History

Construction
The Raritan River Rail Road was built when the peak of the U.S. railroad building fever was subsiding in the late 1880s. It was intended to extend from South Amboy to Bound Brook and New Brunswick.[2] On April 21, 1888, Articles of Incorporation were filed in New Brunswick for the Raritan River Rail Road, with $40,000 paid in capital, amounting to $2,000 per mile, and capital stock of $100,000. At the first meeting of the board of directors in April 1888, Edward H. Ripley was elected president, E. W. Harrison was appointed Chief Engineer, and a construction contract to build the railroad was awarded.[3]

Construction started in Sayreville in May 1888 with 60 lb/yd (30 kg/m) rail, with a few trains running by the end of that same year. The line started in Sayreville, New Jersey, with a connection with the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) over Suchs’ Pennsylvania Railroad siding. Suchs was a sand and clay industry that already had a very long siding from the Pennsylvania Railroad's old Camden and Amboy line in Sayreville (connected a few miles west of today's Browns Yard). When the line east from Sayreville to South Amboy was completed, a connection was made with the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) over the New York & Long Branch, providing the Raritan River Railroad with connections to the two larger railroads. The Raritan was extended westward from Milltown to New Brunswick in 1891 and a new PRR connection was constructed in South Amboy in 1901, permitting abandonment of the original PRR connection at Suchs' siding.

In 1888, the Raritan River Rail Road began operation with two 4-4-0 engines (No.1 and No.2) and 20-short-ton (18 t) gondola cars. These small cars were used by Suchs and Crossmans to move the sand and clay found in the area.

Disputes with workers and clashes with local landowners during the construction of the Raritan River Railroad sparked sometimes heated conflict. On August 16, 1888, just four months after construction had started, an incident required summoning the local sheriff. One contractor, Charles Van Houghton of Jersey City, was hired to grade the road and lay stone culverts at South Amboy. Although Van Houghton was paid $5,000 for the work, he was reported to have absconded without paying his workers their wages. The unpaid workers went on strike as a result, and the sheriff confiscated Van Houghton's equipment so that the payroll could be met.[4]

A Saturday night clash resulting in a death occurred in Sayreville, New Jersey, on May 5, 1889, which would become known thereafter as the "Sayreville Riot". A local brick manufacturer, Noah Furman, owned land needed by the railroad for the extension of its line from Sayreville to South River. As reported by The New York Times, a "frightful riot" ensued when gangs on both sides fought over the railroad's attempt to seize the land by force when negotiations had stalemated and Furman obtained a court injunction restraining the railroad from crossing his property and asserting eminent domain. One of the riot participants was killed in the melee.[5] Afterwards, two Raritan Rail Road officials were charged with murder in connection with the riot.[6][7]

Coverage of the Sayreville Riot arrests was sensationalized by the press, with the New York Times falsely reporting on September 16, 1889, that indictments of all officers of the Raritan River Railroad were expected in the case.[8] The following day, the court in New Brunswick announced it was investigating who leaked the rumor to the Times. Some reporters were summoned to appear before the court to reveal their sources and explain how they obtained their information.[9] It appears that all charges were eventually dropped. Later that year, on October 30, 1889, another labor dispute again required intervention by the sheriff when a sub-contractor's laborers rioted in South River due to not being paid their wages.

 

Early years

As construction of the mainline was progressing west towards New Brunswick, the first two branch lines were built: in 1890, the 2.1-mile (3.4 km) Sayreville Branch to access the Sayre and Fisher Brick Yards near the mouth of the Raritan River; one mile (1.6 km) of the Serviss Branch in East Brunswick was started in 1891 to access the sand and clay needed by Sayre and Fisher. The third locomotive (No. 3) was purchased in 1890 and fourteen 30-ton freight cars were ordered.

By July 4, 1891, the RRRR's first train left Milltown, and shortly thereafter the line reached New Brunswick, having laid twelve miles (19 km) of mainline track. The railroad decided not to cross the Raritan River into New Brunswick to reach Bound Brook, due to the expense and lack of potential freight business at the time in the largely undeveloped area.

