A CRITICAL  LOOK AT   
JERSEY  CENTRAL  STEAM  IN COLOR
BERT  PENNYPACKER, AUTHOR;  ROBERT J. YANOSEY, PUBLISHER

This is a beautiful book of color photos of the former Central Railroad of New Jersey. Unfortunately, its beauty is marred by the inaccuracy of the text and faulty captions to the photos. I am attempting to correct the most obvious of the many errors so that serious 'students' of CNJ history will have correct information.

The following corrections are a summary of the comments I sent to the author, Bert Pennypacker,  and also to the publisher, Robert J. Yanosey, who assists Pennypacker and is equally erroneous with his facts. They did  not respond to my comments.

Page 3. The errors on this first page of text are very serious and lead to their repetition on many of the following pages. In the very first sentence, reference is made to a freight train stopping on "track 3, the outside westbound main iron" and further that this stop was made in deference to a Philadelphia bound express approaching Plainfield Station on "track 1, the inside westbound express track". On the CNJ, the numbering of main tracks in three or more track territory was even numbers westward and odd numbers eastward, exactly the opposite of the numbering used in the text. If there were only two main tracks, they were Eastward and Westward, not numbered.

Another serious error is the reference to the four track main line “starting in Jersey City and ending at Bound Brook Junction”. Since the first paragraph uses the phrase "five decades ago", I am going back to 1950, which is when I began my forty three year railroad career as a steam locomotive fireman, "five decades ago". At that time, the four track main line extended 35.7 miles west from Jersey City to 'RA',  Raritan Interlocking, with another four track stretch between MP 40.0, 'Lanes Crossing' and MP 44.1, 'WH’  Interlocking at White House. Track 3 was removed between Lanes Crossing and 'WH' Interlocking in the early 50's when Track 2 had reverse signalling installed and Rule 261 placed in effect for operation in either direction by signal indication. With full dieselization of freight service, track 4 was also retired, between Lanes Crossing and ‘WH’, a few years later. 

In the late 60's, main track 3 was retired and much of it removed between MP 31.7, 'RK', Bound Brook Junction Interlocking and MP 35.7, 'RA', Raritan Interlocking. The remaining portions of former track 3 were used as leads to existing  and also to new industrial side tracks. 
 
In the early 70's more of main track 3 was retired  between MP 25.4, 'ROCK' Interlocking and MP 31.7, 'RK'. A portion of track 3 remained between MP 30 (just east of Bound Brook Station) and 'RK', Bound Brook Jct., to become No. 3 Secondary, a secondary track of assigned eastward direction controlled by the train dispatcher.

In 1950, there were six main tracks between 'FH', Singers, and 'RU', Elizabethport, and also between 'XC', Cranford Jct., and 'WF', Westfield Interlocking. The current of traffic was eastward on Track 5 and westward on Track 6. Around 1952, the operator was removed from 'WF', which was then operated remote from 'XC', and tracks 5 and 6 were redesignated secondary tracks controlled by the Operator at 'XC'. The six main tracks between 'FH' and 'RU' existed into the 70's.

This is not including the two main tracks (eastward and westward) that also extended between ‘FH’ and ‘RU’ that were the east end of the Perth Amboy Branch.  These two main tracks were also referred to as the ‘Long Branch Wye’. 

The text on page 4 concerning Allentown Yard was seriously flawed. The text states that Allentown Yard began at Steel Interlocking, Mile 85.4 and extended 1.6 miles to VN Interlocking. We just lost six and one half miles of Allentown Yard.
                         
The east end of Allentown's Yard Limits was at Mile 82.3 (Minsi Trail) and extended 8.1 miles to MP 90.4 and included the Allentown Terminal Railroad which ran parallel to the CNJ Main Line between 'R' and 'WK' Interlockings. The two track CNJ Main Line was on the north side of the Lehigh River and the Allentown Terminal Railroad was on the south side.             

Within these yard limits were:  
                                     
MAIN LINE
     Bethlehem Station     MP 84.26
     'JU' Interlocking     MP 84.5   operated remote from STEEL.Connection to the Reading Co.
     ‘STEEL’ Interlocking    MP 85.47 
     'VN' Interlocking     MP 87.00   also operated remote from STEEL.
     'R' Interlocking      MP 88.18   connection to east end of Allentown Terminal Railroad.
     East Allentown Station   MP 88.78
     'WK' Interlocking     MP 90.20   operated remote from 'R'. Connection to west end of ATRR.   
 
