|
|
|
| CNJ #3672, an EMD GP40-P, comes off the Lehigh
Valley Railroad and begins down the ramp towards the old "home
rails" of the CNJ. Looming in the background is the ever present
Romerovski tower. |
Here we see the RVRR
tracks alongside the ramp that connects the CNJ with the elevated LV
main. Although there was plenty of clearance here for both parties,
engineers couldn't help but feel a "little too close for comfort."
The original RVRR-CNJ interchange had the RVRR's tracks curving
towards the LV's bridge seen in the
distance. |
By the
mid-1960's the Central Railroad of New
Jersey (a.k.a. "Jersey
Central ") was losing money and entered bankruptcy in early
1967. Eager to cut costs, the CNJ turned to the state for some sort
of solution. The state wished to keep rail commuter service alive in
the Garden State and began to hash out a plan for the flailing
carrier. What the state came up with was called the "Aldene Plan."
The essence of the plan was to close the CNJ's Communipaw Terminal
and ferry service in Jersey City and divert rail traffic to Newark
Penn Station via trackage rights on the Lehigh Valley
Railroad. The plan called for a connection to be constructed in
Aldene (a section of Roselle Park, NJ) between the CNJ and LV.
A ramp was built to connect the elevated LV mainline to the level
CNJ line. The construction of this ramp interfered with the RVRR's
connection to the CNJ, so the RVRR connection was simply 'flipped.'
Instead of the RVRR curving towards the west to connect with the
CNJ, it would now curve towards the west. The Aldene Plan was
implemented on May 1, 1967.
Afterward the CNJ mainline which headed
into Elizabeth, and eventually to Communipaw, saw little service.
Freight service was maintained on this portion of track to serve a
handful of customers, also passenger service was maintained between
Cranford and Bayonne over these tracks to serve a number of
commuters who relied on the service. The "Bayonne Scoot" was done away with in
1978, freight service eventually dried up, and this portion of track
between Aldene and Elizabeth was subsequently
abandoned. |
 |
 |
| Here we see the "Bayonne
Scoot," made up of two Budd RDC units, rolling through
Cranford/Aldene on its way towards Bayonne. In the distance on the
far left can be seen Excee Tower. |
Heading towards Cranford,
we see the "Bayonne Scoot" has just travelled under the Lehigh
Valley mainline. The tracks of the Rahway Valley can be seen on the
far left, to the left of the ramp. March 1977.
|
|
