines received approval to operate a new Allentown to Belvidere bus route. ♦ On 8.19 Two Bel Del freight trains collided head-on in the Narrows, north of Riegelsville.  Two diesel locomotives were pulling a 55 car train north and one unit was at the head of a short southbound train.  All three locomotives and 15 cars were derailed.  Four PRR employees were injured.  Wreck crews were dispatched from Trenton and Allentown.  It took about 27 hours to clear the line.  The incident was attributed to the error of a towerman in Trenton. ♦ A large, 3 axle off-road Mack truck, loaded on CB&Q RR flat car #93289 was photographed at Allentown on 9.6 by Charles Houser, Sr. ♦ On 10.23, members of the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission, their wives, guests and the press toured the Rt. 22 Toll Bridge over the Delaware.  Two chartered buses carried the group of 90 on the annual day long tour of DRJTBC bridges. ♦ A huge, oversized 100,000 lb. boiler, built by the Foster-Wheeler Co. of Danville, NY, and consigned to DeLaval Turbine Corp. in Trenton, was shipped over the Bel-Del from Phillipsburg to Lambertville.  There, because bridge and power line clearances were too low, the boiler was placed upon a trailer truck to travel the remainder of the distance. ♦ The LV RR's line across NJ was downgraded to mostly single track. ♦ Public Service Electric & Gas Co. and Jersey Central Power & Light jointly completed their 330,000 kilowatt Yards Creek pumped storage hydro electric facility and nearby Kittatinny switching station with connections to Pennsylvania Power & Light and JCP&L. ♦ The Lehigh Valley RR exchanged three of their Alco Century 420's for three Detroit Toledo & Ironton RR EMD GP-35's.  The test results were inconclusive. ♦ Mack Trucks, Inc. moved their corporate headquarters from Montvale, NJ to Allentown, PA. ♦

 

1966 The former Easton Gas Co. building was purchased by A&H Sportswear, manufacturer of Pembrooke Swimsuits, and renovated into a garment factory. ♦ Robert Johnson sued Ingersoll Rand for damages to his tractor-trailer when the vehicle broke through a grate over a pit at the Phillipsburg plant. ♦ Two L&HR RR freight trains collided in Hudson Yard on 3.3. ♦ A general alarm fire destroyed Ingersoll Rand's Hillcrest Club at Delaware Park, Phillipsburg on Mar. 9th. ♦ A four unit A-B-B-A set of GM-EMD F7's were leased from the Richmond, Fredricksburg & Potomac to alleviate a power shortage on the L&HR RR. ♦ Lehigh Canal Park at Freemansburg suffered towpath washouts due to floods.  Repairs were made by volunteers. ♦ In a progress report, the US Army Corps of Engineers announced that construction would begin in 1968 on the Tocks Island Dam across the Delaware River at the Delaware Water Gap.  The dam was to be 160' high, 3,200' long and have a storage capacity of 250 billion gallons.  The project was later blocked by public opposition. ♦ GM Electro-Motive Division SD45 demonstrators did a stint on the Lehigh Valley main line. ♦ The original Jim's Doggie Stand at Union Square, Phillipsburg was hit and destroyed by a pickup truck driven by an unlicensed 15 year old.  The truck went down the river embankment.  The driver was employed by Murphy, Inc., a Philadelphia firm which was painting the Bushkill Street bridge. ♦ A derailment at the Beacon St. crossing in Stewartsville put Erie Lackawanna GP-7 #1233 on the ground on May 25th. ♦ The Erie Lackawanna Railway was granted permission by the NY PUC to discontinue passenger service between Netcong and Washington after June 1st.  At the time there was only one Mon. - Sat. commuter train to Hoboken.  Permission was also granted at the same time to discontinue passenger service completely on the Caldwell, Carlton Hill, Newark and Northern Branches. ♦ A PRR Bel Del freight train struck an automobile stalled on the Riegelsville grade crossing.  The 82 year old driver was killed. ♦ The Ingersoll-Rand Rock Drill Division at Phillipsburg shipped a record four Trucm Drillmaster truck mounted units in one day. ♦ The Canal Society of NY State visited and toured the Lehigh Canal from Easton to White Haven.  This prompted the formation of the PA Canal Society in Bethlehem on July 29th.  Harry L. Rinker helped organize the Pennsylvania Canal Society and served as its president for the first ten years. ♦ The High Iron Company was formed to operate steam locomotives on the main lines of the railroads in the eastern part of the US.  Ross Rowland (at 26 years of age) was President; Hank Webber was VP; Jack Emerick was Secretary, and John Willever was Treasurer.  The business address was 418 Catalpa Ave., No. Plainfield, the Rowland family home. ♦ Trans-Bridge Lines advertised "new bus service" starting Aug. 22 serving Netcong, Hackettstown, Washington, Belvidere, Phillipsburg, Easton, Bethlehem and Allentown. ♦ The Easton Area Chamber of Commerce recognized Lehigh Valley Transit Co., Easton (and predecessor companies) on the occasion of their 100th anniversary. ♦ A unit coal train for United Illuminating at Bridgeport, CT, via Maybrook, came through Phillipsburg, up the Bel Del and the L&HR powered by two colorful Reading GP35's and a GP30. ♦ The Railroad Enthusiasts, NY Division, sponsored a Rail-Camera Excursion on the EL Ry.  They covered the following lines: Northern Branch; Piermont Branch; NJ & NY; Main Line, Newark Branch; Greenwood Lake Branch; Boonton Line; Morris & Essex out to Port Morris & Washington and back to Hoboken on Sept. 25th. ♦ High Iron Co. along with Steamtown Foundation sponsored a Steam Safari (the first) using CPR 4-6-2 #127 (really #1278) from Jersey City, to Jim Thorpe and return via the Jersey Central (10.13).  The train was assisted over the Hampton grade by FM Trainmaster #2404.  Tom Kelcec, Walter Appel and Al Holleuffer sent letters of appreciation and suggestions for improvements.  A second trip ran a week later, with CNJ RS-3 #1555 leading the steamer up grade through Lebanon. ♦ Under the NJ Transportation Act, a new Transportation Dept. (NJDOT) absorbed the functions of the NJ State Highway Dept.  The Act also created the Commuter Operating Authority to administer rail carrier contracts and subsidies for capital improvements.  It was the first legislation in the nation to combine funding for both highway and public transportation. ♦ Public Service Coordinated Transport buses #E167, E170, E 171, E173, E182, E185 and E186 were sold to LVT.  All were GMC model TDH 3612, built in 1951 and were placed mostly in Easton service.  LVT re-numbered them #398 to 404. ♦ The Interstate Commerce Commission approved the PRR - NYC RR (Penn Central) merger, but required them to include the New Haven RR. ♦ The L&NE bridge over the Delaware River between Portland, PA an Columbia, NJ was removed. ♦ A 15' diameter, 105 ton paper making cylinder was moved through Phillipsburg & Easton by the LV RR.  The special train was en-route from Newark to Mehoopany, PA on 11.28.  Track at bridges had to be moved to provide clearance.  The load was carried 10" off center with 30 tons of scrap rail acting as the counter-balance on the other side of the car. ♦ Phillipsburg and Easton members of the Black Diamond Society of Model Engineers held their second annual open house on the second floor of the Brown & Lynch American Legion Post.  Their layouts included "O" "HO" and "HOn3" gauges were the largest in the Lehigh Valley with almost 900' of track, 100 locomotives and 2,000 railroad and trolley cars. ♦ Hess gasoline service stations, including the one at #743 So. Main Street, Phillipsburg, advertised toy oil tank ships for $1.98.  They were 1.5' long; rolled on land and floated in water with navigation lights. ♦ Ingersoll-Rand donated properties to the town of Phillipsburg for construction of the present library and parking for the municipal complex. ♦ On Dec. 23rd the driver of a tractor trailer load of motor oil and drums of diesel oil was killed when he crashed head on with a coal truck on Rt. 46 near Belvidere. ♦ Congress took steps to protect the nation's historic resources by passing The National Historic Preservation Act, creating the National Register of Historic Places. ♦ Bethlehem fabricated steel for the second Delaware Memorial Bridge and Madison Square Garden. ♦ The three GP-18's owned by the NYS&W RR traveled to and from the Jersey Central's Elizabethport shop via the High Bridge branch to have their wheels turned. ♦ History of Lehigh Valley Transit Company Railway Operations, edited by Randolph L. Kulp, was published. ♦

 

1967 On Jan. 2nd. 2 of 3 engines and 13 cars of a L&HR southbound freight train derailed at Brainards, blocking the main road crossing. ♦ The head end of a 65 car northbound L&HR train which had just emerged from the L&HR bridge was crossing Union Square when the second diesel and the first 16 cars skipped off the rails and scattered about the tracks and the square.  Two cars broke through the wall of the Wardell Hotel (built by the Bel-Del in 1854) and came to rest protruding into the bar and kitchen areas of the River Lounge on 1.5.  Sixteen days later an out of control blaze was discovered on the second floor of the hotel and it was destroyed. ♦ The High Iron Co. was incorporated under the laws of the State of NJ. ♦ On March 11th, a derailment forced the detouring of Lehigh Valley trains onto the Jersey Central tracks through the Phillipsburg area. ♦ LC&N coal mining properties were sold to Greenwood Stripping Co. and the LC&N Co. paid their last dividends to stockholders. ♦ On 3.25, 125,000 gallons of raw milk were dumped by several hundred members of the National Farmers Organization in a field near the intersection of Rts. 31 and 519 northeast of Phillipsburg. ♦ Durham Lock on the Delaware Canal was restored. ♦ The Jersey Central RR filed for reorganization under Section 77 of the Bankruptcy Act.  This was their final bankruptcy.  On April 13th, the US District Court at Newark appointed Perry M. Shoemaker, CNJ President since Apr. 1, 1962 and John E. Farrell, retired Chairman of the Board of P. Ballentine & Sons Brewery at Newark, NJ, Trustees of the railroad.  Shoemaker was also appointed Chief Executive Officer. ♦ On 5.10 a tractor-trailer driver blacked out on the Phillipsburg approach to the Rt. 22 bridge.  His entire flatbed rig (all 4 axles) skidded 260' on top of and finally stopped straddling the concrete median divider. ♦ The High Iron Co. operated a 14 car steam excursion (Safari #2) from Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton/Phillipsburg to Warwick, NY on the L&HR using ex-Canadian Pacific 4-6-2 locomotive #1286 (5.14). ♦ The PA Canal Society held a joint meeting with the Canal Society of NY State with headquarters at Hotel Bethlehem, Bethlehem, PA.  On 5.25 the 150 participants required four buses for their tour of the Delaware Canal and on the 26th tours of the Lehigh Canal were offered. ♦ The NJ State Highway Dept. decided to retire the Rt. 69 designation and replace it with Rt. 31.  The Rt. 69 road markers had become a coveted item and 450 replacements were required due to theft in the prior three years.  State officials could not explain the attractiveness of the Rt. 69 markers. ♦ An overloaded electrical transmission line sagged and shorted out causing a complete failure of the Pennsylvania - Jersey - Maryland power pool on June 5th.  It took from 3 to 10 hours to restore power to all customers, including those in the Phillipsburg - Lehigh Valley area. ♦ Three days later Public Service Electric & Gas received PUC approval to construct a 90 mile 500,000 volt overhead electric transmission line from Holland Twp., NJ to Suffern, NY.  The line crosses I 78 at the junction of Rt. 22, east of Phillipsburg.  The power was to be produced by two large generating stations near coal mines in western PA to save the cost of transporting the coal to eastern generating stations. ♦ Easton Dam on the Lehigh River, at its confluence with the Delaware River, was rebuilt. ♦ CP #1286 made a dead-head move from Raritan to Bethlehem on the Jersey Central (8.19). ♦ (8.20) High Iron Co. ran a Safari from Easton (the train came to Phillipsburg from Bethlehem), Bethlehem & Allentown to Wilkes Barre.  The 16 car "Queen of the Valley" train carried 900 passengers.  The adult fare was $13.95.  On the return, No. 1238 was taken off at Allentown and #1286 brought the train back to Easton. ♦ The High Iron Co., in cooperation with the Reading Co. operated an Iron Horse Ramble from Wayne Jct., Jenkintown and Lansdale, up the Bethlehem Branch, via Allentown to the annual Palmerton Festival on Sept. 16th.  The train was powered by steam locomotive #1286 and had 10 open window coaches with a baggage (snack) car in the middle, an open door baggage car and a Rocky Mountain type open observation car.  That evening the train went up to Elizabeth via the West Trenton line.  On the following day a trip was operated from Elizabeth, Plainfield and High Bridge to Green Pond Jct. via the Jersey Central and the Wharton & Northern RR. ♦ Safari #5 was operated by High Iron Co. on the Jersey Central from Elizabeth to Jim Thorpe and return with CP #1286 (10.15).  The 840 passengers were treated to a photo run-by at Bloomsbury.  The train was rerouted onto LV RR tracks at Phillipsburg because of a derailment on the Jersey Central between Easton and Bethlehem.  A brief stop was made at the CNJ Bethlehem station while the Bethlehem Fire Dept. replenished the tender with water and coal. ♦ A wreck on the L&HR RR caused them to detour some of their trains over the Erie Lackawanna's Washington Line between Phillipsburg and Port Morris. ♦ Interstate Route 78 was opened westward to Alpha, near Phillipsburg. ♦ The Jersey Central cut back passenger service from Allentown, PA and Phillipsburg to High Bridge.  However, they had to operate from Easton to Allentown for an additional 3 months until permission to abandon in PA was received. ♦ An experimental high-speed train which had hit 157.3 MPH on main line tracks, moved through the Phillipsburg area at what must have been a "snail's pace" for it.  The TurboTrain was built by the Sikorsky Aircraft division of United Aircraft Corp. at their Providence, RI plant.  It came to Phillipsburg via the Lehigh & Hudson River RR and was switched to PRR (Bel Del) tracks.  In the Bel Del yards it received special fuel by truck.  It then moved via Trenton to Morrisville, PA where it was prepared for testing.  The gas turbine powered train later reached 170.8 MPH on a special 21 mile test track between Trenton and New Brunswick. ♦ The daily commuter run from Washington to Hoboken and return made its last run. ♦ The L&HR RR temporarily leased diesel locomotives from the Delaware & Hudson RR. ♦ The US Department of Transportation began operations and the National Transportation Safety Board was established within the DOT.  The Bureau of Public Roads joined the DOT and became the Federal Highway Administration. ♦ Easton Motor Express was acquired by North Penn Transfer.  At the time EME was located in the former LVT Easton carbarn. ♦ Phillipsburg Bridge & Construction replaced the failed wooden trunk Frey's Run (Kleinhaus Creek) aqueduct on the Delaware Canal with a reinforced concrete structure.  It is located at Raubsville, PA, 6.5 miles below the Easton Guard Lock. ♦ The former Jersey Central Lebanon Station became the headquarters for High Iron Co. ♦

 

1968 Stockholders of the PRR and NY Central RR approved a merger of the two railroads to form the Penn Central Transportation Co. (a/k/a Penn Central or PC).  It became effective 2.1. ♦ Strassburg RR steam locomotive #90 visited the Jersey Central Bethlehem engine terminal. ♦ The LV RR freight house at W. Mercer St., Phillipsburg was destroyed by a fire which started in the adjacent Tinsman Bros. Coal Co.  The six Phillipsburg fire companies were assisted by Easton and Delaware Park.  While firemen were fighting the blaze, another broke out in railroad ties on a flat car near the town dump about 1,000 yards away.  Joe's Steak Shop donated 50 sandwiches to the firemen.  Fifty one years earlier the prior freight station was also destroyed by fire. ♦ Harry L. Rinker became the first Executive Director of Hugh Moore Park at Easton. ♦ The High Iron Co. advertised "the greatest and longest steam excursion in 25 years" (350 miles round trip!!!) from Penn Station, Newark to Wilkes-Barre, PA on 2.18.  The steam locomotives #1286 and 1238 which they planned to use were called to Reading, Pa for emergency steam supply service.  Two Rail Diesel Cars brought passengers from Newark (Penn Station) to Cranford where the train and substitute CPR 4-6-2 steam locomotive #127 was waiting.  A Jersey Central 2400 horsepower Fairbanks-Morse Trainmaster diesel pushed the train up the grade from Whitehouse to Hampton after difficulties with the fire were experienced.  Strassburg RR 2-10-0 #90 was added at Jim Thorpe to doublehead the 2 hour and 15 minute late train westward and all photo stops were canceled.  The trip was terminated at Ashley, PA and headed back east 4 hours late.  At remote Mountaintop, PA the tender trucks of #90 derailed.  Five hours later the coaches were backed to Penobscot where 22 buses were chartered to bring the passengers back.  Passengers from Newark were not returned until 6am the following morning. ♦ The 2.18 trip was repeated on 2.25, but this time #90 was added at Bethlehem.  Both steamers were taken off at Bethlehem on the return trip.  Note: #1278 (127) suffered a boiler explosion on the Gettysburg RR in June of 1996. ♦ The Clyde Beaty-Cole Bros. circus train set up at Emaus on 4.28. ♦ Francis H.S. Ede, a Quakertown automobile dealer and president of the Quakertown & Eastern RR along with Paul Hersh, V.P., of Hellertown, purchased 2-8-0 #4 from the Buffalo Creek & Gauley RR at Dundon, W. VA.  Robert Caruthers of Clay, W. VA rode with the 1926 Baldwin locomotive as it was towed by diesels to the Jersey Central Bethlehem roundhouse where it was prepared for operation.  Additional boiler work was done on the siding of McDermott Brothers at 3rd & Washington Streets, Allentown. ♦ The PRR laid heavy welded rail on the Bel-Del through the Union Square area in Phillipsburg. ♦ A steam excursion using Quakertown & Eastern (BC&G) 2-8-0 #4 was operated from Bethlehem to Coxton Jct., near Pittston, PA, on 6.30.  Lehigh Valley RR F7A's helped the little engine haul the eleven cars up through Lehigh Gorge. ♦ Nickel Plate RR 2-8-4 Berkshire #759 was leased from Steamtown for 15 years by High Iron Co.  It was moved to Conneaut, OH where she was restored to running order by High Iron personnel and at High Iron's expense.  En route from OH 759 passed through Phillipsburg on its 750 mile dead-head move to the Lebanon station team track. ♦ On 9.21 the High Iron Co. and the Jersey Central operated a Iron Horse Ramble to the annual Palmerton Festival and Jim Thorpe.  The train was powered by #759 from Elizabeth, Plainfield, Easton and Bethlehem to Jim Thorpe & return.  The 15 car train carrying more than 800 passengers stopped at the restored Lebanon Station (HIC HQ) for a dedication ceremony.  After the required speeches a photo run-by was made for photographers as a band played.  A Lebanon grandmother and her two granddaughters mistakenly got on the train and ended up spending the day with the excursion gratis.  Two hours were lost when the turntable at Jim Thorpe, PA had to be nudged the last few inches by jacks.  More time was lost when the ex-Canadian Pacific Rocky Mountain observation car inexplicably became uncoupled from the train. ♦ Following the Jim Thorpe trip #759 was moved to the Bethlehem Engine Terminal and on Oct. 5th came back east and north on the West Shore line to reach Harmon, NY for the Oct. 12-13 trip from NY to Niagara Falls.  She was posed at "PU" Tower in Phillipsburg at 2 AM on the 5th for night photos by Mike Eagleson, N. Kent Loudon and others on Oct. 5th.  (The Niagara Falls trip carried 960 passengers in 19 cars, including the Black River & Western's 1912 parlor car Enterprise.) ♦ Phillipsburg Bridge & Construction Co., general contractor, performed a bridge replacement project for the L&HR RR.  It widened the 16 foot underpass of the Hazen-Bridgeville Road, near Belvidere, in Warren County to a 44 foot roadway.  First, load bearing steel piles were driven and a temporary steel bridge, supplied by Irvington (NJ) Steel, was installed.  Next, the old stone abutments were dynamited and removed and fill was excavated underneath the temporary bridge.  Concrete foundations and abutments for the new bridge were poured.  A temporary steel structure was built to support the new steel deck bridge parallel to the temporary structure.  When all was ready trains were stopped and the temporary bridge was removed and the new span was rolled into place. ♦ A steam excursion using Quakertown & Eastern #4 was operated from Allentown/ Bethlehem, PA via Phillipsburg to Warwick, NY on the L&HR and return on 10.20.  As Q&E #4 was coming east through Easton, westbound #759 was held at "PU" Tower in Phillipsburg as it was returning from Harmon to Bethlehem, en route to Roanoke. ♦ During this year the LV RR cut back local freight service in the Easton area to five jobs: EB-1, EB-5, EF-2, EPA-2 and Top of the Hill (the South side Industrial branch up Morgan Creek valley). ♦ The Appalachian National Scenic Trail became part of the National Park System.  It passes approximately 12 miles northwest of Phillipsburg en-route from Maine to Georgia. ♦ Mack Trucks became a unit of Signal Oil and Gas Co. of Los Angeles. ♦

 

1969 The NJ Commuter Operating Authority offered financial operating assistance to private bus carriers and new buses were purchased and leased to ailing motor carriers. ♦ The Penn Central RR took over the New Haven RR.  Traffic which formerly flowed through Maybrook, NY was drastically reduced and the L&HR RR was detrimentally affected. ♦ The Garden State Water Co. Phillipsburg Division put their new well system utilizing electric pumps in service, relegating the old steam pumping plant to standby service. ♦ The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey put a second Circus Train on the rails. ♦ The Lionel Toy Corporation was taken over by General Mills, Inc. ♦ A Pennsylvania Canal Society field trip toured the Morris Canal from Phillipsburg to Lake Hopatcong.  Headquarters for the 120 participants was Hotel Bethlehem. ♦ The Canal Society of NJ was formally organized at Waterloo Village on June 7th, by Clayton F. Smith, who was president for the first ten years. ♦ The MetEd building at the Forks of the Delaware in Easton was demolished and along with it the large, illuminated "METROPOLITAN EDISON COMPANY - EASTON" sign which faced Mt. Ida. ♦ Quakertown & Eastern #4 pulled an 11 car excursion train from Bethlehem, PA to Coxton Yard, near Pittston on the Lehigh Valley RR on 6.29.  At Lehighton, LV F7's #566 & 562 were added for the climb over Penobscot Mountain.  At Coxton, union rules required a yard switcher to assist with the turning of the train on a wye.  The fourth locomotive used was Baldwin S-12 switcher #236. ♦ Man first set foot on the Moon when three US astronauts landed. ♦ Easton businessman Stephen Folk purchased the Wannamaker, Kempton & Southern RR, a tourist operation. ♦ (Aug. 9) Quakertown & Eastern #4 again traveled from Bethlehem up the L&HR to Warwick, NY with an excursion, this time with a diesel helper.  It was sponsored by the Black Diamond Society of Model Engineers, which also hosted a National Model RR Assn. convention in this same year in Easton. ♦ A feature article on LVT Co. bus operations, by Robert E. Sauer, Jr., appeared in Vol. XXI, No. 8 of Motor Coach Age bulletin. ♦ On Sept. 20th the High Iron Co. operated a steam excursion with NKP 4-8-2 #759 from Elizabeth and Plainfield to Palmerton and Jim Thorpe on the CNJ RR.  A helper was added from Whitehouse to Hampton and a photo/movie run-by was made at Treichlers Curve. ♦ NKP #759 made a dead-head move from Lebanon to Somerville to Phillipsburg via the Jersey Central, and then to Hoboken via the Erie Lackawanna for the Hoboken Festival (10.5). ♦ Berkshire #759 came west on the EL Washington Line through Phillipsburg on a dead-head move back to Lebanon (10.12). ♦ On 10.19 Quakertown & Eastern #4 powered another excursion, this time from Bethlehem to Hazelton.  In the Hazelton area the special was assisted by LV RR EMD switchers #259, 264 & 263. ♦ The Canal Society of NJ, which by this time had 150 members, held its first Morris Canal bus tour on 11.2. They began at Lake Hopatcong, ended at Phillipsburg/ Easton and included a stop at Plane 9-W.  That afternoon a stop was made at the Clarendon Hotel for dinner and a slide show by Jim Lee. ♦ The LC&N Co. decided to enter the confectionery industry as a new source of income, and end its involvement as a coal & transportation entity.  They purchased several candy companies. ♦ In this year the LV RR received the following numbers of loaded cars in interchange from the following railroads at Phillipsburg: CNJ - 3,069; EL - 312; L&HR - 3,357; and PRR 11,767.  Car loads of coal, coke, and company material were excluded. ♦ Penn Central RR operations were consistently unprofitable, forcing management to sell non-rail assets and borrow large sums to finance deficits. ♦ The marvelous 57 year record of continuous dividends of the L&HR RR came to an end. ♦ The former Perryville Tavern, a 2 1/2 story brick structure, was moved south to clear the right-of-way for Rt. 78. ♦ North Penn Transfer built a new 31 bay truck terminal at 2100 Wood Avenue, Easton and moved their operation out of the former LVT Easton carbarn. ♦ The Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen & Enginemen joined the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen; the Order of Railway Conductors and Brakemen; the Switchmen's Union of North America; and others to form the United Transportation Union to become rail labor's largest representative organization. ♦ The PB&NE RR first received the coveted E.H. Harriman Memorial Bronze Safety Award for outstanding safety performance in their category for this year.  They have received the same award more than a dozen years since. ♦ Mack Trucks introduced air suspension for cabs. ♦

 

1970 Two cars of a 72 car southbound L&HR freight train derailed two miles North of Phillipsburg on 1.9.  A Penn Central wrecking crane toppled down the embankment on the river side while trying to get the cars back on the track in 10º temperatures with snow on the ground.  A New Haven crane was brought down from Maybrook, NY by NH General Electric diesel #2683 to help re-rail the cars and the crane.  An additional crane was brought in to assist in recovering the toppled crane. ♦ Hugh Moore Parkway, City of Easton, took possession of the building at 200 South Delaware River Drive to serve as its headquarters as well as the home of the Pennsylvania Canal Society. ♦ Baltimore & Ohio and Norfolk & Western diesel units were on lease to the financially strapped Jersey Central RR. ♦ The Canal Museum at the Forks of the Delaware in South Easton opened to the public.  Bill Yoder was the curator for the PA Canal Society collections. ♦ The DL&W old main line from Washington to Delaware (MP 79.3) was abandoned on 4.21. ♦ The environmental movement reached a critical mass of public support and burst upon the national stage on the first Earth Day, April 22. ♦ The unused, original LV RR tunnel under Musconetcong Mountain was leased to a mushroom growing operation which used it for five years. ♦ Quakertown & Eastern 2-8-0 #4 powered an excursion from Bethlehem to Maybrook, NY (6.21). ♦ The Penn Central Transportation Co. financial collapse occurred on 6.21.  They filed for reorganization under Section 77 after last-ditch efforts failed to secure Federal loan guarantees.  The railroad was unable to pay about $200,000,000 in long term loans that were coming due. ♦ The first annual Delaware River Raft Race was sponsored by the High Life Ski Club of Rockaway, NJ.  They traveled 24 miles from Smithfield Beach, above the Delaware Water Gap, to the PP&L boat launch site at Martins Creek. ♦ Reilly's Auto Transfer, a Phillipsburg trucking firm was acquired by Mushroom Transportation trucking company.  Their early building remains at #78 Jefferson Street and is now occupied by Frank J. Terplan & Son. ♦ Nickel Plate RR locomotive #759 powered a High Iron Co. steam excursion west on the Jersey Central from Elizabethport to Jim Thorpe, PA (7.12). ♦ The Lehigh Valley RR, an independently operated subsidiary of Penn Central, filed for reorganization under Section 77 after losing $125,000,000 in 1969.  LV could not repay a $1,500,000 government loan due 8.15. ♦ No. 759 was moved from NJ to East Allentown (& Hamburg) for a High Iron Co. trip on 9.12. ♦ Ingersoll-Rand purchased a GE 45 ton locomotive to take over as the main Phillipsburg plant switcher and donated their first unit, #90, to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI.  The old #91 remained as the standby engine at Phillipsburg. ♦ The Guard Lock of the Delaware Canal at Easton, sometimes called Lock No. 24, underwent extensive repairs and rebuilding. ♦ A derailment on the Jersey Central at Easton tore out a switch which was never repaired.  From this time until the L&HR RR ceased going to and from the Allentown Yard, each of their trains had to make a switchback move (west to Easton, east to Phillipsburg and then continue west).  The moves were photographed by Dave Augsburger. ♦ A major, 22 page, feature/documentary article, Ingersoll-Rand: catalyst of dieselization, by David H. Hamley appeared in Trains Magazine, December issue. ♦ The L&HR RR handled only 59,467 carloads, half what it was two years prior. ♦ After losing $325,700,000 during this year, PC was required by Congressional strike settlement to increase pay of affected workers by 13.5%, further increasing deficits. ♦ Our state's historic preservation efforts were formalized with the passage of the New Jersey Register of Historic Places Act. ♦ Congress passed the Clean Air Act of 1970, which set emissions standards for new cars and banned lead in gasoline.  The law also required states to develop plans for controlling rising levels of automobile use - enforced by a new Environmental Protection Agency. ♦ The Jersey Central RR lost more than $14,000,000 in this year. ♦

 

1971 The Jersey Central wreck crane from Bethlehem came through Phillipsburg on 1.5 en-route to High Bridge.  It re-railed three leased N&W F7's and several cars which derailed on 12.29.70. ♦ Congress approved $125,000,000 in loan guarantees to railroads.  PC immediately obtained $100,000,000, avoiding a 1.28 shutdown for lack of cash. ♦ The Lehigh Valley Transit Co. informed officials of Lehigh and Northampton counties that their company was in a financial crisis and threatened to discontinue all bus services. ♦ In mid-January, Robert D. Timpany, a former NY Central RR operations man, was appointed to undertake the reorganization of the Jersey Central RR.  He promptly toured the line from end to end and was put in control on 1.28 as trustee. ♦ Interstate bus service linking Easton / Phillipsburg, Alpha & Washington was abandoned by Delaware River Coach Lines & Trans-Bridge Lines (joint ownership) after Warren County Freeholders rejected their application for a subsidy. ♦ A collision in the Bethlehem yard caused a box car to ride up over the nose of Jersey Central Alco diesel #1603. ♦ The United Companies leased all of their properties, including the Bel-Del to the newly formed Penn Central RR for 999 years. ♦ Public Service Coordinated Transport bus operations were taken over by Transport of NJ.  The new entity was also a subsidiary of Public Service Electric and Gas Co., but John J. Gilhooley, former senior commissioner of the NYC Transit Authority took over the management from Herbert Harper.  With Gilhooley came a program of retrenchment.  They did, however, promote their package express service, a route of which extended to Easton, Bethlehem and Allentown, PA. ♦ LV RR asked the ICC for permission to take over the PA lines of the Jersey Central. ♦ Trans-Bridge Lines transit operations division, Delaware River Coach Lines, ceased operations (Easton, PA to Phillipsburg, Alpha & Washington, NJ) and all efforts were put into their charter and tour business development. ♦ A three or four car special train, "Energy of Man," was sponsored by the Pennsylvania Power & Light Co.  It toured their service territory with exhibits and was powered by Reading diesel locomotives.  It was full of exhibits that traced US energy innovation from Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Edison to nuclear power.  Lehigh Valley stops were made the Allentown Fair and in Bethlehem. ♦ Jim Lee, owner of Morris Canal Plane 9 West for 25 years gradually made improvements to the site.  In about one month he, family members and several friends, including Ronald Wynkoop excavated the stone turbine chamber, the iron penstock and the long tailrace tunnel.  Many valuable artifacts were uncovered. ♦ On Aug. 8th Nickel Plate 2-8-4 #759 departed Bethlehem for Hoboken, NJ.  A beautiful color photo, by John Briggs, of the train coming east on the CNJ main, past Mt. Ida in Easton, graced the cover of High Iron '72 published by Quadrant Press.  The train traveled via Phillipsburg, the Washington and Boonton lines to Hoboken Terminal for an 18 car, two day (Aug. 14 & 15) excursion to Binghamton via Port Jervis and return via Scranton/Boonton line.  Your editor was on board!  ♦ On Aug. 17th #759 powered an Erie Lackawanna freight train from Hoboken to Binghamton. ♦ The NRHS annual convention was hosted by the Lehigh Valley Chapter and Hotel Bethlehem was the headquarters for the approximately 500 attending.  Convention excursions from Bethlehem to South Plainfield on 9.4 and from Bethlehem to Franklin, NJ and back on the L&HR on 9.6 were operated by Rail Tours, Inc. and powered by CP 4-6-0 #972. (The 9.6 trip never reached its intended goal of Warwick, NY due to a wreck which blocked the L&HR line.)  Trips were also operated on the Black River & Western RR and the New Hope & Ivyland RR.  At the time, E. Louis Pardee was president of the National and Elwood McElroy was president of the LV Chapter. ♦ The L&HR discontinued operations over the Jersey Central between Easton and Allentown and terminated all trains at Hudson Yard, Phillipsburg. ♦ LVT bus ridership had decreased to about 2.2 million annual riders. ♦ The Reading RR filed for reorganization under Section 77 because of income shortfalls caused by railroad and longshoreman strikes and the recession; the B&O, which owned 45% of the Reading, refused to help. ♦ The Ingersoll-Rand Phillipsburg facility donated their first plant switcher, #90, to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI in Sept. ♦ Alpha Portland Cement Co. sold "The Alpha Building" in downtown Easton for $500,000.  It is now the Easton City Hall. ♦ Con Agra purchased Alpha Portland Cement Co. plant #4 at Martins Creek for $167,000 and converted it into a grain handling facility. ♦ Penn Central closed the year with improved results, losing $275,000,000, reducing its operating ratio from 92.1% to 88.3%, and holding $25,000,000 of loan guarantees in reserve. ♦

 

