Black River and Western Railroad
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Former Great Western 60
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| Reporting mark | BRW |
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| Locale | Hunterdon County, New Jersey |
| Dates of operation | Chester 1961-1964, Ringoes 1965– |
| Predecessor |
Pennsylvania Railroad Central Railroad of New Jersey |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Length | 16 miles (26 kilometres) |
| Headquarters | Ringoes, New Jersey |
| Website | brwrr.com |
The Black River and Western Railroad (reporting mark BRW) is a short-line railroad operating in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, between Flemington and Ringoes. The railroad operates vintage steam and diesel powered locomotives: it maintains a regular limited freight service, but is operated primarily as a heritage railway.
The Black River & Western Railroad was started by William Whitehead in Oldwick, New Jersey, in the late 1950s. A portion of the defunct Rockaway Valley Railroad went through his back yard. He and his sons started collecting rolling stock and an engine (Lackawanna #565). They started laying tracks but then the expansion of I-78 halted their dream of building a railroad at that location. They moved their equipment to the Chester Hill Branch of the Central Railroad of New Jersey with the hope of starting a railroad there. The section of railroad they were scouting soon became landlocked by the construction of I-80.
The Black River & Western Railroad (BR&W) was incorporated in 1961. The railroad's name is derived from the Black River, a river in Chester, and the direction that the river flows. The cars were moved to Flemington, New Jersey and the search for a place to start their tourist train was continued. A leasing arrangement was created the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) that allowed a tourist train to operate from Flemington to Lambertville on the original Belvidere-Delaware Railroad (PRR Belvidere Division) Flemington Branch (originally the Flemington Railroad & Transportation Company). BR&W paid $5,000 a year and rehabilitated the railroad (the PRR operated freight service on the line during this period). Steam engine #60 pulled the first trip out of Flemington on May 16, 1965. Weekend and holiday schedules were devised. On March 16, 1970, the Black River & Western Railroad took over the ownership and operations of the entire Flemington Branch from the CNJ connection in Flemington to Flemington Branch Junction in Lambertville purchasing it from the Penn Central. With the acquisition of the railroad right of way and its freight operations, on top of the existing tourist passenger service, a true shortline railroad was born. Their base of operations was, and still is, out of Ringoes NJ. Freight interchange after the 1970 purchase was made with Penn Central at Lambertville and the CNJ in Flemington. Not long after the purchase, Penn Central filed for bankruptcy on June 21, 1970. At the time it was the biggest corporation in the United States to file for bankruptcy. Penn Central continued to operate its freight trains under bankruptcy protection until April 1, 1976 when Conrail took over operations (the last PC freight train to operate on the Belvidere Division was on March 28, 1976). The BR&W purchased three miles of trackage in the Lambertville area that was part of the Belvidere Division mainline on March 31, 1976 before Conrail took over. BR&W also purchased the Flemington-Three Bridges portion of the CNJ Flemington Branch from Somerville on this date. Although the major freight trains that hauled coal, iron ore and general freight were rerouted to other lines such as Reading Lines' North Penn Branch, CR continued operating smaller interchange freight trains to Lambertville. Since April 1976, a new interchange was being planned at Three Bridges, NJ with the ex-Lehigh Valley mainline and construction started on this in January 1977, opening in March of 1977. CR and BR&W hosted a train trip on the Flemington Branch, Belvidere Division and former Lehigh Valley Railroad mainline in late March after the interchange in Three Bridges was opened. CR stopped regularly using the Belvidere Division south of Milford after the event since interchange was being handled through Three Bridges instead of Lambertville, although they operated a service maintenance train on November 12, 1978 between Milford and Lambertville to check the line for washouts and fallen trees. That would indeed be the last train to operate on that section of the Belvidere Division and trackage was soon removed north and south of Lambertville to Milford and Trenton between 1979 and 1982. The right of way today is the Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park Rail-Trail. BR&W continued serving customers such as Trap Rock Industries Quarry, Nieces Lumber, Finkels Hardware and Belmont Packaging in Lambertville throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
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