Millstone and New Brunswick Railroad
Encyclopedia
New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey, USA. It is the county seat and the home of Rutgers University. The city is located on the Northeast Corridor rail line, southwest of Manhattan, on the southern bank of the Raritan River. At the 2010 United States Census, the population of...
to East Millstone, New Jersey
East Millstone, New Jersey
East Millstone is a census-designated place and historic district within Franklin Township, in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. It is a small rural community that grew and prospered with a small industrial base in the 19th Century, centered around the Delaware and Raritan Canal at...
. Construction was completed and the line began operation on December 19, 1854. In 1871, under the order of the company's president Martin Howell, the M&NB signed a 999 year lease with the United Jersey Railroad Company, which later became part of the Pennsylvania Railroad
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
known as the Millstone Branch.
Intended Connection Westward
The M&NB was originally intended to cross the Millstone River and connect to western points in 1874 via the ill-fated Mercer and Somerset RailwayMercer and Somerset Railway
The Mercer and Somerset Railway was a short-lived line of the Pennsylvania Railroad in western New Jersey, built to delay completion of the Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad, part of the National Railway line from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to New York City.The railroad ran from Somerset Junction...
, which was a short-lived line of the Pennsylvania Railroad in western New Jersey.
The Mercer and Somerset Railway ran from Somerset Junction on the Belvidere Delaware Rail Road via Pennington and Hopewell to Millstone, with an intended connection to the Millstone and New Brunswick Railroad, via a bridge across the Millstone River
Millstone River
The Millstone River is a tributary of the Raritan River in central New Jersey in the United States.The Millstone River begins in western Monmouth County and flows northward through southern Somerset County into the Raritan River at Manville. Almost three quarters of its length is paralleled by...
, for a through route to New Brunswick.
The Mercer and Somerset Railway was sold under foreclosure to the Pennsylvania Railroad on November 28, 1879 and was subsequently abandoned.
Passenger Service
The Millstone Branch boasted 12 passenger trains a day from East Millstone to New York City. Passenger stations, which were merely small wooden shacks, were located at East Millstone, South Middlebush Road, Clyde Road, Vorhees (now Route 27), and Jersey Avenue. Passenger service permitted Millstone residents easy access to New Brunswick for shopping on weekends and allowed New York City businessmen the opportunity to commute. With the advent of the automobile, all passenger service ended in 1930. After that year the track past Route 27 (Vorhees) was only used sporadically by a local freight train to access the rubber factory in Millstone; track became weed covered and maintenance deferred. The Jersey Avenue Park & Ride stationJersey Avenue (NJT station)
Jersey Avenue Station is a New Jersey Transit station on the Northeast Corridor Line, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It is located on Jersey Avenue in an industrial area adjacent to a New Jersey Transit rail yard. Certain rush hour and off-peak trains originate or have their southern terminus at...
operated by NJ Transit
New Jersey Transit
The New Jersey Transit Corporation is a statewide public transportation system serving the United States state of New Jersey, and New York, Orange, and Rockland counties in New York State...
opened October 24, 1963 by the Pennsylvania Railroad
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
and uses part of the old branch. The last passenger station to survive was Middlebush, which was razed in 1948. Penn Central filed for bankruptcy in 1970, and sold all its railroad assets to the new government-created Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) in 1976. Penn Central only sold the portion of the Millstone Branch up to South Middlebush Road to Conrail while retaining ownership of the portion from South Middlebush Road to East Millstone.
In 1971 several warehouses were built along Clyde Rd, three of which had rail spurs installed and connected to the Millstone Branch. However, only one of the warehouses (currently occupied by Hermann Warehouse) ever used rail service. One of the rail spurs has since been removed, never seeing a turn of the wheel.
In the summer of 1980 the track was removed from a point several hundred feet west of the Clyde Road crossing to East Millstone at the Delaware and Raritan Canal. A small section of track can be found between William and Market Streets in East Millstone. Motorists complained that the poorly maintained grade crossing near Colonial Park was causing damage to their cars. By this time, there were no active customers past the Route 27 crossing; the branch fell into disrepair and became overgrown with vegetation.
For the next 21 years the branch remained out of service until 1999 when Hermann Warehouse (a distribution company), located just past Clyde Road, re-activated their rail spur and began receiving boxcars. Conrail replaced many ties, several switches, removed all overgrowth and laid new ballast.
Present Conditions
Just east of South Middlebush Road the track is removed, but the right-of-way all the way to East Millstone is very discernible. This includes Railroad Avenue (absent the former railroad tracks) that is still a street in the Middlebush section of Franklin Township. In 2001 three large luxury homes on the outskirts of East Millstone were built on top of the right-of-way that borders Colonial Park. In 2006 a new housing development was built just east of South Middlebush Rd; the backyards and driveways of several houses were built ontop of the right of way. The bridge pillar in the middle of the Millstone River which was intended to carry the tracks to the Mercer & Somerset railroad still stands. The engine house and wye track in East Millstone are now a grass field.What remains of the Millstone Branch is currently owned and served by Norfolk Southern Corp. Service is provided by the Metuchen local that usually works the branch late at night (12am-2am) a few times per week. The branch is now referred to as the "Millstone Secondary" in the Amtrak, NJ Transit, and Norfolk Southern timetables. As of August 2009, Hermann Warehouse closed their warehouse. The Millstone Branch past Route 27 is again out of service. Track conditions have started to significantly deteriorate with the rails being engulfed with vegetation. The grade crossing signs at Clyd Rd have been removed.
Station listing
| Millstone Branch stations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Municipality | Station | Notes |
| New Brunswick New Brunswick, New Jersey New Brunswick is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey, USA. It is the county seat and the home of Rutgers University. The city is located on the Northeast Corridor rail line, southwest of Manhattan, on the southern bank of the Raritan River. At the 2010 United States Census, the population of... |
Vorhees | Station was located at grade crossing with Route 27. |
| Franklin Township Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey -Communities of Franklin Township:The following are census-designated places, unincorporated enclaves, and historical communities located within Franklin Township... |
Clyde | Located at intersection with Clyde Road in Franklin. |
| Middlebush | Located at intersection with South Middlebush Road and Railroad Avenue in Franklin. | |
| East Millstone | Located near the Delaware and Raritan Canal Delaware and Raritan Canal The Delaware and Raritan Canal is a canal in central New Jersey, United States, built in the 1830s that served to connect the Delaware River to the Raritan River. It was intended as an efficient and reliable means of transportation of freight between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and New York City,... ; End of the branch. |
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