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The Aldene Plan/CNJ/Waterfront Rails
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Cyberider




Joined: 27 Apr 2007
Posts: 1416
Location: Tempe, AZ

PostPosted: Sat Jun 13, 2026 2:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sounds like it was a disaster for commuters.
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



Joined: 18 Dec 2007
Posts: 32762
Location: NEW JOISEY

PostPosted: Sat Jun 13, 2026 4:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cyberider wrote:
Sounds like it was a disaster for commuters.


Cyberider:

You have no idea how much traffic flexibility and route availability was lost with the Aldene Plam

The CNJ had a VERY busy 4-track main from Jersey City to Raritan (most commuter runs ended here) .today, NJT's Raritan Valley Line (old CNJ main( has only two tracks ;the other two tracks were removed years ago, further hampering operational flexibility.

When CNJ passenger power could no longer access the Communipaw Engine Terminal in Jersey City, a new diesel repair facility was built at Raritan; VERY miniscule, compared to the massive complex at "C-Paw", with its twin roundhouses and large yards

Heaviest repairs were carried out at the Elizabrthport shops(NJT used this faciltiy for several years)

The former "Big LIttle Railroad" is today but a mere shadow of what it once was, 60-odd years ago..........

"NYO"

["CNJ"]
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 13, 2026 4:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Also............

Though it was a Sunday, the CNJ operated a full rush hour schedule, the day after service to Jersey City ended, as a '"test run".

I've read much about missed connections, crewmen left on platforms as their trains pulled out, misinformed towermen......chaos, indeed, reigned..........what a comedown from just the previous day.................

"NYO"

["5:35 PLAINFIELD LOCAL"]
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Cyberider




Joined: 27 Apr 2007
Posts: 1416
Location: Tempe, AZ

PostPosted: Sat Jun 13, 2026 6:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

So much for Aldene. Evil or Very Mad
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 13, 2026 8:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cyberider:

To this very day, rail and transit enthusiasts in New Jersey STILL debate over the Aldene Plan (majority being anti-Aldene)

When the trains were still operating from Jersey City, 15-car main line trains were the norm during rush hours, pulled by hulking F-M "TRAINMASTERS".

Operating out of Jersey City were the following services:

Elizabethport locals

Plainfield locals

Plainfield expresses (rush hour only)

Raritan locals

Raritan "Clockers", rush hour only (expresses)

Bay Head locals (NY&LB)

Bay Head expresses (NY&LB rush hour only

*Atlantic Highlands through trains (these trains were actually Bay Head trains, with several coaches for Atlantic Highlands at the rear)

At Atlantic Highlands, these rear cars were be cut off from the Bay Head train, and a "drill" Geep, stationed at Matawan, would take the remaining cars on to Atlantic Highlands. Passengers service on the Atlantic Highlands branch lasted until late 1966)

Signs posted at the gates at Jersey City would read:

"ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS-LAST FIVE CARS"

The through "AH" trains only operated during rush hours..........

"NYO"

["CENTRAL RAILROAD COMPANY OF NEW JERSEY"]
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 13, 2026 8:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pre-Aldene service to Atlantic Highlands (from Broad Street, Newark)........

A local train would depart the Jersey City yerminal about 45 minutes before the evening train from Newark to Atlantic Highlands departed, terminating at Elizabethport.

After discharging passengers, the train would back yp the Newark Branch, with a brakemam working the rear coach.

The train would terminate at Broad street, and await its departure for Atlantic Highlands; this train would lay over at "AH" in the evenings and over the weekends, before heading back to Newark

After service to "AH" was abandoned late 1966, this train ran from Newark to Matawan, with a bus connection for commuters bound for Atlantic Highlands.

As you can see, the CNJ operated many diverse services, pre-Aldene........

"NYO"

["TRACK 3 5:15-ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS"]
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 14, 2026 12:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The CNJ's first push-ulls...........

In 1946, when a steamship knocked out a key drawbridge on cNJ's "Direct Line" from Jersey City to Newark,t he CNJ implemented a short-lived shuttle between West Side Avenue and the Jersey City ferry terminal.

Trains consisted of three or four coaches, with a Camelback at each end!

Few photos exist of these trains.

This interesting service was gone by 1950, leaving the line freight only unyil total abandonment by the early 1970s.

Tower "C: controlled the junction between the main line and the "Direct Line"; it stood abandoned until the 1980s, when it was gutted by fire and later torn down..........

"NYO"

["3:20 NEWARK"]
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Cyberider




Joined: 27 Apr 2007
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Location: Tempe, AZ

PostPosted: Sun Jun 14, 2026 8:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That would have made an interesting train!
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 14, 2026 8:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

CNJ's suburban tank engines..........

This type was well suited for the CNJ with its extensive commuter services radiatung out of Jersey City; the railroad rostered a fleet of nearly 50;.....these were 2-6-4Ts and 4-6-2Ts.

All were built by BALDWIN between 1902 and 1930.

For many years, until the advent of diesels, tankers, more than dominated the "Direct Line" between Jersey City and Newark.

There was also a small number of tankers from the LIRR; all were retired by 1846.

The last CNJ tankers were replaced by diesels about 1950........

"NYO"

["BALDWIN LOMOTIVE WORKS"]
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Cyberider




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Location: Tempe, AZ

PostPosted: Sun Jun 14, 2026 9:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you ever find a photo, it would be interesting, especially the push-pulls.
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 14, 2026 10:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cyberider wrote:
If you ever find a photo, it would be interesting, especially the push-pulls.


Cyberider:

The only photos I have seen (maybe two or three?) of these unique trains were posted on a now-defunct railroad forum, where Ii was once a moderator; thiswas many years aho.

In all my years of researching the CNJ, these were the only photos of the aforementioned trains I had ever viewed.............. Sad

["NYO"]

["CRRNJ"]
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 14, 2026 10:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cyberider wrote:
That would have made an interesting train!


Cyberider:

Indeed!

Especially in model form! Wink

One of the "Camels" faced Jersey City (east) while the other faced west (towards Newark)

The westernmost terminal was West Side Avenue (today, the HBLR terminates here)

As mentioned previously, this interesting shuttle service ended by 1949..........

"NYO"

["JERSEY CENTRAL LINES"]
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 14, 2026 11:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

One line of the HBLR terminates at West Side Avenue; the original CNJ station (long since razed) was, until 1946) a "through" station, when the trains ran all the way to Newark.

This was where the shuttle trains terminated from 1946 to about 1949)

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?149755

(courtesy:nycsubway.org)

["WEST SIDE AVENUE"]
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 14, 2026 11:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This timeless 1952 photo shows a westbound commuter train, headed by an elderly "Camel", ready to depart the bustling Jersey City terminal.......

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?142357

These "commuter 10-wheelers" were perhaps the most popular engines of all with CNJ fans; over 100 were once on the roster, the oldest dating back to 1902, built by several builders.

The last were retired in 1954; one lone example (#592) survives today at the B&O Museum at Baltimore.......

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["NEW JERSEY CENTRAL"]
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Cyberider




Joined: 27 Apr 2007
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Location: Tempe, AZ

PostPosted: Mon Jun 15, 2026 3:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the photo. Too think, something like that ran in my lifetime but I missed it.
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