National Railway
The National Railway or National Air Line Railroad was a planned
History
Planning
In the spring of 1867, Henry Martyn Hamilton began planning to construct a line between
On March 22, 1867, the Elizabeth and New Providence Railroad was incorporated in New Jersey to be a part of the New York City to Philadelphia line. The Millstone and Trenton Railroad was organized on November 27, 1867. The stockholders of the railroad agreed to transfer their stock to Hamilton if he could obtain a guarantee from the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Reading Railroad, the Central Railroad of New Jersey, the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad, or the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway that the line could be finished in the time provided by its charter.[1]
The first official proposals for the railway came in 1868 at the federal level, with bills in the U.S. House of Representatives for a line between New York and Washington via Easton, Reading and Lancaster. Later proposals concentrated on the New York City to Philadelphia section, and were made both at the federal level and in the states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey.[citation needed]
On September 21, 1868, the Attleborough Railroad, a short branch line chartered April 15, 1856 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania,[3] was taken over by Hamilton and renamed to the National Railway, to be part of the through line. On November 11, 1868, Hamilton was elected President of the Millstone and Trenton Railroad, with control going directly to the National Railway. The project was first publicized in December of that year.[4]
On January 1, 1869, the
In early 1871, the National Railway bill was introduced once again in the
On March 30, 1871, the German Valley Railroad was chartered in New Jersey, including a Trojan Horse for the National Railway. The governor refused to sign the bill, but the company organized anyway.[7] The same strategy was used on March 19, 1872 with the passage of the Stanhope Railroad. The state clerks were bribed to keep the Trojan Horse off the debated version but include it in the signed version. This was soon discovered, and on August 12 the National Railway was sued for fraud. On February 2, 1873, the New Jersey Court of Chancery ruled that the National Railway had no rights to build in New Jersey.[8]
On January 11, 1873, the Excelsior Enterprise Company, a holding company incorporated on May 24, 1871, was renamed the National Company, acquiring the National Railway of Pennsylvania (the original Attleborough Railroad) on January 15. The National Railway gained control of the Stanhope Railroad on January 18, but that soon proved worthless.[8]
On March 19, 1873, the
Incorporation of the Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad
The Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad was incorporated in New Jersey on May 12, 1874, to build a railroad from the Delaware River to the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) at Bound Brook, along the National Railway's surveyed path. At that time, the North Pennsylvania Railroad took over the National Railway project from Hamilton. On May 14, the North Pennsylvania approved the construction of the Delaware River Branch, splitting from the main line at Jenkintown and running to the Delaware River at Yardley. On May 16, the property of the National Railway was deeded to the D&BB, including the Stanhope Railroad and the National Company.[9]
The Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad (D&BB) and Delaware River Branch opened on May 1, 1876, from the North Pennsylvania Railroad to the CNJ. The D&BB had
The original plans carried the National Railway northeast and east past Bound Brook, running north of the CNJ and crossing the
The
The East Trenton Railroad incorporated in 1884, was taken over by the D&BB as a branch in the
Challenges
The United Companies received a charter for the
On October 22, 1873, the PRR leased the Philadelphia, Newtown & New York Railroad,[8] a railroad chartered on November 21, 1860, with the intention to block the National Railway. The line opened as a branch of the Connecting Railroad from Fox Chase to Newtown on February 2, 1878, with the operation of two excursion trains. Revenue service began on February 4.[18]
On November 22, 1879, the North Pennsylvania Railroad began operating it, as it was no longer of use to the PRR. Service was rerouted from the PRR's West Philadelphia station to the Philadelphia and Reading Railway's station at 3rd Street and Berks Street.[13] Another challenge was raised as to whether the company could build a bridge over the Delaware River.[citation needed]
References
- ^ a b Baer, Christoper T. "A General Chronology of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company its Predecessors and Successors and its Historical Context 1867 May 2015 Edition" (PDF).
- ^ "New-Jersey Railroad Matters—New Roads Proposed". New York Times. January 22, 1870. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Baer, Christoper T. "A General Chronology of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company its Predecessors and Successors and its Historical Context 1856 June 2015 Edition" (PDF).
- ^ Baer, Christoper T. "A General Chronology of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company its Predecessors and Successors and its Historical Context 1868 May 2015 Edition" (PDF).
- ^ Baer, Christoper T. "A General Chronology of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company its Predecessors and Successors and its Historical Context 1869 May 2015 Edition" (PDF).
- ^ Baer, Christoper T. "A General Chronology of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company its Predecessors and Successors and its Historical Context 1870 October 2015 Edition" (PDF).
- ^ a b Baer, Christoper T. "A General Chronology of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company its Predecessors and Successors and its Historical Context 1871 May 2015 Edition" (PDF).
- ^ a b c d Baer, Christoper T. "A General Chronology of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company its Predecessors and Successors and its Historical Context 1873 May 2015 Edition" (PDF).
- ^ Baer, Christoper T. "A General Chronology of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company its Predecessors and Successors and its Historical Context 1874 March 2005 Edition" (PDF).
- ^ Baer, Christoper T. "A General Chronology of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company its Predecessors and Successors and its Historical Context 1876 April 2006 Edition" (PDF).
- ^ "Map of the Rail Roads of New Jersey, and parts of Adjoining States. 1873". Rutgers University Special Collections. 1873. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
- ^ Interstate Commerce Commission (1931). "Interstate Commerce Commission Reports: Decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission of the United States. Valuation reports". U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 519.
- ^ a b Baer, Christoper T. "A General Chronology of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company its Predecessors and Successors and its Historical Context 1879 April 2006 Edition" (PDF).
- ^ Baer, Christoper T. "A General Chronology of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company its Predecessors and Successors and its Historical Context 1870 May 2016 Edition" (PDF).
- ^ Baer, Christoper T. "A General Chronology of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company its Predecessors and Successors and its Historical Context 1871 May 2016 Edition" (PDF).
- ^ Baer, Christoper T. "A General Chronology of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company its Predecessors and Successors and its Historical Context 1876 April 2006 Edition" (PDF).
- ^ Baer, Christoper T. "A General Chronology of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company its Predecessors and Successors and its Historical Context 1880 March 2008 Edition" (PDF).
- ^ Baer, Christoper T. "A General Chronology of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company its Predecessors and Successors and its Historical Context 1878 April 2006 Edition" (PDF).
External links
- Finding aid for Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad Company records at Hagley Museum and Library