The Sun Still Rises Over the CNJ
Spanning an incredible six track main of the once thriving "Big Little Railroad", this former Central of New Jersey signal bridge can be found in Roselle Park, NJ. Looking east, towards Elizabeth, NJ, where the next stop's station, still stands, the Sun rises over a right of way that once reached out to Bound Brook and beyond handling 300 daily commuter trains carrying 35,000 riders plus local freights, longer-distance passenger and freight trains, and, east of Bound Brook Junction, through B&O /Reading Co. traffic from Philadelphia and beyond. Today it stands as a monument to the CNJ, perhaps fortunate in being forgotten - for now.
New Jersey DOT implemented the "Aldene Plan" in April 1967 to reduce passenger operating deficits. A new connection just west of this spot, near
Cranford station, diverted traffic from CNJ up an embankment to the parallel Lehigh Valley Railroad main at Aldene routing CNJ trains away from the Communipaw Terminal in Jersey City and instead to PRR’s Penn Station in Newark, eliminating the need for CNJ’s Hudson River ferry service. The right of way survived into Conrail as the Elizabeth Industrial Track, but the once mighty main is now abandoned.