1972 PRR engineer Richard Gratton made a trip up the Bel Del on a rainy winter night with a coal train.  Years later he commemorated that trip by composing a ballad entitled "Diamonds On My Windshield. ♦ LVT applied to the PA PUC for permission to abandon all bus service.  They lost $78,000 in the prior year. ♦ A businessman who owned the Easton Yellow Cab Co. proposed to start a jitney service if LVT ceased operating buses. ♦ Winter Steam Excursions from Elizabeth to Bethlehem and return using Reading 4-8-4 locomotive #2102 on the Jersey Central were sponsored by Steam Tours, Inc. and High Iron Co. on 2.26 & 27.  These were the last Jersey Central passenger trains to operate in PA.  Mike Eagleson took a classic photo of #2102 picking up orders from "PU" tower in Phillipsburg on one of the returns.  It was published in Quadrant Press Review #7, Motive Power of the Jersey Central by Mike in 1978. ♦ Trains magazine of March had a cover "Once upon a time the Jersey Central was a proud and prosperous railroad.  But no more." and feature story "Jersey Central had a great fall.  Now the question is, How much of CNJ can be put back together again?" by Peter Rickershauser. ♦ The CNJ Easton & Western Branch was abandoned. ♦ (4.1) A CNJ train, which grew longer as it made its way southeast from Wilkes Barre, picked up every piece of Central rolling stock and wayside property that could be moved and crossed the Delaware to the road's new end of track at Phillipsburg.  N. Kent Loudon photographed the train, powered by CNJ RS-3 #1554 as it crossed the Rt. 611 bridge heading to Phillipsburg. ♦ The LV RR took over former CRR of PA operations to serve stranded customers. ♦ The L&HR RR filed for reorganization under Section 77, citing debts of $815,000 and cash on hand of $83,000.  The immediate cause of the bankruptcy was the insistence of the already bankrupt Penn Central on payment of certain rental and operating expenses due them.  Although both railroads owed each other money, the PC was not required by law to pay, but the "solvent" L&HR was.  The L&HR defended itself by also going bankrupt.  This situation caused the downfall of most Northeast railroads when the PC tumbled. ♦ Allentown & Reading Transit Co. was merged with Continental Trailways. ♦ The Tourist Railway Association was formed. ♦ The L&HR leased two of their idle Alco C420 locomotives to the LV RR for a period and when they returned they were sold to lines in Canada. ♦ The Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority (LANTA) subsidized and then purchased the LVT bus routes and the 30 aged buses in Easton as well as the balance of the LVT system. ♦ The first transcontinental "land bridge" train operated from Elizabethport to Long Beach, CA via the CNJ, LV, N&W and Santa Fe railroads. ♦ Gilbert Generating Station converted from coal to fuel oil, getting deliveries of about 225 tank cars per month from the Bel-Del. ♦ John F. Nash, LV RR trustee and chief operating officer, proposed a consolidation of the Jersey Central, Reading and LV. ♦ The LV RR leased Norfolk & Western road diesels as well as diesel switchers from the Pittsburgh & Shawmut RR and Bangor & Aroostook, using them in the Phillipsburg - Allentown area. ♦ Hurricane Agnes and consequent flooding devastated eastern railroads. ♦ Agnes-caused washouts severed the Erie Lackawanna Ry. main line for three weeks during which EL freight trains were detoured through Phillipsburg/Easton where LV RR locomotives were exchanged for the EL power.  The hurricane drove the EL into bankruptcy.  They filed for reorganization under Section 77. ♦ LV RR leased ex-Bangor & Aroostook RR diesel switchers for use in the Bethlehem area. ♦ The Reading RR obtained trackage rights over the LV RR from Allentown/Bethlehem to Phillipsburg to enable them to operate through service from Elizabethport to Harrisburg.  At this time Phillipsburg gained the dubious distinction, unparalleled in American railroad history, of being the only municipality in the US served by six bankrupt railroads: Penn Central, CNJ, LV, L&HR, Erie Lackawanna and Reading. ♦ LANTA reduced bus fares, added new routes, improved existing routes, and purchased the remaining assets of LVT.  Former Public Service bus #E167 (LVT #398) was sold to Wilkes Barre. ♦ The American Truck Historical Museum & Library was to be established in Allentown.  Mack Trucks, Inc. contributed $1,000,000. ♦ Phillipsburg Bridge & Construction Co., general contractor, completed the Union Oil "76" truck stop at Bloomsbury, NJ and the Mushroom Transfer Co. truck terminal at Clinton, NJ. ♦ The Centerville & Southwestern RR last ran at the Becker dairy farm in Roseland on Sept. 4th.  Photographer Gene Collerd took a group photo of 4-8-4 live steam locomotive #1501, built by H.B. Ayers in 1940, with a group of long time workers standing behind.  Included were Tony Di Bartolo, Jay Giltzow, George Batta, Louie Hoyga, John Batta, Joseph Batta, Mrs. H.E. Becker and Gene Becker as well as Carl Prieskorn and Ray Witt, representatives of the Henry Ford Museum to which #1501 was donated.  The sign announcing the last day was donated to the Phillipsburg RR Historians in June, 1999. ♦ A westbound LV RR freight, led by N&W locomotive #3689 with Tony Gallagher at the controls, collided with a M of W track car at Glendon on Sept. 6th.  Eight days later an accident hearing was held in Hotel Easton.  The Proceedings commenced at 9:30am and closed at 6pm.  Blame was placed on the tower operator, who gave Gallagher's train permission to enter the occupied track and he failed to warn Gallagher.  There were no injuries and little damage was done. ♦ Two Erie RR Stillwell coaches were at the Metropolitan Edison Portland, PA generating plant.  They were moved around the plant area by the two small Met Ed switchers for employees and their family members during an employee appreciation day event. ♦ The Delaware Canal Journal: A Definitive History of the Canal and the River Valley Through which it Flows, by C.P. "Bill" Yoder was published. ♦

 

1973 The Delaware & Hudson Ry. Co. entered the Lehigh Valley area on Jan. 3, following an agreement with the LV RR for permission to operate freight trains over the latter's tracks between DuPont, near Wilkes Barre, and Allentown Yard.  The D&H locomotives were serviced at the Bethlehem Engine Terminal. ♦ The 1973 tour of the PP&L's "The Energy of Man" train began in Allentown in January. ♦ Penn Central trustees informed the reorganization court that their railroad couldn't be reorganized as a profitable entity without $600-800 million in government funds for track and equipment. ♦ The former Jersey Central Linden Street, Allentown freight house was destroyed by fire. ♦ The trustees of the LV RR, CNJ and Reading approved a study of the consolidation of their lines. ♦ A one day labor strike shut down the Penn Central.  Government intervention ended the strike, setting in motion the process of government participation to resolve the dilemma of rail bankruptcies in the northeast. ♦ A Transit Development Program for the Lehigh Valley was prepared for the Joint Planning Commission of Lehigh - Northampton Counties, PA by consultants Barton - Aschman Associates & R.I. Garver & Associates. ♦ Bangor & Aroostook Railroad diesel switchers were leased to the Lehigh Valley RR and working in the Phillipsburg - Lehigh Valley area. ♦ High Iron Co. deadheaded locomotive #2102 from Lebanon via Phillipsburg to Scranton en-route to Colonie, NY for work in the D&H shop on 3.10.  North from Scranton the locomotive pushed LV RR run-through freight AM-1 up to Ararat Summit.  The full story, by J.J. Young, with many photos appeared in No. 46 issue of Railroading magazine for the first quarter of 1973. ♦ On March 31st, (and at other times) Scranton to Elizabethport freight trains, jointly operated by the Erie Lackawanna and the Jersey Central railroads were detoured through Phillipsburg due to wrecks on their usual route over the High Bridge Branch between Lake Junction and High Bridge.  The detoured train(s) operated from Port Morris via Washington to Easton where the locomotives (EL 3616 & 2564 and CNJ 3066) ran around the train to continue east.  This pool service had begun on 1.3.72 and was discontinued when Conrail took over.  During summer EL locomotive #3676 of another detouring Scranton train derailed just west of the Jersey Central station at Phillipsburg. ♦ Bankruptcy Court Judge John Fullam ruled that Penn Central RR couldn't be required to keep operating beyond Oct. 1 without unconstitutionally eroding creditors' rights; he estimated post-bankruptcy operations reduced the value of the company by $500,000,000. ♦ The LV RR asked Fullam for permission to cease all operations; L&HR RR and Reading soon followed suit. ♦ With Fullam's permission, PC filed a reorganization plan with the ICC. ♦ The B&O (Chessie System) sold its 45% share of stock of the bankrupt Reading RR to three private investors. ♦ A 2.5 mile section of the Lehigh Canal in Hugh Moore Park between Chain Dam and Easton, and the dam itself, was restored and new gates were fitted on three locks in reparation for rewatering the section.  It is the only completely restored section of towpath canal in either PA or NJ. ♦ The Federal Railroad Administration loaned Penn Central RR $16,400,000 to cover hurricane Agnes-related losses, allowing the carrier to continue operating into 1974. ♦ LANTA purchased a new fleet of 59 air-conditioned, 45 passenger General Motors coaches and retired many of the old LVT buses. ♦ The Arab states began a five month embargo on oil to the US on 10.17.  Erratic deliveries of fuels caused localized supply shortages and price escalations.  Lines formed at pumps everywhere, people panicked, fistfights broke out, work schedules were disrupted, vacations were canceled and many inconveniences were caused.  Independent truckers staged slowdowns and interstate highway blockades to protest the high prices for fuel. ♦ "LANTA Day" - the first anniversary of LANTA taking over bus operations from LVT - was celebrated with "Welcome Aboard" receptions at Easton, Bethlehem and Allentown. ♦ The LV RR closed Richards Yard, their last Easton yard and consolidated local freight operations at Allentown Yard. ♦ The Jersey Central's Phillipsburg "PU" tower was deactivated. ♦ The Delaware Canal was listed on the National Register. ♦ The Morris Canal was placed on the NJ Register of Historic Places. ♦ LANTA sold former Public Service buses #E173 and E186 to Penn State and four others were junked. ♦ Canal historian, James Lee completed the first edition of his The Morris Canal: A Photographic History. ♦ The Vanishing Depot was produced by artist, historian & author Ranulph Bye.  The book includes paintings of the Jersey Central's Easton, Bethlehem & Allentown stations; Allentown Crossing & Interlocking structures; the LV RR Allentown station & Easton tower and many others in the NJ - PA area. ♦

 

1974 A truckers strike/slowdown over fuel prices caused the PA National Guard to patrol bridges and overpasses on the Lehigh Valley Thruway. ♦ The Regional Rail Reorganization Act (RRRA or 3R Act) was signed into law by President Nixon.  The Federal government was forced to enact this law to prevent Judge Fullam from shutting down PC RR.  The act established Consolidated Rail Corporation (ConRail) as "a financially self-sustaining rail service system" for the northeastern United States; and created U.S. Railway Association (USRA) to develop a plan for merging the bankrupt eastern railroads into ConRail at an estimated expense of $500,000,000, and thereafter managing federal investment in ConRail.  PC got $85,000,000 to keep running until ConRail took over. ♦ (2.23) FEC 4-6-2 #148, owned by Sam Freeman hauled an excursion from Ringoes to Phillipsburg to High Bridge and return. ♦  PC trustees reported to Judge Fullam that their track was rapidly deteriorating, with 8,475 miles of their system under slow orders, because of lack of maintenance funds. ♦ Officials of the US DOT, ICC the states of NY, PA & MA and shippers inspected the north-south "Northeast Alphabet Route."  The cooperative route for freight trains used the B&M, D&H, LV, RDG & B&O railroads from Portland, ME to Potomac Yard, VA.  Locally the freights and the special train traveled via Scranton, Lehighton, Bethlehem, Allentown, and around Reading to Philadelphia.  The guests stayed in hotels in Bethlehem overnight on 3.20.  D&H (former Santa Fe) Alco PA diesel locomotives #17 & 18 powered the train of seven matching coaches for the entire trip. ♦ Rail passenger service was extended west from Hampton, by NJ DOT, to restore service to Phillipsburg.  The Phillipsburg High School band played to celebrate the first run.  The Jersey Central placed ads in local papers showing the revised station location, with parking where the former CNJ freight yards were, just east of the former CNJ passenger station.  Trains left Phillipsburg at 6 & 6:40 am & 2 pm, returning at 1:35, 7:30 & 7:50 pm. ♦ PP&L's "The Energy of Man" special train was retired and the train was parked for some time in the northeast section of Allentown. ♦ The Penn Central, Reading, CNJ and LV RR's were ruled unreorganizable by their respective bankruptcy courts on May 2nd.  This made them eligible for inclusion in ConRail. ♦ LANTA eliminated the 5 zone fare structure making their entire system one zone.  They also announced that downtown bus transfer centers, serving as common terminal points for all routes ending in central business districts, would be constructed in Easton (west of Center Square, where it remains to this day) Bethlehem and Allentown. ♦ The Delaware Canal was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. ♦ The Merchants Association of Hillcrest Shopping Mall subsidized a limited amount of local bus service on two routes terminating at the mall.  The fare was 25¢ and Trans-Bridge was the operator. ♦ Delaware & Hudson RR diesel locomotive #2312 was routed from Albany via the L&HR RR to Phillipsburg/Easton and then East to Lebanon where it was repainted in a bi-centennial color scheme and renumbered "1776."  It was used to power the American Freedom Train Foundation's "Preamble Express."  This train departed Lebanon with three coaches and an open end observation car on a four month tour of the US to make preparations for the Freedom Train to follow. ♦ J. Stephen Humphrey became Executive Director of Hugh Moore Park at Easton. ♦ A fire started on the Poughkeepsie Bridge on May 8th shortly after a mile long freight train, powered by 5 Erie Lackawanna diesel locomotives crossed.  It heavily damaged the structure and severed the strategic rail route for traffic through Phillipsburg/Easton to and from New England as Penn Central refused to repair the damage.  A battle developed between PC and the L&HR regarding traffic bound for PC and received at Phillipsburg.  PC wanted this traffic routed to the LV RR at Phillipsburg with the L&HR losing the revenue generated by their former line haul to Maybrook.  An agreement worked out with the ICC finally gave the L&HR their share of the revenue (as if they had hauled the traffic to Maybrook), but the interchange was made at Phillipsburg.  However, the new arrangement produced slower service and traffic declined.  The advantage of the L&HR "bridge route" which bypassed the NY terminal area was lost. ♦ Jim Lee received a grant from the NJ Historical Commission to complete his oral history/tape recording of the last remaining canal captains, mule drivers, lock tenders, plane tenders and maintenance crewmembers.  The transcripts of these tapes formed the nucleus for his book, Tales the Boatmen Told, published in 1977. ♦ The Society for Industrial Archeology toured the Bethlehem Steel plant including the steam engine powered rolling mill and the blast furnace compressor (the internal combustion compressor engines were powered by blast furnace gas) building (McKelvey was there). ♦ LANTA began two new bus routes (Rt. 28 - Bushkill St. & Rt. 29 - West Easton). ♦ For the fiscal year ended June 30th, LANTA recorded a 37% increase in patronage and a 19% increase in revenue over the previous year, which was their first. ♦ By this date the LV RR Easton tower controlled 14 separate interlockings and 112 miles of centralized traffic control track from Bound Brook to the west. ♦ The Supreme Court found the Regional Rail Reorganization Act constitutional by a 7-2 vote. ♦ The Federal DOT agreed to underwrite $6 million of CNJ RR losses. ♦ In a rare move, Penn Central GP-30 #2205, a second similar unit and #8158 brought an ore train from Phillipsburg via the LV RR right into the Philadelphia, Bethlehem & New England yard in Bethlehem. ♦ The USRA added the following to their list of "expendable" NJ trackage: the entire Bel-Del, CNJ Hampton to Phillipsburg and the entire L&HR RR. ♦ LANTA disposed of the last of the LVT era buses.  Some went to a local scrap dealer and others to a broker for resale with some going to the Virgin Islands. ♦ The Governor Milton J. Shapp and Lieutenant Governor Kline Campaign Train arrived in Bethlehem (10.16) on its first stop from Philadelphia to Scranton.  The train, which included the Alder Falls (the former Eugene Field), Lionel Ives, and PRR business car #120, was powered by Reading FP-7 #903.  The governor traveled by rail to emphasize the plight of the four railroads (the Penn Central, Reading, Lehigh Valley and Erie Lackawanna) on which the train operated. ♦ Eleven cars in the middle of the 50-car weekly Pennsylvania Power & Light Co. oil train left the track at the Harmony Station cottage community, approximately five miles north of Phillipsburg.  Several of the derailed cars rolled down the embankment and up to the rear of two cottages.  There were no injuries. ♦ Fire destroyed the Sage building on Northampton St. in Easton and along with it the layout of the Black Diamond Society of Model Engineers. ♦ The Morris Canal was placed on the National Register. ♦ Amtrak indicated that they were still very interested in expanding passenger service from NY to the Lehigh Valley.  They later withdrew their offer. ♦ Bus companies indicated they would fight subsidized Lehigh Valley to NY rail service. ♦ Transport of NJ offered 10 trip tickets for $40 on their Lehigh Valley to NY buses. ♦ The Independent Safety Act was passed.  It removed the National Transportation Safety Board from the US DOT and established it as a truly independent agency.  The NTSB operates solely under the authority of the President and the Congress. ♦ The Dec. issue of Railroad Magazine, featured Interesting Railfan #144, Norman S. Cole, born and raised along the DL&W RR in Phillipsburg and a longtime Easton resident & LV RR trainman. ♦ The Charter of the Morris Canal and Banking Co. was to terminate at the end of this year, but it did not.  The NJ DEP continues to manage the properties under the terms of the 1924 bill. ♦ The former LC&N coal properties were sold by Greenwood Stripping Co. to Bethlehem Steel Corp. ♦ The Anthracite Railroads Historical Society, Inc. was created for the purpose of collecting, preserving, and publishing historical information and material relating to the railroads that served the anthracite coal mining region of eastern Pennsylvania.  The society focuses upon the following anthracite carriers: Central Railroad of New Jersey, Delaware Lackawanna & Western, Lehigh & Hudson River, Lehigh & New England, Lehigh Valley, and Reading Railroads (each of which operated in New Jersey), as well as their predecessors and affiliated lines. ♦

 

1975 The Lehigh Valley/Phillipsburg telephone directory yellow pages listed 45 trucking companies, 27 motor freight companies, 19 truck dealers, 17 industrial truck agencies, 18 moving and storage companies, 9 trailer renting and leasing firms and four truck body companies. ♦ Penn Central RR locomotives ran through from Phillipsburg to Bethlehem Steel with coal and ore trains. ♦ Pioneer on Wheels, Warren County's non-profit transportation corporation requested that the Freeholders appropriate $20,000 to finance the purchase of 4 new vehicles for areas covering Phillipsburg, Hackettstown, Blairstown and Washington. ♦ The Bankruptcy Court found Erie Lackawanna RR incapable of reorganizing as a profitable business.  The trustees requested EL's inclusion in ConRail. ♦ The US Ry Association's (USRA) preliminary system plan for restructuring bankrupt lines into Conrail was released.  It offered a 15,000 mile system, but up to 6,200 miles of the bankrupt's route systems would be abandoned or sold.  It proposed that the Maybrook Gateway/Poughkeepsie bridge route to New England be reopened for freight. ♦ A $5 reward was offered for old Northampton, Easton & Washington Traction Co. bonds issued in 1912.  The "reward" offer came from Albert J. Ferraro of Phillipsburg, founder and president of Trans-Bridge Lines, Inc. and Delaware River Coaches, Inc.  He was also a collector of relics of by-gone transportation systems.  The trolley company went bankrupt in 1925 and the $1,000 invested by each bondholder was lost. ♦ The Black Diamond Society of Model Engineers moved into new quarters at 14 No. 4th St., Easton. ♦ The president of the LV RR publicly stated that he disliked the ConRail idea and claimed his RR could operate profitably in a corporation separate from ConRail.  He proposed the Mid Atlantic Rail Corp. (MARC), made up of the LV, CNJ, L&HR & L&NE RRs. ♦ The Special Appeals Court in Washington upheld the Erie Lackawanna Reorganization Court decision to allow late inclusion of EL Ry in Conrail.  Prior to this, federal regulators had hoped EL would serve as a competitor to Conrail. ♦ On Apr. 1st a Jersey Central eastbound Rail Diesel Car split a switch near Kent St., Phillipsburg.  The front truck went correctly down the main while the rear truck went up the branch towards the Ingersoll-Rand plant, just west of Greens Bridge.  The car had no passengers and there were no injuries. ♦ A special 14 car Jersey Central train carried cheering Lafayette University fans from Phillipsburg to Madison Square Garden in NYC and return.  CNJ GP-40 diesels were exchanged for GG-1's at Newark. ♦ More than 15 fire companies from the Phillipsburg area attended a wetdown (the first on record) for the new Lincoln Fire Co. fire truck at their firehouse.  The new truck was a $40,000 Mack pumper.  After the water battles a dance was held in the firehouse. ♦ The Clyde Beaty - Cole Brothers Circus came to Butler Park Playland at Washington for one day, June 12th. ♦ Trans-Bridge began a new bus route from Ingersoll-Rand through Phillipsburg & Center Square, Easton to Palmer Park Mall in Palmer Township. ♦ On July 10th, Dick Steinbrenner, George Berisso and Bob Mohowski began a three day jaunt on the Lehigh Valley RR documenting operations between Oak Island Yard (Newark, NJ) and Buffalo, NY.  The tour resulted in a feature article, Tracking the Apollos, in the Winter issue of Railfan Magazine by Bob.  Included was a photo of the three railfans at Easton Tower.  The article identified the Phillipsburg to Allentown section as having the greatest variety of LV motive power. ♦ The USRA reported that freight service on the Bel-Del Division of the Penn Central should be continued between Milford and Phillipsburg primarily because the Gilbert Generating Station was receiving 1.9 million barrels of No. 2 oil a year by tank car. ♦ After public review and comment the USRA released their Final System Plan for ConRail, calling for the abandonment of 5,100 route miles. ♦ A majority of the Delaware River Basin Commission voted against appropriating money for the highly controversial 13 year old Tocks Island Dam project on the Delaware River above the Water Gap. ♦ On August 5th the Interstate Wrecking Co. began the task of demolition of Phillipsburg's Sitgreaves grade school.  The same firm was awarded an $8,000 contract to demolish the old town hall building at South Main & Sitgreaves Streets. ♦ A LV RR wreck occurred at Glendon. ♦ Hugh Moore Park officials presented a scale model of the Lehigh Canal packet boat Swan to the Easton City Council.  They hoped to build a full size replica to operate on the canal in South Easton (Glendon).  The excellent model was made by N.F. Beacham of Lehaska, PA, who also made the several canalboat models (commissioned and owned by Bill McKelvey) on display at the Canal Society of NJ museum at Waterloo Village. ♦ LANTA combined bus routes 24, 30 & 31 into a new Rt. 30 to extend bus service from Easton to Bangor to Slate Belt.  LANTA also began operating the Dorney Park line of the Allentown Suburban Lines, thus ending the last private bus operation in the Lehigh Valley.  The three ASL GM buses were sold to Trans Bridge Lines of Phillipsburg and Tri-City Coach Lines of Bethlehem. ♦ The Jersey Central's Fourth Street Station in Easton was destroyed by fire. ♦ The Greyhound bus terminal in Easton was abandoned and thereafter intercity buses stopped at Hotel Easton or at curbside in the center of the business district.  At various times Easton was served by the following intercity bus lines: Continental Trailways, Delaware River Coach Lines (using NJ Transit buses), Edwards Lakes-to-the-Sea System, Greyhound, Lehigh & Northampton Transit Authority, Lehigh Valley Transit, Martz Trailways, Public Service Interstate Transport, Reading Transportation Co., Royal Blue Coaches, Susquehanna Trailways, Trans-Bridge Lines, Transport of New Jersey and other obscure operators.  Many of these lines also offered package delivery service. ♦ Sam Freeman's (Whippany River) 4-6-2 #148 and leased Erie (EL) Stillwell coaches were dead-headed from Morristown through Phillipsburg to Bethlehem on Thursday, 10.22.  The two GP7's on the point were dropped at Phillipsburg and #148 took the train across the Delaware River bridge and westward. ♦ A Mainline Steam Foundation Inc. fall excursion double headed with George Hart's CP 4-6-0 #972 and #148, owned by Sam Freeman of Short Hills, NJ, traveled east from Bethlehem on the LV RR over their Delaware River bridge to South Plainfield and return on 10.25.  Leased Reading coaches were also used.  Reservations were taken at a Cranford, NJ address. ♦ The Interstate Energy Co. completed an 18" oil pipeline 84 miles between Marcus Hook, PA to the PA Power & Light generating plant at Martins Creek.  It crossed the Lehigh River between Easton and Bethlehem. ♦ LANTA completed renovations to their 12th & Cumberland Streets, Allentown offices.  The building, dating from 1916 was acquired from LVT. ♦ USRA's final system plan for Conrail was accepted by Congress.  It eliminated the L&HR-Maybrook-Poughkeepsie bridge route. ♦ The ex-DL&W, ex-D&MM 2-6-0 steam locomotive #565 was moved from Citro's restaurant in Wayne to the E-L at Pompton, east to Croxton and west via Dover, Phillipsburg/Easton to New Hope, PA. ♦ The Minsi Trail Council of the Boy Scouts of America held opening ceremonies for their historic trails program.  Their Uncas Trail began at the Moravian cemetery in Bethlehem and followed the Lehigh Canal towpath east to the former Canal Museum at the Forks of the Delaware. ♦ The Railway Express Agency entered a planned bankruptcy. ♦ The Easton Car & Construction Co. became a wholly owned subsidiary of Mass Transit Systems Corp. of Philadelphia. ♦ Ex-Teamsters union boss Jimmy Hoffa mysteriously disappeared. ♦

 

1976 The LVT Liberty Bell Route interurban trolley line was the subject of a special calendar published by the Lehigh Valley Chapter of the NRHS. ♦ The Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act (4R Act) was signed by President Ford.  It amended the RRRA and provided $2.1 billion in federal funding for ConRail's acquisition and upgrading. ♦ Ingersoll Rand Co. was among the many RR properties which painted locomotives in BiCentennial colors.  They painted their plant switchers, the old #91 and the 45 ton General Electric unit, in red, white and blue.  The LV RR painted a caboose in the same colors and gave it #1776. ♦ A financing agreement between USRA and Conrail was concluded.  It gave Conrail access to government funds of up to $2.026 billion to launch operations. ♦ Bankrupt rail properties were conveyed to Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail).  Mileage of the new combine was 25,167, with the following breakdown: PC 19,300; EL 2,807; LV 988; CNJ 526; PRSL 307; and L&HR 90. ♦ Conrail took over all railroads in the Phillipsburg area on 4.1 and established its area locomotive center at the ex-LV-CNJ Bethlehem Engine Terminal.  The former LV RR Richards Yard and the engine terminal and yard at Easton was closed.  Locomotives and cabooses at first had prior logos stenciled over with "CR" but soon began to appear in the new blue paint scheme.  Several former Reading and LV RR locomotives were moved from the Lehigh Valley area and were replaced by former Erie Lackawanna, L&HR and Penn Central units. ♦ The Delaware & Hudson Ry. Co. obtained trackage rights on Conrail between Dupont (Wilkes Barre), PA and Oak Island Yard, Newark, 178 miles through Phillipsburg, and on other routes to provide a competitive alternative to Conrail.  Twenty-four locomotives from the LV RR and 20 units from the Reading RR as well as 1,600 freight cars were transferred to the D&H Ry. roster for the new services.  The Delaware & Hudson Ry. Co. gained control of the former LV RR piggyback and container operations designated as Apollo I & II between Newark and Buffalo. ♦ Westbound through freights on the former CNJ main line began to switch to the former LV RR line west of Phillipsburg. ♦ Through freight service on the Bel-Del main line from Trenton to Phillipsburg was terminated, and the line abandoned except for a 3.5 mile section in Lambertville which was taken over by the Black River & Western RR and the section from Phillipsburg south to Milford (however a 3 mile section from Coalport to Cadwallader Park remained in service long enough to enable the American Freedom Train to occupy a display site near the park).  Train BL-6 from Trenton to Phillipsburg was the last through freight on the Bel-Del.  The former Penn-Central locomotive center at Phillipsburg was closed but one switcher was retained for local switching assignments. ♦ Model RR Explorer Post #101, was chartered through the Boy Scouts of America in Allentown.  It is the longest continuously operating post. ♦ Night bus service ended in Easton. ♦ The American Freedom Train stopped briefly at Easton en-route from Newark to display locations in Bethlehem (on 8.29) and Allentown (Ross Rowland was the fireman). ♦ The C. Derr Boat Yard (PA Canal Society Director, Charles Derr) of Freemansburg, PA built a replica of the Lehigh Canal 1860  Beer Boat "Maid of the Mist" for the Bicentennial Halloween parades in the Lehigh Valley.  The float won several prizes. ♦ The Tri-State Ry. Historical Soc. sponsored a trip aboard the former "Blue Comet" open-platform observation car #1178 on the Conrail (ex-CNJ) "P-burger."  They took the train from Newark to Phillipsburg, a charter bus back to the Chicago (currently Anthony's Mariner) restaurant at Whitehouse for dinner in their ex-Erie RR stillwell coach and bus to Raritan for return by rail. ♦ The Autumn tour of the PA Canal Society covered the four canals of the Delaware Valley from New Hope/Lambertville to Phillipsburg and Easton using Starr buses.  The lunch stop was at the former Sheraton Inn at Easton where the dining room, The Canal Tavern, was decorated with paintings of the canal by Bill Yoder.  Two miniature canalboats from the Canal Boatman's Association (from the Hugh Moore Park collection) were on display in the lobby. ♦ The Scott Mountain Model RR Club (located on Harmony-Brass Castle Rd., near Harmony) had an open house.  The club had members from the Phillipsburg to Washington area. ♦ Representatives of Conrail, NJ DOT (Bill Herkner), Penn DOT & Chambers of Commerce of Phillipsburg, Easton, Bethlehem and Allentown met to plan restoration of rail passenger service from Allentown to NY, but it did not happen. ♦ Famous Tiller Sharks, a documentary about the Morris Canal, starring James Lee, was produced by New Jersey Public Television Corporation. ♦ Conrail installed 4,000,000 new ties and 700 miles of rail in their first few months of independent operation. ♦

 

1977 Conrail budgeted $640,000,000 for track maintenance, including 5,000,000 new ties and 1,041 miles of rail. ♦ An eastbound Conrail piggyback train came through Phillipsburg powered by three Union Pacific diesels and with a UP caboose on the rear. ♦ Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac RR diesels #132, 133, and 127 arrived at Allentown Yard on 2.27 with a freight train from Potomac Yard near Washington, DC. ♦ The American Freedom Train locomotive and two cars made their final dead-head trip through Phillipsburg/Easton on the CNJ to the Saucon Creek engine house, near Hellertown, PA. on 3.12.  Locomotive #1 (Reading #2101) was backed from Lebanon to High Bridge, turned on the "Y" there and moved forward to Saucon.  There they were refurbished and relettered for the Chessie Steam Specials (CSS).  On 4.23.77 the CSS Press Run departed Saucon Creek for Baltimore behind Reading 4-8-4 #2101, leased from Ross Rowland d/b/a Steam Locomotive Corporation of America.  The consist of the CSS included two former Jersey Central coaches leased from James F. Hicks of Easton, PA; two former Jersey Central coaches leased from NJ DOT; three former Erie-Lackawanna (DL&W) coaches leased from RailRoad Passenger Cars, Inc.; High Iron Co. parlor car #2936; and Ross Rowland's Parlor-Open Platform Observation car #200, Splendid Spirit. ♦ The Phillipsburg DL&W freight station was torn down and the material was recycled. ♦ A final trip over the Bel-Del was arranged on Tuesday, Mar. 29th.  It utilized BR&W RR equipment, including the 1912 Pullman car "Enterprise."  The trip began at Flemington (using their steam locomotive to pull the train) to Lambertville where their RS-1 pulled it up the Bel-Del to Phillipsburg, backing over the L&HR bridge to reverse, then east on the LV RR to Three Bridges to return to Flemington.  "Friends" President Emeritus, Hal Carstens, filmed the trip and Roger E.M. Whittaker, also known as E.M. Frimbo, was on board.  "Frimbo" was one of the most famous RR buffs in the world, having traveled 2,748,636 miles by rail before he died in 1981. ♦ The Delaware & Hudson Ry. Co. and Lehigh Valley RR found that business warranted adding two additional TOFC-COFC trains - Mercury I & II on the route of the Apollo trains through the Lehigh Valley. ♦ Conrail reported a first-year loss of $665,600,000 to the ICC. ♦ Fire destroyed the Jersey Central Easton freight station during May and the remains were quickly removed. ♦ Conrail replaced Delaware & Hudson Ry. in the Apollo and Mercury operations between Buffalo and Newark, NJ. ♦ NYC Transit Authority (MTA) diesel locomotive #73 passed through the Lehigh Valley en-route east. ♦ A four car Conrail inspection train toured the former DL&W main line and the Cut-off on 6.24.  It was powered by E8 #4022, former EL #833. ♦ LANTA vacated the former LVT Easton carbarn, but the building survives.  A new Easton (Palmer) bus garage/maintenance and office building was constructed and opened (on 6.26) to serve LANTA's Easton Division. ♦ Ingersoll-Rand sold their W. Easton plant to Ecolaire, Inc. ♦ Hugh Moore Park purchased a canalboat for their restored section of the Lehigh Canal and renamed it Josiah White.  It was built on the Delaware & Hudson Canal and for several years operated on a re-watered section there between White Mills and Lonesome Lock.  (Daniel Coryell, the great grandfather of "Friends" past president, Dave Phraner, was the locktender at Lonesome Lock until the canal closed.)  The 45' long, 14' wide, 10' high, 13 ton boat was delivered by truck to the south side of the Lehigh River about two miles above the Glendon guard lock on Aug. 9th.  Conrail trains were stopped while the trailer was backed over the tracks and into the river until the boat floated off.  As soon as it was launched the boat began to take on water.  A small pump was put into operation, but the boat settled deeper and deeper into the water.  The water in the boat sloshed from side and the boat listed badly.  A second larger pump was put into operation and the total 350 gallons per minute pumping balanced the leakage.  The pumps were supplied by Easton Fire Chief Earle Brotzmann.  It took two Northampton County Civil Defence vessels three hours to tow the canalboat down river to the guard lock.  First the boat went aground outside the lock, then the lock gates would not open sufficiently to allow the canalboat to enter the lock.  It was secured outside the lock for the winter. ♦ Conrail planned to abandon the LV RR Delaware River bridge and consolidate operations on the former Jersey Central bridge. ♦ A truck crashed over the embankment of Rt. 22 and landed on 25th St. ♦ During late summer and early autumn, construction crews laid track for ConAgra on a portion of the abandoned Lehigh & New England Ry's Martins Creek Branch between Martins Creek and Sandt's Eddy, a distance of 1.4 miles.  The ConAgra facility had been established in a defunct cement plant. ♦ LANTA offered a new bus service linking Easton and Phillipsburg - it was city and state sponsored and operated by Delaware River Coach Lines, Inc., a Trans-Bridge subsidiary (10.3).  Connections with all LANTA routes at Center Square, Easton were possible with a 5¢ transfer. ♦ The Fall issue of the Railroadians of America Train Sheet carried a feature article "Anthracite across the Delaware" by Kenneth Hanson. ♦ R.C Archihofsky at Conrail's Bethlehem office was still issuing employee notices stamped "Lehigh Valley R.R. Co. Office of Chief Engineer. ♦ Tales the Boatmen Told, a book of stories about the Morris Canal by James Lee, was published. ♦ A History of the Lehigh Valley Railroad "Route of the Black Diamond" by Robert F. Archer, was published. ♦