ALLENTOWN TERMINAL RAILROAD
     'R' Interlocking      MP 88.18   east end connection to CNJ Main Line.                           'J' Interlocking     Reading Company MP 35.4 - East Penn Junction. Connection to the Reading Company.  
     ‘UNION STREET’  Interlocking     LVRR Crossing
      Allentown Station     MP 89.3.
     'WK' Interlocking     MP 90.20   operated remote from 'R'. West end connection to CNJ Main.

I do not know why Pennypacker considered ‘VN’ Interlocking as being an ending point. It was actually a little west of mid point between ‘JU’ and ‘R’. ‘VN’ consisted of only two trailing point crossovers. One crossover was from the east end of the heavy side hump to the eastward main track where an eastward freight could enter the main from the yard, or a through eastward freight could cut off on the main and back into the yard to set off and/or pick up. The other crossover was from the west end of Bethlehem Engine Terminal to the westward main track to provide an escape to by pass the light side hump.

Page 8  The switches to the side tracks, serving freight customers between 'XC' and  'WF', extended from main tracks 5 or 6 (until redesignated secondary tracks in the early 50s) , therefore, the local drill was not concerned with interfering with other trains running on tracks 3 or 4. Track 5 actually extended another half mile west of 'WF' as an industrial track (J.S. Irving, Coal and Lumber). See page 21.

Page 21. Photographer Chamberlain is standing in the gauge of track 5, west of Westfield Station. The museum train is operating on track 4. 

Page 22. The tower is 'RU', Elizabethport, not 'SHORE'. At that time, 'SHORE' was known as 'FH' (unofficially called 'SINGERS'). I did not rename 'FH' to 'Shore' until 1972, when I also renamed 'RU' to 'PORT' and all other towers received names in place of their telegraph symbols.

The new management under Trustee R.D. Timpany mandated our towers receive names to replace the telegraph symbols, as was the practice on their alma mater, the Penn-Central.
 
Page 23. The 683 at Raritan Engine Terminal was in  pusher service. Until full dieselization, it was common practice for heavy westward freights to get a pusher from Raritan (or Lanes Crossing) to Hampton. Grades reached 0.99% west of Lebanon. Eastward freights used retainers from Hampton to Lanes Crossing  where they stopped to turn them down and inspect their train. 

Page 24. The 160 and train are operating on Track 4.

Page 25. Text describes old New Jersey Central logo as an oval. It was a circle. It was an oval only on smokestacks of marine equipment. 

Page 26. Chrome was at the west (geographical south) end of the Sound Shore Branch. The Chemical Coast that Pennypacker refers to in the text was the name that Conrail (years later) gave the Perth Amboy Branch, which extended from 'FH' (SINGERS) to Mile Post 0, beginning of the NY&LBRR, 400 feet east of the Raritan River Bridge.

Page 36. The "decrepit appearing station" you see is not the Atlantic Highlands Station,  but the 'lamp room' where we kept our markers, kerosene lanterns, back up hoses and back up lights. Trains terminating at Highlands would shove the entire train back to Atlantic Highlands and the flagman would hang a large back up light on the rear gate and plug it into either the battery jumper recepticle (overhead in the vestibule on 32 volt cars) or the head end lighting recepticle (under the left side end sill on 110 volt cars). We had to know which voltage we had when picking up our light. The octagon shaped building left of the lamp room was a pump house to supply water to the water tank. The Atlantic Highlands Station was hidden by the 774. In 1954, it was a low, modern building that replaced a typical large station building that burned in 1951. 

Page 40. Pennypacker says that the wreck train was known as the relief train. Maybe on his Pennsy but on the CNJ,  management called the wreck train the 'service train'. We working slobs called it the 'hook'.

Page 43. The track described in the text was the Perth Amboy Branch. It did not become the Chemical Coast until after Conrail took over (1976). The Perth Amboy Branch of the CNJ started at the east end of the Raritan River Bridge (NY&LBRR Mile Post 0), not at Woodbridge Junction. The catenary wires were over CNJ tracks between ‘WC’ Woodbridge Junction (CNJ MP 20) and CNJ MP 22 (NY&LBRR MP 0). They extended another 2 miles on the NY&LBRR.
 
When leaving Elizabethport, Eastward Train No. 3316 proceeded westward on the Newark and Elizabeth Branch to Oak Island Jct. where it entered the east leg of the wye and again became eastward on the Newark and New York Branch. This was a continuous move forward. No. 3316 next stopped at Newark Transfer Station (on the Newark and New York Branch) and cut the two rear cars off which were coupled to by another engine for movement to Broad Street Newark Station (with stops at East Ferry Street and Ferry Street). The wye referred to was not at Kearny, but at Brills Yard (Newark). After leaving Newark Transfer, No. 3316 crossed the Passaic River Draw Bridge and passed Kearny Station, then crossed the Hackensack River Draw Bridge on his last leg into Jersey City. Other text and captions make more references to a 'Kearny Line', which did not exist. Kearny was a simply a station on the Newark and New York Branch which saw limited service, only from the west, after a freighter knocked a span of the Hackensack River Bridge into the water around 1944. 
           
