The Raritan River Railroad (RRRR) began operations in 1888 and grew to the final size of 12.6 mile mainline that ran from South Amboy to New Brunswick. It was a wholly owned but independent subsidiary of both the CNJ/JERSEY CENTRAL and PRR?PENNSYLVANIA RRs. The RRRR's equipment roster consisted of (1980) five cabooses (ex New Haven see RMT-96978 RRRR in CABOOSE section to order), one crane, one gondola, one covered hopper, one 40ft box car and 100 leased 50ft 'railbox-style' boxcars, all of which were lettered RARITAN RIVER RR. With the creation of Conrail in April 1976, the then-profitable Raritan River was supposed to be included along with their bankrupt parent railroads. The RRRR resisted inclusion in Conrail and took court action to forestall it. Four years later, on April 24, 1980, the Raritan River Railroad merged into the Conrail system. Portions of the RRRR remain today (2009) in operation by CONRAIL Shared Assets RR and some aboandoned trackage may be re-born as a light rail system in Central NJ. Red with white RR lettering and numbers. A unique prototypically influenced paint scheme not ever modelled in 3-rail O gauge before. Reference is made to National Lead Company, the largest shipper on the RRRR, at one time the source of over 30% of RRRR business. |