NJ Transit's Branchline In Disguise

ALL CREDITED FOOTAGE HAS AN @(Someone)! IT DOES NOT BELONG TO ME!
NJ Transit's Raritan Valley Line is among the most interesting and historic lines in the state of New Jersey, as it follows the original mainline of the state's namesake railroad. Today, we uncover by far the most bizarre portion of this line, in which the mainline acts like a branchline on a number of occasions, which makes it so weird. Anyway, let me explain this so-called Branchline / Mainline hybrid section of one of NJ's busiest lines and why it's so bizarre. Enjoy this one, ladies and gentlemen!
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Thanks for watching, y'all! Have a great day!

[@45Steamer]

NJ Transit is planning to extend the Raritan Valley line from High Bridge to Phillipsburg or even Allentown, PA

[@glassowaterful]

where can i read about these plans

[@Amtk-712]

Allentown would be great!! Let’s hope they will!

[@TheMrPeteChannel]

Knowing how things are run in that state it won't be ready until 2035.

[@gonzoengineering4894]

A Phillipsburg station would make my rail journey's absurdly convenient and a rail link to Allentown would make the Sinatra lover in me grin ear to ear. All that said I would rather have weekend services to these "remote" corners of the network. Some of these stations would quadruple ridership figures overnight running a single train each way on Saturday.

[@philnaegely]

@@TheMrPeteChannelit's part of the the Lehigh valley train expansion including Amtrak and extending septa from Lansdale to Bethlehem as well

[@kevinkern2149]

Nice video! As a life-long RVL traveler, I'm glad to see it get some attention. The original CNJ line past High Bridge to Easton was indeed abandoned in 1983 with low ridership cited as the reason, and then the line was severed just east of Phillipsburg by the construction of I-78, it being cheaper than building an overpass over the out-of-service trackage. Proposals to bring service back would either have to reconstruct this section, or make use of the parallel Lehigh Valley Line used by Norfolk Southern. Speaking of the Lehigh Line, the only part of the RVL that shares traffic with regular freights is the small section of Conrail Shared Assets between Aldene and Hunter. This is where the former CNJ main uses the former LV main to reach the former PRR Northeast Corridor just outside Newark (the CNJ originally terminated in Jersey City at the historic Communipaw Terminal, which still exists and serves as the NJ terminus for ferries to Ellis and Liberty Islands). The two stations on this stretch, Roselle Park and Union, both feature gantlet tracks to keep the freights away from the platforms. NS's Lehigh Line does have connections with the RVL at Bound Brook, which is where you'll find all the filmers. Say what you will about the low ridership past Raritan; those stations are probably some of the only ones on NJT's system where you don't have to pay for parking.

[@j.t.5178]

Honestly, I would love to see the RVL extended to Allentown. That means I can finally visit family there, lol. It rode it once to Cranford and I thought, there is a lot of opportunity on this line for transit expansion. I don't understand why this train only goes to Newark and not NYC. Is due to lack of capacity at NYC-Penn?

[@TheMrPeteChannel]

​@@j.t.5178NJT hates crossing the Hudson! 😂

[@AshleyRyan15]

@@j.t.5178 NJT would love to run it to NYP, and they do off peak on weekdays, but during rush hour (when every bit of capacity between NYP and NJ is used) and on weekends (when every bit of capacity is used because one of the tunnels has been closed on weekends for maintenance since Sandy) they still terminate in NWK

[@westofhudsonstudios4726]

@@j.t.5178 Allentown would be awesome!

[@de-fault_de-fault]

0:47 it's actually the opposite. Midday trains are extended to Penn Station because there's excess capacity there at that time, but all rush hour trains end at Newark because NY Penn can't handle more trains at peak. The ALP45DP's that make through service to New York possible were ordered when the first Penn Station expansion plan (ARC) was still in motion, figuring there would be more capacity by the time they arrived. Then those tunnels and the station expansion got Christie'd so the extra capacity hasn't materialized yet. Maybe when Gateway is done...

[@westofhudsonstudios4726]

NJT literally never finishes their projects because they've been a hot mess in terms of money for years. The reasons why most of their projects haven't been done (a couple haven't even been started) is because of the FRA screwing them over with constant environmental studies, and because NJT keeps investing in ALP45DPs despite them being utterly garbage locomotives.

[@ryan225360]

Why are the ALP-45’s bad?

[@de-fault_de-fault]

@@ryan225360 they’re horrible on fuel in diesel mode, so when they’re doing runs that don’t take advantage of electric mode, it’s kind of a waste.

[@HighIronProductions]

Amtrak's 2035 plan includes reopening the line beyond High Bridge for Allentown - NYP service. I believe they have a stop in Somerville planned.

[@westofhudsonstudios4726]

That sounds AWESOME!!

