The Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines was a railroad that operated in Southern New Jersey in the 20th century. It was created in 1933 as a joint consolidation venture between two competing railroads in the region: the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Reading Company.
History
In the early 20th century, Atlantic City and the South Jersey seashore were major seaside vacation destinations for Philadelphia area residents. The popularity of South Jersey's seashore was made possible by rail transport, which provided inexpensive and fast service between the Philadelphia area's population centers and shore points.[1]
There were two competing railroad companies connecting Camden and, by ferry, Philadelphia, with the South Jersey seashore.[2] Competition was fierce and by its height in the 1920s competition between the West Jersey and Seashore Railroad (WJ&S), owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad, and the Atlantic City Railroad, owned by the Philadelphia and Reading Railway, was so intense that at one time both lines boasted some of the fastest trains in the world.[1] Trains often raced one another so as to be the first to arrive at their destination. Racing was encouraged by the fact that in many areas, the two lines were only several hundred feet apart. On the Cape May lines, the trains were in sight of each other for 11 miles between Cape May Court House and Cape May. Over the last 5 miles into Cape May, the tracks were only 50 feet apart.
On July 1, 1926, the Benjamin Franklin Bridge opened, spanning the Delaware River, connecting Philadelphia and Camden. Car, truck, and bus usage increased as the state built roads in the 1920s and 30s next to the railroads going from Camden to the shore, cutting into profits.[2]
On March 4, 1931, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) ordered the two companies to join their southern New Jersey lines into one company. The Consolidation Agreement decreed that the Pennsylvania Railroad had two-thirds ownership, and the Reading Company had one-third ownership.[3]
Following World War II, the rise of automobile use, the completion of the Atlantic City Expressway, and growing popularity of air travel led to a reduction in rail use. Increased air travel also led some to abandon Atlantic City for more exotic vacation destinations, including Florida. By the late 1960s, the surviving former Camden and Atlantic City Main Line was reduced to a commuter service funded by the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) running trains of Budd RDC railcars operating from a small terminal at Lindenwold PATCO station and Atlantic City.
While the P-RSL did not enter bankruptcy, its owners, the Penn Central, successor to the Pennsylvania, did. The Reading filed bankruptcy a few years after the Penn Central. As a result, Conrail took over the P-RSL on April 1, 1976.[3]
Predecessors
West Jersey and Seashore Railroad
Effective May 4, 1896, the Pennsylvania Railroad consolidated all of its railroads and several smaller properties in South Jersey into the West Jersey and Seashore Railroad. The WJ&S had lines coming from its Federal Street Terminal in Camden.
The "Main Line" ran to Atlantic City and to other shore points via Winslow Junction, and its line via Woodbury to Millville. It was electrified with 650 volt DC third rail and overhead lines,[3] with branches going to Salem, and Deep Water Point from Woodbury, and Bridgeton from Glassboro.
While the WJ&S line via Woodbury was a pioneering example of railroad electrification, electric multiple unit (MU) service between Newfield and Atlantic City ended September 26, 1931. The PRSL only inherited the electrified Millville–Camden commuter rail service from WJ&S.[3]
Equipment
Steam
The 21 steam locomotives owned by the PRSL were from the PRR subsidiary WJ&S.[3] They all consisted of PRR classes. Before dieselization the PRSL was more apt to lease its motive power from either of its parent railroads as it completely lacked any heavy passenger locomotives (like 4-6-2 Pacifics). As its parent railroads began to replace steam with diesel locomotives, the PRSL became a haven for steam locomotives during their final years of operation.
Class B: 0-6-0
The 0-6-0 type was assigned class B, and was used in switcher service.
- B-6sb
- B8
Class E: 4-4-2
Successor railroads
- Cape May Seashore Lines (CMSL)
- Conrail Shared Assets Operations (CSAO)
- New Jersey Transit Rail Operations (NJT) (Atlantic City Line)
- PATCO Speedline (DRPA)
- SMS Rail Service (SMS)
- Southern Railroad of New Jersey (SRNJ)
- Winchester and Western Railroad (WW)
See also
- List of Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines passenger trains
- Atlantic City Railroad
- Atlantic City Express Service
- Central Railroad of New Jersey
- Delair Bridge
- New Jersey Southern Railroad
- PATCO Speedline
- Pennsylvania Railroad
- Reading Company
- Shore Fast Line
- 1922 Winslow Junction Train Derailment
- 1896 Atlantic City rail crash
Further reading
- Trans-Anglo Books By Rail to the Boardwalk (1986) Richard M. Gladulich ISBN 0-87046-076-5
- West Jersey Chapter-NRHS West Jersey Rails (1983) NRHS
- West Jersey Chapter-NRHS West Jersey Rails II (1985) NRHS
- West Jersey Chapter-NRHS West Jersey Rails III (2002) NRHS
- Crusader Press Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines (1980) ISBN 0-937156-02-7
- West Jersey Chapter-NRHS The Reading Seashore Lines (2007) Library of Congress Control Number 2005936161
- West Jersey Chapter-NRHS Atlantic City Railroad (1980) Library of Congress Control Number 77-79997
- West Jersey Chapter-NRHS The Philadelphia Marlton and Medford Railroad Co. 1881 - 1931 (1973)
- West Jersey Chapter-NRHS The Trains to America's Playground (1988) Morning Sun Books Inc.
- Morning Sun Books Inc Pennsylvania-Reading Seashores Lines In Color (1996) ISBN 978-1-878887-57-3
- Morning Sun Books Inc Pennsylvania-Reading Seashores Lines In Color II (2009) . ISBN 978-1-58248-258-3
- Robert Stanton The Railroads of Camden New Jersey (2006)
- Robert Stanton Trolley Days in Camden New Jersey (2004)
External links
- Your # 1 source of Southern New Jersey Railroad History on the Internet!
- Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines Historical Society
- Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines EQUIPMENT ROSTER
- Seashore Lines Reading Company 1954 Freight Shippers' Guide - Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines
- PRSL Photos
- PRSL Baldwin Diesels Photos
References
- Frederick L. Kramer. Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines: an illustrated history of South Jersey's jointly-owned railroad Crusader Press, 1980^
- The Reading seashore lines : a pictorial documentary of the Atlantic City Railroad West Jersey Chapter, National Railway Historical Society, 2007^
- Richard M. Gladulich. By rail to the boardwalk Trans Anglo Books, 1986^