 

1978 The Delaware Canal was designated a National Historic Landmark. ♦ During March, Conrail commenced operating through restored interchange trackage connecting the former LV RR main line and the terminus of former Reading Co's Bethlehem Branch in S. Bethlehem.  The interchange tracks had been removed a decade before.  This restoration, together with the East Penn Junction interchange between the former Reading Co's. East Penn Branch and LV RR's main line in Allentown provided a direct route for trains to and from the Bethlehem Steel plant, which formerly had to operate through the congested Allentown Yard. ♦ Garden State Water Co. held an "open house" and their 1913 Allis Chalmers triple expansion steam pumping engine at Phillipsburg was fired up for the last time.  Hundreds of people visited the plant. ♦ Allentown National Transportation Week was first celebrated in the Lehigh Valley.  It was a combined effort of several trucking companies, truck dealers, air lines, bus operators and LANTA. ♦ The Josiah White canalboat made its inaugural run on the section of the Lehigh Canal at Glendon restored by Hugh Moore Park, pulled by two mules, Jesse and Jake. ♦ The first annual Hugh Moore Park Canal Festival and Boatmen's Reunion was held. ♦ NJ DOT purchased NJ commuter lines from Conrail. ♦ Doug Peters & Dave Biles organized a "Tracking the Trolley" bus tour in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton area for the Lehigh Valley Chapter.  They used LANTA bus #4513 which was painted blue & white with silver sides. ♦ Two bicyclists from Easton & Bethlehem set a new record for pedaling across the US in 13 days, 4.5 hours, from CA to NYC. ♦ The LC&N Co. interest in the L&S RR was sold to Conrail for $5,250,000, leaving the candy business as their remaining but insecure income source. ♦ Congress provided an additional $1.2 billion in financing to Conrail.  Ultimately, total federal investment in Conrail exceeded $7 billion as litigation with estates of bankrupt railroads increased acquisition costs far above initial estimates. ♦ Rail passenger service between Philadelphia and Bethlehem/Allentown with Budd RDC's was re-activated on June 5th.  The Budd Co. SPV-2000 demonstrator operated a trial run the prior week.  The service, supported by SEPTA and PennDOT was extended to Allentown and by July 31st, three more daily round trips were added. ♦ On 7.12 Conrail announced plans to modernize the Allentown yard at a cost of $14,000,000. ♦ The LANTA board of directors gave permission to the Railways to Yesterday, Inc. group to establish a transportation research center on the 2nd floor of Fairview bus garage.  It was most appropriate that their mostly LVT archives be preserved in the former LVT trolley carbarn. ♦ NJ DOT released their Raritan Valley Upgrade - Improvements for the Phillipsburg - Newark Rail Service report. ♦ The Slate Belt Transit System - an experiment using taxicabs as "feeders" to the LANTA buses operating in the Bangor area north of Easton began. ♦ The D&H Ry. joined with Norfolk & Western Ry. and Union Pacific RR in operation of a weekly piggyback train between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.  Their SeaLander I & II trains were operated on the former LV RR main line through the Lehigh Valley to Oak Island Yard in Newark. ♦ The United Transportation Union agreed to reduce train crew size from four persons to three on Conrail trains less than 70 cars long. ♦ Because of poor track on the former DL&W line to Phillipsburg, freight service over it was discontinued between Port Morris and Easton by Conrail. ♦ Conrail issued new engineering drawings of the power supply, circuits, panels and modules of the Easton interlocking system/plant. ♦ A bill passed Congress and was signed into law blocking the building of Tocks Island Dam. ♦ Modern Transfer, the trucker which took over LVT Trolley Freight operations went bankrupt. ♦

 

1979 An eastbound Conrail freight train derailed at Easton station causing extensive damage and sending three cars down onto the parking lot east of the tower/signal bridge.  The towerman's auto was crushed by one of the errant cars. ♦ Seven cars of a 137 car Conrail train derailed near So. 3rd St., Easton. ♦ The NJ Commuter Operating Authority purchased active and inactive commuter trackage, including most of the available rail stations. ♦ The Northampton & Bath RR ceased operations. ♦ The American Telephone & Telegraph Company's first long distance transmission line, which passed through Warren County, was dismantled.  It had followed the route of the old Washington Turnpike from Phillipsburg to Penwell. ♦ The second annual Allentown National Transportation Week celebration was held at the Lehigh Valley Mall, Rt. 22, Whitehall.  LANTA placed one of their 1973 GM TDH4523A coaches inside the mall building.  The Lehigh Valley Chapter, NRHS provided historic trolley slide shows.  Privately owned antique buses were displayed outside. ♦ Canadian Pacific Royal Hudson #2839 had been undergoing restoration in N&B RR yards for nearly ten years.  The owners tried unsuccessfully to gain permission from Conrail to run excursions out of the Lehigh Valley area.  No. 2839 was leased to the Southern Railway and moved south to Alexandria, VA under her own power. ♦ Middle-East nations imposed a second oil embargo in the Spring of this year.  Once again American's faced long gas lines and rationing that limited purchases to odd or even dates based on their license plate numbers. ♦ LANTA raised fares 5¢. ♦ The former DL&W mainline from Scranton to Stroudsburg, PA was taken out of service as a through freight route by Conrail.  Coal trains to the Metropolitan Edison power plant at Portland, PA were thereafter routed from Allentown yard via Phillipsburg, Martins Creek and Bangor, PA. ♦ One hundred and twenty-seven members of the PA Canal Society toured the Lehigh Canal in two buses and a van.  Highlights of the 5.18 & 19 event were rides on the canalboat Josiah White and the banquet at the Sheraton-Easton Inn. ♦ The Lehigh Canal towpath was designated a National Historic Hiking Trail. ♦ The first annual Allentown-Lehigh County Historic Covered Bridge Festival was organized. ♦ Bel-Del rails were lifted by Contrak of Ridgefield, NJ from Trenton to Milford, except for the section in Lambertville purchased by the Black River & Western RR.  Much of the rail salvaged from this operation was purchased by the Kansas City Southern Railroad.  A two-mile section of welded rail found near Raven Rock was cut into 1,400 foot sections and moved for use on Conrail's Auburn Branch in upstate New York. ♦ The gasoline shortage generated record high ridership for LANTA. ♦ Conrail reported a second-quarter profit of $29,400,000 under Generally Accepted Accounting Practices.  However, calculated under ICC accounting formula this equated to a $71 million loss.  Conrail began levying a surcharge on traffic to and from the South, arguing that its division of joint rates on such movement was inadequate. ♦ A Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service team of historians, architects, archaeologists and planners studied the recreation and rehabilitation potential of the Lehigh Canal and its environs.  Their work resulted in HCRS Publication Number 36, Lehigh Canal. ♦ The Delaware Canal was designated a National Historic Landmark. ♦ Conrail rebuilt former Bel Del track through Union Square, Phillipsburg, eliminating the former L&HR second track.  Traffic across the "Free Bridge" was detoured for three days while the work proceeded. ♦ The Delaware & Raritan Canal Commission assumed control of the former Bel-Del right-of-way from Trenton to Bulls Island and on to Frenchtown as an extension of the D&R Canal State Park.  They improved and converted it into a bike and walking path. ♦ Hugh Moore Park, stretching along the Lehigh River between Change Bridge and Easton Dam was designated a National Register Historic District. ♦ NJ Transit was created by the state Legislature and the Commuter Operating Authority was dissolved. ♦ The American Society of Mechanical Engineers designated the ca. 1850 Reaction-Type Hydraulic Turbine at Plane #9 W., Stewartsville, on the Morris Canal a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark. ♦ Trans-Bridge Lines began weekly bus service from the Lehigh Valley to Atlantic City. ♦ On 11.13 an Amtrak inspection/test train traveled from Hoboken to Scranton to evaluate the route for possible service.  F40 #277, an Amcoach and "inspection car" #10,000 were turned on the wye at Denville, and backed to Port Morris.  It did this because the main line rail to the Cut-Off had been lifted at Port Morris, but the wye there was still in place.  So, the train then went forward on the second wye and west on the Cut-Off.  It laid over at Scranton overnight and the following day it returned via the Lehigh Valley. ♦ The Howard Sell/Railways to Yesterday electric railway and railroad archive collections were moved from storage at the Buehler & Co. furniture factory to the second floor of LANTA's Fairview garage. ♦ During this year Conrail spent $370,000,000 for 3,600,000 new ties and 1,054 miles of rail.  This essentially completed the planned rehabilitation of the properties retained by Conrail. ♦ French automaker Renault acquired a 10% stake in Mack Trucks and began to increase its ownership.

 

1980 NJ Transit purchased Transport of NJ & Maplewood Equipment Co. and began operating them as their bus subsidiary. ♦ A Conrail wreck toppled a string of tank cars near the Easton station. ♦ Ron Luckock gave a presentation on the history of the Jersey Central's Easton passenger station at the LV Chapter, NRHS April meeting. ♦ Conrail furloughed 1,750 employees and stored 650 locomotives as the recession reduced freight traffic 14%. ♦ C. Douglas Cherry & Associates completed a plan of Phase I development for Phillipsburg's Delaware River Park. ♦ The Black Diamond Society of Model Engineers moved their layout from Easton to its present location at 900 E. Macada Road, Bethlehem.  The group continues to model Phillipsburg - Lehigh Valley area railroads (pre-Conrail) to a considerable extent. ♦ The third annual Allentown National Transportation Week celebration was again held at the Lehigh Valley Mall. ♦ The American Society of Civil Engineers designated the Morris Canal a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. ♦ The Jersey Central Railway Historical Society held their first annual banquet at the Union Gap Restaurant at Clinton, NJ on 6.13. ♦ The CNJ main line was torn up between West Easton and Freemansburg, PA. ♦ Trans-Bridge Lines commenced daily bus service from Lehigh Valley cities to Atlantic City. ♦ The Staggers Rail (deregulation act) was signed by President Carter, substantially loosened economic regulations governing railroads.  After 70 years, rate, service and labor regulation were finally lifted.  Conrail's lobbying was a major impetus for the Act which provided them with most of the relief they sought.  A similar bill, the motor carrier deregulation act was also signed by Carter.  It created turmoil among established trucking firms. ♦ "Friends" member Robert G. Lewis arranged a trip between Newark and Phillipsburg on the Jersey Central aboard former Blue Comet observation car #1178 for the renowned rail buff Rogers E.M. Whittaker, a.k.a. E.M. Frimbo.  The group also included Tom Streeter, Arthur Yorke Allen, and Porter Collins.  The aged and ill Frimbo was too weak to stand on the back platform.  But, he suggested that the next morning they ride the Reading's Budd car from Bethlehem to Philadelphia.  They found the line closed between Bethlehem and Quakertown for track work and they had to ride a substitute bus to Quakertown.  This was some of the last of the nearly 3,000,000 rail miles that "Frimbo" rode before he died less than 8 months later. ♦ Fifteen miles of I 80 was opened between Netcong and Hope, NJ. ♦ BR&W RR diesel #211 was in Bethlehem. ♦ The "Hobby Hangout" hobby shop moved from downtown Easton to their current location on Wm. Penn Highway in Palmer Township. ♦ LANTA ridership increased from just 2.6 million annual passenger trips in 1972 to over 5 million for fiscal 1979. ♦ The former LV RR Easton tower was closed by Conrail and functions were transferred to the Bethlehem dispatcher. ♦ Conrail abandoned the DL&W RR Phillipsburg yard, except for one siding which is occasionally used by maintenance of way equipment. ♦ The Lehigh Valley Astronomical Society dedicated their Brooks Observatory, with a 12.5" Cassegrain telescope, on South Mountain, Allentown. ♦ The Conrail annual loss reported to the ICC widened to $406,000,000 ($244,000,000 on GAAP basis) because of recession and resulting drop in freight traffic. ♦ The Winter issue of the Railroadians of America Train Sheet carried a feature article "New York & Mauch Chunk RPO train 101: Tales of a helper in RPO service" by Charles H. Luffbarry. ♦

 

1981 L. Stanley Crane, former Chairman of the Southern Railway, became chairman and CEO of Conrail, succeeding Edward G. Gordon, a non-railroader. ♦ Heavy rain on 2.11 loosened ice on the upper Lehigh River and on the following day massive chunks of ice breached the last two wood crib dams on the Lehigh.  They were Dam #4, Three Mile Dam and Dam #7, Allentown Dam, both built between 1827 and 1829.  The latter was replaced by a new concrete dam. ♦ The Center for Canal History & Technology was founded by the Friends of Hugh Moore Park and headquartered at the Canal Museum in Easton. ♦ Conrail achieved its first profitable quarter. ♦ Conrail abandoned the 0.7 mile former Jersey Central Ingersoll Branch at Rand milepost 0.0. ♦ Trans-Bridge Lines and Tri City Coaches merged and moved to a new facility at Lehigh Valley Industrial Park. ♦ The Northeast Rail Reorganization Act of 1981 permitted Conrail to drop all passenger service.  The service was taken over by state commuter authorities. ♦ The Tri-State Railway Historical Society held their 6th annual weekend Camparama along the former LV RR main line near Bloomsbury, NJ.  The chairman was Bob Bahrs.  They had breakfast at the nearby truck stop and made sidetrips to Phillipsburg, Easton, Bethlehem and Allentown. ♦ The Pennsylvania Canal Society convened at the Holiday Inn in Phillipsburg for a weekend tour of the west end of the Morris Canal, May 15 - 17.  Highlight of the tour was a visit to Jim Lee's Plane #9 West; Plane #10 West where Jim's son lives and Waterloo Village.  Lectures illustrated with color slides were provided by Bill McKelvey and Jim Lee. ♦ Rail passenger service between Philadelphia and the Lehigh Valley ended. ♦ The Phillipsburg - Lopatcong Loop bus line was discontinued. ♦ Doug Peters & Dave Biles organized a "Tracking the Trolley" bus tour in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton area for Lehigh Valley Chapter, NRHS.  They used LANTA bus #4525 which was painted red, white and silver.  Many former trolley routes were covered, including the run to Center Square, Easton. ♦ Congress passed the NorthEast Rail Service Act, which paved the way toward the sale of Conrail as a unit to private investors if the railroad was adjudged profitable by June 1983.  NERSA streamlined abandonment procedures for unneeded rail lines; required Conrail to divest itself of commuter service by the end of 1982; state full crew laws were invalidated; and allowed railroads to report financial results in accordance with GAAP, as Conrail preferred. ♦ Conrail elected to service Dover from the west (Phillipsburg) rather than the east (Croxton yard), restoring freight service between the Lehigh Valley and Port Morris.  An aerial photograph of an eastbound Conrail freight train was taken by D.L. Bonanno and later published in CONRAIL People, the Philadelphia Division Labor/Management Newsletter. ♦ The Warren County Morris Canal Committee was established as an extension of the Warren County Planning Board.  The goals of the committee are the preservation and protection of the canal, as well as increasing awareness of its great historical significance. ♦ The Ingersoll-Rand iron foundry at Phillipsburg closed. ♦ An Historic Preservation Survey of the Morris Canal in Warren County was commissioned by the Warren County Freeholders. ♦ Conrail reported their first annual net income, $39,000,000. ♦ Bethlehem Steel sales reached a record $7.3 billion. ♦

 

1982 The city of Easton, which purchased the former LV RR roundhouse shell from Conrail, planned to develop it into a cultural center. ♦ LC&N canalboat #249 was raised from its watery grave in a Northampton cement quarry.  The boat was one of dozens scuttled in the quarry in 1931 after the canal was closed.  The balance of the vessels remain secure in the bottom of the flooded quarry. ♦ The Center for Canal History and Technology sponsored their first annual symposium at Easton. ♦ The NJ Rail Transition Task Force recommended that NJ Transit assume direct operation of the remaining commuter rail service.  NJ Transit established a subsidiary NJ Transit Rail Operations, Inc. ♦ Former PRSL RDC's M-401 & M-403 passed westbound through Phillipsburg on the end of a Conrail freight on their way to the MTA at Boston. ♦ A special VIP train originated in Phillipsburg for the inaugural trip of the new Bombardier "Comet II" cars on the Raritan Valley Line. ♦ The first annual Forks of the Delaware Shad Fishing Tournament was held at Scott Park, Easton. ♦ Total Conrail employment dropped to 60,000 from 96,000 at start-up and 87,500 in 1979. ♦ Norfolk & Western Ry. and Southern Ry. merged to form the Norfolk Southern Ry., but the full merger of the two companies was not completed until the end of 1990. ♦ An article "Lehigh & Northampton Transportation Authority: The First Ten Years" by Douglas E. Peters appeared in the June issue of Motor Coach Age. ♦ The Tri-State Railway Historical Society held their 7th annual weekend Camparama along the former LV RR main line near Bloomsbury, NJ.  The chairman was again Bob Bahrs.  They had their usual Saturday night bon-fire. ♦ The first annual reunion of former Lehigh Valley Railroad employees was held at the Easton Elks club. ♦ Remaining assets of the L&HR RR were auctioned off. ♦ Parts of the Phillipsburg - Lopatcong Loop bus route were restored by an extension of the North Main Street local line. ♦ Recession and shrinkage permitted Conrail to store 1,329 of its 3,825 locomotives. ♦ The American Hotel in Bethlehem was demolished. ♦ The Tri-State Ry. Historical Society operated their "Queen of the Valley" fall foliage excursion from Newark through Phillipsburg-Easton to Allentown and return using NJ DOT E-8 locomotives on 10.10.  Highlights were the fall foliage, Pattenburg Tunnel, bridges, Bethlehem Steel, Bethlehem Engine Terminal and Allentown yard. ♦ The former LV RR dining car supply dept. building in Easton was demolished.  It served as the second LV RR passenger station at Easton from 1875 to 1890. ♦ Trans-Bridge Lines began daily service to Port Authority Bus Terminal in NYC from the Lehigh Valley. ♦ A park was constructed on a portion of the site of the Bel-Del Upper Yard and Morris Canal basin site by the town of Phillipsburg. ♦ The first annual reunion of LV RR employees was held. ♦ NJ Transit proposed discontinuance of Raritan Valley rail service west of High Bridge. ♦ Taylor-Wharton Iron & Steel Co., a long time manufacturer of railway trackwork at W. Easton, went out of business.  Their plant locomotives went to parent Harsco at Harrisburg. ♦ The second LV RR passenger station at Easton which was occupied by their dining car dept. after 1890 was demolished by Conrail. ♦ Conrail New Jersey Division Notice No. 2-35, issued by R.M. Reid, Division Supt. at Bethlehem, assigned the following radio call signs at Phillipsburg: J-15 to J.B. Cullen, Trainmaster; J-74 to P.A. Danysh, Track Supervisor and J-74A to C.F. Kapriski, Asst. Track Supervisor. ♦ The Surface Transportation Act of 1982 opened many more highways (but not Rt. 78 through Phillipsburg) for use by twin trailers (28' long each) hauled by one tractor and 48' semi-trailers as well as increasing allowable width from 96 to 102 inches. ♦ Conrail net income grew to $174,000,000. ♦ Bethlehem Steel reported a record loss of $1.5 billion. ♦ The Atlas Cement Co. plant closed.  At it's peak, Atlas employed close to 5,000 men.  Atlas Cement was used in the building of Hoover Dam, the Panama Canal, the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center and the Holland Tunnel. ♦ The Penn-Jersey Rail Coalition was formed to promote the restoration of rail passenger service on the Lackawanna Cut-Off.  The state of New Jersey failed to come up with the $1.5 million to purchase the Cut-Off and it was sold to others.

 

1983 Direct operation of rail commuter service was begun by NJ Transit. ♦ The PA House of Representatives passed legislation calling for a study of the feasibility of establishing a regional light rail mass transit system in the Lehigh Valley. ♦ A suit was filed in the Morris County, NJ Courthouse by International Distribution Centers, Inc. of Secaucus against Garment Transportation Service, Inc. of 160 Broad St., Phillipsburg, and nine individuals.  The suit bared the saga of a trucking war, corporate piracy, murder and suicide. ♦ The Steamtown Board of Directors voted to accept Scranton's offer and move their collections of locomotives and cars there. ♦ NJ Transit Board of Directors deferred a decision on the fate of rail service west of High Bridge on the Raritan Valley (former Jersey Central) line.  PennDOT offered $371,000 per year to extend that service to Easton, Bethlehem and Allentown. ♦ Ten new 35' and ten new 40' Neoplan buses arrived and were put into service by LANTA. ♦ The first annual Forks of the Delaware Shad fishing tournament was held. ♦ Edwards Lakes-to-Sea-System bus routes through Phillipsburg/Easton were taken over by Trailways thus ending 65 years of operations by Edwards. ♦ A labor strike halted NJ Transit rail service for 34 days. ♦ Officials in Monroe County, PA completed arrangements with Conrail to purchase the former Lackawanna route between Scranton and Port Morris.  They were unable to secure funding and the deal collapsed. ♦ The deteriorated shell of the Andover Iron Co. office building in Phillipsburg was demolished. ♦ The feature article in the Summer issue of the Railroadians Train Sheet was on the "Asa Packer," Lehigh Valley Trains No. 25 and 26, by Charles J. Gebhart. ♦ A bitter strike by Greyhound bus drivers lasted 6 weeks. ♦ One of the oldest operational steam powered water pumps in the eastern US gave its final performance after 70 years of service to the Phillipsburg water supply system.  Video and sound recordings of the performance were made by Dr. Leedom Lefferts, Professor of Anthropology at Drew University and Conrad Milster, Chief Engineer of Pratt University in Brooklyn. ♦ The American Truck Historical Society, Metro Jersey Chapter organized their first antique truck show.  It was held at the Garden State Truck Plaza "76" along Rt. 78 at Bloomsbury. ♦ Delaware River Park in Phillipsburg was dedicated and opened. ♦ To help celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Reading Co., the Berks County Historical Society organized several excursions using George Hart's steam locomotive #972.  On Oct. 1st. the locomotive, in reverse, pulled the train from Jim Thorpe down to Allentown and on to Reading.  On the 8th an excursion was operated from Reading to the former Jersey Central Bethlehem station (where the loco was turned and serviced) and back to Reading.  A large crowd turned out to greet the first steam fantrip to Bethlehem in almost a decade.  On Monday, the 10th, the locomotive and the train returned to Jim Thorpe via Bethlehem. ♦ Conrail ended service south of 25th Street on the Easton & Northern branch. ♦ A Conrail (ex-Reading diesel switcher) derailed on the Shamoon Industries (now Atlantic States Pipe) track and shortly thereafter rail service to the plant ceased. ♦ Palmeri Luxury Motorcoach Transportation began operations in the Lehigh Valley. ♦ The American Truck Historical Society Metro Jersey Chapter was chartered. ♦ NJ Transit released a list of rail equipment to be preserved by the agency for the future NJ RR museum.  The list included PRR E-8A, GG1, 2 MP-54's & a P-70; 5 DL&W MU's; 5 CNJ coaches; 2 AT&SF coaches; and 4 Erie coaches. ♦ Conrail net income increased to $313,000,000. ♦ Dixie Cup manufacturing was moved from Easton to Forks Twp., PA. ♦ The last passenger service from High Bridge to Phillipsburg, via the former Jersey Central Raritan Valley Line, was ended by NJ Transit on 12.30.  This service utilized the last open end observation car in scheduled passenger service in the US. ♦ On 12.31 NJT operated two free Raritan-Phillipsburg farewell roundtrips, which attracted over 3000 riders.  The two specials were co-sponsored by the Raritan Valley Commuter Coalition, headed by "Friends" member Peter Calleo.  The "Holiday Trains" had ten Comet II coaches powered by F40-PH #4121 and were a fitting end to the "Queen of the Valley" route. ♦

 

1984 Conrail train WJAL-18 crossed the Delaware River bridge with former Toledo, Peoria & Western RR Alco C424's 800 & 801 in tow.  While en-route to new owner, Morristown & Erie Ry. WJAL-18 derailed 14 cars at Broadway, but the Alcos were not damaged.  The two C424's became M&E #17 & 18 and with #16 have been used on numerous excursions. ♦ M&E #16 made a nocturnal trip from Morristown west via Phillipsburg to Packerton Jct. (Lehighton, PA on 1.5) to swap GE U30-B #2896 for Panther Valley U30-B #2882 which was brought back to Morristown for repairs. ♦ Rauby's Garage, Inc., 21 Broad St., Phillipsburg was established as a Conrail Excelsior Vendor for complete truck and trailer repairs. ♦ The Tri-State Ry. Historical Society operated their Harrisburg Express via the Lehigh Valley Main Line from Newark to Harrisburg and return on 6.24.  The fare was $40. ♦ Historic Ingersoll-Rand box-cab diesel locomotive #91, built in 1926, ex-Lackawanna #3001, was donated by Ingersoll-Rand and transported from Phillipsburg to the IL Ry. Museum on a Trailer Train flat in late July/early August.  A crew from the museum came to Phillipsburg and spent three days loading and preparing the engine for shipment.  They planned to return the unit to its former DL&W appearance.  The full story of the move appeared in issue #114 of the IRM Rail & Wire publication. ♦ A local Phillipsburg railroad history/preservation effort was begun by Pete Terp. ♦ Phillipsburg movie-maker/writer Roy C. Creveling died.  He filmed Paradise Ditch on the Lehigh & Delaware Canals in the early 1930's.  It is the only movie film in the country with actual footage of mule teams and canalboats on a working canal. ♦ The USRA determined that Conrail was profitable, qualifying it for sale as a unit.  The Federal government received bids for purchase of Conrail from unions, CSX, NS, and 11 others. ♦ Steamtown began steam rail excursion operations at Scranton. ♦ Track was removed from the Lackawanna Cutoff by Conrail and the right-of-way was sold. ♦ NJ Transit proposed changes in their Allentown - NY bus route #150 which also served Easton and Phillipsburg. ♦ Peter Caleo appeared at a public meeting on NJ Transit bus cuts held at Phillipsburg Town Hall.  He proposed that NJ Transit run connecting bus service between Clinton, Phillipsburg, Easton, Bethlehem and Allentown. ♦ NJ Transit abandoned their Lehigh Valley to NYC bus route.  Trans-Bridge Lines immediately doubled their service to fill the void. ♦ Former Jersey Central Alco RS-3 #1554 was sold by the Black River & Western RR, and transferred via Phillipsburg, to the Hawk Mountain Chapter, NRHS at Jim Thorpe. ♦ The Department of Transportation reduced the eligible Conrail bidders to three: NS, Allegheny Corp., and an investor group headed by J.W. Marriott. ♦ The Tri-State Ry. Historical Society operated their Lehigh River Express excursion from Hoboken to Haucks, PA via the Boonton Line, Washington Secondary & Lehigh Main Line, etc., using Morristown & Erie RR diesels #16, 18, & 17 on 10.14. ♦ NJ Conrail reduced the former Jersey Central L&S Div. main line through the Lehigh Valley region to a single track line. ♦ Conrail used the Bel Del Phillipsburg yard to park a M of W camp train while work was being done nearby. ♦ The last carload of freight was handled at the Ingersoll-Rand Phillipsburg plant. ♦ The Ontario & Western Railway Historical Society produced a 28 page Scenic Motor Tour of the Lehigh & New England RR which formed the guide/itinerary for a bus trip which they scheduled to cover the abandoned line.  The guide continues to be available and useful for those wanting to tour the line on their own. ♦ The Central Railroad of New Jersey's First 100 Years, 1849-1949 A Historical Survey, by Elaine Anderson was published. ♦ Conrail net income rose to $500,000,000 and was consistently profitable thereafter. ♦

 

1985 Conrail resumed paying union employees at industry rates, reducing its profits. ♦ The Conrail Phillipsburg freight agency was closed. ♦ DOT Secretary Elizabeth Dole approved NS's $1.2 billion bid for Conrail, subject to Congressional review.  Stanley Crane continued opposition to NS takeover and backed a public offering of stock under the slogan "Let Conrail be Conrail." ♦ Former Conrail locomotives, sold to the Guilford Rail System, were being used on D&H trains operating through Phillipsburg to Oak Island Yard in Newark. ♦ Conrail abandoned the Bel Del Phillipsburg yard, including the 24" gauge carnockers line (the hand car was donated to the Phillipsburg RR Historians). ♦ NJ Transit approved a $2.6 million trackage consolidation with Conrail.  It gave Conrail a permanent easement to use NJT owned former Jersey Central trackage between Alpha and Easton.  Conrail granted NJT a similar permanent easement to use CR's line between Greens Bridge and Bloomsbury.  This arrangement would permit NJT to restore passenger service to Phillipsburg in the future.  Conrail rebuilt the Jersey Central line between Greens Bridge & Easton and then abandoned the former Lehigh Valley line between the two points. ♦ Bethlehem Steel Co. donated their plant whistle, once used by the world-class luxury liner S.S. Normandy, to the Ocean Liner Museum of NY (Conrad Milster). ♦ Peter Calleo, Jr., President of Railroad Passenger Services Corp. began negotiations with NJ Transit to run an excursion with NJT equipment to Hershey Park at the end of June.  Stops at Newark, Roselle Park, Westfield, Dunellen, Raritan, Whitehouse, Annandale, Phillipsburg and Bethlehem were planned.  After 2,300 tickets had been sold, exceeding the 12 coaches originally ordered, RPSC asked for a total of 19 coaches.  Two weeks before the planned trip, NJT raised its price from $583 to $1,105 for each coach.  Since ticket price was based on the lower number RPSC could not afford to operate, canceled the trip, and made refunds to passengers.  NJT claimed that RPSC sold tickets before any formal agreements were reached with the railroads involved, and that their use of a photo of a NJT train on the promotional flyer was unauthorized. ♦ Lackawanna Valley RR locomotive #901, a GE U30B, was painted in NY Ontario & Western colors by the Morristown & Erie RR at Morristown.  It traveled west, under its own power, down the Washington Secondary and through Phillipsburg en-route to the owner's RR at Scranton on 4.30. ♦ The Bel-Del Phillipsburg Freight House suffered a fire while being renovated and was demolished. ♦ Conrail ceased service east of Belvidere on the former L&HR RR. ♦ The assets of the last LC&N Co. subsidiary, Cella's Confection, Inc., were sold and the "Old Company" was completely liquidated.  At the end LC&N was one of the oldest corporations in the US. ♦ The Artrain, the nation's only traveling art museum on a train, made a stop in Bethlehem. ♦ An article "Railfanning Allentown-Bethlehem" by Tom Nemeth appeared in the August issue of Railpace Newsmagazine. ♦ Former Jersey Central caboose #91197 was purchased by Peter Terp from Sickley Brothers Lumber in South Orange and moved to his residence in Bloomsbury, NJ by Frick Transfer riggers. ♦ Tri-State Ry. Historical Society sponsored a "Farewell to the CNJ" trip from Newark, Cranford, Dunellen and Raritan to Phillipsburg and return.  It was powered by three E-8 locomotives and had executive car NJT #1 on the rear. ♦ Morristown & Erie RR Alco RS-1 #15 was moved west through Phillipsburg to Allentown en-route to new owner, Valley RR of Essex, CT. ♦ The former LV RR Easton station canopy and platform structures were demolished/removed by Conrail. ♦ Three huge transformers for the PSE&G switching station in Roseland, came east through Phillipsburg on the Conrail Washington line and were delivered by the Morristown & Erie Railway. ♦ Tri-State again operated their Jim Thorpe Express excursion from Hoboken to Jim Thorpe, PA via Washington and Phillipsburg/Easton (10.13) to coincide with the Jim Thorpe Annual Fall Festival.  This time M&E locomotives 17 & 18 were used with NJT U34CH #4167, needed to supply power to the NJT coaches used. ♦ RR Passenger Services Corp. sponsored a Hershey Park Special Excursion from Newark and the Raritan Valley line to Hershey Park, PA and return. ♦ A Reading Shoppers Special Rail Excursion from Newark and Roselle Park, NJ to Reading, PA was co-sponsored by NJ Transit and Jersey Central Chapter, NRHS on 11.10. ♦ The Tri-State Ry. HS sponsored a "Farewell to the CNJ: A Railfan Photographer's Special" from Newark to Phillipsburg and return on 11.24.  The 15 cars were powered by NJT E-8 locomotives #4248, 4267 and 4253.  The trip chairman was Frank T. Reilly.  The train was run to Easton where passengers were discharged and the train was backed out onto the former LV RR bridge for photos.  Nearly 800 passengers commemorated the end of 133 years of service on the former Jersey Central line across NJ to Phillipsburg.  A special limited edition reproduction of the oldest known Jersey Central timetable (1854), with a special inscription that it was carried on the last train was given to each passenger on the farewell train. ♦ The North Jersey Electric Railway Historical Society was incorporated to preserve and restore electric railway rolling stock.  Their focus has been on the trolley cars of Public Service/NJ Transit and electric passenger cars of the former PRR and DL&W RR's. ♦ Approximately 300 acres of Central Railroad of New Jersey land, in various parts of the state, was auctioned by Max E. Spann, Inc., realtors. ♦ Frick Transfer, Inc. of Easton acquired the 610,000 sq. ft. former Dixie Cup manufacturing plant to expand their trucking, moving, storage and rigging business. ♦ Mack Trucks, Inc. re-entered the bus market by importing Renault FR-1 coaches built in France.  They came equipped with the Mack logo and "bulldog."  Bieber bus line tried out a demonstrator.  About a dozen were sold, but a short time later Mack bought them all back, returned them to France and exited the bus market for good. ♦