[@15913Music]

And possibly Westfield

[@SleepTrain456]

That sounds good! I think this would improve the line!

[@Davids_Hobbies]

I would like to propose a future video based on this same idea. I believe that the Morris & Essex Line (my local line that I railfan almost every weekday) has a hidden branch line between Dover and Hackettstown. A couple quirks of that area of the M&E is that it isn't served on weekends (like the actual branch line, the Gladstone Branch) as well as there are trains that stop (and subsequently go back towards Hoboken) at Mount Olive but dont go to the next and final stop on the line at Hackettstown.

[@westofhudsonstudios4726]

The Hackettstown section iirc used to be considered a branch by some people! I wanted to focus on this section of track for a while now, but I don't really know yet. Thanks for bringing this up!

[@J-Bahn]

As someone who lives along this part of the Raritan Valley Line, its great to see it get some attention. If haven't already filmed the trip report, I'd love to do a collab if you're into that sort of thing. Quick note: there used to be more stations between Hampton and Phillipsburg, though they closed before NJT took over service. the part between honestly does feel like a serpate branch sometimes, what with the crew changes every time the train goes past Raritan yard. As a transit activitist, one of my goals is to improve the service on the line West of Raritan. We need weekend service along the line NOW, if only every 2-3 hours it is today, and eventually we need to put in the second track and add high level platforms at each of the station. Was really surprised to hear max speed was 50mph, especially considering the train is still really competitive travel time wise. Long term, electrification would also be great, though this admittedly unlikely to happen on the Lehigh line. In my mind, the long term solution is to reopen the old CNJ line from Cranford to Elizabeth and built the connector onto the Northeast Corridor there instead of New Brunswick. It would allow RVL passengers a 1 seat ride to the AIRTrain, and would allow people to get to the NJCL and places on the Northeast Corridor faster, along with freeing up capacity at Newark.

[@matthewhernandez8342]

Jeez I’ve never taken the train past Dunellen, how long is the whole trip to Newark?

[@J-Bahn]

@@matthewhernandez8342 around 1 hour 50 minutes to high bridge, though it can be 20 minutes faster if you are on an express train

[@westofhudsonstudios4726]

In my brutal opinion, they should bring back service to P-burg... BUT it would be SUPER expensive being that they'd have to completely revamp everything past high bridge.

[@J-Bahn]

@@westofhudsonstudios4726 Honestly, if rebuilding the entire Lackawanna Cut-Off is on the table, I think it's a reasonable goal to refurbish the existing track between High Bridge and Bloomsbury (especially if its part of a broader plan to bring train service to not just P-Burg but Easton, Bethlehelm, and Allentown).

[@ronaryel6445]

The reason the number of outbound trains do not always equal the inbound trains is because a) some are not needed and b) the trains can be repurposed onto a different branch on a given trip. Remember that the primary purpose of a commuter railroad is not to serve rail buffs taking pictures or videos; it's to move people where they want to go.

[@westofhudsonstudios4726]

Ahh now that sums things up, for some reason I thought all commuter lines in the US were supposed to have equal numbers of round trips... haha! Thanks for telling me!

[@jimsears9365]

In the late 70s, I took the RVL from Philipsburg to Newark. At that time, there was no station house; it was just an empty lot. The passenger cars seemed to be from the 1920s, with small crystal chandelier light fixtures. I recall asking a conductor who the commuters were. He responded that he believed they were business owners who checked in a couple of times a week. I only took the train once. It was much easier to catch the TNJ bus from Easton, where I attended college.

[@westofhudsonstudios4726]

Yup... back in the 70s, CNJ was in a terrible state. Glad we have more nicer coaches than the ones from the roaring 20s! Great story!

[@bobjersey]

DISTASTORILY-low ridership, he said... 🤣

[@westofhudsonstudios4726]

Might've spoken too fast there haha!

[@matthewhernandez8342]

I grew up living in North Plainfield when I was a kid and teenager, 30 minutes walking from the Plainfield station on the Raritan Valley Line.

[@westofhudsonstudios4726]

Oh cool!

[@matthewfronheiser9011]

Great video, glad to see someone taking interest in the line. I live in Raritan, of all the trains only go to high bridge on most weekday runs. Trains only don’t go past Raritan only late in the evening and on weekends. We only have trains run into New York penn on off peak hours. The problem with the RVL is that the trains don’t go into NYC aside from a few during off peak hours. The traffic on 78 from PA is crazy. If the line extended into PA and went directly into the city especially during rush hour there would be more riders. Hopefully one day, when I go into the city I choose to drive and then take the ferry to avoid the hassle of changing trains.

[@westofhudsonstudios4726]

One of the comments said that the only reason they go to NYP in the first place is because Newark can kinda get overpopulated at times, so trains kinda go into NYC to drop off other riders.

