Black River & Western History

The Black River & Western Railroad was incorporated on January 24, 1961. They were originaly trying to operate on the CNJ's Chester Branch in Chester, NJ. But on May 16, 1965 the BRW leased part of PRR's Flemington Branch, from Flemington-Ringoes. They then started running excursion trains. On March 16, 1970, the BRW took over the rest of the branch from Flemington to Lambertville and started freight service on the entire line. On April 1, 1976, when Conrail took over the seven bankrupt railroads, the BRW aquired the CNJ Flemington branch from Flemington-Three Bridges, and they also go trackage about three miles of track in the Lambertville area. In 1995 the Black River started switching the freight cars at the Union Carbide Bound Brook plant which is located on the Middlesex / Piscataway border. In November of 1995 the BRW purchased the the Conrail Delaware Running Track. It runs from Phillipsburg to Milford, NJ. In the early 1990's the BRW started selling off its Alco fleet ( with the exception of 60 ) and aquiring EMD units. By 1995 the BRW was Alco-free. The rail service on the Flemington line dates back to 1854 when the Flemington Railroad & Transportation company started service to Flemington.

For corrections email brw148@yahoo.com

Last Updated January 22, 1999

Black River & Western RR
All Rights Reserved

Return to brwrr.com