New York Branch

New York Branch
The Crusader on the West Trenton Railroad Bridge
Overview
System	Reading Company
Status	Conveyed to Conrail
Operation
Opened	1 May 1876 (1876-05-01)
Events
Philadelphia and Reading lease	14 May 1879 (1879-05-14)
Electrified to West Trenton	26 July 1931 (1931-07-26)
Conveyed to Conrail	1 April 1976 (1976-04-01)
Technical
Line length	47.6 mi (76.6 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification	12 kV 25 Hz overhead line
Route map CNJ Main Line to Raritan │ to Communipaw Belle Mead Hopewell Pennington Trenton Branch to Trenton West Trenton West Trenton Railroad Bridge Yardley Woodbourne Langhorne New York Short Line to Cheltenham Neshaminy Falls Trevose Somerton Forest Hills Philmont Bethayres Meadowbrook Rydal Noble Bethlehem Branch to Bethlehem Jenkintown Bethlehem Branch to Fern Rock This diagram:

The New York Branch or the Bound Brook Route was a railway line in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It was operated by the Reading Company and owned by two of its subsidiaries, the North Pennsylvania Railroad and the Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad. It formed part of the Reading's route from Philadelphia to New York City, used by the famed Crusader. The line was transferred to Conrail in 1976 and was split into the Neshaminy Line and Trenton Line. SEPTA continues to operate commuter trains to West Trenton as part of its West Trenton Line.

The North Pennsylvania Railroad portion began at Jenkintown, where it split from the Bethlehem Branch. The line ran west-northwest through Montgomery County and Bucks County, eventually crossing the Delaware River at West Trenton, New Jersey. At the middle of the bridge, Delaware and Bound Brook ownership began. The line continued northwest into New Jersey to Bound Brook Junction, where it joined the Central of New Jersey Railroad's main line.

The New York Branch was a cooperative effort between the North Pennsylvania Railroad, founded in 1852, and the Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad, a new company and part of the National Railway scheme. The goal was to construct a "New Line" between New York and Philadelphia which could compete with the Pennsylvania Railroad. The North Pennsylvania extended its line north from Jenkintown to Yardley, on the Delaware River, while the Delaware and Bound Brook constructed a new line from West Trenton to Bound Brook, New Jersey, where it joined the Central Railroad of New Jersey. The line opened for through traffic on May 1, 1876, in time for the Centennial Exposition.

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