[@SleepTrain456]

I've heard about the Raritan Valley Line, but I learned a lot more about the High Bridge section here! Thanks for the information!

[@OhItsReallyNoah]

Thank you for these incredibly informative videos! I always come away having learned so much!

[@westofhudsonstudios4726]

Of course! Glad you got to learn from me!

[@lngvly22]

I would imagine the uneven eastbound/westbound schedule is because the morning rush hour is much more condensed - most people have to be in their office by 8 or 9, but people might stay in the city late for dinners, happy hours, etc - meaning some people leave right at 4 or 5pm but stay until 9pm, 10pm, etc But yes, service here needs to be improved ASAP

[@westofhudsonstudios4726]

I do agree, but remember, this section is in the middle of nowhere with barely anyone living there (on average, each town has at least 1.5k residents), perhaps I should've mentioned that!

[@lngvly22]

@@westofhudsonstudios4726 You’re right, but there’s probably a large park and ride market (at least in theory) that draws people from a few miles away from the stations. When that earthquake happened in Tewksbury/Lebanon a few weeks back, I remember reading that the news interviewed someone who lived in Flemington but was waiting for a train in Whitehouse was at the station when the earthquake hit.

[@Trainfan1055Janathan]

Such blasphemy against electric locomotives! I love the ALP-46. My favorite NJ Transit locomotive is the ARROW III.

[@westofhudsonstudios4726]

Not hating on electric locomotives at all! It's just that ALP46s are... sorta everywhere on the Newark Division and in my opinion they start to get boring after seeing a lot! 😅

[@arsenicCatnip413]

great video explaining the line ! i really enjoyed it and i have subscribed!! i just love niche little branch lines like this, they are so funny.

[@westofhudsonstudios4726]

Thanks so much for subscribing! I agree, unknown sections of rail lines are always fun to discuss!

[@travelsofmunch1476]

As a frequent rider of the Wassaic branch line this is like learning about a long lost cousin

[@westofhudsonstudios4726]

Great connection! I never knew the Wassaic "branch" was so similar to this!

[@travelsofmunch1476]

@@westofhudsonstudios4726 I look forward to the Wassaic branch video ;)

[@rachaelgoldman5846]

This is very complex and good video. It is especially concerning because NJT is always looking at ridership. There has to be another reason for why this line is still operating even with low ridership. I'm interested in seeing more of your videos.

[@westofhudsonstudios4726]

Another possible reason for ridership as bad as this is possibly due to the populations of each town that has a station past Raritan. After doing some more research, I found that this region isn't that big at all with each town having on average just 2,000 people. There's definitely more videos coming on the way, glad you're interested!

[@EpicThe112]

Really excellent video speaking of Annandale look closely at the license plates they might be Pennsylvania drivers because it's just literally straight down Interstate 78 a bit further Exit 45 Gladstone Branch Summit. Exit 29 Gladstone Peapack station. Weekend service is needed for that portion because you have Pennsylvania/NJ drivers from the Allentown area drive to I-78 East Exit 16 Route 31 North Washington Annandale station.

[@westofhudsonstudios4726]

Never knew that much people came from PA, but then again, Annandale is relatively close to the Del River! Thanks!

[@EpicThe112]

@westofhudsonstudios4726 from the Delaware river 15-20 miles from Easton,PA. On weekdays the last train here is the 10:45pm from NY Penn Station. For Raritan Station from the Delaware River shortcut is Exit 18 I-78 East US-22 Somerville

[@njtrailfan4508]

Awesome video

[@westofhudsonstudios4726]

Thank you!! :D

[@rexracernj7696]

I live in the Lehigh Valley of PA, & only rode this once. As a transit & RR fan, I must say it was embarrassingly slow, & I see trains are infrequent. There's a proposal to run Amtrak over this line as far as Allentown PA, but the proposed schedules are ALSO embarrassingly slow, it's planned to take 2.5 hours Allentown to NYC, while a driver on parallel I-78 can make the trip in a full hour less.

[@wavesnbikes]

Hey man great video. I agree on mostly everything, except double tracking to Phillipsburg. There's no need to double track all the way to P burg. Good dispaching and planning should do. Just have more frequency, Platform lengthening. Track, bridge and signaling improvements and longer sidings.

[@philliplee980]

I used to work for NJT and worked at Raritan yard

[@mmrw]

Kinda like the Metro North Harlem line where the line north of Southeast station acts as a branch (although that somehow has better service than this…which is saying a lot)

[@westofhudsonstudios4726]

Are you referring to the Wassaic part? Or is that a different line?

