System map (West Jersey and Seashore Railroad lines in red, Atlantic City Railroad lines in purple)
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Locale | Camden and Winslow Junction, New Jersey, to Atlantic City and Ocean City and Cape May |
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Dates of operation | 1889–1933 |
Successor | Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
Headquarters | Camden, New Jersey |
The Atlantic City Railroad was a Philadelphia and Reading Railway subsidiary that became part of Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines in 1933. At the end of 1925 it operated 161 miles of road on 318 miles of track; that year it reported 43 million ton-miles of revenue freight and 204 million passenger-miles.
Effective 1 April 1889, the Philadelphia and Reading Railway consolidated all of its railroads in Southern New Jersey into the Atlantic City Railroad.
On 20 July 1904, the regularly-scheduled train no. 25, which ran from Kaighn's Point in Camden, NJ to Atlantic City NJ, with Philadelphia and Reading Railway class P-4c 4-4-2 No.334 and 5 passenger cars, set a speed record. It ran the 55.5 miles in 43 minutes at an average speed of 77.4 mph. The 29.3 miles between Winslow Jct and Meadows Tower (outside of Atlantic City) were covered in 20 minutes at a speed of 87.9 mph. During the short segment between Egg Harbor and Brigantine Jct, the train was reported to have reached 115 mph.
Incorporated on 17 June 1873 by a group from Gloucester City, which wanted a rail line to link the busy passenger ferry landing at Kaighn's Point in Camden to the Gloucester City industrial area 3.9 miles (6.3 km) away, then from that point another 1.3 miles (2.1 km) to Mount Ephraim Borough.
A 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge was required, as much of the right of way used existing city streets with sharp curves. Work began in January, 1874 and the line from Kaighn's Point to Gloucester City opened on 14 February 1874. The line to Mount Ephraim Borough opened in May 1876. In the middle of November, 1884, the Philadelphia and Reading Railway acquired the Camden, Gloucester & Mt Ephraim Railway. The Philadelphia and Reading Railway converted the track to 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge in 1885.