Belvidere Delaware Railroad

Belvidere-Delaware Railroad

Overview
Headquarters	Trenton, New Jersey
Locale	New Jersey
Dates of operation	1851–1871 (as an independent operator), 1957 (on paper)
Successor	United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

The Belvidere-Delaware Railroad (Bel-Del, 1851–1871) was a railroad running along the eastern shore of the Delaware River from Trenton, New Jersey north via Phillipsburg, New Jersey to Manunka Chunk, New Jersey. It became an important feeder line for the Lehigh Valley Railroad's join to the Central Railroad of New Jersey,^[1] which was constructed into Phillipsburg, New Jersey, at about the same time.^[1] This connected Philadelphia and Trenton, New Jersey at one end of the shortline railroad to the rapidly growing lower Wyoming Valley region, and via the Morris Canal or the CNJ, a slow or fast connection to New York City ferries crossing New York Harbor from Jersey City, New Jersey.

In 1871, the CNJ leased various railroads in Pennsylvania, most from the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company allowing the CNJ to penetrate to the upper Wyoming Valley, over some stretches, competing directly with the Lehigh Valley Railroad and with the Lehigh Canal and the trunk road connection of the Belvidere Delaware Railroad to New York became less profitable since Philadelphia connected more easily to Northeastern Pennsylvania thereafter without needing a double-crossing of the Delaware River; a general revenue decline ensued, leading to the Pennsylvania Railroad acquiring the rights, where it served as part of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) system, carrying mainly anthracite coal and iron ore from northeastern Pennsylvania to population centers along the coast.