 

1986 Mushroom Transportation went bankrupt and ceased trucking operations. ♦ The Senate approved the sale of Conrail to NS. ♦ The US Post Office at #361 Memorial Parkway, Phillipsburg was placed on the NJ Register of Historic Places. ♦ Conrail filed an application to abandon 5.7 miles of former Jersey Central main line between Bloomsbury and Phillipsburg.  Part of this route was subsequently used for the I-78 right-of-way. ♦ Tri-State Ry. HS and Anthracite Ry. HS each purchased EMD F-3 diesels from the Bangor & Aroostook RR.  Both traveled west via Phillipsburg/Easton to Allentown and then returned east en-route to the M&E RR shop at Morristown.  Both units have subsequently been painted in Jersey Central colors and operate on the Southern RR of NJ. ♦ Hugh Moore Historical Park & Museums opened their archives building at Spruce & Raspberry Streets, Easton. ♦ (4.26) Under sponsorship of the Union Township Historical Society and the Jersey Central Chapter, NRHS, the Black River & Western RR ran a "Union Twp. History Day - Olde Time Train Excursion" from Ringoes to Three Bridges and then west over Conrail's ex-Lehigh Valley Main Line to Easton, PA and return.  EMD CF-7 locomotives #41 & 42 powered the 7 car train.  The trip was coordinated by the Jersey Central Chapter, NRHS and early discount fare was $19. ♦ The House Energy and Commerce Committee was opposed to the sale of Conrail, killed the NS bid and cleared the path for a public offering of Conrail stock, as Stanley Crane desired. ♦ The former LV RR erection shop (designed by Robert Sayre) and the 104 year old roundhouse on Canal Street in South Easton burned and were demolished.  Significant remains were rescued by Hugh Moore Park and preserved.  The former carpentry and blacksmith shop buildings remain and are used as Conrail's Eastern Area Maintenance of Way equipment repair shop. ♦ Conrail dedicated their new Allentown Intermodal Service Facility in Salisbury Township, PA.  The ribbon was cut by US Representative Don Ritter.  The new facility almost doubled the capacity of the former Allentown Piggyback ramp.  A Conrail four-car business train, powered by E-8 #4020, brought guests to the site. ♦ LANTA inaugurated their Metro bus system.  Designed to be more user-friendly, it introduced color coded routes and schedules, with many former routes being through-routed. ♦ I-78 was opened to the eastern edge of Phillipsburg. ♦ On 8.1 M&E RR Alco diesels #17 & 18 pulled Blue Mountain & Reading RR (former GM&O) 4-6-2 #425 and 12 former DL&W coaches from Allentown, via Phillipsburg and Washington, to Hoboken for two steam excursions to Port Jervis and return.  On 9.26 No. 425 again came east to participated in Hoboken Festival VI along with BM&R RR repainted PRR E-8's #5898 & 5706 and Reading Co. Technical & Historical Society GP-30.  Four short steam trips were run to East Rutherford and return on (Sat.) 4.27, the day of the Hoboken Festival.  On Sunday, No. 425 powered an excursion west over the Boonton line to Dover where passengers boarded Comet III coaches for the return.  The equipment all returned dead to Temple, PA via Phillipsburg and the ex-LV & Reading main lines that evening. ♦ Conrail began construction of the new connection between the former Jersey Central and LV main lines west of Greens Bridge. ♦ Track on the former L&HR RR line between Belvidere and Limecrest was taken up. ♦ Congress passed the Conrail Privatization Act, providing for sale of the federal government's 85% stake in Conrail to the public. ♦ Trans-Bridge Lines extended bus service to Newark and Kennedy Airports. ♦ Warren County Freeholder, Kenneth Miller purchased a 91 year old wooden Canadian Pacific RR Executive Business Coach and it was moved by truck in early Oct. from the Black River & Western RR at Ringoes to Miller's farm in Washington Twp. ♦ A free-to-passengers trolley type bus ran through downtown Allentown for the holiday season.  Its cost was funded equally by LANTA and the Allentown Downtown Improvement District Authority. ♦ The Lehigh & Hudson River Railway (survivor of the L&HR RR) concluded its affairs in NJ.  Using the money from its sale to Conrail, L&HR paid its bills/taxes and gave the remainder to its stockholders (about $65 per share) thereby preserving its record of never having lost their money, a feat of which very few railroads can boast. ♦ Warren County attempted to purchase the portion of the abandoned L&HR RR right-of-way in Warren County from Conrail, but they wanted to sell the entire line to one buyer. ♦ LANTA adopted a new red, white & blue paint scheme for their buses. ♦ Greyhound Bus Lines was sold to an investor group headed by Fred Currey of Dallas. ♦ W. Julian Parton's The Death of a Great Company (the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co.), published by Hugh Moore Historical Park, was printed in Phillipsburg by Harmony Press. ♦ A Special Morris Canal Issue of the PA Canal Society's Canal Currents (No. 76-77, Fall - Winter 1986-7) was co-sponsored by both the PA and Canal Society of NJ with the research efforts of the staff of Hugh Moore Historical Park and Museum, Inc., and the Canal Museum of Easton, PA. ♦

 

1987 Brian O'Neill, began moving his ten antique buses from his former Union Township home, adjacent to Foster-Wheeler's corporate headquarters to a new location in Carbon County, PA.  His battle to keep them in NJ resulted in widespread media attention and enabled him to sell his NJ home for $350,000.  Some of his buses were later obtained for the NJ historic collection. ♦ Ten new 30' Orion buses begin arriving and were put into service by LANTA. ♦ Lehigh Navigation Coal Sales Co. narrow gauge 0-4-0 steam locomotive #51 was donated by Pine Creek RR to Hugh Moore Park. ♦ Palmer Twp., PA purchased the portion of the former CNJ main line from West Easton to Bethlehem Twp. from Conrail. ♦ The Federal government sold their share of Conrail stock to the public in a $1.65 billion initial stock offering - the largest single offering in NY Stock Exchange history. ♦ Greyhound Corp. acquired GMC's transit bus manufacturing division. ♦ Conrail declared their first dividend. ♦ The United Railroad Historical Society of New Jersey (URHS) was formed. ♦ The NJ RR and Transportation Museum Study Commission was established. ♦ The landmark Historic Preservation Survey of the Morris Canal in Warren County, with research by Brian Morrell, was published by the county. ♦ Two small US Army diesel switchers were removed from Picatinny Arsenal by the Morristown & Erie Ry. and moved west through Phillipsburg to a new home by Conrail. ♦ The downtown Allentown trolley-bus, purchased by LANTA and The Morning Call, began regular, free circulator service. ♦ Conrail lowered the former CNJ main line to provide higher clearances under the Main Street bridge in Phillipsburg in anticipation of the use of that line as their main. ♦ A Conrail crew was busy replacing ties at grade crossings on the Easton & Northern branch in Wilson Boro. ♦ Phillipsburg Ole Towne Festival - Community Day was founded and they had their first event at Shappell Park.  It has been an annual event ever since and is now held at Walters Park. ♦ The Ontario & Western Railway Historical Society produced a 24 page Scenic Motor Tour of the Lehigh & Hudson River RR which formed the guide/itinerary for a bus trip which they scheduled to cover the abandoned line.  The guide continues to be available and useful for those wanting to tour the line on their own from Phillipsburg to Maybrook, NY. ♦ Joseph Chando, a truck driver, stopped at his family home on Prospect St., Phillipsburg with a load of new rail rolled by the Bethlehem Steel, Steelton plant for Amtrak's South Station in Boston. ♦ The Conrail Office Car Special came west on the former LV RR line past Mt. Parnassus. ♦ Down Along the Old Bel-Del: the History of the Belvidere Delaware Railroad Company, by Warren F. Lee (brother of James) was published. ♦ Groundbreaking for the new State Police facility at Perryville took place on Aug. 17th.  It was dedicated to the late senator Walter E. Foran. ♦ LANTA began Easton to Nazareth bus service, their first new bus route in a decade.  It was operated by independent contractor Palmeri, one day per week, increasing to three days per week a year later.  It is now one of LANTA's best routes. ♦ Blue Mountain & Reading RR former Reading T-1 4-8-4 #2102, PRR E-8's 5706 & 5898 and 14 former DL&W coaches traveled through Easton/ Phillipsburg to and from Hoboken for the Hoboken Festival VII.  A steam excursion to Port Jervis and return was operated on the Sunday following the festival with #2102 and the E-8's. ♦ The Pennsylvania Canal Society assembled at Hotel Easton for a weekend tour of the lower Lehigh Canal.  At the evening banquet, Lance Metz spoke on "The Lehigh Canal as a Cradle of the American Industrial Revolution." ♦ Lehigh Valley rail proponents backed a $300,000 bill to study high speed rail lines to serve their area. ♦ Greyhound Lines, Inc. acquired the failing Trailways, Inc. bus company and merged the two operations.  Trailways at the time had about 1,200 buses. ♦ Ecolaire Heat Transfer Co. (through a new corporation - Odenwelder, Inc., hence the name Odenwelder Industrial track) purchased a portion of the former Jersey Central main line from their plant in West Easton to the Mt. Ida area of Easton, including the bridge over the Lehigh River.  They received a $300,000 grant to upgrade the track and a switchback.  They began using their own switch engine which was stored in their plant. ♦ Local developer, Ted Merritt purchased the 45 acre Bel Del freight yards from Conrail for a brickyard and townhouses.  He was willing to donate the 5 acre Bel Del lower yard adjacent to Delaware River Park to the state railroad and transportation museum. ♦  Conrail sold the abandoned L&HR RR right-of-way between Belvidere and Limecrest to Jerold Turco.  Parts were subsequently resold to others. ♦ Conrail removed rail from the E&N ramp track just west of Easton tower by dragging fourteen 200' lengths eastward. ♦ Conrail shifted diesel locomotive servicing to the current location at the west end of the Allentown yards from the Bethlehem roundhouse. ♦ The last silk mill in the Lehigh Valley closed its doors. ♦

 

1988 Theodore Merritt, a Flemington developer, set in motion his plans to locate his brick distribution business in a portion of the old PRR Bel Del yards in Phillipsburg.  Buildings were built and carloads of brick were unloaded at the site. ♦  Phillipsburg produced a 12 minute promotional video and a brochure for presentation to the NJ RR & Transportation Museum Study Commission and a brochure.  They also produced a postcard with an aerial view of the proposed site pre-addressed to Tom Gagliano, the Chairman of the Study Commission. ♦ Easton announced plans for a new industrial revolution museum on the grounds of Hugh Moore Park. ♦ A fire destroyed storage buildings and the transportation collections of Louis Beuhler in Allentown.  Included in the loss were a partially restored open trolley car #322 from Rio de Janiero, a 1952 LVT Brill model C-31 motorbus which operated in Easton and Bethlehem, a Reading Bus Co. Yellow Coach bus converted into a line truck and several antique vehicles. ♦ The Black Diamond Society of Model Engineers, of Bethlehem, hosted a regional meeting for National Model RR Association members. ♦ The NJ RR and Transportation Museum Study Commission toured the proposed Phillipsburg site. ♦ The Easton City Council passed a resolution backing Phillipsburg as the location for the NJ State RR & Transportation Museum. ♦ The Pennsylvania Legislature formally established portions of PA 32, PA 611, PA 209 and other routes adjacent to the river between Morrisville and the Delaware Water Gap as Delaware River Scenic Drive. ♦ The Delaware & Hudson Ry. filed for Chapter 11 protection. ♦ Phillipsburg, Federal Republic of Germany pledged to promote friendship between them and their US counterpart on the occasion of the 650th anniversary of the granting of rights to the European city. ♦ "Friends" member Fred Heide visited and photographed each of the 21 County Court Houses in our state in one day.  He stopped at Belvidere, Warren County early on his 559 mile trek, completed in 14 hours. ♦ The first "Community Day" festival was held at Shappell Park in Phillipsburg. ♦ A "Garden State in '88" NRHS convention, excursion sponsored by Tri-State Chapter, NRHS traveled from Bound Brook, through West Trenton to Reading and returned via Easton & Phillipsburg.  The 7.24 special was powered by Nickel Plate RR Berkshire #765, owned by the Fort Wayne (IN) Historical Society.  The last major trip of the convention also used #765 both ways through Phillipsburg.  It was supposed to go to Harrisburg and back, but was cut back to Reading.  This was the last passenger train over the LV RR Delaware River bridge (7.31). ♦ Conrail invested almost $6 million to upgrade the former LV main line between Pittston, PA and Newark, NJ.  They installed more than 15 miles of continuous welded rail and replaced over 21,000 ties. ♦ A $1.7 million bill was passed by the US Congress creating the Delaware & Lehigh Navigation Canal National Heritage Corridor. ♦ Conrail shifted its route between Easton and Greens Bridge from the former LV RR route to the former Jersey Central main line thus abandoning the LV RR main line, Delaware River bridge and Easton tower.  The last move over the LV RR Delaware River bridge was CR Mail 3. ♦ The October issue of O Scale Railroading magazine carried a story about "The Magical Lionel Train Show."  It was touted as "the World's largest mobile model train display" - 100" wide and 46' long. ♦ Phillipsburg Riverview Organization was conceived and founded by a group of Phillipsburg residents concerned about the heritage and future of their town.  It is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving their historic past and enriching the present. ♦ LC&N mine lokie #51 was moved from Allaire State Park, where it had resided for 32 years, to Hugh Moore Historical Park at Easton. ♦ The NJ RR and Transportation Museum Study Commission voted 8 to 2 to locate the state museum in Raritan Township, near Flemington.  However, money was not made available by the NJ state legislature to purchase the required land with rail access, and the choice died. ♦ The Boys Club of Easton Mural (which depicts a rudimentary canalboat) by Maciek Albrecht on the concrete wall near the abutment of the Jersey Central RR Lehigh River bridge was dedicated to the historic City of Easton. ♦ The Delaware Riverkeeper Network, a citizens action group and advocate for the river was created.  They are currently headquartered at Washington's Crossing, PA. ♦ Bethlehem Steel reported record net income of $426 million. ♦

 

1989 The Phillipsburg town council voted to prepare its own economic analysis to offer their site as the location for the proposed railroad and transportation museum. ♦ New state-of-the-art electronic fareboxes were installed on the LANTA fleet. ♦ Former Foley Brothers Ingersoll-Rand boxcab diesel #110, was donated to Phillipsburg.  Unfortunately the estimated $25,000 needed to ship it home from Billings, MT could not be raised and it was acquired by the Portola (CA) RR Museum. ♦ Local developer Ted Merritt proposed an industrial park for the former Bel Del RR yards.  His former Liberty Village, a living history museum in Flemington was a failure.  His Phillipsburg brickyard also failed. ♦ The NRHS Lehigh Valley Chapter used Trans Bridge Lines bus #220 to cover the abandoned L&HR RR.  The Ontario & Western Railway Historical Society's 24 page Scenic Motor Tour of the Lehigh & Hudson River RR formed the guide/itinerary.  The driver was chapter member Jim Danner. ♦ The Tour de Trump bicycle race passed through Easton and Phillipsburg in early May.  The world's best bicyclists were on their way from NYC to Dorney Park in Allentown. ♦ The Friends of the NJ RR and Transportation Museum was incorporated (filed with state of NJ on 6.9).  The founding directors were: Harold H. Carstens, Samuel Cunninghame, Benjamin J. Friedland, Stephen A. Gazillo, Walter Grosselfinger, Peter G. Hasler, William J. McKelvey, Kenneth C. Miller, S. David Phraner, Paul J. Taylor, and John D. Wilkins. ♦ The "Premier German Band" from Phillipsburg - Huttenheim, West Germany played at Walter's Park, Phillipsburg on the evening of Aug. 28th.  They came over to the US for Musikfest at Bethlehem, PA. ♦ The Phillipsburg Riverview Organization was formed to promote more downtown parking, clean up the East bank of the Delaware River and create an historic district. ♦ The NJ RR and Transportation Museum Study Commission completed a two volume report and expired. ♦ Conrail established a Shareholder Rights Plan and distributed purchase rights to stockholders to make hostile takeovers more difficult.  No outsider can obtain more than a 20% ownership interest without a stockholder vote to change the charter. ♦ Conrail installed talking hotbox detectors on their Lehigh line through Phillipsburg. ♦ The historic 1903 carousel from Island Park operated for the last time at Bushkill Park. ♦ In a NJ General Election voters approved purchase of the former Lackawanna Cut-Off and other abandoned rail rights-of-way. ♦ Interstate Rt. 78 was opened across the Delaware River to PA south of Phillipsburg and "double bottoms" or twin trailers pulled by one tractor began using this route. ♦ PRR "Doodlebug" #4666 was sold by the BR&W RR to Carl Hosler, who later also purchased their Alco RS-1 locomotive. ♦ Direct LANTA bus service between Easton-Bethlehem-Allentown began. ♦ New Orion buses (15 35" & 5 30') are put into service by LANTA. ♦ The combined Greyhound/ Trailways fleet was a total of 4,104 buses two years after the merger. ♦ Bethlehem Steel Co. sold their former LC&N coal mines near Tamaqua, PA to the Curran family who incorporated them again as the (new) Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co.  The 8,000 contiguous acres held over 100 million tons of surface minable anthracite resources. ♦ Delaware and Lehigh Canals (a photographic history), by Ann Bartholomew and Lance Metz was published. ♦ A Chronology of the Belvidere Delaware Railroad Company (A Pennsylvania Railroad Company) & the Region Through Which it Operated, by Warren F. and Catherine T. Lee was published. ♦ Lehigh Valley Transit Company's Liberty Bell Route: A Photographic History With Chronology, Historical Recollections, And Bibliography, by Bill McKelvey was published. ♦

 

1990 Mack Trucks reported a $185 million loss for 1989. ♦ The first annual indoor Automotive Flea Market was held in Agricultural Hall at the Allentown Fairgrounds. ♦ Rodney Fisk, a Princeton, NJ rail developer and Easton resident announced that his company, Princeton Rail Development hoped to offer commuter and excursion rail service to Easton.  His Easton Overlander Co. planned to revive rail service between the former LV RR 3rd St. station in Easton; Phillipsburg; Washington; Hackettstown; and Morristown using rail diesel cars.  Fisk was optimistic about gaining the cooperation of Conrail to operate on their lines.  He also planned dinner excursion trips to Milford or to Washington.  None of his plans materialized. ♦ The NJ RR and Transportation Museum Study Commission was reconstituted. ♦ A new routing for mail between Phillipsburg and Easton was established by the Postal Service.  It replaced the direct transfer between the two towns.  The new route was to truck it from Phillipsburg to Edison, NJ for sorting, then truck it to the Lehigh Valley Post Office near Bethlehem and finally back to Easton.  The change resulted in faster service... ♦ Greyhound bus drivers went on strike on Mar. 2nd.  It turned into one of the most bitter employee actions ever seen in the industry.  However, 60% of the office workers, 37% of maintenance workers and 573 drivers remained on the job. ♦ The first annual "Friends" symposium at Drew University was a success. ♦ LANTA raised bus fares from 75¢ to $1, all day, with the 60¢ discount ticket program remaining (4.1). ♦ An open house and dedication was held at LANTA's 12th & Cumberland facility (the former LVT Fairview Carbarn built in 1912), following a $2.8 million renovation. ♦ The Phillipsburg Railroad Historians was founded and led by their president, Pete Terp, proposed to set up a miniature train ride in Delaware River Park. ♦ United RR Historical Society moved some of their (and some former North Jersey Electric Ry. Historical Society) equipment to Jersey Central Power & Light Gilbert Generating Station, south of Phillipsburg, for safe storage. ♦ Fred Barber, engineer, and a 63 year employee of LVT and LANTA died.  He began is employment in 1926 and was mostly responsible for design of infrastructure, its installation, plus routing and scheduling of trolleys. ♦ The Transport For Christ Mobile Chapel was set up at the Travel Centers of America "76" truck stop on I-78, Bloomsbury, NJ.  It is a non-profit, interdenominational, Christian organization committed to "winning truck drivers to Jesus Christ and teaching them to grow in their faith."  The location was established by Chaplain Howard Jones, the current acting President of Transport for Christ, International. ♦ The Canal Museum in Easton was awarded a $37,200 federal grant to bolster its operating budget. ♦ The 2 1/2 month long Greyhound strike ended and bus service (one each way NY-Harrisburg & 2 each way Scranton-Philadelphia) returned to Easton.  However, Greyhound soon was forced to declare a Chapter 11 Bankruptcy due to $50 million plus in costs associated with the strike and strike-related violence. ♦ A two year project to rebuild and widen Easton's 3rd Street bridge was begun. ♦ A 55 day United Steelworkers strike against Ingersoll-Rand ended. ♦ NJT planned to cut bus service (operated by Delaware River Coach Lines) to Phillipsburg Mall. ♦ A study done by Barton-Aschman Associates of Washington, DC for Lehigh & Northampton counties showed that rail service to NY was not necessary due to adequate bus service. ♦ The financially troubled Mack Truck Co. approved a buyout by Paris based Renault.  Mack became a wholly owned subsidiary of the French manufacturer. ♦ Fines for overturned trucks on the curving section of Rt. 22 in Easton known as "Cemetery Curve" were raised from $52 to as much as $1,500. ♦ An object placed between the Conrail tracks at Phillipsburg punctured the 3,000 gal. diesel fuel tank on a locomotive traveling west.  The oil spill extended over the Delaware River bridge to Williams Twp., PA. ♦ The former Bellewood tower building, east of Pattenburg Tunnel, was demolished by Conrail. ♦ Conrail began large-scale branch line sales, eventually reducing its route system to 11,000 miles. ♦ Easton's current Peace Candle was completed and increased to 106' tall.  It is the largest in the world per the Guiness Book of World Records. ♦ The total number of Conrail employees dropped below 28,000. ♦ Phillipsburg's Delaware River Coach Lines received an Award of Merit from the County Transportation Association of NJ for "Outstanding Service Achievement" in this year. ♦

 

1991 "Double bottoms" (one truck tractor pulling one 28' semi-trailer and one 28' full trailer) began using I-78 through Phillipsburg. ♦ The South Main Street bridge over the CNJ Main Line in Phillipsburg was deemed eligible for the NJ/National Register. ♦ A runaway tractor trailer apparently lost its brakes coming down the Smith Street hill in Easton.  It plowed through traffic at the Third St. bridge causing an 11 car pile-up. ♦ To prevent it from being sold and moved out of the area, Historic Easton, Inc. attempted to purchase the 1903 Bushkill Park (originally Island Park) carousel.  Their plan to move it to downtown Easton upset many residents who thought it should stay in the park. ♦ A Conrail train on the Washington Secondary apparently caused about 20 brush fires along several miles of track in Lopatcong, Greenwich & Franklin Townships. ♦ The Circus Model Builders & Owners Assn. members from NJ, PA, MD, DE, & WV held a four day meet at Bushkill Park. ♦ The Bushkill Park carousel was sold to an individual in Ohio for more than $600,000. ♦ The 250th Anniversary of the city of Bethlehem was celebrated. ♦ Greyhound Lines bankruptcy reorganization plan was approved. ♦ The NJ State Historic Preservation Office declared that the Central RR of NJ Main Line Corridor Historic District was eligible for listing. ♦ Norman Cole's 3/4" live steam Belt Valley RR was abandoned and sold.  The line circled his home at 3528 Glen Ave., Palmer Twp. and used a 4-4-2 for power.  Cole, a 41 year LV RR employee was a Vice President and Engineer for the BR&W RR. ♦ Six L&HR RR cabooses in storage at Ingersoll-Rand for many years were donated by IR to the Phillipsburg RR Historians.  They, along with a flanger were moved by the PRRH by truck to the last track remaining in the former Bel Del yard area.  At this time the last plant diesel switcher used by I-R moved under its own power onto the PRRH trailer.  However, the trailer sagged so much under the load that I-R paid to have rigger W.J. Casey come in and lift the 44 tonner onto a Casey trailer for movement to the Bel Del yard. ♦ Subsequently four of the PRRH cabooses were donated to others as follows: one each moved by rail to Southern RR of NJ and Ken Bitten at the Stewartstown RR; and one each moved by road to Dave Beck at Stones Church, PA, (north of Easton - where it has been restored) and to Jim Smith at Delaware, NJ (near Columbia, off Rt. 46).  I-R also donated rail to the Phillipsburg RR Historians who dismantled it and trucked it to the former Bel-Del lower yard. ♦ ♦ The Lackawanna County Rail Authority became owner of the former DL&W RR main line between Scranton and Pocono Summit. ♦ The revived NJ RR and Transportation Museum Study Commission also expired. ♦ The Delaware & Hudson RR became part of the Canadian Pacific RR. ♦ Roadway Express built a new 16 bay truck terminal on Strykers Rd., Harmony Twp., NJ. ♦ Johnson Motor Lines moved into the former North Penn Transfer truck terminal on Wood Ave. in Easton. ♦ Trainloads of military tanks and trucks moved east through Phillipsburg in support of the Gulf War. ♦ The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act was passed. ♦

 

1992 "Friends" produced the first issue of their bulletin New Jersey Transport Calendar it was later renamed New Jersey Transport Heritage. ♦ BREDA began the final assembly of 100 new Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority rapid transit cars at Harrison, NJ.  Most of the cars were moved north and south via Rt. I-78 through Phillipsburg and the Lehigh Valley then Rt. I-81.  The trucking was done by Joseph Supor, & Son Trucking & Rigging Co., Inc. and the assembly work was done in Supor's former Crucible Steel Co. building. ♦ North Penn Transfer ceased operations after 80 years of trucking. ♦ Phillipsburg RR Historians proposed a trolley line from a Phillipsburg rail museum site to Bushkill (amusement) Park, PA.  They worked very hard to attempt to interest officials on both sides of the Delaware River in a restoration of rail freight service across the Delaware River on the LV RR bridge and north on the former LV RR Easton & Northern branch.  They were not successful. ♦ The Eastern & Northern was one of 16 rail lines identified by the Joint Planning Commission of Lehigh-Northampton Counties, PA for potential use as recreational trails. ♦ Allentown announced a $24 million national transportation museum to be located at the falls of the Lehigh River just above the Hamilton Street bridge.  The location is now known as "Lehigh Landing" and the museum project is "America on Wheels." ♦ Hugh Moore Park investigated the purchase of a boat to be operated on both the Lehigh River and Canal. ♦ Phillipsburg's "Community Day" festival was renamed "Ole Towne Festival" and moved from Shappell Park to Walters Park. ♦ "Friends" found a discarded, double diamond, dual gauge, RR/trolley crossing removed from Cass St. during the construction of the new Rt. 129 highway in Trenton.  The historic item had been installed in 1929 when the PRR constructed their Towpath Industrial Track along the west bank (the original towpath) of the Delaware & Raritan Canal.  The crossing had been installed to accommodate the standard gauge track of the Public Service RR Fast Line from Newark and the wide gauge track of the PS Riverside Line from Camden, which entered Trenton on the same streets.  The nearly 15 ton assembly of rails, complete with one square of cobble stone paving and several wood ties, was moved by truck to the lower yard area of the Bel-Del, with the cooperation of the Phillipsburg RR Historians and "Friends" member Bob Shandor, where it awaits display in our heritage center.  Note: the trolley rail has the "brand" STEELTON 1929 100 PS in the web. ♦ Twenty-nine members of the Inland Waterways Association from Great Britain visited the canals and canal sites of eastern North America.  They were given a tour of the Delaware, D & R, Morris and Lehigh canals in the Delaware Valley, Phillipsburg, Easton areas and rode the Hugh Moore Park canalboat. ♦ The Delaware & Hudson Ry. regularly operated freight trains through Phillipsburg between Allentown and Oak Island Yard. ♦ Trans-Bridge Lines started up direct campus service from Lafayette College and Lehigh University to NYC. ♦ In conjunction with Hoboken Terminal Festival XII, the American Association of Private Railroad Car Owners held its annual convention in Hoboken the same weekend.  Twenty eight private cars were present.  The day following the festival an 18 car special departed Hoboken for Chicago, running via Conrail's Lehigh Main Line through Phillipsburg, on the ex-Reading main, to Harrisburg and Amtrak's Broadway Limited route to Chicago. ♦ The town of Phillipsburg acquired the miniature Centerville & Southwestern RR (which originally operated at the Becker Dairy Farm in Roseland, NJ) from the Monmouth County Park Commission.  Included were the diesel locomotives, track, ticket booth, etc.  The former C&S RR steam locomotive had been donated to the Ford Museum (Greenfield Village) in 1972 but they later deaccessioned it and it was sold to an individual. ♦ Great Canadian Rail Tours diesel locomotive #7498 was in Bethlehem en-route to the Morrison-Knudsen rebuild facility at Mountaintop, PA. ♦ About this time LVT 1936 ACF-Brill model H15S bus #1250 (originally Harrisburg) was acquired by the Ohio Museum of Transportation.  This was one of two similar buses (with roofs removed) which LVT had and used as Christmas/Santa buses. ♦ The Two Rivers Area Chamber of Commerce (TRACC) was established. ♦ The new Federal Commercial Drivers License standards took effect. ♦

 

1993 NEED MORE FROM EASTON EXPRESS - CHECK EPL DATABASE UNDER CONSTRUCTION NJ Governor Jim Florio signed into law a bill establishing a long term New Jersey Railroad & Transportation Museum Commission. ♦ Conrail joined Norfolk Southern in creating Triple Crown Service Company to provide RoadRailer service throughout the East and South. ♦ The Ingersoll-Rand Contributions Committee declined to honor the request of the Phillipsburg Railroad Historians to provide funding for the transportation of a 600hp I-R diesel locomotive from Billings, Montana to Phillipsburg.  It was saved and moved to the Portola, CA, Railroad Museum. ♦ The "Black Bridge" was closed for restoration work on 5.10.  The detour route was Hudson, Lewis or Chambers and Stockton Streets.  Lewis and Chambers Streets were each made one way. ♦ The NRHS Lehigh Valley Chapter ran a tour of the abandoned L&NE RR, north and east of Bethlehem, using Trans Bridge Lines bus #239.  The Ontario & Western Railway Historical Society's 28 page Scenic Motor Tour of the Lehigh & New England RR formed the guide/itinerary.  The driver was chapter member Jim Danner. ♦ Hugh Moore Park had a new, larger, steel hull, Josiah White II canalboat constructed by Bethlehem Steel at their Sparrows Point (Baltimore) yard.  The two half hull sections were trucked to Easton where they were welded together at Glendon.  The wood superstructure was constructed at Hugh Moore Park and the completed vessel was launched sideways, making a big splash. ♦ The first annual Delaware River Sojourn was held to celebrate the River's outstanding natural, cultural, scenic, ecological and recreational resources. ♦ Conrail rehabilitated a 10 mile section of track between Portland yard and Analomink, PA for a new customer, Diversey Corp. in East Stroudsburg, PA.  The new siding was expected to receive several hundred carloads per year from Allentown via Phillipsburg. ♦ The PA Legislature funded a $2 million study to explore the return of rail passenger service between NYC, the Lehigh Valley, Reading and Harrisburg on what they called the "Valley Special" route. ♦ Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Co. blasted a trench across the Delaware River near Martins Creek for a new pipeline connecting their storage fields in Potter County, PA with their main lines near Somerville, NJ.  The line passes through Warren County north and east of Phillipsburg. ♦ United Steel Workers ended a 106 day strike of the Ingersoll-Dresser plant at Phillipsburg.  One hundred and twenty-five of the nearly 300 returning workers were immediately laid off.  Plans to bring production equipment from a closed Harrison, NJ plant to Phillipsburg to create new jobs were scrapped due to the strike. ♦ On 9.25 the Annual Hobo Convention was held at Antalaune Orchard, north of Temple, PA on the Blue Mountain & Reading RR.  About a dozen hoboes elected Iowa Blackie "King of the Hoboes." ♦ The Union Pacific RR (with corporate headquarters in Bethlehem) agreed to carry local Lehigh Valley area flood relief supplies free to Manhattan, Kansas and Iowa City, Iowa areas devastated by Mississippi River flooding. ♦ The Artrain, the nation's only traveling museum train stopped at Kline's Lane in Emmaus from Sept. 9-12.  The theme of the exhibition was "The Romance of Transportation: Vehicle and Voyage in North American Art."  Hands-on displays, music and audio-visual programs offered innovative means of experiencing the exhibition which appealed to art lovers of all ages.  The Artrain has gone to 33 states and delighted more than 2 million adults and children since its first stop in 1971. ♦ The fish ladder at the Forks of the Delaware was completed.  It allowed shad and other migratory fish to swim up the Lehigh River to spawn for the first time since 1831. ♦ The Town of Phillipsburg leased the unused Chambers Street firehouse to the Phillipsburg RR Historians for storage of Centerville & Southwestern RR equipment. ♦ Palmeri Grey Line of the Pocono Mountains and the Lehigh Valley began operations. ♦

 

1994 The 300' tall "ALPHA" stack of the former Alpha Portland Cement Co. plant #4 at Martins Creek, built in 1929, was brought down with explosives. ♦ Lehigh Valley Scenic Railways returned their Royal Hudson #2839 to the Lehigh Valley and began the long process of refurbishing it. ♦ Fire damaged the historic former Charles Sitgreaves mansion at #59 So. Main St., Phillipsburg.  The owners had inadequate insurance coverage to rebuild and the building was torn down. ♦ Morrison-Knudsen diesel locomotives #628, 8303 and 8402 were parked on former CNJ track in Allentown waiting to go to Mountaintop, PA for rebuilding. ♦ On Mar. 5th Conrail lead locomotive #6071 split the switch and derailed at "Phillips" Jct. (Union Square, Phillipsburg).  It was southbound on the Bel Del with an empty unit coal train. ♦ Hugh Moore Park obtained a 14" gun used on the battleship USS Mississippi from the Dalghren Naval Surface Warfare Center.  It was shipped by rail to tidewater where it was placed on a barge.  It was transported to the Bethlehem Steel Sparrows Point plant where it was reloaded on a rail car for the trip back to Bethlehem.  The gun is to be displayed at the Bethlehem Steel site where it was manufactured. ♦ The American Automobile Association West Jersey Motor Club and Central New Jersey Club merged to form the AAA Central-West Jersey Club.  They maintained the prior Phillipsburg office at the corner of Memorial Parkway and Firth Street. ♦ Black River & Western RR steam locomotive #60 was moved from Three Bridges to Phillipsburg by Conrail with GP-38 #7868 as the pilot.  They then traveled eastward via the Washington Secondary and Dover to the Morristown & Erie Ry. for the Whippany Railway Museum, Railroad Festival '94 on July 30 & 31.  No. 60 was joined at Whippany by NYS&W RR steamer #142.  At the conclusion of the Festival and USPS locomotive stamp dedication, #60 went back to the BR&W RR, again via Phillipsburg. ♦ Conrail changed their name to Conrail, Inc. ♦ Bushkill Park, Easton, PA unveiled/opened a beautifully restored 1920's Allan Herschell Carousel, with 42 carved wooden jumping horses and a Wurlitzer 143B Band Organ. ♦ The reauthorized NJ RR & Transportation Museum Commission held their first meeting in Trenton. ♦ A bus-load of PA Canal Society members toured the western half of the Morris Canal on 10.15.  Headquarters was the Commodore Inn in Phillipsburg. ♦ On Dec. 10th, J. Supor & Son Trucking & Rigging Co. moved former Jersey Central RR caboose #91535 from the Jersey Central Power & Light Gilbert Generating Station to Harrison.  A 150 ton crane lifted the caboose onto a trailer for movement by highway.  It had been donated by the Jersey Central Railway Historical Society to the state of NJ for display at the Jersey Central Terminal at Liberty State Park.  The move was done gratis by Supor, with coordination by Frank Vopasek, Vice President, Engineering of the CRR of NJ Historical Society.  Due to a lengthy delay in getting the display track constructed at Jersey City the caboose stayed at Harrison for more than three years.  It was unfortunately later broken into and set afire by vagrants, destroying the wood interior which resulted in the car being scrapped. ♦ The Friends of the Morris Canal in Warren County was formed. ♦ The Monroe County Rail Authority purchased the Pocono Summit to Analomink segment of the former DL&W main line and reached an agreement with Conrail to permit passenger train operations as far East as Slateford junction, PA. ♦ Author/historian Ronald W. Wynkoop received the outstanding citizen award from the Phillipsburg Area Chamber of Commerce. ♦ The County of Warren purchased the James Lee, Sr. property which included remnants of Morris Canal inclined plane 9 West, the excavated turbine chamber, and the plane tender's house.  The agreement gave Jim life rights to reside in the house.

