From The Star-Ledger New Jersey Full steam ahead in Phillipsburg Old-fashioned train to begin excursions along Delaware River line Friday, April 23, 2004 BY MIKE FRASSINELLI Star-Ledger Staff It arrived in a cloud of white vapor, four decades late, but just in time for Phillipsburg. Steam locomotive No. 142, which is scheduled to take passengers on excursions along the Delaware River in Warren County beginning May 1, arrived Wednesday in Phillipsburg hauling seven cars and the hopes of a scarred New Jersey town looking to regain an identity. For the first time since 1960, passenger trains will run on the old Belvidere & Delaware River Railway -- the Bel-Del, as it was affectionately known. For the first time since Kennedy debated Nixon, the air in Phillipsburg will be filled with the unique teapot-whistle-times-a-hundred sound from another century. "Anytime that a steam train excursion is launched is something that's really novel," said Kean Burenga, president of Black River & Western Railroad, running the trips in conjunction with Phillipsburg and locomotive owner New York Susquehanna & Western Technical & Historical Society. "It brings the community together," said Burenga, whose family has run steam train excursions in Hunterdon County between Ringoes and Flemington since 1965. "If you look around town, you'll see people beautifying their properties. People are at the printer getting signs made, taking out advertising and really getting up for this because of the immediate economic aspect of tourism." The Phillipsburg steam excursion is described as the only one of its kind in the state this summer. It is the result of a three-way agreement between a town that covets tourists, a short-rail line owner that wants to highlight one of only about 100 working steamers in the country and a steam locomotive owner that wants a playing field for its train. The 45-minute trips -- $10 for adults and $5 for children age 3-12, with slightly higher rates for the deluxe air-conditioned car -- are to take passengers on a scenic eight- mile round-trip along the Delaware River from Phillipsburg to Carpentersville in Pohatcong Township and back. Steam locomotive No. 142 -- there are so few remaining that rail enthusiasts identify them by number -- will run Saturdays and Sundays, every hour on the hour between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. through Sept. 6. In addition, a self-propelled 1930 Brill motor car, the "Delaware Turtle," is to carry riders on Thursdays and Fridays in July and August and weekends in October. The grand opening is scheduled to take place below Union Square in Phillipsburg at 10 a.m. May 1. Before finding a home in Phillipsburg for the summer, the train had been making excursions throughout New Jersey and New York. On Wednesday, the train of hope made its entrance like a great performer -- in a puff of smoke. The black locomotive with the white steam arrived from a black- and-white era when time was measured in days, not nanoseconds. Arriving in Phillipsburg on a bright, warm afternoon after a journey that had begun the day before in Butler, the 15-year-old steamer made in China was a magnet to drivers and residents alike along the way. John Willever, 77, was sweeping the garage of his Washington Borough, Warren County, home when he heard the theme song of his youth. Whooo-oooo! Whooo-oooo! "I was out in my back yard and I heard a distinctive whistle," Willever said in Phillipsburg, 13 miles from where his trip began. "So I chased him all the way down." Who can blame him? A train is romantic enough. But a steam train is something that train buff or amateur rail watcher, suspender-wearer or not, can appreciate. Pushing a stroller, Rich Gonzalez brought his 8-month-old son, Anton, to see the locomotive, along with Jen Faust and her 2-year-old daughter, Mackahla. For this train, the father had a child-like wonder of his own. "A steam engine," Gonzalez said in disbelief. "This is the first time I've ever seen one in my life." In Phillipsburg, where road signs remind drivers and pedestrians that the town is the "Future Home of New Jersey's Rail & Transportation Museum," the arrival of the steam locomotive this week is a validation of years of efforts to redevelop the town. "It's fantastic, a real thrill," Mark Portnoy, director of the Phillipsburg Urban Enterprise Zone, said as he took in the sight of the locomotive. "It's a tremendous opportunity for us to merge our beautiful riverfront with our railroad infrastructure and our historic architecture downtown".
Haven't found a map on their site. But I did find the following statement: "March 16, 1970 The Black River & Western Railroad assumed ownership and operation of the entire Flemington/Lambertville line purchasing it from the Penn Central. On the same day, the Pennsylvania Railroad and New York Central merged to become the Penn Central." Slight problem. The Penn Central merger was consumated on February 1, 1968. Looks like someone goofed on their research. Boxcab E50