[@mmrw]

@@westofhudsonstudios4726 yes, the part from Southeast to Wassaic acts much like this with most trains terminating at or before Southeast and most service to Wassaic just being essentially shuttle service. Although there are some direct trains

[@lorenzonarucki1853]

Good video! Personally I don't find ALP46s boring. Instead I think seeing too many PL42ACs is boring. But maybe that's just because I'm near a diesel line.

[@westofhudsonstudios4726]

We all have opinions here and they all matter! Me personally, both are kinda boring but that's just me. Thanks for watching!

[@howardsontz983]

Thank you for this very interesting video.

[@westofhudsonstudios4726]

Any time!

[@mauricerivermusic9110]

RVL should be extended to Philadrelphia by heading south at Bound Brook on the old Reading/B&O line, then change train onto the already extant SEPTA service at West Trenton.

[@Booger414]

I ride the RVL to visit friends but have never been to this section. Maybe someday when I have extra time I will go to the end of the line and come back to their stop.

[@westofhudsonstudios4726]

Beware, trains are only going past Raritan once every 2 - 3 hours, so if you miss a train, it's a LONG wait!

[@Booger414]

@@westofhudsonstudios4726 Thanks for the heads up.

[@whenuraquar]

praising a line for running diesel over electric is crazy

[@Keither754]

Agreed 😂 I commented the same thing

[@westofhudsonstudios4726]

Yeah I'm kinda biased when it comes to diesel power since I grew up close to Metro North!

[@bed3996]

unrelated but my nj transit app broke i swear 😭 i cant see the departurevision anymore i have to get the schedule for the day or look on the ticket buying machine 😭

[@Keither754]

5:08 not sure how *not* being electrified is a good thing? 😅 Diesel costs more (in the long-term) for operations and is terrible for the environment as well. Otherwise a very interesting and informative video!

[@westofhudsonstudios4726]

I do agree but lately, diesel technology has improved DRASTICALLY! New FLIRTs have been taking over various worldwide rail lines and it's only a matter of time until they flood America's lesser-used passenger lines as well! Yes, electrification is still eco-friendly but is also STUPIDLY expensive! Thanks for watching!

[@Keither754]

@@westofhudsonstudios4726 also fair! Didn’t think of it that way 🤔 thanks for the reply.

[@blaiserichburg7423]

Hopefully this will get extended to the Lehigh Valley and it can act like a real line again

[@mauricerivermusic9110]

As a child in the '40s & '50s I'd often take the Lehigh Valley from South Plainfield to Bethlehem because it was much faster than the Jersey Central from Westfield. The LV had a tunnel, while the Jersey Central went around the mountain and had several stops on that northerly circuit. In PA the LV kept to the south bank of the Lehigh River and the Central/Reading was on the northern bank. LV probably cost more, but from South Plainfield it stopped at P-burg, Easton, Bethlehem. The Central stopped at every little station.

[@bostonrailfan2427]

how is this a branch line when it’s just AN EXTENSION? it’s not running shuttle trains like the Princeton Dinky or the LIRR’s Babylon and West Babylon lines?

[@westofhudsonstudios4726]

It's not really an extension so to speak. The entirety of the RVL is the former CNJ mainline, and it didn't really cut off anywhere until it reached High Bridge when a few trains split off to the High Bridge branch. But even then, regular CNJ trains went into Easton, Allentown, and even as far as Scranton. I get what you're saying though!

[@bostonrailfan2427]

@@westofhudsonstudios4726 understood: you were speaking out of your ass. you have zero clue what a branch line actually it.

[@davidfrischknecht8261]

Why not just call us "rail fans"?

[@Keither754]

“Foamers” is meant to describe the over-the-top or obsessive rail fans that unfortunately give the actually good rail fans a bad reputation.

[@westofhudsonstudios4726]

@@Keither754 yeah... foamers are a whole new breed but I still call myself one! 😅

[@MoransPlan]

How does north Jersey have this and many other lines but in Central Jersey we can't get the MOM and only have the overcrowded Route 9 to drive ?

[@westofhudsonstudios4726]

Because North Jersey has lines that lead into MUCH busier cities, and central jersey is mainly just... fields and tiny villages. The biggest city is Trenton (the state capital) and some people consider it south jersey for some reason.

[@_SP64_]

the cancellation of the Access to the Region's core project was a big reason why the MOM project basically stalled

[@Dougc3157]

Njtransit, lots of delays, cancellations, and fare hikes up the you know where. One of the worst rail line in New Jersey and one that wastes a lot of money going know where. It needs a total overhaul to get it running where people will use it.

[@westofhudsonstudios4726]

Wouldn't call it the worst railroad but I kind of second this. NJ Transit has been in a financial mess for years and they still have yet to finish it. I like NJ Transit because it's a cool railroad in my eyes!

[@MasterKhem]

Is that Mario 64 music? Lol😅