 

1995 CHECK EPL FOR MORE The Ship Inn, Milford, became New Jersey's first pub to brew beer for consumption on premises since prohibition.  It was licensed as the Milford Brewing Co. ♦ Delaware River Coach Lines successfully bid to continue its two local lines in Phillipsburg.  The only changes made were that #1, South Main Street, became #891, Heckman Street and #2 North Main Street became #890, South Main Street. ♦ On 2.18 at 1:32pm the first NS/Conrail Triple Crown RoadRailer train traveled east through Phillipsburg on the Lehigh Line. ♦ Ground was broken for Two Rivers Landing at Center Square, Easton.  The 80,000 square foot former department store facility was renovated to house the Crayola Visitor Center, the National Canal Museum and the Delaware & Lehigh Navigation Canal National Heritage Corridor Visitor Center.  Funding for the $9 million project was provided by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, the city and private capital. ♦ Conrail ended service on the E&N branch from Stockertown south. ♦ Conrail announced that it would sell its Delaware Secondary rail line, the section of the former Bel Del from Phillipsburg south to Milford, NJ. ♦ Presentations were made to the NJ RR & Transportation Museum Commission for Liberty State Park, Jersey City; by the Cities of Plainfield and Paterson; and by the Town of Phillipsburg.  The Commission visited the National Park Services' Steamtown National Historic Site at Scranton, PA. ♦ Bethlehem Steel Corp. closed their steel mill blast furnaces at Bethlehem and 1,500 jobs were cut.  PB&NE RR (Bethlehem Steel) began receiving blooms (hot ingots), via Conrail, from their Harrisburg facility. ♦ The "Friends" periodical New Jersey Transport Calendar evolved to Transport Heritage and then New Jersey Transport Heritage as Bill McKelvey assumed the role of editor. ♦ The Conrail Operation Lifesaver train ran from Harrisburg to Allentown and return on 6.13. ♦ The Easton-Phillipsburg "Free Bridge" celebrated it's 100 anniversary and was designated an American Society of Civil Engineers National Civil Engineering Landmark.  It is the last bridge of its type in America. ♦ Central Railroad of NJ caboose #91197 (the same number which was used by Jim Beam on their caboose decanter) was moved by truck from Bloomsbury to the Phillipsburg RR Historians site. ♦ The last Conrail freight, WPAL-11, was operated on the Bel Del from Phillipsburg to Milford, NJ.  It was powered by SW-1001 #9417, the same locomotive used for several years on the line.  The crew was Louis Capecci, Engineer and Bill Conklin, Conductor, both former Penn Central and PRR employees.  Alan Bellis, Tom Nemeth and Scott Snell recorded the run on film. ♦ Belvidere and Delaware River Ry. (BDRV), with the same management as the Black River & Western RR, purchased the Phillipsburg to Milford segment of the Bel-Del from Conrail.  Equipment assigned to the new line included GP-9 #1849, former NYC RR bay window caboose #474 restored to the NYC light green paint scheme and red caboose #595 sporting the full BDRV name and logo. ♦ Weyerbacher Brewing Company, Inc., the Lehigh Valley's first microbrewery, opened in Easton. ♦ The Central RR of NJ Main Line Corridor in Warren County was determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places by both the Secretary of the Interior, National Park Service and the NJ State Historic Preservation Officer. ♦ Freys trucking, Lopatcong Twp., went out of business. ♦ The state of New Jersey took title to the former Lackawanna Cut-Off under condemnation proceedings. ♦

 

1996 Network Transportation Systems took over the former Frey's truck terminal on Fox Farm Road, Lopatcong Twp. ♦ A blizzard dropped 30 inches of snow on NJ snarling roads and reducing rail service. ♦ Floods at the Forks of the Delaware were 30.65' above normal water levels. ♦ Presentations were made to the NJ RR and Transportation Museum Commission by the City of Elizabeth and Netcong/Port Morris. ♦ NJ Transit completed a study in April which indicated that restoration of rail passenger service to Phillipsburg was not feasible at this time.  They estimated it would cost $56,000,000 to rehabilitate tracks west from High Bridge on the Raritan Valley Line.  Extending service from Hackettstown to Phillipsburg on the Washington Secondary would cost $59 million per NJ Transit estimate. ♦ The NRHS Lehigh Valley Chapter ran a second tour of the abandoned L&NE RR, this time west of Pen Argyl, using Trans Bridge Lines bus #5414 (formerly owned by West Hunterdon Transit).  The Ontario & Western Railway Historical Society's 28 page Scenic Motor Tour of the Lehigh & New England RR formed the guide/itinerary.  The driver was LV chapter member Jim Danner. ♦ Thirty five miles of Route 29 between Frenchtown and Trenton was officially designated the first Scenic Byway in NJ. ♦ Conrail took their Operation Lifesaver train, which had been stored at Whippany by the Morristown & Erie Railway, to Stroudsburg, PA for a Memorial Day celebration.  They also took Tri-State Railway Historical Society's restored DL&W RR baggage car #2038.  The routing was via Allentown, so the train passed through Phillipsburg four times (twice each on the former Jersey Central & Bel Del lines). ♦ The National Canal Museum at Two Rivers Landing, Center Square, Easton opened. ♦ "Friends" and URHS both recommended Phillipsburg as their top choice for the NJ RR & Transportation Heritage Center location. ♦ The Delaware River Greenway and Heritage Conservancy secured 20.5 acres of land running 1.5 miles along the Delaware River, west of the Belvidere Delaware River Ry., and south of the LV RR bridge in Phillipsburg (this land is a buffer between the proposed Phillipsburg Heritage Center site and the river). ♦ Grey Line/Palmeri Bus Co. began a trial historic loop tour of Easton, from Center Square, using a trolley style bus. ♦ The St. Lawrence & Hudson's Delaware & Hudson Ry. resumed intermodal service to Oak Island Yard in Newark, NJ via trackage rights on Conrail's Lehigh Line after eight months absence. ♦ The Reading & Northern RR acquired 98 miles of Conrail's Lehigh (LV RR) Line between Lehighton and Mehoopany, PA. ♦ Big URHS equipment move - Morristown & Erie Ry. moved GP-7's #5681 & 5902, GP-9 #7000, and Baldwin VO-1000 #19 from Morristown to Denville where they were met by two Conrail GP-38's to pilot them to Easton and back to Hudson Yard in Phillipsburg.  Belvidere Delaware River Ry. had moved lounge car #4443, RDC #556, and F-7's #418 & 424 from Gilbert Generating Station to Hudson Yard.  When Conrail/M&E attempted to move the equipment they discovered defective brakes on F-7 # 424 so it had to be left at Hudson. Conrail/M&E took train from Hudson to Easton and then reversed for the Black River & Western at Three Bridges.  All equipment was dropped there except RDC # 556 and private car #3079.  Conrail/M&E then returned to Easton, dropped the CR engines and M&E #17 pulled the train up to Washington, where the crew "outlawed."  CR later moved the train back up to Dover where a M&E crew took it back to Morristown. ♦ Bethlehem Steel Corp. wrote down their Bethlehem coke-making facility as an impaired asset.  The operation consisted of 284 coke ovens, divided into two batteries. ♦ The NJ RR & Transportation Museum Commission announced their recommendations of Phillipsburg, Plainfield and Netcong/Port Morris for the Heritage Center to the legislature. ♦ CSX Corp. and Conrail agreed to a strategic merger of their properties and operations to produce a 29,645 mile system covering 22 states with $14 billion in revenues.  CSX would pay $8.4 billion in cash and stock. ♦ Phillipsburg High School Community designed, constructed and supported a model of the "Free Bridge" which was presented and dedicated by the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission.  It is located in the Two Rivers Landing visitor's center. ♦ Norfolk Southern RR responded with a bid of $9.1 billion for Conrail, an action aimed at derailing the friendly offer of CSX. ♦ The Belvidere & Delaware River Ry. operated a series of short excursions, the first passenger excursions on the line in 20 years, in conjunction with the Milford Fall Festival. ♦ The first Southeast Pennsylvania Garden Railroad Assn. was held at the home of Ron Luckock in Steel City.  It has become an annual open house event. ♦ A one quarter size scale Lehigh Canal Section Boat, constructed by Lehighton High School students was placed on display at the National Canal Museum at Easton. ♦ A series of steam excursions from Hoboken to Port Jervis using Chesapeake & Ohio RR locomotive #614, produced by Iron Horse Enterprises were co-sponsored by the NJ RR & Transportation Museum Commission, URHS and "Friends" in cooperation with NJ Transit.  A total of 7,277 passengers were carried and seats on all excursions were sold out well before the first trip operated.  URHS gained $30,000 toward equipment restoration from the excursion effort. ♦ After failing to negotiate a deal with CSX to acquire Conrail jointly, NS raised its all-cash offer to $110 per Conrail share. ♦ Conrail terminated all service south of Stockertown on their Eastern & Northern branch.  They subsequently issued an embargo notice on all traffic on a portion of the Easton & Northern branch in Easton.  The track was out of service and an application to abandon had been filed. ♦ The NJ Conservation Foundation acquired the first conservation easement on an historic and archeological site containing 15 ca. 1850 lime kilns in the bluffs of the Delaware River at Carpentersville.  They chartered a Belvidere Delaware River Ry. train to take their group to inspect the location. ♦ "Friends" published their "Vision for the NJ RR & Transportation Heritage Center at Phillipsburg" in their NJ Transport Heritage bulletin. ♦ BREDA completed the rebuilding of the last of 298 Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority rapid transit cars at Harrison, NJ.  Most of the cars were moved via Rt. I-78 through Phillipsburg and the Lehigh Valley by Joseph Supor, & Son Trucking & Rigging Co., Inc. and the work was done in Supor's building over a 30 month period. ♦ Warren County Freeholders adopted a resolution supporting Phillipsburg as the site for the NJ RR & Transportation Museum. ♦ CSX added convertible preferred stock valued at $16 per share to its offer for Conrail. ♦ NS raised its offer to $115 per Conrail share. ♦ No. Jersey Electric Ry. Historical Society obtained the remains of City Subway (former Public Service, built in 1917) single truck snow sweeper #5173, damaged by fire on 3.5.71.  "Friends" gave an interest free loan to NJERHS to have the 20 ton metal frame with wheels, and traction motors trucked to the Phillipsburg RR Historians site along the Conrail main line east of Main St. bridge/PU tower. ♦ Phillipsburg RR Historians received a lease, from the town, of property, along the Conrail main east of Main St. bridge/PU tower for their local heritage center. ♦ Warren County obtained title to the abandoned Allis-Chalmers steam pumping engine at the Phillipsburg water plant.  Initially the Phillipsburg RR Historians were to maintain the site of the historic engine which dates from 1913. ♦ The Lehigh & Keystone Valley Model Railroad Club purchased and moved into a building in Bethlehem. ♦ R.J. Corman began operating former LV RR branch lines in the Allentown area from CP "Burn" to Catasauqua, PA. ♦

 

1997 "Friends" embarked on a campaign to obtain endorsements for their "Vision for Phillipsburg." ♦ Lehigh & Northampton Transportation Authority celebrated 25 years of service. ♦ "Friends" and United RR Historical Society of NJ sent the town of Phillipsburg letters of intent to move historic rail equipment and vehicles to Phillipsburg as soon as safe, secure storage can be provided for them. ♦ Unit coke trains began operating between the Bethlehem Steel, Florence Yard to the Gary, IN area. ♦ "Friends" discovered the existence of two Washington & Easton Traction (NJ Interurban Ry.) trolley cars in a dwelling which was for sale in Port Murray.  Bob Hooper and Bill McKelvey subsequently inspected the cars and found that they had been heavily altered by removal of all four car ends, controllers, brake equipment, large sections of car sides, all underfloor power & compressed air components and key structural members making them, in our opinion, unrestorable. ♦ Union Pacific Corporation announced that they would move their corporate headquarters back to the west from Bethlehem. ♦ Conrail stockholders rejected the CSX-led proposal to change their charter allowing the CSX takeover. ♦ The Belvidere & Delaware River Ry. (BDRV) operated an inspection train from Union Square to Carpenterville for Phillipsburg town officials, consultants studying their downtown for revitalization, press, and the President of "Friends."  BDRV also announced plans for the construction of a station/hotel/ restaurant building at the former location of the PRR Bel Del Lehigh Junction Station.  At the same time they announced their 1997 schedule of excursions from Milford Station northward as track rehabilitation progressed. ♦ Bethlehem Steel Corp. closed their steel rolling mill in Bethlehem resulting in the loss of 700 jobs. ♦ The Phillipsburg RR & Transportation Heritage Center Committee held their initial meeting.  Bill McKelvey was elected Chairman ♦ Bethlehem Steel Co. announced plans for a major industrial museum to include exhibits of hundreds of items from the Smithsonian Institution in several old steel manufacturing buildings.  The facility in Bethlehem would include one of the blast furnaces and many other artifacts saved from the "Bethlehem Works." ♦ The Smithsonian's National Postal Museum confirmed that they would lend their "Mail on the Move" exhibition to the planned "America on Wheels" museum at Lehigh Landing, Allentown. ♦ A ballast tamper was being moved on a flat-bed truck by the Conrail Maintenance of Way Equipment shop at South Easton.  They got it part way up the Iron Street hill when the driver had to shift to a lower gear.  The lurch caused the tamper to break loose and it crashed down the street to Glendon Avenue. ♦ Train Gallery Auctions held their first public model railroad/ railroadiana auction at the Phillipsburg Holiday Inn. ♦ "Friends" held their most successful seventh annual symposium (153 attendees) with a presentation on the proposed Phillipsburg Heritage Center site. ♦ The Washington Boro Fire Dept. re-purchased their original/first 1937 Dodge emergency truck from a Massachusetts owner and returned it to Washington for restoration.  It had served until 1952 when it was sold to the Sergeantsville (Hunterdon County, NJ) Fire Dept. and after 1982 to others. ♦ The new Allentown Bus Terminal opened on Race St. near Hamilton St.  It is used by Bieber, TransBridge, Greyhound and Susquehanna Trailways buses. ♦ CSX and NS reached an agreement in principle on division and joint acquisition of Conrail at $115 per share.  The lines through the Lehigh Valley would become Norfolk Southern operations. ♦ The Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey circus train went west through Phillipsburg on 5.10. ♦ McKelvey "inspected" the Bel Del from Milford to Hudson Yard and return on the local freight run. ♦ Lehigh Valley Transit Liberty Bell Route interurban car #805, built in 1912, was moved back to Allentown and restoration plans were announced. ♦ LANTA METRO bus #8722 caught fire in Easton. ♦ Conrail began painting their dedicated "Ballast Express" locomotives in a grey paint scheme and they began to appear in the Phillipsburg area. ♦ The St. Lawrence & Hudson RR quietly ended TOFC/COFC service into Oak Island from Allentown, only to resume it two weeks later. ♦ The Phillipsburg Railroad & Transportation Heritage Center Committee sponsored a tour of the local Heritage Center properties, structures, and facilities.  Over 100 attended the tour which included portions by bus.  The Centerville & Southwestern RR was permanently set up with 400 feet of track and rides were given to all.  Co-sponsors were Phillipsburg Railroad Historians, "Friends," URHS and the Town of Phillipsburg. ♦ Green Acquisition Corp., jointly owned by CSX and NS purchased all Conrail shares, subject to Surface Transportation Board approval. ♦ Norfolk Southern's track geometry train inspected Conrail's Lehigh Line from Bethlehem, PA to Oak Island Yard (Newark, NJ) as part of a thirty-day inspection tour of Conrail track which will be acquired by the NS. ♦ Former South East Pennsylvania Transportation Authority/Philadelphia PCC trolley car #2255 (ex-Kansas City #753) was moved to the Lehigh Valley.  Rockhill Trolley Museum volunteers stripped the car of seats and other reusable parts.  It was later sunk at Dutch Springs, a recreational diving quarry on the property of the old National Portland Cement Co., in Hecktown, north of Bethlehem.  A crane lifted it onto the water where it was supported by air-bags.  It was floated out to the middle and sunk. ♦ Students of Andover-Morris Elementary School collected $1,200 in pennies which they donated toward the Phillipsburg RR & Transportation Heritage Center. ♦ In conjunction with RIVERFEST '97, the Phillipsburg RR Historians had the Centerville & Southwestern operating and McKelvey brought out a selection of restored Leslie & Nathan RR air horns and a Hancock air whistle which helped attract the public over from Shappell Park. ♦ The first Lehigh River Sojourn was sponsored by the Wildlands Conservancy.  Participants traveled from White Haven to Easton by raft, bicycle and canoe. ♦ Through the efforts of McKelvey the "Big Hook" from the CNJ Elizabethport Locomotive Shop was moved to Phillipsburg.  It was donated by Manuel Silvestri, President of M. Silvestri Contracting Co., the firm which had the demolition contract.  It was moved in Jim Laubach's pick up truck and was unloaded at the Phillipsburg RR Historians site by Pete Terp. ♦ GPU Energy donated 40 lengths of +/- 100 lb. rail at Gilbert Generating Station to Phillipsburg RR Historians for URHS.  Most of it was moved to Whippany to rebuild and lengthen two sidings for storage of URHS equipment. ♦ Palmeri Grey Line of the Pocono Mountains and Lehigh Valley in cooperation with LANTA, began "Easton Sampler" Trolley Sightseeing Tours of downtown Easton and shuttle routes between Two Rivers Landing/Center Square, Easton; the canalboat ride at Hugh Moore Park; and Bushkill Park using vintage trolley type buses.  A $5 ticket was good for an entire day of riding.  The ticket was good for a transfer to any LANTA bus route.  A leaflet with an "aerial view" map of Easton showing the routes was produced. ♦ A history of Trans-Bridge Lines appeared in the July issue of Bus Ride magazine. ♦ Former LIRR parlor cars came through Allentown Yard and were "humped" on 7.7. (Per video of Ed Beers.) ♦ A new EMD F59PH locomotive was spotted in a westbound train.  It was en-route from Super Steel, the builder, to Amtrak via Phillipsburg. ♦ CSX and NS filed an application with the Surface Transportation Board seeking authority for the acquisition, division and operation of Conrail.  The 23 volume, almost 15,000 page application detailed nearly $1 billion in public benefits from the transaction. ♦ The STB accepted the CSX/NS $10.2 billion application. ♦ Billboards with an illustration of a steam locomotive, the message "Get On Board!   Phillipsburg   The Past is Our Future" and the Phillipsburg Railroad and Transportation Heritage Center website www.pburgonline.com/pburgrtc & phone number began to appear in the Phillipsburg area.  The website information available included the "Friends" Vision for Phillipsburg with a local map, local RR & Transportation assets and pluses, the letters of intent from URHS and Friends and a synopsis of the transport heritage of the area.  The URHS equipment list, a condensed chronology, a list of the more than 100 entities endorsing the Friends vision and a second regional map were added later. ♦ Joe Stasyshyn brought his trailer mounted, 18 ton, 1,000 HP, ca. 1936, Ingersoll-Rand power plant diesel engine to the Phillipsburg RR Historians site during the "Ole Towne Festival."  It was periodically started and run.  This was the 10th anniversary of the growing festival which for the first time had venues at both Walters and Shappell parks and covered three days of activities. ♦ GATX tank training car #1993 went through Phillipsburg to and from Washington, NJ.  It was accompanied by a box car classroom which was decorated like a red brick school house complete with a belfry. ♦ PennDOT announced a $48 million, two year project to improve Rt. 22 for eight miles east of the Lehigh River bridge.  The highway carries 6,000 trucks and nearly 80,000 other vehicles per day. ♦ The Easton Fire Department celebrated their bi-centennial and 100th four county parade on 7.12. ♦ The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation unveiled a 5-year plan for upgrading and enhancing the Delaware Canal State Park.  The $7,650,000 plan focused on creating additional recreational opportunities, improving maintenance and a long term goal to return the 60-mile-long canal to a fully watered state. ♦ "Friends" voted to commit $7,500 toward the purchase of a storage building at Phillipsburg. ♦ The Phillipsburg Urban Enterprize Zone board unanimously voted to commit $75,000 to four Phillipsburg RR Historians projects: 1. an engine house/ storage building for their equipment; 2. a replacement retaining wall so the Centerville & Southwestern RR could be extended; 3. fencing for the PRRH site, and 4. erection of a storage building/work shop for the Friends of the NJ RR & Transportation Museum to be used primarily for protected storage of two trolley cars. ♦ Phillipsburg RR Historians begin to cleanup and secure "PU" tower at the Black Bridge. ♦ URHS voted to commit $4,000 to the Friends Phillipsburg building project. ♦ The former Murphy coal yard on Stockton Street, Phillipsburg was inspected by both Friends and the Historical Construction Equipment Association, Easy Diggin' Chapter as a possible storage site. ♦ The Belvidere & Delaware River Ry. received a contract to move 6,400 carloads of dirt from the Baer Aggregates Carpentersville quarry to Hudson Yard, for interchange to Conrail for movement to the former Hyatt Bearing complex in Clark, NJ.  A new switch was installed into the quarry and track rehabilitation begun from that point northward.  Rail for the new siding consisted mostly of two strings of welded rail which were dragged south from Phillipsburg by the BDRV locomotive. ♦  The one story office building adjacent to the main Tippett & Wood building was destroyed by a fire of suspicious origin. ♦ A portion of the roof of the former bus garage where Friends had been storing their restored 1937 Yellow Coach bus collapsed, fortunately on the opposite side of the fire wall from the bus.  The bus had to be moved quickly because the remainder of the weakened building was to be demolished.  Benham's Service and Garage, Inc. of Berkeley Heights moved the bus on a tilt-back from Newark to secure, but outside storage at the former Standard Silk Mill complex in Phillipsburg. ♦ US Senator Robert Torricelli visited Phillipsburg and said he would try to help with federal money to build a walkway and bike path along the Delaware River south of Union Square.  The public meeting was held on the former Bel Del passenger platform at Union Square.  At the same time a rendering of the vision of the Heritage Center site plan along with the walkway was unveiled.  It was paid for by the Phillipsburg Urban Enterprize Zone and GPU Energy. ♦ GP-9 #475, leased from the Winchester & Western RR in south Jersey arrived on the Bel Del property to assist with the dirt trains. ♦ The Phillipsburg RR Historians building was repainted green with yellow trim. ♦ (SEP) ♦ The 10 car Conrail business train traveled east through Phillipsburg powered by all three of their former EL (#4020 &4021) and PC (#4022) E-8 diesels. ♦ The Jersey Central Chapter, NRHS, held their annual picnic at the Phillipsburg RR Historians site on 9.7.  The Centerville & Southwestern RR was operating, many Conrail trains passed and nearly 100 enjoyed the day. ♦ Governor Whitman visited Phillipsburg and announced that $250,000 would be forthcoming for riverfront redevelopment. ♦ Indiana Hi-Rail Corp. locomotive #310, an Alco model 626, traveled east and west through Phillipsburg on several Conrail freight trains.  This unit, originally LV RR #705, became D&H RR #705, was sold to IHRC and finally to Delaware-Lackawanna RR.  It now has an EL RR paint scheme. ♦ On 10.1 Palmeri Motor Coach Corp. was purchased by Global Passenger Services (of Howell, NJ), trading as Travelways. ♦ The Belvidere & Delaware River Railway issued Employee Timetable No. 1. ♦ The Bel Del Ry. began moving dirt trains from the Baer Aggregates quarry at Carpentersville, destined for Clark, NJ. ♦ "Friends" moved a piece of former PRR track pan to Phillipsburg for exhibit. ♦ A Jensen-Koerner/Shinn 110 ton Krupp crane lost brake pressure due to a small fire.  The event occurred (10.22) on Rt. 78 east, Bloomsbury, near the top of Jugtown Mountain.  Joseph Supor Trucking and Rigging came to the rescue with their 500 ton capacity Krupp, a smaller crane and a low bed trailer used to transport locomotives.  Supor's cranes were set up at 10pm, blocking two of the eastbound lanes, when your editor was returning from Phillipsburg.  The eerie flood-lit scene looked like a missile launching site. ♦ A new prefabricated McDonalds restaurant was erected at the Greenwich/Shop Rite Shopping Center on Rt. 22 in one day.  The 8 modules and roof over-hang sections were transported in 9 trailer loads by Robbins Motor Transportation from Winchester, VA where they were manufactured. ♦ A contractor scrapped a string of defective/dilapidated Conrail cars at Hudson Yard in Phillipsburg. ♦ Phillipsburg RR Historians traded some rail for switch ties and began laying two switches on their site. ♦ Roadway Express closed their truck terminal on Strykers Rd., Harmony Twp. ♦ The Lord Cultural Resources Planning & Management, Inc., of Toronto, Canada, was chosen to develop the NJ RR & Transportation Heritage Center requirements and final site ranking (between Phillipsburg, Plainfield and Netcong/Port Morris). ♦ The Surface Transportation Board announced a 45 day extension of the CSX and NS application to acquire Conrail.  The final decision was scheduled to be released on July 23, 1998. ♦ NS announced that they planned to spend nearly $30 million for improvements on the Lehigh Line between Allentown and Bound Brook.  The work was to include a single, centered track through Pattenburg (Musconetcong) Tunnel, new and extended sidings: on both sides of the tunnel, at Bound Brook, at Flemington Jct., as well as other related signal, capacity and clearance improvements.  This line is part of the shortest rail route between Northern New Jersey and Chicago. ♦ Brass friction bearings were discovered missing from the Phillipsburg RR Historians locomotive and cars stored on the former Bel Del lower yard property. ♦ The former CRR of NJ roundhouse (built in 1926) at Bethlehem was demolished.  It was one of the last full roundhouses to survive in the Northeast. ♦ Bethlehem Steel Corp. unveiled the master plan for the 163 acre site of the former Bethlehem Steel plant in South Bethlehem to be known as Bethlehem W O R K S.  It was the planned location of the National Museum of Industrial History, to be housed in the 300,000 square foot No. 2 Machine Shop along with Smithsonian exhibits.  All five blast furnaces, the ore bridge and many of the prominent buildings of historical significance were to be retained.  The complex was also to include: an Iron & Steel Showcase featuring Bethlehem Steel Corp.'s artifacts; a 16-screen multiplex movie theater; a Discovery Center and Imax; hotels and a conference center; an ice skating/hockey center; a swim facility; a family fun center; a major sports retail store and a 1,200-car parking garage.  The cost of the project, estimated at $400 million, was expected to be paid by investors, developers and business owners.  An estimated 2,000 construction jobs were expected to be created and when complete, on-site employment was projected at 4,000 full and part-time jobs.  Shortly thereafter, Chicago-based contractor, Brandenburg Industrial Services began demolition of unneeded structures and facilities. ♦ A compilation of Phillipsburg Area Transport Heritage Assets, Pluses and Attractions began to be published in NJTH with Vol. 6, No. 2. ♦ Easton & Northern track began to be removed between the Northampton/25th Streets area of Wilson Boro. ♦ Former Green Mountain RR GP-9 #1848 was placed in service on the Belvidere & Delaware River Ry. to handle the dirt trains with BDRV #1849, also ex-Green Mountain.  BR&W GP-9 #752 (former Clarendon & Pittsford) was assigned to the BDRV freight train.  Winchester & Western GP-9 #475 was returned.  BDRV purchased ballast cars from Conrail and began hauling ballast out of the Baer Aggregates quarry to various shortline railroads in up to six car cuts. ♦ Bill McKelvey acquired 43 of the 56 surviving letters from the CNJ Elizabethport Locomotive Shop building which had been demolished.  The collectors/sellers were Frank Farnkopf and Nicholas Buli who worked nearby.  One complete set spelling out "CENTRAL RAILROAD OF NEW JERSEY  1901" was assembled and "C (&) SW RR," made up from the excess letters, was donated to the Phillipsburg RR Historians.  Each two foot tall cast iron letter weighs an average of 35 pounds.  All were moved to the Phillipsburg area for storage. ♦ Santa Fe RR GP-30 #2771 went through Phillipsburg westbound with Conrail units powering Mail-3 (Kearny to E. St. Louis). ♦ The Lord Cultural Resources evaluation team visited Phillipsburg to take a preliminary look at the proposed Heritage Center site and nearby attractions.  The tour was led by McKelvey. ♦ The former CRR of NJ coaling tower at Bethlehem was demolished. ♦ Bethlehem Steel Corp. announced the planned closing of their coke-making facility in Bethlehem and the resulting loss of 800 jobs.  The plant, which produced 1,000,000 tons of coke annually was the last of Bethlehem's hometown industrial operations.  Surviving the closure were 700 local corporate and research employees. ♦ The PB&NE RR freight house near the coke plant in Bethlehem was demolished. ♦ The Florentine, a movie focusing mostly in Easton (but included takes in Phillipsburg, Bethlehem Steel and other Lehigh Valley towns), starring Luke Perry, Chris Penn, Jim Belushi, and others was filmed.  The epicenter of the film's activity was the Mount Vernon Hotel at 6th & Northampton Streets.  The four-story Victorian hotel was spruced up and renamed The Florentine for the dramatic comedy production. ♦ Erie Lackawanna open-top hopper car #33324 (with no Conrail markings) was spotted at Hanna, Wyoming.  It had been loaded at the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co., Greenwood breaker with coal destined for McCoy, Oregon.  A similar car was purchased by the Danbury, CT Railway Museum. ♦ The Surface Transportation Board found Norfolk Southern to have the second best return on investment (13.1%) of all US Class I railroads for this year.  The best was Illinois Central at 15.8%. ♦ Bethlehem Steel sold their BethForge and CENTEC Divisions of the Bethlehem plant to Homestead Engineering and Manufacturing Co. and also sold their Bethship and coal mining interests. ♦ The Hamlin farm in Greenwich Twp. was purchased by the County of Warren to preserve a section of the Morris Canal (with restoration/rewatering potential) and adjacent open space. ♦

 

