Central Railroad of New Jersey station a beacon of Scranton's better days

Published: March 21, 2010

 

The former Central Railroad of New Jersey passenger station is a historic treasure in a city of such treasures. It has seen better days, but from its position at 602 Lackawanna Ave., this noble structure reminds us of our golden age of industry.

Known as the CRRNJ and then the CNJ, the Central Railroad of New Jersey was formed on Feb. 11, 1849, by the merger of the Elizabethtown & Somerville Railroad with the Somerville & Easton Railroad.

As the CNJ continued to expanded, it took over smaller lines and undertook new construction projects. In 1868-69, the CNJ made a move that would affect its presence in Scranton. That year, it signed a 999 years' lease to take control of the Lehigh & Susquehanna division of the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co.'s railroad.

The agreement also included the Union Railroad. When it was completed in 1866, the Union was leased to the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co., which operated it as a section of the Lehigh & Susquehanna division, running from Easton to Scranton. The railroad continued to operate under this name, though under the control and management of the CHJ.

The lease with the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co. expired in 1886, at which time the Union Railroad passed into the hands of the Delaware & Hudson Co., and the CNJ built its own road from Wilkes-Barre to Scranton.

The CNJ chose, as a site for its passenger station, a piece of land at the western end of the Lackawanna Avenue bridge. The Bridgewater Coal Co. had operated a mine at this site, but in 1880, it sold 7 acres of the surface where its works stood to the Central Railroad of New Jersey. At the same time, the Bridgewater transferred its coal leases to the Lackawanna Co. The Central Railroad of New Jersey closed up the mine and erected its passenger station. The Lackawanna Co. transferred the coal leases to the People's Coal Co.

From 1886 on, the CNJ played an active and important role in the growth of Scranton, shipping the area's anthracite coal to various markets. The CNJ connected the city's freight and passengers to Wilkes-Barre, Reading (via the Reading Railroad), Allentown and Philadelphia, as well as to Washington, D.C., via the B & O Railroad. Its holdings included a roundhouse in the Bellevue section of Scranton, near what would become the William T. Schmidt ballfield.

This railroad played a role of a different sort in the city's history from Aug. 21 to 28, 1879. That week, the Thirteenth Regiment began its encampment at Long Branch, N.J. - the first regular military encampment of instruction of any body of the National Guard of Pennsylvania. The battalion paid its own expenses using individual contributions, supplemented by Major Henry M. Boies. But the Regiment's transportation to and from its encampment was the gift of the CNJ.

The CNJ continued to play its role in the city, but it was a small line with no more than 711 miles of track. The railroad had its greatest success during its early years, but as the demand for anthracite coal began to fall, it suffered. Competition from larger railroads took away business, and the CNJ was left with less-profitable short haul traffic. The CNJ faced bankruptcy more than once.

Eventually, even the larger railroading companies would be driven out of business as the market for coal died and the truck and automobile became preferred modes of transportation.

But the CNJ passenger station still stands on Lackawanna Avenue. In 1979, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places, a fact that attests to its important role in transporting both people and goods in the anthracite region.

CHERYL A. KASHUBA is a university instructor and author of "A Brief History of Scranton, PA."

Contact the writer: localhistory@ timesshamrock.com