Jump to content

Queen of the Valley

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Queen of the Valley
Queen of the Valley, circa 1930s, including mail car and passenger revenue cars
Overview
Service typeInter-city rail
StatusDiscontinued
LocaleNortheastern United States
First service1911
Last service1967
Former operator(s)Central Railroad of New Jersey/Reading Railroad
Route
TerminiJersey City, New Jersey
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Distance travelled179.5 miles (288.9 km)
Average journey time4 hours, 47 minutes, westbound; 4 hours, 18 minutes, eastbound
Service frequencyDaily, except Sunday (1936); daily (1961)
Train number(s)199 (westbound) and 192 (eastbound)
On-board services
Seating arrangementsCoach
Catering facilitiesDining-Club car
Observation facilitiesParlor car (1936)
Other facilitiesMail car
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm)

The Queen of the Valley was a named train of the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) that ran between Jersey City, New Jersey, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, via the Lehigh Valley and Reading. The train took about 4 12 hours to traverse the 179.5-mile (288.9 km) route, the longest in the CNJ system, exceeding the Atlantic City-bound Blue Comet. First operated in 1911, it was the longest-running train of the CNJ when discontinued in 1967.

Route

[edit]

From Communipaw Terminal in Jersey City, the Queen of the Valley traveled south to Bayonne, but did not have any stops until the train's later years,[1] traversed the harbor at Elizabethport, headed west along the CNJ's Main Line. It continued past Elizabeth's CNJ station, Plainfield Station, to High Point station and Hampton, the end point for the regular NJ Transit Raritan Valley Line commuter service.

From there, the route continued to Phillipsburg's Union Station, Easton, Bethlehem's Bethlehem Station, and Allentown's Allentown Station.

From Allentown, the train traveled along the territory of the Reading Railroad, continuing west to Reading, stopping at the Reading Outer station, and then to Lebanon and terminating in Harrisburg.

History

[edit]

In the mid-1930s the Queen of the Valley ran six days a week.[2] In the early 1960s it was daily in operation.[1]

In 1963, the route was shortened from Harrisburg and Reading to Allentown, owing to the loss of mail contracts.[3] Following the creation of the new Aldene Connection in 1967 and the closure of the CNJ Terminal in New Jersey, the train was terminated. However, some commuter service on the Allentown to Newark via the new Aldene Connection continued.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Official Guide of the Railways, June 1961, Central Railroad of New Jersey section
  2. ^ Official Guide of the Railways, August 1936, Central Railroad of New Jersey section, Table 1
  3. ^ "Timetable World".