1998 New Jersey enacted the Railroad Immunity law which protects Amtrak, NJ Transit and freight railroads from injury lawsuits by adult trespassers on railroad property or from passengers who are inadvertently injured through normal operations. ♦ Five switch stands were stolen from the Phillipsburg RR Historians. ♦ A joint NS/CSX letter dated Jan. 14th to NJDOT outlined new (passenger) rail starts, cautiously allowing that both NS and CSX would "cooperate in their development where feasible."  At the top of the list was the Washington Secondary line between Hackettstown and Phillipsburg...  The letter declared that NS, CSX and their joint subsidiary would not provide any "direct or indirect subsidy of passenger rail operations." ♦ Two additional representatives from the Lord Cultural Resources team were given a tour of the Phillipsburg Heritage Center site. ♦ The Conrail, former LV RR, Easton interlocking tower was demolished on 1.28. ♦ A tour of the Phillipsburg/Easton area, Two Rivers Landing and interviews with more than a dozen key individuals were set up for Ted Silberberg, LORD Cultural Resources principal and marketing/financial analyst. ♦ A major cave-in occurred in the West Point tunnel blocking Conrail's (Hudson) River Line.  Several intermodal trains were detoured via Phillipsburg/Harrisburg/Pittsburgh. ♦ NJ officials announced that they reached an agreement with NS and CSX to ensure that each NJ shortline RR has competitive access to both railroads and that NORAC operating rules would be retained in the takeover of Conrail. ♦ LANTA purchased 10 used 1983 NeoPlan buses from SEPTA for service in the Lehigh Valley. ♦ The Rockhill Trolley Museum held a Volunteer Appreciation Dinner in Allentown with a presentation of "The People & the Progress," movies of 15 years of activities. ♦ Rauby's Garage, Broad Street, Phillipsburg, which since 1984 performed truck and trailer repairs for Conrail, went out of business.  Their property was leased to The Strober Organization, a distributor of building materials relocating from Hampton, NJ. ♦ In three working days the Phillipsburg RR Historians moved all of their rail equipment from the former Merritt brickyard to their site along the Conrail Lehigh Line.  The (former I-R) GE 45 ton switcher was moved with the assistance of the NJ Army National Guard.  They brought a 70 ton tank trailer down from Dover to do the job on 3.26.  Joe's Steak Shop treated the "Army" to lunch. ♦ Trans-Bridge Lines of Bethlehem, PA celebrated the arrival of its new Motor Coach Industries Renaissance coaches with an open house.  The company was the first bus tour and charter operator in the nation to order the Renaissance. ♦ Suburban Metropolitan Agency for Rail Transit, Inc. and Lehigh Valley Scenic Railways expressed interest in making Phillipsburg the home base for their Canadian Pacific Royal Hudson #2839. ♦ A Conrail survey team was working in the area of the Black Bridge preparing for the undercutting of track to increase clearances under the bridge for double stack service. ♦ Bethlehem Steel coke works ceased production. ♦ At the "Friends" 8th annual symposium (on 4.4), member Ron Luckock brought a half dozen of his display boards with maps and historic rail/transport views of the Phillipsburg/Easton area.  New York Cross Harbor RR announced that they were donating their former BEDT 0-6-0T steam locomotive to URHS.  However, it was soon learned that the title was not clear and the effort was abandoned. ♦ Conrail WPAL-10 local freight brought a CSX auto rack car westbound through Phillipsburg to check clearances through Pattenburg tunnel on 4.6.  They stopped and slowly went under the Black bridge. ♦ Trans-Bridge Bus Lines purchased Lehigh Valley Motorcoach of Walnutport, PA and began using LVM's coaches on TB routes. ♦ Conrail car department personnel began restenciling the freight cars that will be conveyed to either NS or CSX.  NS cars were given PRR reporting marks and CSX cars given NYC reporting marks without regard for prior ownership or heritage. ♦ Randolph L. Kulp, a charter member of the NRHS Lehigh Valley Chapter and their publication editor for 25 years, died. ♦ A three day bus tour by the Canal Society of NJ covered the remains of the Morris Canal.  On 4.18 two buses brought 85 members to Phillipsburg/Easton followed by a visit to Jim Lee's Plane #9W and many other sites. ♦ The last Conrail Allentown Family Day was held at the Allentown yard.  Over 700 Conrail'ers attended their 6th annual celebration.  Family members: were treated to a special tour of the trailer van operation, the Allentown hump classification yard and the car shop; were shown how a remote interlocking works at C.P. HAM; inspected Conrail's newest A.C. powered locomotives; and got educated in the "Safety On Rail Theater." ♦ The Board of Chosen Freeholders of the County of Warren unanimously passed a resolution committing up to $875,000 to purchase the 25 acres needed for the Heritage Center if Phillipsburg is the selected site. ♦ The D&H RR 175th Anniversary (of the founding of the Delaware & Hudson Canal Co.) train came through Allentown on its way to (on 5.22) and from Philadelphia (on 5.23).  It was powered by D&H GP-38-2 #7309, in the D&H paint scheme and CP SD-40-2 #5647 with their new beaver herald.  The train utilized the following private cars: CP Mt. Steven, CP Wentworth, CP Mt. Royal, CP Van Horne, Good Vibrations, and others from the NYS&W RR and Green Mountain Railway.  The D&H, a wholly-owned operating subsidiary of Canadian Pacific Railway, is the oldest railroad in North America still operating under its original name. ♦ The Raritan Valley Line Coalition released a needs assessment report on 4.23.  One of the improvements they requested was an extension of the present service from High Bridge to Phillipsburg. ♦ A Conrail Office Car Special parked at the former CNJ Bethlehem depot overnight on 4.29/30.  The train carried NS executives in CR #1 & 5 pulled by E-8 #4020. ♦ The Conrail track geometry train came through Phillipsburg east and west for the last time on the Lehigh Line.  In the future the work will be done by a NS train. ♦ Conrail ALSE freight train came eastbound through Phillipsburg on 5.16 powered by two UP RR SD-40-2's. ♦ The United Transportation Union and rival Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers agreed to merger talks. ♦ An oil painting "Phillipsburg - Historic Transportation Hub and Gateway to New Jersey" by artist Richard Pedersen, commissioned by Capt. Bill McKelvey/Canal Captain's Press was lithographed pro bono by Four Star Color, Fairfield, NJ. ♦ A Phillipsburg supporter pledged $100,000 to help purchase the Tippett & Wood property and building for the Heritage Center if Phillipsburg is chosen as the State site and matching funds are provided from another source. ♦ The Lehigh Valley Chapter, NRHS operated a "Tracking the Trolley" tour on 5.17 with 61 participants.  It utilized LANTA GMC coaches #7311 and 7345 (model T6H4523A), built new for LANTA in 1973.  Of the original fleet of 59, only four remained in limited service at the time.  The tour traced parts of former LVT and Allentown & Reading Traction Co. trolley routes Between Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton (including the College Hill line and a photo stop at the former Easton carhouse).  Members of the Reading Co. Technical and Historical Society came to the event in their former Berks Area Reading Transportation Authority bus #911, a GMC similar to the LANTA units, which was posed for photos at the former Fairview carhouse in Allentown. ♦ Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Blue Unit, 148th Circus train with 55 cars went west through Phillipsburg.  On 5.26 it returned east. ♦ TransBridge Lines began a trial Lehigh Valley-Amtrak Connection express bus to train service on 5.18.  Four runs each way every day operate(d) between Lehigh Valley Industrial Park, Lehigh Valley International Airport, South Bethlehem Bus Terminal, Coopersbsburg and Amtrak's 30th St. Station in Philadelphia. ♦ The Clyde Beaty Cole Brothers Circus of Deland, FL set up for two days at Alton Park in Allentown and then moved to the Phillipsburg Mall for two days (5.20 & 21).  It was transported by 27 tractor trailers.  The 145 performers, staff and family members traveled in a fleet of recreation vehicles.  Setup required about seven hours. ♦ The final report from LORD Cultural Resources was distributed at the 5.26 Commission meeting. ♦ Morristown & Erie Railway Alco C-424 #18 traveled down the Washington Secondary and through Phillipsburg on a run to deliver the heavyweight coach American Dream to the Reading & Northern RR at Jim Thorpe.  Friends members Fred Heide, Bob Hingel, Jack McDougal, Ross Rowland and John Willever were among those who went along on the 5.30 trip.  The M&E's Morris County carried the riders and Ben Friedland was the engineer, both ways. ♦ Vol. 1, No. 1 of The Zone Press was mailed to all Phillipsburg residents by the Phillipsburg Urban Enterprise Zone Corporation.  It featured an article on the Phillipsburg RR Historians; our "Birds-Eye View/Vision for the Heritage Center" and other items relating to the RR & Transportation Heritage Center. ♦ The NRHS Jersey Central Chapter held their annual picnic at Phillipsburg on 6.7 which coincided with "Riverfest."  Train highlights of the day were: operation of the Centerville & Southwestern RR; the former UP RR Pullman sleeper Imperial Sands which came through on the end of the WPAL-18 (it is owned by Don H. Smith of Morris Plains, and had come from New Freedom, PA via Conrail York, PA and was going to the Morristown & Erie RR for refurbishing); a one car freight (a gondola of spikes); and the PIOI freight, the power of which included CR #6662, a former EL Ry SD 45-2, and NJT F 40PH-2Cat #4115 dead in tow, returning from Altoona. ♦ The Surface Transportation Board approved the NS - CSX takeover of Conrail on 6.8. ♦ The Norfolk Southern track geometry train with a NS geometry car & caboose came east through Phillipsburg with a Conrail locomotive. ♦ President Clinton signed a massive $204 billion federal public works bill.  Included were moneys to restore rail service on the Lackawanna Cutoff and high speed rail service between NY and Scranton. ♦ The RR & Transportation Museum Commission voted 7 to 1, with four abstaining to recommend that the legislature proceed with a master plan for the Heritage Center at the Phillipsburg location at their 6.12 meeting.  The NJ edition of The Express Times had a full width front page headline "Next stop - P'burg rail museum." ♦ A First Congregational Church of Union, NJ canal tour, led by Capt. Bill McKelvey, culminated with a ride on Hugh Moore Park's Josiah White II canalboat.  Over 50 canoes and kayaks of the second annual Lehigh River Sojourn proceeded ahead of the canalboat on the sixth and final day of their raft, bicycle and canoe trip from White Haven to Easton. ♦ The annual soapbox derby was held in Easton on the Northampton Street hill between 5th and Centre Square on 6.21. ♦ The historic former LVT "Trolley Freight" house on North Front Street, Allentown was demolished to make way for the new "America on Wheels" museum. ♦ Hugh Moore Historical Park & Museums held their 20th annual Canal Festival. ♦ NJ Governor Christie Whitman stopped at Phillipsburg on a three day tourism tour of Warren, Sussex and Hunterdon counties.  She kayaked down the Delaware River on July 8th, landed at Kobble Beach and was presented a framed lithograph of the Richard Pedersen "Phillipsburg - Historic Transportation Hub and Gateway to New Jersey" oil painting by mayor Tom Corcoran.  With the loud blare of a locomotive horn in the background, Whitman said that the state railroad and transportation museum could receive funding from the historic preservation portion of the state's open space funds. ♦ A pair of Burlington Northern SD 70 MAC's, #9412 & 9671 came eastbound through P'burg on ALSE on 6.16. ♦ Conrail's camp train was back in Phillipsburg. ♦ Bethlehem Steel Corp.'s proposed National Museum of Industrial History Preview Center got unanimous approval from the Bethlehem Planning Commission.  The $6 to 8 million advance museum is to open by mid-1999. ♦ Members of the David "Deacon" Blanchfield Ring #86 of the Circus Model Builders International brought several of their full size replica circus wagons from the Easton/Lehigh Valley area up to Steamtown at Scranton where they performed demonstrations of loading and unloading of RR flat cars with them. ♦ Former Jersey Central 40' steel box car #W92079, owned by the Anthracite RR Historical Society, was moved to the Bel Del on 7.23 to be displayed at the Phillipsburg RR Historians site. ♦ The 11th annual Phillipsburg Ole Towne Days festival included a tent/booth shared by Friends, URHS, the Commission and the Canal Society of NJ.  Ron Luckock set up and operated his "G" gauge model railroad and brought his local RR photo displays.  On Sunday afternoon a horse team was spoofed and ran away with the wagon, damaging several vehicles.  Fortunately there were no injuries. ♦ NJ DOT operated their ARAN (Automatic Road Analysis) vehicle west on Rt. I 78 to the Delaware River and back on 7.28. ♦ Ben Friedland, President and General Manager of the Morristown & Erie Railway, Inc. and "Friends" founding member/ incorporator died on 8.3. ♦ A week long PA Regional Academy of Excellence focusing on "Canals and Bridges" was sponsored by the PA Dept. of Education and organized by the Easton Area School District in conjunction with the Lafayette College Div. of Engineering and the National Canal Museum.  It was held in the Easton area for students in grades 4 through 9 and included field trips to bridge and canal sites and a ride on the Hugh Moore Park canalboat. ♦ Rail and ties were removed from the Easton & Northern Branch by a salvage firm.  The Brooklyn Historic Railway had arranged with Conrail to get some of the rail.  They salvaged 3 miles of #100 and #110 rail and transported it to Brooklyn. ♦ The Warren County Farmers Fair for the first time included a mud bog competition for 4-wheel vehicles, in addition to tractor and 4-wheel drive truck pulls; antique tractors; antique car show; and all their traditional venues. ♦ Sperry Rail Service detector car #145 traveled east through Phillipsburg on 8.8.  It was followed by an Air Products Co. long, wide, high distillation tower special train.  The train was pulled by a Conrail locomotive; the tower was carried on two depressed center flats, with a spacer flat on either end; and trailed by a green Air Products caboose for the special move crew. ♦ The Conrail office train came east to Bethlehem where the three E-8 units powering it ran around the consist and it went back west. ♦ A one day system-wide strike against Conrail was precipitated by M of W workers objections to the hiring of an independent contractor to do trackwork in the Buffalo area on 8.14. ♦ NS & CSX took legal control of Conrail on 8.22.  The implementation date was not expected to occur for several months. ♦ The Northampton Street "Free Bridge" between Phillipsburg and Easton was one of 21 bridges in PA selected to have photographs, drawings and a written history deposited in the Library of Congress. ♦ The LANTA board of directors voted to approve a special 25¢ promotional fare for the month of September in the hope that increased ridership would result. ♦ The independent contractor Loram rail grinder train worked its way through Phillipsburg on the Norfolk Southern Main and two weeks later a shoulder ballast cleaning train did the same. ♦ The Phillipsburg RR Historians sold a pair of NY Ontario & Western RR trucks to the O&W Railway Historical Society, which trucked them to Roscoe, NY. ♦ R.J. Corman Railroad Co. filed a notice to abandon the 1.945-mile Barber's Quarry Industrial Track in Allentown. ♦ The AAA Central-West Jersey celebrated the grand opening of the new location of their Phillipsburg Travel Center.  They were first established in Phillipsburg in 1926 as the AAA West Jersey Motor Club and now serve 700,000 members.  The new travel center is located at 1205 Rt. 22 W in the Home Depot shopping center. ♦ Ground was broken on 9.23 in So. Easton for the stadium for the Lehigh Valley Black Diamonds baseball team.  The event took place at 10:37 am - the time the LVRR Black Diamond train departed Easton for NJ & NYC. ♦ The Jersey Central Chapter, NRHS in cooperation with the Reading & Northern RR operated a Black Diamond - Lehigh Gorge Ramble from Jim Thorpe to Mehoopany, PA on the former LV RR main line.  It was sold out with 290 riders on board. ♦ The Easton Downtown Trolley(bus) Sightseeing Tours ended. ♦ The Phillipsburg RR Historians agreed to sponsor an Explorer Scout Post to build a model railroad at their museum site. ♦ Belvidere Delaware River Ry finished the contract for hauling dirt fill from Carpentersville.  The BDRV fleet of ballast cars which load at the quarry grew to 13.  Their GP-9 #1849 was moved to Easton to do switching for Tech Oil on the Odenwelder Industrial track (former Jersey Central main line). ♦ Nancy L. Zerbe Historic Preservation Consulting, Inc. was hired by NJ Transit to perform a survey of the Jersey Central main line from Aldene to Phillipsburg, including a complete inventory of historic resources.  This background work will then serve as the foundation for design guidelines for future work along the line to be developed by Frederic R. Harris, Inc.  Jack McDougal and Bill McKelvey gave Nancy Zerbe a tour of the line from Raritan to Phillipsburg on 10.7. ♦ Students from the Rutgers University - Cook College Department of Landscape Architecture met at Phillipsburg to gather information for a study project on 10.8 & 9.  Their goals and objectives were: a. To re-design Union Square and the Delaware Bridge area as a gateway to Phillipsburg and reinforce the connection to Easton, PA; b. To explore ways to strengthen and enhance the town's connection to the Delaware River; c. To develop an environmental graphics system which strengthens community identity and enhances orientation and way-finding; and d. To examine how the Future Railroad & Transportation Museum can be integrated into the fabric of the community in such a manner as to optimize its potential benefits. ♦ The former Reading Co. Saucon engine terminal turntable was lifted out of the pit in preparation for moving and filling of the pit was begun.  The 100' turntable was built in 1918 and the only other Reading survivor is located at the RR Museum of PA. ♦ The "Lehigh Valley Limited" Mid-East Region Meeting of the National Model RR Assn. was held at the Days Inn at So. Whitehall Twp., PA on 10.9, 10 & 11.  Rail tours were offered to & of an operating coal breaker, Lehigh Valley shops and a coal museum.  Twenty five model railroad layouts in the area were open for visitors. ♦ Laidlaw, Inc. of Burlington, Ontario announced their agreement to acquire Greyhound (bus) Lines, Inc.  Greyhound, the nation's last nationwide provider of intercity bus transportation carried more than 20 million passengers per year to more than 2,600 locations on more than 2,000 buses with 18,000 daily departures.  Laidlaw is the largest school bus, ambulance and health-care transportation provider in North America.  Laidlaw also owns Greyhound Lines of Canada. ♦ The Royal Hudson steam locomotive, owned by Lehigh Valley Scenic Railways, was moved from Allentown to Bath, PA by Conrail on 10.14.  The location was the Keystone Cement siding on the Cement Secondary. ♦ Under the direction of Lehigh University teacher Barbara Flanagan, senior architecture students built boats for a night procession down the Lehigh Canal at Sand Island, Bethlehem on 10.18.  The illuminated and ingenious boats of "Flanagan's Flotilla" were designed to bring attention to a place considered under-utilized. ♦ Norfolk Southern Corp. and Bethlehem Steel Corp. announced on 10.19 that they were considering a major rail-to-truck intermodal transportation hub at South Bethlehem.  Due to its close proximity to I 78, it could serve much of the northeastern part of the US.  Bethlehem Steel created a subsidiary called BethIntermodal to run the company railroads (such as the Philadelphia, Bethlehem and New England in the Bethlehem area). ♦ Jay A. Miers, Sr., Director, Warren County Economic Development retired.  He worked hard on the effort to return an Ingersoll-Rand diesel locomotive from Billings, MT to Phillipsburg.  Jay was instrumental in getting the Centerville & Southwestern RR for Phillipsburg. ♦ It was announced on 10.23 that six heavy duty engine manufacturers, including Allentown-based Mack Trucks, Inc. will pay more than $1 billion to settle a lawsuit alleging they polluted the air with millions of tons of exhaust emissions.  Renault Vehicle Industries of France, which owns Mack, agreed to pay a civil penalty totaling $13 million for 90,000 engines it has produced since 1990.  The settlement was the largest in the history of environmental enforcement. ♦ The annual Anthracite Railroads Historical Society (a URHS organizational member) convention was based at the Holiday Inn at Bethlehem on 10.23-25.  The focus was on steel and cement with film, videos and slide presentations; a banquet; bus tours of the Hercules & LaFarge cement plants & the Atlas Cement Museum; and a model contest. ♦ The NJ RR & Transportation Museum Commission held their meeting at Phillipsburg on 10.28.  Following the meeting a tour of the area and the proposed site was conducted. ♦ The traditional Phillipsburg-Easton Halloween Parade was held on 11.1.  Phillipsburg Brownie Girl Scout Troop #304 members were dressed as railroad workers with hats, lanterns and bandannas supplied by "Friends."  One of their floats depicted an Ingersoll-Rand diesel-electric locomotive.  Following was a blue "Lackawanna Railroad" 1949 Chevrolet 1/2 ton pick-up truck owned & driven by Robert Bahrs, a Conrail Trainman.  The Phillipsburg Railroad Historians float carried the banners of the New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Museum Commission and The United Railroad Historical Society of New Jersey.  It was drawn by a 1977 Peterbilt tractor owned and operated by Glenn Terminelli of Phillipsburg, NJ.  On the trailer were a locomotive, cars and signals of the Centerville & Southwestern Railroad originally from the Becker Dairy Farm, Roseland, NJ.  The "engineer" was Bob Bennington who ran the last Roseland train in 1972 and the first trip in Phillipsburg in 1997.  "Friends" arranged to bring Hudson County "40 & 8" rubber tired steam locomotive out from Kearny, NJ.  It was driven by "Engineer" Bob Hinkley, carried the "Friends" banners and was the winner of the "Special Category."  The Belvidere & Delaware River Ry had two of their locomotives and a caboose parked at Union Square.  All floats and vehicles crossed the "Free" bridge and went around Center Square, Easton opposite of normal traffic flow. ♦ A bus tour of the west end of the Morris Canal was conducted by Warren County Morris Canal Committee. ♦ The Historical Society of Berks County attempted to run a special round trip rail excursion from Reading to NYC via Allentown (& Phillipsburg) and return on 11.7.  They did not promote the $125 trip adequately and it was canceled. ♦ On 11.9 the NJ Assembly Transportation Committee approved a bill to appropriate $500,000 and authorize the NJ RR & Transportation Museum Commission to prepare a master plan for a state transportation museum in Phillipsburg. ♦ Federal officials announced that BethWORKS will get a $1 million federal grant and $7 million in guaranteed loans to begin conversion of the former Bethlehem Steel plant for the National Museum of Industrial History, a 14-screen cinema, two hotels, a two-rink ice skating center, a family recreation center and dozens of restaurants, stores and shops. ♦ On Nov. 18th the Board of Directors of the Phillipsburg RR Historians unanimously approved a resolution to allow "Friends" to utilize part of the second floor of their firehouse for storage. ♦ GPU Energy announced it planned to sell 23 power plants in NJ and PA (including Gilbert Generating Plant, south, and Martins Creek Generating Plant, north of Phillipsburg) to Sithe Energies, Inc., a NY-based independent power producer affiliate of Vivendi, the largest energy services company in France.  With GPU's generating assets, Sithe became the largest independent power producer in North America. ♦ Track rehabilitation on the Odenwelder spur (former Jersey Central main line) in Easton was begun.  Along with the work signal boxes and signal masts were removed. ♦ Assemblyman Leonard Lance and a NJ DEP Green Acres official delivered the first $50,000 installment of the total $280,000 boat ramp improvement project at Union Square, Phillipsburg. ♦ An exhibit "A. Philip Randolph and Railroad Unions" (from the George Meany Memorial Archives) opened at the National Canal Museum. ♦ After an on-again, off-again courtship, the two largest US rail unions agreed in principle to merge in the year 2000.  The proposal required approval by a majority vote of the members of both unions.  The United Transportation Union (UTU) and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE), combined, would have a total of about 90,000 members, representing 45% of the total US and Canadian rail work force. ♦ Locomotives powering the Delaware & Hudson tri-weekly intermodal service between Allentown and Oak Island Yard were changed.  The familiar Canadian Pacific GP9u #8249 and RS18u body control car was replaced by a CP SD40-2 and a C424 body control car. ♦ Due to a merger with a new county library, the Grandin Library in Clinton deaccessioned railroad and transportation related books and donated them to the future NJ RR & Transport Heritage Center Archives.  The books were selected and packed by Jack McDougal and Bill McKelvey.  They were moved to Phillipsburg for interim storage for the Heritage Center by McKelvey and Pete Terp. ♦ The Saul Nadler Railroad Video Library, with a total of approximately 2,200 tapes was donated to "Friends."  Three vehicle loads of archival materials and supplies (mostly RR videos, magazines and books) were moved to Phillipsburg for storage by Saul Nadler, Mark Donohue, and Bill McKelvey with help from Ann Jennings & Ken Miller. ♦ The lengthened passing siding on the Conrail main line at Bloomsbury was placed in service. ♦ Phillipsburg Mayor Tom Corcoran, Councilman Jay Yarnell, UEZ Director Mark Portnoy, URHS Pres. Ken Miller, and Friends Pres. Bill McKelvey met with Assemblyman Alex DeCroce in his office to discuss strategy for the Heritage Center. ♦ Restoration of Delaware Canal Lock #18 at Uhlerstown, PA was made possible by a PA Legislative Initiative Grant of $10,000 and contributions by the PA Canal Society, the Canal Society of NJ, Friends of the Delaware Canal and Uhlerstown residents.  On the same canal, Smithtown Locks #15 & #16 were improved to allow a free flow of water from Easton to Bridge #4 in Smithtown with a PA Legislative Assistance Grant of $25,000. ♦ Attendance at Two Rivers Landing (Crayola Factory and National Canal Museum) increased 17.7% over the previous year to 354,248. ♦ The PB&NE RR had only one crew working.  At their peak of operations, with Bethlehem Steel at full production, they had 102 crews on duty. ♦ Greyhound Lines, Inc. reported net income of $35.2 million for the year, their first profitable year since 1993.  They carried 22.6 million passengers, up 13.4% and ran 7.8 billion passenger miles, up 10.9%. ♦ Mack Trucks expanded their market share for 6 years straight, from 10.1% to 12.8%.  Their production grew from 12,033 units in 1992 to 26,801 in this year.

 