Page 49. The interlocking described in the text was 'RU' and not Shore.

Page 50. (bottom) There is nothing wrong here. I only want to point out that the location is the same as the photo across the top of  pages 70 and 71. This time the coal hoppers are 70 ton cars correctly identified as carrying bituminous coal. During rush hour, the time from the ferry boat departure from Liberty Street to the connecting train departure from Jersey City was 12 minutes. 

Page 64. The top and center photos are reversed. To venture a guess what the 875 is doing; I believe that he is pulling a 'drag out' (transfer run) from Brills (Newark) into the east end of the North Side (B Yard at Elizabethport) from the Newark and Elizabeth Branch. The next photo shows the 875, after having cut off and run around his train, picking up his caboose to take to wherever his next move might be. The bottom photo, again, has the track numbers wrong. 

Page 68. The branch the author is referring to with "the bridge that carried the branch" should be identified as the Lehigh Valley National Docks Branch.

Pages 70 and 71. The text should give the information that the string of coal hoppers are in the CNJ's 'Claremont Coal Yard'. They did not necessarily originate where the author describes. These 50 ton hoppers are carrying anthracite coal, not bituminous. The signal bridge in the center background supported the eastward home signals of 'Phillips Street Interlocking', which controlled movements on CNJ freight tracks over the diamond of the Lehigh Valley National Docks Branch.

The four semaphore signals that are seen left to right (north to south) control movements on CNJ Yard Track 7, Secondary Track 9, Secondary Track 11 and Yard Track 10. This numbering does not follow ordinary CNJ numbering practices. Secondary Tracks 9 and 11 connected the CNJ's freight yards with the main line at 'HY' Interlocking (behind the cemetery shown on the bottom of Page 71 at Greenville, a favorite spot for railroad photography). 

Page 72. The text describing the four vertical lift spans of the Newark Bay notes they all raised simultaneously. Not so. They were individually controlled. The caption to the bottom picture should read that the engine on the left is moving on the Newark Wye toward the Newark and Elizabeth Branch. The engine in the center with the caboose is moving from the Newark and Elizabeth Branch into the New York Wye. The train barely seen on the right is correctly identified moving on the Main Line. 

Page 73. (Bottom photo) If you note direction of the smoke, This train is shoving backward across the Main Line to the Newark and Elizabeth Branch. I've done it many times on non revenue trips from Eport to Newark. The conductor is responsible for the move with a back up hose. The caption again refers to the non existant Kearny Branch.

Page 75. The "connecting track" referred to is the Newark Wye.

Page 76. Top photo. Only two coaches and no combine. This is an Elizabethport Newark shuttle, not a Sound Shore Branch train. All Sound Shore Branch trains had a combine. Bottom photo. The "high fill" the photographer is standing on is the Newark and Elizabeth Branch, not the Kearny Line, which did not exist.
                         
Page 77. I worked train No. 4072 from Highlands to Jersey City on holiday weekends and No. 4002 the following Monday mornings in 1951 with a T 38 Camelback and 12 cars and we were ‘on time’ by today’s standards set by New Jersey Transit..

Page 81. The battery box on the combine shown is on the opposite side from the camera. You are viewing the air brake equipment. Note the generator and belt on the truck on the 'B' end. The generators and battery boxes were removed on coaches equipped for head end power, however battery powered combines and baggage cars had wiring and recepticles for head end power to run through to following cars. 
 
Combines were found on all branch line and many other trains (except some two car Newark branch trains). The carrying of newspapers and mail pouches was correctly noted but equally important was the carrying of company mail and company material.
Page 82. The bottom photo was taken from the Gordon Street overpass and not the Aldene pedestrian bridge.

Page 83. The caption makes note of the removal of tracks 17 and 18 in Jersey City Terminal for the use of the B&O Train Connection buses. Tracks 2 and 3 (not 17 and 18) were removed and the roadway paved. B&O trains used tracks 1 and 4 and the bus connections were at trainside. 