Between 1888 and 1898, the line had 3 engines, 34 freight cars, 6 passenger cars, 12 miles (19 km) of main line, and two branch lines.

After the line was built, both the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Central Railroad of New Jersey started to buy stock in the Raritan. The PRR acquired a 40% ownership share and the Central 60%. Although wholly owned by the two bigger lines, the RRRR was locally managed from its headquarters on John Street in South Amboy.

In the 1890s, the RRRR continued upgrading its track, building stations, and generally upgrading its infrastructure. It acquired several small locomotives, adding to the roster as traffic increased. The first customers on the line were the brick companies, the clay and sand pits of Crossman's and Such's. Crossman's in Sayreville grew so large that a narrow gauge line running in the pits brought the sand and clay to the connection with the RRRR.

Sayreville Junction was created almost at the midpoint of the line for the storage and classification of cars. RRRR trains would run straight from either the NYLB or PRR connection, and drop off the cars at Sayreville Junction, where they would be sorted for the runs either east or west at that point.

The 1900s saw the second branch line extended, the Serviss Branch was increased from one to four miles (6.4 km). This line ran from the RRRR main in East Brunswick, headed north, and curved back south towards South River again. The terminus of the Serviss Branch was just one mile (1.6 km) from the RRRR's South River Station. This branch was built to service the many sand and clay pits that were opening along the area. Even a small brickyard was located at the end of this branch at Reid Street. During this same period, the current Sanford Street terminus in New Brunswick was finished, with elaborate brick passenger and freight stations. Two more engines were purchased to help with the increase in freight. Engines No.4 and No.5 were added to the roster in 1899 and 1900. A small batch of larger cars were ordered, five 40-ton cars. In about 1901, the first number 3 engine was replaced with a second, more powerful number 3.

In 1905 the South River Branch was built, two miles (3.2 km) south from the South River station. Engine No. 6 was added to the roster in 1905. By 1905, the Raritan River with its six locomotives had doubled its engine roster compared to the three engines it had in 1898. In around 1907, both engines No. 1 and No. 2 were replaced by more powerful engines, which were assigned the same numbers.

Freight traffic continued to grow substantially, necessitating larger gondolas. The Raritan River ordered forty-four 50-ton cars in 1910, for a total of 83 cars on its roster. Passenger service was never an important revenue source for the RRRR, which owned only six passenger cars in 1910. In Milltown, the Michelin Tire Company constructed a massive tire manufacturing complex employing more than 2,000 employees. Tons of raw materials and finished products rolled in and out of Milltown on the Raritan River.

The Milltown Station was a very busy place at train time. It had a Railway Express agent and priority packages were shipped on special rail cars attached to RRRR passenger trains for connections to other railroads, providing express rail shipment capability nationwide. Passenger traffic was also growing rapidly, so the RRRR purchased 12 passenger cars and 2 combine cars from the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in 1915. Engine number 7 was added to the roster in 1912, engine number 8 was added in 1914, and engines 9 and 10 were added in 1915, bringing the total number of locomotives on the Raritan River to ten. By 1917, this would further increase to a total of 15 engines on the RRRR.

During 1917, the Gillespie Branch was built into an isolated wooded area, to access the T Gillespie Powder Works. With Gillespie, DuPont, and Hercules all making munitions for World War I, it was a very busy time on the RRRR. At its peak, DuPont was supplying four 50-ton cars per day of weapons and/or munitions. The Gillespie site was destroyed on October 4, 1918, by many explosions.[11][12]

In addition to munition plant shipments along the line, World War I also resulted in a substantial increase in passenger traffic. In 1917, two more Lackawanna passenger cars were added. In 1918, passenger traffic reached an all-time high, with 22 daily passenger trains and 7 extra trains on Sundays. The Raritan River had 15 Engines and 16 passenger cars, as well as about 83 freight cars, moving 9,000 passengers per day and 1.5 million tons of freight and war materials in 1918.

 

Main Line Stations 
(as of May 28, 1893)