1999 Year of the 150th Anniversary of the Central RR of NJ (Jersey Central Lines) ♦ Mack Trucks, Inc. introduced a highway tractor aimed squarely at over-the-road line haul applications.  It was called the new Vision, a 112" - BBC conventional, offered only with sleeper cabs.  It combined a wide range of driver comfort features, new advanced electronics systems, aerodynamic styling and lighter weight. ♦ On 1.4 the Lackawanna Chapter, R&LHS leased the former DL&W Delaware Water Gap station. ♦ Greyhound Lines, Inc. and Peter Pan Bus Lines, Inc. of Springfield, MA agreed to pool their resources and interline in the Northeast.  Peter Pan employed 850 and Greyhound, 12,500. ♦ On 1.8 a westbound tractor-trailer struck a pickup truck in the rear on I-78, south of Phillipsburg, just before the Delaware River bridges.  The tractor-trailer veered onto the grassy median, broke through a guard rail and went down a 100' embankment to the level of the Bel Del RR.  At this point the tractor and trailer separated.  The trailer landed up-side-down under the eastbound I-78 bridge, east of the RR tracks. The tractor crossed the tracks, went down the river embankment and came to rest against a pier of the bridge in the river, which fortunately was at a low water level.  The critically injured driver survived. ♦ On 1.13 Bethlehem Steel Corp. announced the creation of an intermodal terminal on 200 acres in the East Lehigh section of their South Side Bethlehem property, near I-78.  The terminal would allow for the unloading and continued shipment of trailers and containerized freight, which would be distributed throughout the eastern US. It was expected to establish Bethlehem as a leading rail hub for the Northeast.  Norfolk Southern was to be the first customer using the new facility which was to be operated by Bethintermodal, Inc.  At the same time about 1,600 acres of the former steel plant area was designated as the Bethlehem Commerce Center to be developed for business activity, including industrial, manufacturing, assembly, warehousing, commercial, and office uses. ♦ The Penn DOT subsidized, LANTA operated Lehigh Valley to 30th St. Station, Philadelphia express bus demonstration service was taken over by Trans-Bridge Lines and the service was cut from four to two round trips per day. ♦ Two portable coal loading conveyors were donated by Rutan Coal and Oil Co. of Dover to "Friends."  They were moved to the Harmony Township yard of American Automatic Sprinkler Co. (member Bob Shandor) for temporary storage by Jason Wechsler and Bill McKelvey until they can be utilized at the heritage center. ♦ The first of 20 New Flyer transit buses arrived at the LANTA Allentown garage on 1.20.  It was diesel powered, 35 passenger, low-floor bus #9811. ♦ The Town of Phillipsburg provided a truck and loaded signal boxes and masts at the former CNJ Easton station site.  They were donated by contractor Maine Track, hired to do the rehabilitation of the Odenwelder Industrial track (former Jersey Central main line). ♦ The filling and leveling of the former Reading Saucon turntable pit was completed. ♦ On 1.31 Conrail's WPAL 10 moved Belvidere & Delaware River Ry. GP7 #780 to the new siding of the BRI Transfer Station in Bridgewater.  The same freight train also moved GP9 #1848 from Phillipsburg to Three Bridges so it could take over BR&W freight duties at Ringoes. ♦ On 2.1 a 1.21 memo from Stanley J. Rosenblum, Acting Executive Director of NJ Transit, which supported the decision of the NJ RR & Transportation Museum Commission to locate the proposed Heritage Center in Phillipsburg was made public.  It stated that NJT would soon start construction of a Facilities Maintenance Center in the western portion of the Port Morris site and that a Heritage Center there would be in conflict with their plans. ♦ The City of Easton announced several projects which could be funded by the state stadium bill.  Among them were a $5 million "intermodal" visitors center that would include a bus terminal, parking and visitor information services at the site of the old LV RR station along Canal St., South Easton.  This would afford a tie-in with the Heritage Center at Phillipsburg via the former LV RR Delaware River bridge. ♦ The Phillipsburg RR Historians purchased the original ticket validating die used by the Centerville & Southwestern RR. ♦ The Lackawanna Chapter, R&LHS held meetings for directors and the membership in the Phillipsburg Town Hall on 2.20.  Major topics covered were the lease of the former DL&W RR Delaware Water Gap railroad station (signed on 1.4) and progress on the release of former DL&W RR steam locomotive #952 from St. Louis.  A motion to endorse Phillipsburg for the NJ Heritage Center site was carried unanimously.  Following the meeting a tour was given of the proposed NJ RR & Transportation Heritage Center site and the PRRH mini-museum. ♦ The Conrail Office Car Special with all three E8 locomotives and 9 cars went west through Phillipsburg on 2.26. ♦ Locomotive #1849, which had been switching the Odenwelder Industrial track in Easton was returned to home rails on the Bel Del and moved to Milford.  Since the track had been rehabilitated, Conrail resumed service with their locomotives. ♦ Former Conrail locomotives began to appear with new Norfolk Southern numbers and a small "PRR" below. ♦ Former LVT trolley rails were removed from the steel roadway deck of the Lehigh Street bridge over Lehigh Creek in Allentown. ♦ The former Easton & Northern bridge over the Conrail main line along Canal Street in South Easton was jacked up by an independent contractor and spacer pads installed to provide the required clearance for double stack cars under the structure.  At the same time the adjacent spans on either side of the main bridge span were also raised to provide a gradual ramp up and down from the elevated span. ♦ The Town of Phillipsburg received a draft lease for "PU" Tower from NJ Transit. ♦ The Bethlehem Planning Commission unanimously approved plans for a 74 acre intermodal freight terminal initially designed to handle 100,000 containers per year.  BethIntermodal planned to install 9,100 feet of new track and Norfolk Southern projected 500,000 loads in 5 to 10 years. ♦ On March 13th, crews from the Phillipsburg Fire Co., Phillipsburg Emergency Squad, Garden State Underwater Recovery Unit and Portland Hook & Ladder Water Rescue practiced rescue skills on the Delaware River. ♦ Norfolk Southern was ranked "America's Most Admired RR" for 1998, the fifth time in six years, by Fortune Magazine. ♦ Two more vehicle loads of archive materials, from Iron Horse Enterprises, Frank Reilly (Morris County DOT) and McKelvey were moved from Berkeley Heights to archive storage in Phillipsburg on 3.26 by Mark Donohue, Bill McKelvey and Ann Jennings. ♦ Work was started on a new interchange with I 78, east of Bethlehem, for the Rt. 33 extension south from Rt. 22. ♦ On 3.29 contractors began work to lower the Conrail track under the Black Bridge in Phillipsburg to provide increased clearance for double stack trains. ♦ On 3.30 Conrail relocated the Lehigh Line Dispatcher's desk from Mt. Laurel, NJ to Norfolk Southern's Harrisburg dispatching facility.  The Lehigh Line Dispatcher assumed control of the former Branch Line Dispatcher, including former Lehigh Valley trackage between Allentown and M&H Jct.  In addition to controlling trackage west of Port Reading Jct. and Blandon, PA the Lehigh Line Dispatcher controlled the following secondaries: Ashmore, Bethlehem, C&F, Cement, Lehigh, Portland, Rocksburg, Stroudsburg and Washington. ♦ Reinforced concrete pipe segments, up to 12' in diameter, began moving east thru Phillipsburg via Conrail destined for the "Big Dig" project in Boston.  The loads continued periodically for the next four years. ♦ On 4.10 Conrail freight CAAL-0 arrived in Allentown with Winchester & Western GP9 #732 in tow.  The unit was destined for the Belvidere Delaware River Ry. at Phillipsburg.  The BDRV also acquired CP Rail SW 1200RS 8142 and 8159.  The latter two were moved east through Phillipsburg by Conrail to the Black River & Western RR. ♦ The R&LHS, Lackawanna Chapter met in the Phillipsburg town hall on 4.17. ♦ Effective 4.19 trucker American Freightways began "American Flyer" service to New Jersey and Pennsylvania from their Memphis hub. ♦ Two huge Conrail machines started to undercut track below the Black Bridge in Phillipsburg on 4.19.  The work was completed on 4.21 and that evening the Conrail OCS train came east with 9 cars powered by two E-8 locomotives. ♦ Lehigh Valley Chapter, NRHS sponsored a "Tracking the Trolley" tour from Fairview Garage, Allentown on 4.24.  It followed parts of the Slatington, Northampton, and Emaus trolley routes as well as passing former substations in Siegersville, Slatington, and Catasauqua.  LANTA GMC bus #7303 (model T6H4523A), 26 years old, was used for the last time on this trip. ♦ Two groups of members of the Phillipsburg RR Historians visited the basement model RR of Ron Philipp on 4.25.  He modeled the Forks of the Delaware area in HO scale. ♦ Bids for two storage buildings to be erected with Phillipsburg UEZ funding came in far above initial estimates.  "Friends" proposed to Phillipsburg RR Historians that we combine our allotted funding and build one larger building which could also house Public Service trolley #2651 owned by No. Jersey ERHS.  On 4.28 the PRRH membership voted to back the plan and to ask the town UEZ board to allow us to proceed with the revised project. ♦ On May 2nd Bob Bahrs led a tour of Penwell Mill(s), on the Musconetcong River, north of Washington.  The mill is the last on the Musconetcong River still processing grain. ♦ The NJ Assembly Appropriations Committee voted on the 2625 legislation to fund a master plan for the Heritage Center at Phillipsburg on 5.3.  Fifteen favored and only one (Assemblyman Guy Gregg) opposed sending the bill to the full assembly for consideration. ♦ The Phillipsburg UEZ board approved a change in the Phillipsburg RR Historians building plan to permit one larger building to be constructed to house their Centerville & Southwestern RR, one piece of their full size equipment and the Public Service trolley car #2651, owned by the North Jersey Electric Railway Historical Society. ♦ "The King Coal" (Farewell to Conrail #2), an excursion train sponsored by The Buy Miles Group of High Iron Travel Corp., Minneapolis, MN, was operated in cooperation with Conrail, Reading, Blue Mountain & Northern RR, Canadian Pacific and Amtrak on May 7-10.  It circled, but never came within 25 miles of Phillipsburg.  We are not aware of any excursion that ever did that before!  The routing was 30th St. Station, Philadelphia; Reading; Port Clinton; Carson; Packerton; M&H Jct.; Crestwood; DuPont; Pittston; Minooka; Steamtown (with a side excursion to Analomik and return on 5.8 on the Delaware-Lackawanna RR using 8 of the PV's); Binghamton; Cooperstown Jct., Albany; Rensselaer; Kingston; West Point; over the connection from the West Shore to former Erie Northern Branch; through Erie Bergen Tunnel; onto National Docks RR; Oak Island Yard; former LV RR to Bound Brook; and the Reading route back to Philadelphia.  Power for the train was Amtrak Genesis locomotive #111 to Albany and #106 & 109 on return to Philadelphia.  A Reading & Northern diesel was used as a pilot over their lines.  The private cars in the train were: Francis L. Suter; City of Milwaukee; Dover Harbor; Chapel Hill; North Star; Cimarron River; Pine Tree State; Caritas; Ohio River; and Pennsylvania 120.  The nearly 700 mile, 4 day trip cost $2,000.  Friends member Charlie Leemans and about a hundred others were on board. ♦ The Warren County Morris Canal Committee hosted a scenic tour of the historic Morris Canal in Warren County on 5.8.  A box lunch was served at the home of Jim Lee (Incline Plane #9W). ♦ On May 16th the Phillipsburg RR Historians toured the home model RR layouts of Ron Luckock in Steel City and Norman Cole in Palmer Township. ♦ On 5.17 contractors began the work of undercutting the track at the Glendon (Hugh Moore Park) bridge to lower it to provide clearance for double stack trains. ♦ At the invitation of radio personality David McDaid, of station WDVR (Delaware Valley Radio, Sergeantsville, NJ), Bill McKelvey was interviewed about the NJ Railroad and Transportation Heritage Center movement on their Resource Hour on 5.19.  We were able to focus on the attributes and assets of Phillipsburg and also cover URHS, our websites and the Phillipsburg RR Historians. ♦ On 5.20 LANTA donated GMC bus #7345 to the America on Wheels Museum in Allentown. ♦ Workers began renovating the former H.L. Green 5&10¢ store near Centre Square, Easton for the new Weller Health Education Center. ♦ The NJ General Assembly passed the Heritage Center Master Plan bill with a vote of 70-2(opposed)-5(abstained) on 5.24.  However, it was later significantly altered by the Senate Appropriations Committee and was allowed to die. ♦ McKelvey led a bus tour of the Delaware and Delaware & Raritan Canals for the Road Runners and Passaic Valley Coach Lines on 5.24.  On the way north to Easton, along Rt. 611, nearly three dozen English touring cars passed on their way south. ♦ The delayed Ringling Bros., Barnum & Bailey Red Circus train traveled through Phillipsburg at 1am en-route to Harrisburg. ♦ The Clyde Beaty - Cole Brothers Circus again set up for two days behind Phillipsburg Mall (5.26&26).  The three ring show was advertised as the largest circus under the big top. ♦ The last phase of work of undercutting to lower the track under the Glendon Bridge on the Lehigh Line was completed. ♦ The first of six hundred new Nova buses in the 1000 series were driven to purchaser, NJ Transit, from the Nova BUS assembly plant at Roswell, NM.  They came eastbound on I-78 through the Lehigh Valley and Phillipsburg with no stripes, logos or other identification. ♦ On 5.30 NJ DOT released "Report of NJ State Planning Process" which in part identified the Boonton Line - Washington Secondary as a double stack route for Norfolk Southern between Phillipsburg and Croxton Yard.  It would require the restoration of the Croxton - Boonton Line connection and increased clearances under bridges and catenary. ♦ June 1st: Norfolk Southern and CSX took over the operation of their respective portions of the former Conrail system.  In the Phillipsburg/Lehigh Valley area the owner is NS. ♦ NS and Bethlehem Steel's BethIntermodal subsidiary began laying track in preparation for the planned July opening of the new Bethlehem intermodal terminal. ♦ Friends acquired several historic rail items found in the Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park.  They were moved to Phillipsburg and placed in storage on June 8th.  The items included two signal masts and three of the iron bases from old manually operated wooden crossing gates.  They came from the Trenton, Titusville and Lambertville areas. ♦ June 9th - was the 10th anniversary of the incorporation of "Friends." ♦ On 6.14 Pete Terp and Friends directors Todd Stephens & Bill McKelvey were given a tour of the former L&NE RR turntable (100' & intact) and shops at Penn Argyl, PA by Paul Carpenito.  Included in the tour were abandoned rights-of-ways of trolley routes, the DL&W, a branch leased by the CNJ, as well as the L&NE and some surviving station buildings. ♦ On 6.15 WPAL-10 the NS Allentown to Manville turn was powered by two Canadian National wide cab SD-70's. ♦ The legislation for funding a master plan for Phillipsburg nearly unanimously passed the full NJ Assembly.  It next passed the Senate Transportation Committee, but the Appropriations Committee voted on 6.17 to change the bill by dividing the $500,000 amount between Port Morris and Phillipsburg.  This change, guided by disgruntled former Commission member Chuck Walsh and backed by Senators Bucco and Littell essentially blocked the legislation as it would not provide sufficient funding for adequate master plans of either site. ♦ At 7pm on 6.22 the first Norfolk Southern stack train (double stacked intermodal containers) operated west through Phillipsburg.  It was NS train #23M (former TV 207).  Auto rack cars and trains also began to be seen on the line. ♦ Canadian Pacific (D&H) intermodal trains began to operate between Allentown and Oak Island yards daily. ♦ The NJ state budget for fiscal year 2000 was passed by both houses on 6.25 and was signed by Governor Whitman on 6.28.  In it was a line item for $357,000 to fund a Master Plan for the Heritage Center at Phillipsburg. ♦ On 6.25 the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society national directors voted at Sacramento, CA, to give their ownership of DL&W RR steam locomotive #952 to the Friends of the NJ Railroad & Transportation Museum, Inc. ♦ On 6.29 Norfolk Southern announced that they would delay the opening of the new BethIntermodal terminal by a month.  They admitted disappointment with rail traffic delays since their takeover of Conrail and were trying to unclog jams at yards in Allentown, Philadelphia, Harrisburg and Pittsburgh.  At one point more than 2,000 cars were in the Allentown yard, forcing incoming trains to stop on main and branch lines or be diverted to other yards until room could be made for them. ♦ The Canal Society of NJ began a ten day tour of Pennsylvania canals by bus on 7.2.  The first day was spent touring the Delaware & Lehigh Canals with boat rides at New Hope and Easton and a visit to the National Canal Museum/Crayola Factory.  The tour was organized and run by "Friends" members Bob and Linda Barth. ♦ On 7.21 the local NS freight from Dover delivered six Trailer Train flats loaded with 422 tons or over 4 miles of rail to Silver Lake (Belleville) on the former Erie RR Orange Branch.  The 115# rail was rolled at Bethlehem Steel Co. Steelton Works (1999) and came by way of Phillipsburg.  It was used to rebuild the portion of the Orange Branch now traversed by Newark City Subway cars and for the new Bloomfield light rail maintenance/storage facility. ♦ Six -year old Allison Lothson of Lincoln, Nebraska, became the 1,000,000th visitor to Two Rivers Landing (Crayola Factory/National Canal Museum) at Easton on 7.26.  The attendance mark was reached in just 37 months of operation. ♦ On 7.26/7 Preston Trucking Co. went out of business after 67 years and closed all its terminals, including those at Greenwich Twp. and Newark. ♦ The Cornish American Heritage Society and the PA Cornwall Association held their 10th gathering of Cornish Cousins in Pen Argyl and the Slate Belt of PA from July 28 to Aug. 1.  In addition to 40 workshops, speakers, entertainment and recreation, heritage tours were offered including, coal mining, slate industry, New Jersey's zinc mines and Two Rivers Landing in Easton with a canalboat ride. ♦ Intermodal rail service was initiated at the new Bethlehem Commerce center by NS on 8.2. ♦ The Philadelphia, Bethlehem & New England RR unveiled a new red, black and yellow paint scheme on their locomotive #2000. ♦ The family of Charles Wotring, a bus collector from Mechanicsburg, PA donated a one-of-a-kind Mack bus to the America on Wheels transportation museum in Allentown.  The Mack Visionliner 39 was a prototype built in 1957 at the Allentown plant. ♦ Preston tractors and trailers were being moved east from their closed Greenwich Twp. truck terminal. ♦ Ingersoll-Rand initiated termination of joint ventures with Dresser Industries, a wholly owned subsidiary of Halliburton Co. on 8.12.  This was indicated as a prelude to I-R's desire to divest itself of these operations, including the Phillipsburg plant. ♦ Artrain USA - America's "Museum in Motion" exhibit train stopped at the former Jersey Central Bethlehem station August 13-22 for Musikfest '99.  The train included exhibit cars ARTX 101, 102, 103, 0004, and caboose 0004.  Railroad sponsors include NS, CSX, UP, BNSF and Maryland Midland Ry.  Info.: 1.800.ART.1971 ♦ A tank car destined for New England came East through Phillipsburg.  It was the first in three decades to be transported across New York Harbor, en-route to New England.  It traveled via Norfolk Southern to New York Cross Harbor RR at Jersey City who put it on a carfloat (on 8.20) and carried it to Brooklyn where NYCH delivered it to New York & Atlantic RR; CSX; and finally to the Providence & Worcester RR. ♦ On 8.20, Roebling Chapter, SIA members toured the Bethlehem Steel plant site.  Buildings which were to be a part of Bethlehem Works, the National Museum of Industrial History, were visited.  Extensive rail and track remains to be retained at the site were observed. ♦ Two Norfolk Southern trains collided at West Portal on the morning of 8.21.  Several UPS trailers overturned and their contents spilled onto the right-of-way. ♦ The Phillipsburg Fire Department and the Phillipsburg Exempt Firemen's Association co-hosted the 113th annual New Jersey State Exempt Firemen's Association Convention and Parade for the sixth time on August 21st.  About 80 units from NJ and PA participated.  The parade began at Union Square and ended at Walters Park.  Boonton Township was a hit with their horse drawn rig. ♦ On 8.25 the Commission Technical Evaluation Committee (Miller, Grosselfinger, Herkner, McKelvey & Phraner) met in URHS lounge car #5450 at Whippany to work on the final draft of the Scope of Work for the Heritage Center Master Plan for Phillipsburg. ♦ Two reels of used copper trolley wire, salvaged from the Newark City Subway by contractor Daidone Electric, was purchased by "Friends" and moved to Phillipsburg on 8.26 for reuse at the Heritage Center. ♦ For the second time in three months UPS, a key customer for NS and CSX, moved 50% of their traffic from rail to highway due to late trains. ♦ A Metro North FL9 locomotive in New Haven paint came East through Phillipsburg on Sept. 5th, returning from Altoona, where head end power modifications were made at the NS Juniata Shop. ♦ The trial Lehigh Valley-Amtrak Connection bus service from Bethlehem to Philadelphia did not fulfill ridership expectations and was terminated by Trans-Bridge Lines on Sept. 6th. ♦ The American Canal Society membership and directors meetings were held at the National Canal Museum, Two Rivers Landing, Easton on 9.11 ♦ The Warren County Morris Canal Committee sponsored a bus tour of the Morris Canal in western NJ, including Plane #9W, home of Jim Lee. ♦ The Lehigh Line, through Phillipsburg was blocked for two days, beginning 9.16, by floods from the Raritan River in the Manville area caused by Hurricane Floyd.  During the closure period NS opted to originate westbound and terminate eastbound intermodal trains at the BethIntermodal facility and truck the shipments between Bethlehem and the New York metropolitan area. ♦ The four NS diesel locomotives inundated by the floods at Manville yard were moved west to Allentown to prepare them for movement to Enola for repair.  Also damaged by the flood waters were about 160 freight cars at Manville Yard. ♦ A pre-proposal conference on the development of the Heritage Center Master Plan for the Phillipsburg site was held at NJ Transit HQ, Newark on 9.24. ♦ The first annual Upper Delaware Watershed Festival was held on the bank of the Musconetcong River at Hampton. ♦ The Friends of the Morris Canal, Western Region was formed as a committee of the Canal Society of New Jersey to focus on canal education, preservation and recreation in their area of the state. ♦ A TTX (Trailer Train Corporation) special passenger train en-route from Selkirk Yard and Oak Island Yard to Harrisburg and Atlanta came through Phillipsburg on 10.5 with 14 BNSF (ex-Santa Fe) stainless steel cars.  They were: #51 "Snoqualmie Pass" (power car), #77 (baggage car), #6 "Topeka" (business car), #8 "John Reed" (Business car), #68 "Rollins Pass" (sleeping car), #67 "Donner Pass" (sleeping car), #66 "Cajon Pass" (sleeping car), #65 "Regal Lane" (sleeping car), #64 "Marias Pass" (sleeping car), #69 "Stevens Pass" (sleeping car), #70 "Deschutes River" (sleeping car), #60 "Bay View" (dome lounge car), #10 ("Lake Superior" (dining car) and #7 "Santa Fe" (business car).  The train was powered by a pair of Norfolk Southern C40-9W locomotives. ♦ On 10.14 plans were unveiled for the America on Wheels transportation museum at Allentown.  It is planned to be a museum of national stature to tell the story of the history of mobility of man. ♦ Metro North FL9 locomotive #2026 in New Haven paint came East through Phillipsburg on 10.19, returning from Altoona, where head end power modifications were made at the NS Juniata Shop. ♦ Hillary Rodham Clinton announced the names of the 50 Millennium Legacy Trails, one in each state on 10.21.  The New Jersey winner is the Highlands Trail, which begins and/or ends in Phillipsburg.  The designation makes it the state's most prestigious natural and historic pathway. ♦ On 10.21 a Commission TEC meeting was held at NJ Transit's Newark HQ to work on the ranking of the five proposals submitted by firms interested in performing the Heritage Center Master Plan for the Phillipsburg location.  Oral presentations were made by the two finalists, Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates and Wallace Roberts & Todd on 10.27. ♦ Norfolk Southern stated that it did not have the employees or equipment to move an additional 200,000 cubic yards of dirt from Carpenterville on the Bel Del to Clark, NJ.  When an agreement was finally reached with NS, the state of New Jersey indicated that samples of the Carpentersville dirt failed to meet standards for fill. ♦ Previously 300,000 cubic yards were moved by the Belvidere Delaware River Ry and Conrail.  General Motors had to ship the dirt by truck from Jamesburg to cover the contaminated site for a golf course.  In lieu of 3,200 rail carloads, over 10,000 truck trips were required. ♦ On 10.27 the Warren County Freeholders passed a resolution to execute a lease agreement with "Friends" for the unused 1913 Phillipsburg Water pumping plant and a second building on the site for storage. ♦ The Anthracite RR Historical Society sponsored a "Mini" Convention at Bethlehem, PA on 10.30.  Included were tours of the Bethlehem Steel facilities being transformed into the National Museum of Industrial History; the Philadelphia, Bethlehem & New England RR engine facility and the new PB&NE intermodal yard.  An evening banquet with David Latchaw speaking on the LV RR West End and Barber Quarry branches was held in Emmaus. ♦ Norfolk Southern Corp. confirmed that they considered the Lackawanna Cut-Off, and the Boonton Line, a serious option for access to the New Jersey Meadowlands. ♦ NJ Transit returned a fully executed copy of the lease (#143-7215-01) of "PU" Tower to the Town of Phillipsburg on 11.11. ♦ The former Bel Del Trenton Poultry switch between N. Willow St. and the bridge over the Delaware & Raritan Canal Feeder in Trenton was disassembled and pulled up by contractor Vinch Recycling on 11.12.  The switch parts and nearby rail totaling about 20 tons was donated to "Friends," loaded on a NJ Water Supply Authority trailer on 11.16 and moved to Phillipsburg on 11.17 where it was unloaded with help from a DPW front end loader. ♦ Two new Long Island Railroad DM30ACs #500 & 501 came east through Phillipsburg.  They were returning from testing at the AAR facility in Pueblo, Colorado and were delivered to the LIRR via the New York Cross Harbor Railroad carfloat. ♦ Four Long Island RR GP38-2's were routed via the NY Cross Harbor RR and Phillipsburg to NS's Juniata, PA shop for rebuilding. ♦ On 12.4 Ken Miller and Bill McKelvey signed a Deed of Gift transferring title of DL&W steam locomotive #952 from the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society to joint ownership by the Lackawanna Chapter, R&LHS and Friends of the New Jersey Railroad & Transportation Museum. ♦ At the regular meeting of the Phillipsburg Town Council on December 7th, 1999, an ordinance was unanimously passed approving the Redevelopment Plan for the Delaware River Waterfront area. ♦ The NJ Transit Board, at their December 8th meeting, approved the contract for Wallace Roberts & Todd, the consultant team chosen to do the Master Plan for the Heritage Center at Phillipsburg. ♦ On 12.18 the Weller Health Education Center reopened to the public at their new location at Centre Square, Easton. ♦ The National Canal Museum hosted a live interactive model railroad exhibit in the museum's main gallery for the holiday season. ♦ Morristown & Erie Railway locomotive #18 returned an empty high cube box car from one of their customers via the Boonton line to Norfolk Southern at Croxton Yard on 12.22.  Such high cars will not clear the South Main Street bridge in Phillipsburg. ♦ With permission of owner, Palmer Township, "Friends" members scoured the Easton & Northern branch right-of-way for items left by the scrapper.  Spikes, tie plates, joint bars, switch hardware, etc. were secured and brought to Phillipsburg. ♦ World's oldest woman, Sarah Clark Knauss, died at 119 in Allentown.

 

2000 "Friends" 1937 Yellow Coach bus, the two reels of trolley wire, truckloads of trolley overhead hardware from the Newark City Subway and other items were moved into the former Consumers NJ Water Co. storage building just north of Phillipsburg. ♦ The first work session between Master Plan Consultants Wallace, Roberts & Todd and the Commission TEC began at NJ Transit Hq. in Newark and ended at Phillipsburg on 1.14. ♦ The 10th annual indoor Automotive Flea Market was held in Agricultural Hall at the Allentown Fairgrounds on 1.14-16. ♦ One of the big yellow C-Span "school buses" came east on I-78, stopping at the Bloomsbury rest stop on 1.15.  The 45' buses, fitted with a classroom and a production studio, are used to introduce teachers and students to C-Span as an educational resource and to reinforce the value of cable TV to the public. ♦ The Lackawanna Cut-Off Greendell signal bridge was disassembled on 1.28 and trucked to Phillipsburg. ♦ NS camp cars departed the Stockton Street yard, Phillipsburg following two stays of a couple weeks each.  Track work was performed on the Washington Secondary East of the Black Bridge and in Easton. ♦ A trainload of welded rail on "SPX" cars came East through Phillipsburg on 2.5. ♦ The Master Plan consultants met at Phillipsburg on 2.8 and inspected the Tippett & Wood building, followed by a tour of the area for Tim Korbelak by Wilkins and McKelvey. ♦ A rare PRR B23-7R locomotive #4095 (former Monongahela Railway) was assigned to Norfolk Southern freight service at Dover, NJ on local trains HO-2 and HO-3. ♦ The Commission TEC committee met with the Master Plan consultants at Phillipsburg on 2.15.  An afternoon presentation was given to local and county officials and other stakeholders, followed by an open public session that evening. ♦ EastRAIL, a full day of quality multi-media sound/slide productions was held at Warren Hills Regional High School, Washington, Warren County, NJ.  In spite of snow and freezing rain prior to the event, attendance exceeded 300.  United Railroad Historical Society designated all proceeds to fund the restoration of locomotives and cars being preserved for the New Jersey Railroad & Transportation Heritage Center. ♦ Ingersoll-Rand announced that they expected to complete the sale of its pump division, the last remaining operation at Phillipsburg, to a Texas rival, the Flowserve Corp. ♦ Sithe Energies, Inc., a NY-based independent power producer affiliate of Vivendi, the largest energy services company in France, announced the sale of 23 former GPU Energy power plants in NJ and PA (including Gilbert Generating Plant, south, and Martins Creek Generating Plant, north of Phillipsburg) to Reliant Energy, the parent of Houston Power & Light. ♦ On 2.23, Bill McKelvey guided John Mardente, Senior Track Civil Engineer for Heritage Center Master Plan consultant Parsons Brinckerhoff Transit & Rail Systems around the Phillipsburg site so they could lay out the planned track connections. ♦ On 2.28 the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority hosted a meeting to discuss the renewal of passenger service to Phillipsburg. One option suggested the extension of Raritan Valley Line service from High Bridge through Phillipsburg (mostly via the former CNJ) and into Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley. A previous NJ Transit study noted that extending the Raritan Valley service would be impractical due to the lack of potential ridership. The other option would allow Morris & Essex Line passenger trains to operate from their current terminus in Hackettstown to Phillipsburg via the Washington Secondary Track. This route would be slow, with trains taking up to two hours and 15 minutes to travel between Phillipsburg and Hoboken. (Wayne Wasiler) ♦ The 56 car Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Blue Unit (130th) Circus Train came East through Phillipsburg at 8:50am on 2.29.  It was en-route from Richmond, VA to the Meadowlands Arena at East Rutherford. ♦ The last surviving semaphore mast (25' tall with an 18" mounting flange on base) from the former Erie RR Orange branch was moved on 3.2 to Phillipsburg for use in the future Heritage Center. ♦ On 3.9 "Friends" was advised by Paul Carpenito, President, Phillipsburg RR Historians, that the former L&NE RR 100' Pen Argyl, PA turntable was available. ♦ The second meeting of the Wallace, Roberts & Todd consulting team was held at Phillipsburg on 3.14. ♦ Crown Vantage, operators of a paper mill at Milford, NJ and the largest customer of the Belvidere & Delaware River Railway, announced that it was filing for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code.  At the same time it arranged for $100 million in debtor-in-possession financing from a group of institutional lenders. ♦ "Friends" was again given a gratis booth at the Two Rivers Chamber of Commerce Expo at Easton on 3.15 & 16. ♦ The D&H began moving double-stack container cars on trains 266 (Binghamton, NY to Oak Island Yard in Newark) and counterpart 265 via the Lehigh Line. ♦ LANTA New Flyer bus #9805 kicked up a manhole cover in Easton.  The cover jammed under the vehicle and sliced its way into the bottom of the bus causing a fuel spill. ♦ Tim Korbelak of Wallace, Roberts & Todd; Javier Sepulveda of Medina Consultants, P.C. & McKelvey inspected the former Lehigh & New England RR turntable and roundhouse at Pen Argyl, PA on 3.24. ♦ The Lackawanna Chapter, R&LHS met at Phillipsburg town hall on 3.25. ♦ Four of seven granite keystones from the doorway arches of the former Jersey City, Hoboken & Rutherford Electric Railway carbarn (being demolished) at Secaucus were moved to Phillipsburg by Wayne Wasiler and Bill McKelvey on 3.28. ♦ The Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Blue Unit Circus Train came West through Phillipsburg.  It was en-route to Lexington, KY. ♦ SMP Trucking Co. took over the former Preston Trucking terminal on Rt. 519 in Greenwich Twp. ♦ The Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Blue Unit Circus Train came West through Phillipsburg en-route to Hershey, PA. ♦ On 4.17 the Heritage Center Consultants met with the TEC committee, with local officials and had a public meeting in the evening. ♦ Capt. Bill McKelvey presented his program "Rails Along the Delaware & Raritan Canal" at the National Canal Museum Spring Lecture Series on 4.20. ♦ An independent contractor was shortening the siding in the future Warren Lumber yard on 4.21. ♦ The Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Blue Unit Circus Train came East through Phillipsburg (for the fourth and final time in this year) en-route to Springfield, MA. ♦ The JCH&RERy letters and hundreds of pounds of additional trolley overhead parts and supplies were moved to Phillipsburg in Ken Miller's truck with Ann Jennings and Bill McKelvey assisting on 4.23. ♦ The former Canadian Pacific Royal Hudson steam locomotive No. 2839 and tender at Bath, PA were lifted onto separate flat cars and began their move to California.  It had been purchased by J.B. Nethercutt, a co-founder of Merle Norman Cosmetics and owner of a large collection of automobiles and other items he acquired for their unique design.  It was to be delivered to "The Nethercutt Collection at San Sylmar, CA" and immediately given a cosmetic restoration with later full restoration and excursion operation planned. ♦ Volvo AB announced its bid to acquire Renault's truck division which included Mack Trucks in the US.  The transaction required the approval of regulatory bodies in Europe and the US.  It was expected that Mack Trucks, Volvo Trucks North America and Renault VI would continue to operate as separate companies.  The combined companies could feature as many a five brands: Renault, Volvo, Mack and Japanese manufacturers Mitsubishi and Nissan Diesel. ♦ The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the construction of a controversial 155 mile natural gas pipeline through parts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey including Warren, Hunterdon, Somerset, and Morris counties.  Transcontinental Gas Line Co. received a certificate of construction for their Marketlink line which will parallel their existing lines. ♦ The NJ Association of RR Passengers released an open letter to members of the NJ legislature proposing Rail Rights-Of-Way Legislation.  Among the routes they recommended be preserved for future rail use were Hackettstown - Phillipsburg (DL&W); Sparta Jct. - Phillipsburg (L&HR/PRR) and High Bridge - Phillipsburg (CNJ). ♦ The one-of-a-kind Mack MV620 bus which had been donated to the America on Wheels museum was moved to the LANTA bus garage in Allentown on 4.26 for storage until the new museum opened. ♦ The Lehigh Valley Chapter, NRHS departed on 4.28 on an excursion on a Bob's Lehigh Valley bus from the Trans-Bridge Allentown terminal to the General Electric museum and locomotive shops plus the East Erie Commercial RR; Lake Shore Railroad Museum; the Kiski Junction RR (where they rode on a CNJ passenger car behind an Alco S-1 locomotive); and lastly the Altoona Railroader's Museum. ♦ The Crayola FACTORY was voted the #3 Tourist Attraction in the Northeast by 2,500 Family Fun Magazine readers. ♦ Cobblestones described in NJTH Vol. 8, No. 3 and Vol. 9, No. 1, and a couple hundred pounds of additional trolley overhead parts, supplies and artifacts were moved from Bloomfield to Phillipsburg in Ken Miller's truck with Ann Jennings and Bill McKelvey assisting on 5.2, 5.9 and 6.8. ♦ An Institute for the History of Technology & Industrial Archaeology team documented the remains of the Oxford Furnace engine house and to learn about the operation of the steam boilers (used to power the steam engine) and the blowing engine (needed to inject the air blast into the furnace).  Their objective was to produce an isometric process drawing showing how hot waste gas was diverted from the iron furnace to produce the steam that powered the blowing engine. ♦ The New England Rail Car Association sponsored excursions over the Black River & Western Railroad on 5.6 and the first ever over the Belvidere & Delaware River Railway on 5.7.  The cars were put on the track at the Carpentersville quarry siding and nearby grade crossing.  The group of 28 cars first went North to Phillips Junction (just South of Union Square, Phillipsburg), stopped for lunch, and then headed South.  Several stops were made, including the Lopatcong Creek viaduct and at a spring South of Carpentersville.  Just below Pinchers Point the group reversed and returned to the quarry. ♦ Although black NS locomotives had been seen on the Washington turn, the first black unit on the Dover drill, HO-2, passed through Phillipsburg on 5.7 ♦ The materials, in kit form, for the Phillipsburg RR Historians enginehouse were delivered on 5.11 and construction began. ♦ Several freight cars were derailed on the Bel Del south of Pinchers Point ca. 5.18.  An independent contractor, Hulcher, was called in to do the cleanup and it was nearly a week before the line was reopened. ♦ The Phillipsburg Railroad Historians, 32 strong, traveled via Trans-Bridge Lines coach to Baltimore on 5.21.  Their driver was Jim Danner and they visited the B&O RR museum, the Baltimore light rail line & their shops, and the Baltimore Street Car Museum. ♦ "Floating to Prosperity: Flatboats and the American Dream," the first exhibit to be installed in the National Canal Museum's new fourth floor gallery opened. ♦ The NS exhibit car was supposed to move through Phillipsburg for the first time, for display at East Stroudsburg on 5.27.  It was unfortunately lost in Allentown yard and ended up instead at Altoona. ♦ The National Canal Museum purchased a copy of the 1826 Strickland's Report and 500 postcard views of New Jersey and Pennsylvania canals from James Lee. ♦ On June 8th NS train #15A (Chemical Coast to Allentown) came west through Phillipsburg with three Canadian National diesels on the head end. ♦ A Sperry rail detector car came East through Phillipsburg on 7.3. ♦ The North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority granted $300,000 to study the feasibility of restoring rail passenger service between the Lehigh Valley, Western NJ and NYC. ♦ Former Somerset Bus Co. (later Summit - New Providence Bus Co.) 1946 Ford Transit bus #9082 (owned by Bill Clelland) was moved under its own power from Pittstown, NJ via Rts. 579, 173 & 22 to the former Consumers Water Co. Morton building at Phillipsburg on 7.7. ♦ A former LV RR carstop from a sidetrack on the Easton & Northern branch was recovered by Friends and moved to Phillipsburg. ♦ A PRR manhole cover and more paving stones from the Newark City Dock area were moved to Phillipsburg. ♦ The Sterling & Reid Bros. three ring tent circus was at Phillipsburg Mall. ♦ Bill Clelland's Ford Transit bus was driven to the Phillipsburg Ole Towne Festival at Walters Park and displayed at our information/exhibit area on 7.22 & 23. ♦ Several hundred carloads of steel pipe were delivered by NS and R.J. Corman to a stockpile site just North of Allentown for a new pipeline. ♦ The temporary steel bridge at Orange St. on the Newark City Subway was donated to Friends and moved to Phillipsburg with the help of Metro Jersey Chapter, American Truck Historical Society and Friends members on 7.29.  On the same day an attempt was made to move the Anthracite Railroads Historical Society's CRR of NJ X-29 steel box car #21449 (one of CNJ's 1st order of steel box cars) from the Warren Lumber yard to the Phillipsburg RR Historians site with a 15 ton fork lift, but it was too heavy.  Andy's crane service was called in; it was lifted into the air and the cable sling broke.  The car came crashing down and was damaged.  It was later lifted with a stronger sling and moved by trailer. ♦ Up to 200,000 cubic yards of material dredged from Newark Bay began to be moved by barge to Jersey City where it was mixed with stabilizing chemicals; loaded into gondola cars; moved by the New York & Greenwood Lake Ry to Conrail interchange; via Conrail to Oak Island Yard; NS mostly via Phillipsburg to Driftwood, PA; and Buffalo & Pittsburgh from there to Penfield where it will be deposited in the former Lady Jane Collieries mine. ♦ Bill Clelland drove the Ford Transit bus to the Warren County Farmers Fair for display on 8.5 and McKelvey drove it back to our garage. ♦ Flowserve Corp. of Texas completed its purchase of Ingersoll-Dresser Pump Co. on 8.8 - Ingersoll-Rand's last Phillipsburg operation. ♦ The Norfolk Southern geometry train came East and West through Phillipsburg on 8.9.  It was powered by GE B23-7 #4054, trailed by a tuscan red slug unit with gold NS logo and the tuscan red geometry car. ♦ The NS Exhibit car was parked at the Bethlehem station for the last days of Music Fest. ♦ Two twelve foot, wood slat, steel frame benches from the Newark City Subway, Orange Street Station, were salvaged and moved to Phillipsburg by Ken & Ann Miller and Bill McKelvey on 8.17. ♦ A blue NS locomotive came east through Phillipsburg towing a drop center flat with a large transformer on 8.19.  Later it was followed by NS self-propelled crane #92454 pushing its boom car and towing a flat. ♦ On 8.21 Canal Society of NJ members Bob Barth, President; Brian Morrell, Director; Bill McKelvey, Director and Bob Bodenstein met at the Phillipsburg Library with Allen Sachse, Executive Director, Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, to plan and discuss strategies for including the Morris Canal in the D&L NHC. ♦ Dwight Crater donated to Friends the electric board for the wayside signal system for the Centerville & Southwestern Railroad, including panel boxes, fuse boxes, transformers, knife switches, relays, terminal blocks, wiring, etc. which he had purchased from Gene Becker many years ago.  McKelvey delivered it all to the Phillipsburg Railroad Historians on 8.26. ♦ Repaving of I 78 was in progress between the top of Jugtown Mountain and Still Valley. ♦ The annual Phillipsburg Railroad Historians picnic was held at Hugh Moore Park on 9.10. ♦ A westbound tractor-trailer carrying medical waste crossed the center island of I 78 east of Clinton and crashed into a second tractor-trailer, killing its driver and overturned hitting a third tractor-trailer in the eastbound lanes blocking the entire roadway on 9.11.  Traffic was backed up to Still Valley. ♦ Ten pieces of 1850/60 vintage rail, used structurally in the CNJ Plainfield Westbound station, was secured by Friends after demolition of the building and moved to Phillipsburg. ♦ Former Lehigh Valley Transit Co. Liberty Bell Route interurban car #801 was moved from Topton, PA via Rt. 22 (passing the body of sister car #805 stored on the Rothrock Motor Sales lot in South Whitehall Twp.), Rt. 33 and 380 to the new Electric City Trolley Museum at Scranton. ♦ The PRRH enginehouse building was completed. ♦ Friends Orientation & Tour day was held at Phillipsburg on Sept. 30th.  Bus tours were given; the Centerville & Southwestern RR ran for the first time in 2000, carrying the largest passenger load since the Roseland days; an historic Mack tractor and matching trailer, an Army Military Police vehicle and 2.5 ton cargo truck were on display; a circus model railroad was in operation; rail equipment and artifacts were on display; the PRRH mini-museum and new enginehouse were open; the former Phillipsburg Water Co. steam pumping plant was open; a model of the future NJ Transportation Heritage Center, built by Ken & Ann Miller, was on display; and a reception was held in the Friends bus/storage garage. ♦ On Oct. 16th the Assembly Transportation Committee passed the A-2750 bill which provides for the principal location of the NJ Transportation Heritage Center in Phillipsburg with a satellite location in Netcong. ♦ The United States Congress approved and President Clinton signed into law the Lower Delaware Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.  It added a 65-mile section to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, linking the Delaware Water Gap and Washington Crossing, above Trenton.  This designation will encourage natural and historic resource preservation and protect precious open space along the longest free flowing river in the eastern US. ♦ A work party cleaned up the former DL&W MU shed at Hoboken and many artifacts, scrap parts and materials were obtained and moved to Phillipsburg. ♦ Ken Miller drove the Ford Transit bus in the Phillipsburg-Easton Halloween Parade. ♦ Volunteer Railroaders Association members obtained a former NYS&W bumping post from a siding near the end of the Lodi branch and K.C. Smith moved it to Phillipsburg for the Heritage Center. ♦ Beginning on 11.3 many truckloads of obsolete and scrap rail related materials, parts, tools and equipment were salvaged from the former H&M RR/PATH track shop at 55 Hudson St., Hoboken.  It was moved to the Friends storage buildings at Phillipsburg. ♦ "40 years of Railfan Photography," a day long retrospective color slide program was presented by Stewart Hobbies and Carstens Publications on 11.5 at the Bethlehem Holiday Inn.  Friends members Rich Taylor and Bob Mohowski were 2 of the 8 presenters.  There were over 80 attendees. ♦ Three box cars of a Belvidere & Delaware River Railway train derailed, blocking the Rt. 627 crossing at Riegelsville, NJ on 11.30. ♦ On 12.5 Ken & Ann Miller's "N" gauge model of the proposed NJ Transportation Heritage Center at Phillipsburg was moved to and set up outside the Assembly Chambers in the State House at Trenton. ♦ On 12.11 the NJ Assembly unanimously passed the A-2750 bill designating Phillipsburg as the location for the New Jersey Transportation Heritage Center with a satellite location at Netcong. ♦ On 12.12 the union workers of the bankrupt Crown Vantage paper mill at Milford, NJ and three other plants voted to accept a freeze on wages for at least three years and an elimination of overtime pay for Sundays.  The agreement was required by KPS Specialty Situations Fund which is to acquire the plants.  The alternative was to close all of the plants.  The Milford plant is the major customer of the Belvidere & Delaware River Railway. ♦ The Department of Justice approved Volvo AB's bid to become the world's second-largest truck maker by acquiring French truck maker Renault Vehicles Industriels - which included Mack Trucks - if Volvo agreed to sell off part of its existing business.

