| Belvidere Delaware Railroad | |
|---|---|
| Locale | east shore of the Delaware River in New Jersey |
| Dates of operation | 1851– |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (standard gauge) |
The Belvidere Delaware Railroad, frequently shortened to the "Bel Del", was a railroad running along the eastern shore of the Delaware River from Trenton, New Jersey north via Phillipsburg, New Jersey to Belvidere, New Jersey. It served as part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system, carrying mainly anthracite coal from northeastern Pennsylvania to population centers along the coast.
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The Belvidere Delaware Rail Road was chartered March 2, 1836 to build from Trenton north to Belvidere, where it would connect to a proposed line west to the Susquehanna River through Pennsylvania. The company was organized August 23 of that year. The Camden and Amboy Rail Road was authorized to buy Bel Del stock on February 29, 1838. On August 3 C&A officials were elected to the Bel Del board, but nothing happened until 1848, when on February 28 the C&A was again authorized to buy stock. The subscription was approved April 28, and the Bel Del's first meeting since 1838 was held July 22.
The first section, from Trenton north to Lambertville, opened February 6, 1851. On April 25 it opened its Warren Street Station in Trenton. Extensions opened to Tumble in April 1852, Milford February 4, 1853 (passenger service to Milford beginning June 1), Riegelsville December 5, Phillipsburg February 3, 1854, and the rest of the way to Belvidere November 5, 1855.
On June 7, 1854 the Bel Del agreed to operate the Flemington Railroad and Transportation Company, a branch from Lambertville northeast to Flemington; this operation began December 1, 1855 (the branch opened December 4, 1854). For a time the Bel Del was known unofficially as the Belvidere Delaware and Flemington Railroad.
Lehigh Valley Railroad coal trains started using the Bel Del on January 17, 1856, joining the Bel Del at the lower level of the Easton Bridge in Phillipsburg. Coalport Basin opened in April to transfer the coal between the railroad and the Delaware and Raritan Canal in Trenton.
In July 1856 a stagecoach began running between Belvidere and the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad at Delaware, New Jersey, allowing passengers to continue west into Pennsylvania. On May 16, 1864 an extension of the Bel Del to the DL&W at Manunka Chunk opened, but there was no through service until 1876 due to a difference in track gauge.
On May 29, 1865 all Bel Del passenger trains were extended to Kensington in Philadelphia via the Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad. In March 1871 the track gauge of the Bel Del was decreased from 4 ft 10 in (1473 mm) to 4 ft 8.5 in (1461 mm).
On April 1, 1872 the Pennsylvania Railroad began operating the Bel Del as the Belvidere Division of the United Railroads of New Jersey Grand Division, soon after leasing the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Companies. The Mercer and Somerset Railroad was opened as a branch of the Bel Del in 1874, but closed soon after 1879.
The Belvidere Delaware Rail Road and Flemington Railroad and Transportation Company merged February 16, 1885 to form the Belvidere Delaware Railroad.
The Enterprise Railroad was chartered in 1884 and opened in 1885, providing a branch from Coalport northeast along the west bank of the Delaware and Raritan Canal. The Martins Creek Railroad was chartered in 1885 and opened later that year as a bridge over the Delaware River from Martins Creek, New Jersey to Martins Creek, Pennsylvania, where it connected with several other companies. On April 14, 1896 both of those railroads were merged into the Bel Del.
In 1889 the Lehigh and Hudson River Railway acquired trackage rights over the Bel Del from Belvidere south to Phillipsburg, where it crossed into Easton, Pennsylvania.
On February 8, 1908 the PRR acquired trackage rights over the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad from Manunka Chunk northwest to East Stroudsburg for trains serving the Pocono resorts.
The Roxburg Branch, including a bridge over the Delaware River, was completed December 26, 1952, giving access to what is now PPL Corporation's Martins Creek Plant.
Hurricane Diane washed out the line north of Belvidere in August 1955, leading to its abandonment. On December 31, 1957 the Bel Del was merged into the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company. The Bel Del was merged into Conrail in April 1976, as its bankrupt parent company became part of the federally funded regional railroad known as Conrail. The northern part of the line was operated by Conrail as a branch line, until part of the line was taken over by a shortline rail operator in 1995. The line was abandoned south of Milford to Trenton, New Jersey by Conrail in November of 1978, and soon started being dismantled in 1979 and 1980 from Trenton to south Lambertville and from north Lambertville to north Frenchtown. It then became part of the Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park shortly after. Before Lambertville railroad tracks were abandoned, the line was owned by the Black River and Western Railroad, a short line operator that has owns the Flemington branch of the Bel-Del which is a length of about 14 miles starting at Flemington and ending at Lambertville. The tracks from Flemington to Lambertville were used regularly until 1995 due to disrepair. In 1996, a special train ran on the tracks for one last time until it was officially put out of service. The Delaware River Railway was also formed in 1995. The Delaware River Railway was the short line operator that took over the trackage from Milford to Phillipsburg in 1995. Before that happened, the Milford-Phillipsburg tracks were owned by Conrail, which did small freight service in Holland, N.J. where Gilbert Power Plant is located by the Delaware River. Railroad tracks in Milford were abandoned in 1999 due to disrepair as well. Today, north of Milford, the Delaware River Railway is currently doing tourist trips from Phillipsburg to Carpentersville, N.J.
The portion from Milford north to Phillipsburg was taken over in 1995 from Conrail by the newly-formed Belvidere and Delaware River Railway, and the rest north to Belvidere is now owned by Norfolk Southern (which acquired a large portion of Conrail in the late 1990s), and serves as the Roxburg Branch. The former Bel Del right-of-way south of Milford to Trenton is part of the Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park and serves as a canal rail trail, along the east bank of the D&R canal. In 2003 the paper mill in Milford, Riegles Paper Company, closed shortly after the train trips ceased. Currently a tourist train runs from Phillipsburg to Carpentersville. There has been talk of bringing the tourist train further south to Riegelsville or Milford. There is also an effort being made to extend the state park, "rails to trails" from Frenchtown north to Milford and beyond. Currently, Milford is rusting and rotting away due to its official abandonment in 1999, similar to Lambertville, with its tracks also left to rot and rust when it was put out of service in 1995. There is still potential hope for both lines in the future.