Page 86. The train is on Track 6 and is backing westward out of the yard and across the entire main line to Track 5 in Cranford Station from which it will depart eastward for Jersey City. Note the lower quadrant semaphore signals on the signal bridge. All of the westward interlocking signals (from L. to R. on tracks 5, 3, 1, 2, 4, and 6) are at stop. We can see the backs of two eastward automatic signals, 154 1 and 154 3. The signal for track 1 indicates approach and the signal for track 3 indicates clear.  You can even read the back of semaphore signals.

Page 87. The only trains that ever terminated at Lakewood were excursions to that point during the Jewish holidays. There were times when Atlantic City, Barnegat or Lakehurst trains would set off or pick up occupied Pullman cars or lounge cars at Lakewood. The commuter trains serving Lakewood had Barnegat as the terminal and mid day accomodation trains turned at Lakehurst. Also another repetition of an error was the author's reference to the "Southern New Jersey Division". It was always known as either the Southern Division of the Central Railroad of New Jersey or more commonly referred to as the New Jersey Southern or NJS.

Page 91. The freight train is crossing over from main track 3 to main track 5 (while WF was still open and 5 was still a main track).

Page 95. 'Hogs' were freight engines on the CNJ. Back in the 50's, the Hog Law was 16 hours and not 12. The slang term 'Hog Law' was not a CNJ term as it was used by all carriers for this federal mandate from Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

Page 97. The track pans on the NY&LB were at Branchport, which was east (geographical north) of Long Branch. There was never a  location called South Long Branch. 

Page 99. Small photo: Train on Track 4. Large photo: Train on Track 6, a long side track that ran west to Vosseler Avenue. 

Page 100. In 1946, the four track mainline extended to Raritan and did not end at Bound Brook Junction. The CNJ did not have any Burro cranes. We had eight wheel locomotive cranes on our work trains. 

Page 101. Train moving from Reading Track 2 to CNJ Track 1. The Reading and CNJ did opposite numbering despite their close ties in all other respects. 

Page 103. Top photo. The freight on the left is moving west on the westward main track. It has just passed from four track railroad to two track railroad. The two tracks just to the left of the telegraph poles are the North Lead and the South Lead, the secondary track connections (controlled by the operator at 'RA' Raritan Interlocking) between the main line and Raritan Passenger Yard. The track on the right, with the engine, is part of Raritan Engine Terminal.

Pages 104, 106, and 107. As I noted before, the C39 Consolidations would be in helper service between Raritan and Hampton.

Page 108. The feedwater heater tells me that this can't be the 825. Closer inspection reveals the 835. This would probably be Train No. 107.

Page 109. There was never a 58 mile commuter run between Lakewood and Jersey City (explained before). It is the New Jersey Southern, not the "Southern New Jersey Division".

Page 116. The position of the sun is confusing because of the curvature of the track in  this beautiful photo. Arriving from Harrisburg,  No. 192, ‘The Queen of the Valley’ would operate from 'J' Tower,  East Penn Junction, to Allentown Station via the west leg of the wye on the Allentown Terminal Railroad. No. 192 would then reverse and (back out) to 'J' Tower,  where it would then pull through the east leg of the wye to the north leg of the wye, again on the ATRR then on to 'R' Tower to join the CNJ, L&S Division Main Line. If the train was the Philadelphia Flyer, it would leave Allentown Station via the north leg of the wye (ATRR Main) as it would not have to back out as it came from Scranton and would enter the ATRR eastward from ‘WK’. The Interstate (Nos. 301 and 306) did not operate over the Allentown Terminal Railroad but made a station stop (with heavy head end work) at East Allentown on the CNJ  L&S Division Main Line between 'R' and 'WK'.  

 The author’s location of this photo (‘R’ Tower) is incorrect. If at ‘R’ Tower, the tracks in the foreground of this photo would be the CNJ L&S Main Line and would be curving to the right.  The ATRR track in the background with the train would be straight and not curved.  
The curvature in the photo indicates  that the train has passed ‘J’ Tower  and is moving from the East leg of the wye (ATRR) to the North leg (also ATRR)  and it 
probably is No. 192 after having made his station stop,  backed out of Allentown Station to East Penn Junction, and is now pulling eastward to ‘R’ Tower and the CNJ.

I hope that the information that I have shared will be of use to you.. 

                         Robert G. Hoeft, Director
                         Operating Rules and Time Table
                         of the former Central Railroad of New Jersey
                         New York and Long Branch Railroad
                         Lehigh and New England Railway

Bob Hoeft                                                              12.18.00 - Rev. 09.24.03

(also Locomotive Fireman, RVRR
         Road Brakeman, CNJ
         Passenger Trainman, CNJ 
         Road Conductor, CNJ
         Passenger Conductor, CNJ
         Acting Passenger Trainmaster, CNJ)