 

2001 Friends and No. Jersey Electric Railway Historical Society volunteers moved 150 feet of galvanized steel picket fencing weighing about 3,000 pounds and old station signs from the Washington Street station of the Newark City Subway to storage at Phillipsburg on 1.14. ♦ Warren F. Lee, author of A Chronology of the Belvidere Delaware Railroad and the Communities Through Which it Operated, along with his co-author wife, Catherine T. Lee, donated 360 copies of their book to our Heritage Center. ♦ Friends purchased two 40' storage containers from P&O Nedlloyd.  On 1.29 the first was delivered to Phillipsburg by Loepard Trucking, but the second was delayed by snow storms and did not arrive until 3.12. ♦ A winter storm centered on the Phillipsburg area dumped up to 17 inches of wet snow.  Trucks which couldn't make it over Jugtown Mountain on I-78 caused a four hour traffic backup.  A tractor trailer jackknifed near Cemetary Curve in Easton backed up traffic in both directions on Rt. 22.  Power outages were widespread. ♦ The Public Service Railway Montclair carbarn was demolished and on 2.11 three pickup truck loads of cobble stones were moved to Phillipsburg. On the following day 750 feet of mostly trolley girder rail was salvaged and moved to Phillipsburg on 2.13 by John Browne Trucking & Rigging.  The next day demolition contractor Mazzocchi trucked a Quincy Manchester Sergeant drop table manufactured in Plainfield, NJ and some additional pieces of rail to Phillipsburg for us.  Many other parts and pieces were salvaged by McKelvey. ♦ For three months Friends worked at the former DL&W Hoboken MU shop to salvage useable parts and materials and to remove over 2,000 bolts securing the rail in place.  On 2.28 a John Browne Trucking & Rigging crew and volunteers removed the rail from the building with two fork lift trucks and loaded one trailer.  On the following day a second trailer was loaded.  A final load was removed later.  More than 2,400 feet of rail was delivered to Phillipsburg. ♦ Thirty-one pieces of OMNI rubber grade crossing panels were moved from Orange Street on the Newark City Subway to Phillipsburg.  The last load was moved on the morning of 3.3. ♦ On March 3rd the North Jersey Electric Railway Historical Society moved their Public Service trolley body #2651 from Ringoes to Phillipsburg.  The trucking/rigging was done by Jim Lilly of Philadelphia. ♦ Bethlehem Steel Corp. announced on 3.12 that they were going to add another mile of track to their PB&NE RR in the 1,600 acre Bethlehem Commerce Center. ♦ Warren County's first annual Paratransit Rodeo was held. ♦ The NJ Senate passed the legislation designating Phillipsburg the main site for the Heritage Center on Mar. 29th. ♦ An Historic American Engineering Record report (HAER No. PA-543) was completed on the Lehigh Valley RR Delaware River Bridge (No. 76) by Justin M. Spivey in April. ♦ John Ferrante and his friend Vito LoChiatto (LoChiatto Paving & Masonry, Inc.) delivered many truckloads of Belgian block/cobblestones to Phillipsburg for the Heritage Center. ♦ On 4.17 a bench from the former Jersey Central Manville station donated by Manville Volunteer Fire Co. #1 and 1975 aerial maps of NJ railroads donated by NJ DOT were moved to Phillipsburg. ♦ A train of 27 locomotives, mostly SD-50's were moved by Norfolk Southern from Harrisburg to Allentown to RMDI in Pittston, PA on 4.22. ♦ Railroad Construction Co. donated and delivered a truckload of rail, including 8 frogs and 8 pairs of switch points from Port Elizabeth to Friends at Phillipsburg on 4.23. ♦ Volunteer Railroaders Association members planted nearly two dozen white pine seedlings at the Phillipsburg Railroad Historians site on 4.27. ♦ The Ironmasters Conference 2001 co-hosted by the National Canal Museum and the Bethlehem Steel Corp. on 4.27-29 @ Bethlehem, PA focussed on Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley (Bethlehem Steel & Lock Ridge Furnace) & the North Jersey Highlands (Morris County sites). ♦ Friends placed a sign "NEW JERSEY TRANSPORTATION HERITAGE CENTER  www.NJTHC.org" on the side of their white storage trailer across from Joe's Steak Shop on So. Main St., Phillipsburg. ♦ Gary W. Gray Trucking Co. delivered two trailer truck loads of relay ties from the NJT Hoboken MU shed area to Phillipsburg and the contractor, SECO/American Wrecking donated and hauled 3 1/2 loads.  We paid SECO to deliver an additional 25 more loads. ♦ The Phillipsburg Railroad Historians held their first open house of the year on 5.6.  Volunteer Railroaders Association members brought their Union Pacific track car to the site for the day to provide rides.  This was the first powered rail vehicle to operate on the Phillipsburg Railroad Historians standard gauge trackage. ♦ Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway Co. and Norfolk Southern announced the establishment of coast-to-coast, non-stop intermodal container service.  The trains, which cut one day from cross-country travel, operate through Phillipsburg. ♦ On May 24th CP Rail/D&H sold Soo Line cabooses #96 and 100 to the Morristown & Erie Railway.  CP delivered both to Allentown and NS brought them to the M&E via Phillipsburg. ♦ Several truckloads of shelving, supplies and equipment were donated to Friends and moved to Phillipsburg from a closed department store. ♦ On 6.9 a 100-car NS unit coal train heading north & the Bel Del southbound local freight found themselves heading towards each other at Union Square.  The Bel Del backed up to Hudson Yard to allow the NS train to pass. ♦ Friends container #3 (OCLU 1119467) was delivered to Phillipsburg on 6.11 by Leopard Trucking. ♦ A "Friends" volunteer crew was given access to the abandoned PSE&G (Newark) City Dock Substation on 6.15 and again on 7.31.  Five vehicle loads of equipment and materials for reuse at the Heritage Center were removed to Phillipsburg. ♦ Two additional truckloads of salvaged rail, equipment and materials were removed from the Hoboken MU shed in June by John Browne Trucking & Rigging. ♦ The NJ Senate voted to designate Phillipsburg the location for the New Jersey Transportation Heritage Center with a satellite location at Netcong Station.  On 6.21 acting Governor Donald DiFrancesco signed the legislation into law creating the New Jersey Transportation Heritage Center. ♦ An accident on 6.22 involving a gasoline tank truck and two other tractor trailers caused an intense fire which severely damaged a Rt. 80 bridge over Den Brook in Denville, closing the busy interstate route for several days.  During this time, many truckers, Martz and other buses diverted to Rt. 78 through Phillipsburg. ♦ Completion of the rebuilding Tohickon Aqueduct allowed water to flow in the entire 60-mile length of the Delaware Canal for the first time in 20 years. ♦ Approximately 200' of 60lb. rail from the Public Service Railroad Fast Line at Farrington Lake causeway was moved from storage at Milltown to Phillipsburg. ♦ Two shuttle bus services sponsored by Warren County and operated by ATC were begun on July 1st. with 9 round trips.  The A route connected Phillipsburg and Washington.  The B route connected Washington and Hackettstown.  Fare was $1 (50¢ for seniors) with free transfers at Washington. ♦ The Railroad Enthusiasts donated 12 wood frame Pullman chairs to "Friends" and they were moved from the Williamson Library to Phillipsburg on July 8th. ♦ Due to a derailment and fire in the Howard Street tunnel in Baltimore on 7.18, many CSX Tropicana Juice trains were diverted via the Lehigh Line through Phillipsburg. ♦ A ceremonial signing of the Heritage Center legislation was done by acting Governor Donald DiFrancesco on 7.23. ♦ Volunteers and Phillipsburg Youth Corps. members completed painting the exteriors of the Friends three storage containers. ♦ In spite of having expressed interest to the owners of the former L&NE RR turntable at Penn Argyl, PA, they proceeded to fill the pit in and burry it in place. ♦ In early August an "Available" sign went up on the proposed Heritage Center property which was owned by the Powell family, listing Insignia ESG as the broker. ♦ The Phillipsburg RR Historians board of directors approved "Friends" request to move their Stephenson/Lisbon trolley car into the PRRH engine house.  They later changed their minds and refused. ♦ Warren Lumber, the newest customer on the Belvidere & Delaware River Railway received their first two carloads of lumber on Aug. 14th.  Their yard is located immediately south of the future Heritage Center property. ♦ Workers from the Warren County Corrections Labor Assistance Program performed a major clean-up of the area surrounding the pump house on Aug. 18/19. ♦ The last run of the vintage Newark City Subway PCC cars occurred on the evening of Aug. 24th.  Three of them were promised to the NJ Transportation Heritage Center at Phillipsburg. ♦ Crews of Friends volunteers worked Sat. & Sun. to prepare the Newark City Subway Franklin Avenue (Branch Brook Park) loop trackage for removal.  On Aug. 27th H & S Enterprises, a Phillipsburg trucking firm, donated the services of three tractor-trailers and M-Track Enterprises donated the loop and provided the crane for lifting and loading the sections.  The next day the three trucks were unloaded at Phillipsburg with a large fork lift truck also provided/donated by H & S. ♦ About 10pm on Aug. 27th a tractor-trailer traveling west on I-78 crossed the center median a mile west of the Easton exit and collided with an eastbound tractor-trailer.  This caused a chain reaction in which two more tractor-trailers plowed into the wreckage, which had burst into flames.  Fifteen minutes later, about a mile west, one tractor-trailer rear-ended another and burst into flames.  All told, four were killed.  I-78 was closed completely for 7 hours and the eastbound lanes were closed for 17 hours. ♦ Track Renewal Systems M of W equipment (four pieces and a caboose) were on the tail end of a NS freight train traveling from Pittsburgh to Oak Island on Sept. 6. ♦ The first Phillipsburg Criterium bicycle race was sponsored on S. Main St. on Sept. 8th by local dealer Cycle Funattic.  It drew 200 entrants from the tri-state region. ♦ The Lehigh Valley Chapter, NRHS presented a tribute to the Liberty Bell Route (Allentown - Philadelphia high speed interurban trolley line) on the 50th anniversary of its abandonment. ♦ Monroe County (PA) Rail Authority, the Delaware-Lackawanna RR and Norfolk Southern consummated a long term lease/purchase agreement for 10.2 miles of the Stroudsburg Secondary Track, from Portland, PA to Gravel Place, PA from NS.  This put the entire former Lackawanna main line between Scranton and Portland, PA under the control of county rail authorities, paving the way for restoration of passenger service between the Poconos and New Jersey. ♦ The Sept. 11th terrorist attack which destroyed the World Trade Center and killed nearly 3,000 people resulted in the disruption of road and rail traffic, including that through the Phillipsburg area. ♦ Friends held their second Open House at the Pump House at Phillipsburg on Saturday, Sept. 22nd.  It was most successful, with nearly 100 attending.  At the concurrent Annual Meeting it was unanimously voted to change the name of our organization to "Friends of the New Jersey Transportation Heritage Center." ♦ A NS unit coal train en-route to Portland which passed the Pump House on 9.27.01 was made up of coal cars from the Pittsburgh & Shawmut and the Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroads. ♦ LANTA began Sunday service in the Lehich Valley with 18 buses.  Such service had not been seen since 1958. ♦ The Journal of Commerce, including its Phillipsburg office was sold to Commonwealth Business Media.  JoC was founded in 1827 by Samuel F.B. Morse, inventor of the telegraph and the signal code which bears his name.  JoC editorial offices were moved to Newark to co-locate with Traffic World subscription offices. ♦ NJ Transit awarded Alstom Transportation a $175.3 million contract for 33 diesel locomotives to be delivered in 2004. ♦  NS added a pair of road freight trains between Allentown and Campbell Hall, NY via Phillipsburg and the Passaic & Harsimus branch. ♦ CP and NS announced a new joint intermodal service between Port Newark, NJ and Eastern Canada via Bethlehem. ♦ NS announced that its Triple Crown RoadRailer subsidiary would relocate its Northeast US terminal from Portside, located in Elizabeth, NJ to Bethlehem, PA. ♦ Bethlehem Steel Corporation filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy laws. ♦ Six pallet loads of Public Service, Transport of New Jersey and NJ Transit archives have been moved to our storage facility at Phillipsburg.  Included in the move were six ornate exterior lighting fixtures from the former PRSL Atlantic City railroad terminal, which was last used as a bus terminal. ♦ The 1856 foundry building of Atlantic States Cast Iron Pipe Co. was demolished. ♦ The Lehigh Valley Chapter, NRHS October meeting featured a program by Henry Schmidt on the Bethlehem Steel narrow gauge rail system. ♦ Fifty retired signals/boxes and much related equipment removed from the Newark City Subway were transported to Phillipsburg for the Heritage Center. ♦ NJ Transit's new $415 million Newark International Airport station, located a few miles south of Newark Penn Station, opened on Oct. 21st. ♦ The library magazine and book collections of the Bell Telephone Laboratories Model Railroad Club were donated to Friends and moved from Murray Hill to Phillipsburg at the end of October. ♦ Former CP Rail Alco C424 locomotives 4223 and 4228 passed through Phillipsburg (twice) en-route from the Delaware Lackawanna RR at Scranton to the Morristown & Erie Ry. on 11.11. ♦ Norfolk Southern and BNSF operated a pair of test intermodal trains, running on an expedited schedule between Los Angeles, CA and Croxton Yard, Secaucus via Phillipsburg for UPS.  The eastbound train made the run in 58.5 hours and the westbound in 59.5 hours. ♦ (Nov. 30th) The third and last auction of the lifetime collections of memorabilia and artifacts of Morris Canal Historian James Lee took place at the Dennis Auction Service in Stewartsville. ♦ Seven vehicles from the Andy Leopardo/Leopard Trucking collection were donated to Friends or purchased by Ken Miller and/or Bill McKelvey and moved from Hillsborough to Phillipsburg. ♦ A single Union Pacific diesel locomotive, #7538 came south thruogh Hudson Yard with an empty unit coal train on 12.5. ♦ Souvenir rivets, bits & pieces of replaced steel and a quantity of used creosoted timbers were salvaged from the Free Bridge rehabilitation project by Friends with the cooperation of contractor IEW Construction Group of Trenton. ♦ Twenty three boxes of archival materials from the Joseph Leiper and David Phraner collections were donated and moved to Phillipsburg by Phraner. ♦ The Phillipsburg RR Historians operated their first ever Centerville & Southwestern Santa Train on 12.9. ♦ The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission voted on Dec. 10th to significantly raise tolls on their bridges linking NJ with PA.  Three of their bridges are in the Phillipsburg area and one will remain toll-free. ♦ Ten retired insulated rail joints, from the Newark City Subway, with a total of 200+ feet of rail were donated by contractor Railworks to Friends and trucked to Phillipsburg on 12.15. ♦ Three new NJ Transit MCI coaches were noted traveling east on I-78.  They normally come east from the assembly plant at Pembina, ND on I-80. ♦ On Dec. 21st, 2001, the local NS freight H71 from Allentown to Portland came thru Union Square and Hudson Yard with a rare (nowadays) dead Alco FPA-4 cab locomotive in tow.  It was en-route to the Scranton area via the Delaware Lackawanna RR.  It was #6763 with "DRMX" (Danbury Railway Museum Inc., owner) reporting marks and "Leased to Vintage Locomotives, Inc." stensiled on the blue carbody with a yellow nose. ♦ Former Erie Lackawanna Railway dining car #741 passed through Phillipsburg and Hudson Yard on 12.31, enroute from the Everett Railroad to the Delaware Lackawanna Railroad in the Scranton area.  The car is owned and will be restored by the NJ-based Erie Lackawanna Dining Car Preservation Society. ♦ The Box Car, a gentleman's club at Union Square, Phillipsburg closed.

 

2002    A major derailment at Little Falls, NY forced CSX to detour as many as 20 trains ca Jan. 10th via the Lehigh Line through Phillipsburg and Pittsburgh to and from Chicago. ♦ "NK" Tower and other artifacts from Conrail Shared Assets were donated and moved to Phillipsburg.  Included were a CRR of NJ cast iron "64" milepost which came from the Blue Comet Route between So. Lakewood and Lakehurst; two upright switch stands; cast iron, circular "STOP LISTEN LOOK, oval "W," and oval bridge marker signs. ♦ Three more truckloads of good ties were delivered from the NJT Hoboken yard rehab project to the Heritage Center stockpile in Phillipsburg.  The cumulative total at this point was 33 truckloads! ♦ The final high & wide loads of pipe for a water project in the Boston-Marlboro area came through Phillipsburg on a special 10 car train.  The up to 12 foot diameter concrete encapsulated steel pipe was manufactured in Perryman, MD. ♦ A Belvidere Delaware Railroad Company corporate seal was donated to Friends. ♦ Two pieces of horsecar type girder rail were donated and moved from Verona to Phillipsburg on 3.10. ♦ The spiral, cast iron stairway from the former Lehigh Valley RR NK tower in Newark was saved prior to demolition of the tower, disassembled and moved to Phillipsburg for reuse in the Heritage Center. ♦ The local freight on the NS Portland Secondary was powered by two Canadian National units (#5554 and 5627) on 4.11. ♦ The 1753 Bachmann Publick House restoration was completed and it was opened to the public. ♦ A ca. 1870's wood and steel velocipede was purchased and moved to Phillipsburg on May 3rd by McKelvey who intends??????

 

 to donate it to the Heritage Center. ♦ Flowserve Corp. (formerly Ingersoll-Rand) union employees at Phillipsburg began a walkout on 5.17 and never went back. ♦ The NS geometry train came east through Phillipsburg in mid-April en-route to work on CSX in Florida. ♦ The 350 pound cast cement PRSL (Pennsylvania Reading Seashore Lines) logo saved from the 1935 Atlantic City RR station was donated by NJ Transit and moved to Phillipsburg by McKelvey. ♦ A joint tour of the Morris Canal from Lake Hopatcong to Plane 9W in Stewartsville was held with the Canal Society of NY and the Canal Society of NJ on May 11th. ♦ A discarded large frame with heavy duty axle and hydraulic disk brake for playing out a reel of (trolley) wire, surplus crossties and scrap materials were picked up from the Newark City Subway contractors yard at Orange Street.  The pick up on May 16th and delivery to Phillipsburg was made gratis by Polaris Equipment Co. of Mountain Lakes. ♦ The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Blue Unit Circus train passed through Phillipsburg at 0030 hours on May 21st en-route from Hartford to Hershey. ♦ Iron Horse Enterprises former C&O steam locomotive #614 moved west through Phillipsburg to its new home at Port Clinton, PA on 5.24.  The locomotive and its two tenders were towed by NS (PRR) SD40-2 units 3424 and 3435 in Conrail blue.  The event was videotaped by Rick Glosser and photographed by Rick, Mike Wilson, Ann Miller, Tim & Ron Wynkoop and Bill McKelvey. ♦ On May 26th a three-way meet occurred at Hudson Yard, Phillipsburg.  The local NS freight arrived first with blue ex-CR units #3424 & 3435.  It was followed by Belvidere & Delaware River Railway local with red ex-CP #8159.  Both trains were passed by an 80 car loaded Portland coal train powered by 4 NS high hp diesels.  Later in the day #3424 & 3435 came south with a few empty coal cars and two empty 6-truck (12 axle) flat cars. ♦ Bushkill Amusement Park celebrated their 100th anniversary. ♦ A former Reading RR 40' piggyback trailer RDGZ 207091 was purchased from Janet Leopardo by McKelvey and moved to the Pump House for storage of materials and artifacts. ♦ Two Guilford Rail System locomotives (MEC 380 & 381) were noted working on the Portland Secondary and in Phillipsburg area during June & July hauling the local and coal trains. ♦ Friends annual meeting and open house was held at the Pump House on June 2nd.  About 100 visitors took advantage of the day. ♦ A fixed switchpoint from the Bell St., Montclair trolley loop was moved to Phillipsburg by McKelvey on 6.11 followed by 13 good ties which were uncovered at the same time. ♦ Original cast iron columns, railings and many porcelain signs from the Newark City Subway Washington St. station were saved and moved to Phillipsburg by McKelvey with unloading help by Ken Miller on 6.12. ♦ The Phillipsburg RR Historians operated a "Father's Day Hudson Flyer Excursion," which included a train and a boat ride, from Phillipsburg to the Hudson Valley with two loaded Trans-Bridge coaches. ♦ A convoy of a half dozen antique oil trucks stopped on 6.16 at the I-78 Bloomsbury rest stop enroute from the Macungie, PA Antique Truck Meet to their home in NH. ♦ A four axle Western Star tractor (leased to Universal Am-Can Ltd. of Warren, MI) attached to a 10 axle trailer with a tarp covered oversize/overweight load was parked (embargoed?) at the I-78 Bloomsbury rest stop for several weeks. ♦ Two truckloads of cobble stones were moved from City Dock, Newark to Phillipsburg by McKelvey. ♦ New Jersey Department of Transportation Commissioner, James P. Fox toured Phillipsburg, the future Transportation Heritage Center site and related storage locations on June 25th. ♦ The extensive and mostly Central RR Of NJ collections of Warren B. Crater were donated to Friends for the NJ Transportation Heritage Center. ♦ Williams/Transco installed 13 miles of 42" compressed natural gas line in Warren and Hunterdon counties.  It was trreaded through a 48" sleve under I-78 east of Charlestown Road. ♦ NJ Governor James E. McGreevey canoed down the Delaware River, arriving at Union Square, Phillipsburg, on July 28th.  He and several others spoke on environmental issues and a grant of $340,000 to improve Union Square was announced. ♦ The 1924 Mack railbus owned by the Lehigh Valley Chapter, NRHS was moved from Topton, PA to the Phillipsburg RR Historians enginehouse also on July 28th. ♦ Friends leased the Lebanon Station from NJ Transit. ♦ A trailer load of 100 lb. rail was moved from the former Erie RR Riverside yard to Phillipsburg on Aug. 4th. ♦ George D. Warrington, Executive Director of NJ Transit advised the Commission the former Newark City Subway PCC cars #6, 10 & 13 would be set aside for the Transportation Heritage Center. ♦ A large collection of mostly DL&W RR related artifacts and memorabilia was donated by retired DL&W/EL/Conrail passenger and freight agent, Joe Maline. ♦ A 1950's GMC oil truck, donated by J.W. Pierson of East Orange, and a 1986 trolley tour bus, donated by the Borough of High Bridge, were moved to Phillipsburg by Leopard Trucking on Aug. 25th. ♦ Two former Central Railroad of NJ coal stoves were donated and moved to Phillipsburg. ♦ A loaded unit coal train with three high horsepower locomotives sat in Hudson Yard all day, Aug. 26th. ♦ Nearly ninety-year-old models of DL&W and PRR equipment in Jersey, hand made in Jersey were donated and returned from Maine to Jersey for our Heritage Center. ♦ Three more switchpoints excavated from the Bell St., Montclair trolley loop were saved on Sept. 13th. ♦ Mr. & Mrs. Gene Becker were surprise visitors to the Phillipsburg RR Historians/Cemterville & Southwestern RR open house on Sept. 22nd. A cast steel segment and a core sample from the brick-lined from H&M RR (PATH) Hudson River tunnels were moved to Phillipsburg for display. ♦ The Town of Phillipsburg purchased the former CNJ/DL&W railroad station with a loan from the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority. ♦ A new, simplified, logo was unanimously approved by Friends directors for the New Jersey Transportation Heritage Center. ♦ Two bus loads of the Society for Industrial Archeology National Fall Tour visitors toured the Pump House on 10.17. ♦ Almost 40 original Camden & Amboy RR stone sleepers were moved in two truck loads from a construction site in Heightstown to Phillipsburg. ♦ A significant collection of railroad artifacts, memorabilia, books, videos, and collectibles were donated in memory of Frank J. Blatterspiel and Thomas P. Heitzman (both former Lehigh Valley RR employees). ♦ A cast iron sign reading "PARKING, FISHING, CRABBING, SWIMMING OR LOITERING FROM ANY PORTION OF THIS BRIDGE PROHIBITED" from the Rt. 9 bridge over the Bass River was donated to us by NJ DOT and moved to Phillipsburg along with a cast iron whistle post donated by Conrail. ♦ Two truckloads of railroad, trolley and bus artifacts, signs, signals, hardware, materials, etc. donated in Honor and Memory of Edward James Ruland were moved from West Caldwell to Phillipsburg. ♦ Central Jersey Bus Co. first moved from Boonton to East Millstone and then the business was sold to Stout's of Trenton.  In the process many truckloads of bus parts were donated, including five automatic transmissions, starters, heaters, alternators, body pannels, window sash, seat cushions, bumpers, tires, rims, etc.  Best of all was the donation by Chet Furmanek of former Public Service operating bus J-411!  The latter was driven to Lakewood. ♦ The Delaware Lackawanna RR completed construction of two tracks to make an interchange yard with NS at Slateford, PA. ♦ A most comprehensive collection of bus manuals was anonymously donated to the Heritage Center. ♦ The Anthracite Railroads Historical Society held a convention at the Best Western Hotel in Easton Nov. 8-10. ♦ A Norway Spruce tree from Alexandria Township, near Bloomsbury, was cut and trucked to Rockefeller Center in NYC for the Holiday Season. ♦ Several kegs of spikes (one from the Riverview Beach (Amusement) Park and replica telephones were donated by Bob Stanton. ♦ The rebuilt Bulman Street steps in Phillipsburg were dedicated on Dec. 12th. ♦ NS and Union Pacific expanded their "Blue Streak" intermodal service from Oakland, CA to Harrisburg, PA and Elizabethport, NJ. ♦ Belvidere Delaware River Railway locomotives #752, 820 and 8159 were all in Hudson Yard on 12.19.02. 

2003    Friends initiated a letter writing campaign to attempt to get the Assembly Appropriations Committee to advance A-2361 which they had received on June 17th, 2002.  It would formally establish the New Jersey Transportation Heritage Center, a Board of Directors and a Foundation.  The NJ Senate passed their version of the bill 39 to 0 on June 20th, 2002. ♦ NS High & Wide Special 052 travelled east through Phillipsburg on 1.18 with two locomotives, 2 idler falts, two depressed center flats and an Air Products & Chemicals Co. caboose.  The two load carrying depressed center flats were not even coupled together - the load provided the attachment. ♦ A total of over 25 truckloads of cobble stones and two trucks of concrete blocks were moved from the Ironbound section of Newark to Phillipsburg over a period of 6 months. ♦ The National Canal Museum was officially welcomed into the Smithsonian Institution's Affiliate Program on 2.4.  It allows the Canal Museum to display Smithsonian exhibits and models. ♦ The Bethlehem Steel Co. board voted unanimously on 2.8 to sell its mills to International Steel Group, a deal which could bring the once-mighty industrial giant out of bankruptcy and create the nation's largest steel maker.  The ISG offer was $1.5 billion.  At the same time a Philadelphia developer offered $10,000,000 for 120 acres of the former Bethlehem Steel plant and pledged to fulfill the Bethlehem Works plan.  It called for $450 million of retail, commercial and residential development on the property. ♦ Construction began on an ampitheater near the site of the former Canal Museum in Easton at the confluence of the Delaware and Lehigh Rivers.  The site will also house the Delaware River Visitor's Center. ♦ Restoration work began on the historic Lehigh Valley RR Bethlehem Station, which had been disused and vacant for years.  It was proposed to be a nightclub in the past, but it will become a family health center and medical offices for St. Luke's Hospital. ♦ NJN Publishing combined five subscription newspapers in the Warren County market on 4.3.  The Forum became the Warren Reporter; the Blairstown Press, the Belvidere News, the Phillipsburg Free Press and the nearby News-Leader were merged into the former Washington/Hackettstown Star-Gazette.  At about the same time the Morning Call launched the Phillipsburg Chronicle and the Express-Times New Jersey office was established in Belvidere. ♦ NJ Transit Comet II coaches were noted passing west through Phillipsburg near the ends of freight trains.  They later returned east after having been rebuilt at the Alstom facility at Hornel, NY.  Also moving east were new 6000 series Comet V coaches built by Alstom. ♦ After lunch on 4.19 four CP diesels traveled west, light through Phillipsburg.  They were followed by two men heading west with a case of Bud Light. ♦ The focus of the Pennsylvania Canal Society Spring Field Trip was the Lehigh Canal.  The 4.25 & 26 event was based at the Holiday Inn Gateway Conference Center. ♦ Two Rivers Landing reported a record attendance of more than 34,000 visitors for the month of April. ♦ On 5.9 three youths broke into and set fire to the former Jersey Central wood caboose owned by the Phillipsburg RR Historians.  Extensive damage was done to the interior. ♦ The Loram rail grinding train came through Phillipsburg on 5.12, making several passes on curves. ♦ Curtis Specialty Papers, Inc. closed the former Riegel paper mill in Milford on May 30th, putting 213 employees out of jobs.  Riegel was founded in 1862 and once had four mills in the area.  The mill was the largest customer of the Belvidere Delaware River Ry. ♦ A second fatal accident on Route 78 in two days involving tractor-trailers spurred a DOT meeting on 5.26.  A program to install barriers on more of the center median was already progressing. ♦ Bids to rebuild the Abbott Street lock and other parts of the Lehigh Canal within Hugh Moore Park came in at $830,351 on 5.30, well above the $765,430 budget for the project. ♦ A former Amtrak coach (ATAX 4613), from the Morristown & Erie Ry, moved west through Phillipsburg on the Washington drill on 6.2. ♦ A vintage DL&W RR York safe from the Madison station was moved to the Phillipsburg station on 6.6. ♦ "Friends" held their annual meeting and open house at the Phillipsburg station on 6.7.  A westbound freight with retired Long Island RR EMUs on Trailer-Train flats was seen en-route to Mexico. ♦ The Lehigh Valley Chapter, NRHS hosted a special program of photos and movies on 6.21 commemorating the 50th anniversary of the end of trolley service in the valley.

World Canal Conference to be held in the Delaware Valley

THANKS to Lance Metz and Dave Phraner for their services as intermittent editors and to Phillipsburg Public Library; Phillipsburg RR Historians; Doug Peters; The Frederick E. Barber Memorial Library/Archive maintained by Railways to Yesterday @ the former Lehigh Valley Transit Co. (now LANTA HQ/bus garage), Allentown, PA; E. Everett Edwards, Mitch Dakelman; Allen Nelson; Pete Terp; National Railway Historical Society library & Lynn Burshtin; Easton Area Public Library; Berkeley Heights Public Library; Stanley Price; Ronald Havens; Norman S. Cole, Sr.; David F. Drinkhouse, P.E.; Bill Greenberg; Ron Luckock; Richard T. Loane; Jim Anderson; John Willever; Bill Moss; Hayward (Woody) Cohen; Anthony Chando; Andy Maginnis; Raymond G. Neveil; Rick Glosser; Alan Bellas; Richard E. Harpster; Ross Rowland; Bob Rowland; Jack McDougal; Ben Friedland; Rich Taylor; Frank Mentone; Earle W. Brotzman; George Hart; Warren F. Lee; Bob Wanner; Bill Luck; Bethlehem Public Library; Allentown Public Library; Phillipsburg Area Historical Society; Pete Hazler; Ken Miller; Rick Glosser; Thomas G. JeBran; Tom Nemeth; Robert Craig; Carl Perelman; ... and many others for their input.