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The Pemberton and Hightstown Railroad was a railroad in the U.S. state of New Jersey.
The Pemberton and Hightstown Railroad was chartered in 1864 and completed in 1868; it linked the towns of Pemberton and Hightstown, a total of 24 miles (39 km). [1] The first President of the Pemberton and Hightstown Railroad was Nathaniel Scudder Rue, Jr., who lived in Cream Ridge, NJ (he also founded the first national bank in New Jersey, The First National Bank of Hightstown). Most of the stock was purchased by the Camden and Amboy Railroad, and as such they were the owners of the line. The line was first leased to the Camden and Amboy in 1868, then the PRR through its acquisitions. In 1888 the Union Transportation Company was created to run the line, and the lease was terminated with the PRR, although they still owned the line. In 1915, the PRR merged the Pemberton and Hightstown Railroad into the Pennsylvania and Atlantic Railroad, a holdings company which included other local lines. By 1942, the UT was unable to operate the line, and contracted with the PRR to run the daily operations again. Eventually the PennCentral ran the line until 1976, until the PC merged into Conrail. The Pemberton and Hightstown Railroad, and the Union Transportation Company as operator, was not to be included in Conrail, and thus was independent and on their own. The line lasted until 1977, when due to financial problems, they ceased to exist. The Monmouth County Park System opened a 2.2 miles (3.5 km) section of the Union Transportation Trail (between Millstream Road and Jonathan Holmes Road) with a gravel surface on the right-of-way on September 25, 2010. A 2.0 miles (3.2 km) extension to Davis Station Road was completed in 2011. In February 2015, the section between County Route 526 (New Jersey) and Herbert Road/Sharon Station Road (3.0 miles (4.8 km)) had been completed, with a new parking lot and trailhead at Herbert Road and Sharon Station Road. Construction commenced in 2015 on the fourth segment (1.5 miles (2.4 km)) between County Route 526 (New Jersey) and Davis Station Road, and was completed in September 2016. The fifth segment (0.75 miles (1.21 km)) between Herbert Road/Sharon Station Road and County Route 539 (New Jersey) was completed in late January 2017 and passes through the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area. [2]
The line started in Pemberton, New Jersey, in 1868 where it had a connection with the Burlington and Camden County Railroad (1867). This gave them a connection to Mt. Holly and Camden.
The next stop it passed through was Shreve, which had a passenger shelter measuring 6 by 8 feet (1.8 m × 2.4 m), as well as a smaller milk shelter and platform.
Then Lewistown, where a wye and crossover allowed interchange with the Columbus, Kinkora, Springfield RR (1872). This would become the Kinkora Branch of the PRR many years later. There was a large freight house here, measuring 14 by 23 feet (4.3 m × 7.0 m), as well as Cattle Pen, and storage tracks just south of the wye.
Continuing on, the line ran through Wrightstown, which exploded during World War I when Fort Dix was built. This location had a big wire fence around the station grounds, with two milk platforms (one large, one small), large coal trestle, and a cattle pen. The Wrightstown freight station measured 16 by 40 feet (4.9 m × 12.2 m), while the passenger station measured 16 by 32 feet (4.9 m × 9.8 m).
The line would continue through Cookstown, which included a milk platform and cattle pen, and a 16-by-32-foot (4.9 m × 9.8 m) passenger station, and a 16-by-30-foot (4.9 m × 9.1 m) freight house.
In New Egypt the Union Transportation Company would set up its offices in 1888. New Egypt would house the shops, turntable, and water tower for the UT. The passenger station was the largest on the line, measuring 18 by 50 feet (5.5 m × 15.2 m), while the freight house measured 16 by 60 feet (4.9 m × 18.3 m). The UT's office building measured 38 by 20 feet (11.6 m × 6.1 m). The location had a cattle pen, the Engine house at 31 by 100 feet (9.4 m × 30.5 m), including a large coal trestle and a coal shed, with a locomotive coaling platform, engine pit, and a 55-foot-diameter (17 m) turntable.
Hornerstown would be next, which would also include a turntable. The passenger station was 16 by 32 feet (4.9 m × 9.8 m), as the freight house was 16 by 30 feet (4.9 m × 9.1 m). The complementary cattle pen and milk platform would be included.
Cream Ridge had a wire fence around the property, with a 16-by-32-foot (4.9 m × 9.8 m) passenger station and 16-by-30-foot (4.9 m × 9.1 m) freight house. The complementary cattle pen and milk platform would be included.
Davis also had the cattle pen and milk platform, but only a passenger station, although larger at 16 by 40 feet (4.9 m × 12.2 m). This was considered a combination freight passenger station.
Imlaystown had a slightly smaller passenger station of 16 by 26 feet (4.9 m × 7.9 m), and a freight house of 16 by 30 feet (4.9 m × 9.1 m). Cattle pen included, but no milk platform listed.
Shrewsbury was listed as a stop, which only included a milk platform.
Sharon had the standard 16-by-32-foot (4.9 m × 9.8 m) passenger station and 16-by-30-foot (4.9 m × 9.1 m) freight station, with cattle pen and milk platform.
The last stop before Hightstown, Allens would only include a milk platform.
Hightstown was the final terminus, where they shared the station with the C&A.
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3.^Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society, The Keystone, Vol. 51 No.1, Tom Panettiere, “And Then There Were None, Following PRR #5244 and The Last of Pennsy Steam in the 1950s"