Steam to Diesel in New Jersey: Revised Edition

By Charles P. Caldes

Illustrated with nearly 200 historic images, the pivotal birth of diesel dominance and New Jersey's critical role is documented and investigated.

At the end of World War II, the nation's railroads were eager to replace their abundance of war-weary steam locomotives with sleek new diesel engines. From Cape May to Bayonne, New Jersey's tracks were soon humming with diesels while the old steamers were nudged onto the scrap tracks of the Central New Jersey, the Erie, and the New York, Susquehanna & Western Railroads, among others. Powering a commuter train to Dover or a sand train to Millville's Wheaton glass plant, the diesels instantly proved their worth, praised by railroad employees for their ease of running and maintenance. In an era when most clothes were dried outside, the public accepted the new lack of trackside coal ash with gusto. Steam to Diesel in New Jersey presents the mixed era of late-steam and early-diesel power on the big and small railroads of New Jersey, from the mid-1940s to the end of the 1950s. From the Baldwins to the Alcos, the steam-spewing Behemoths to the smooth-running RS series, this engaging collection of vintage photographs remembers a time filled with wonder and change. With nearly two hundred images, Steam to Diesel in New Jersey showcases the departing steam engines and the emerging diesels that ushered in a new period of railroad history.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Oct 1, 2002
• ISBN: 9781439628508

Charles P. Caldes

Charles P. Caldes, raised in Ridgefield, New Jersey, has written extensively about the abandoned railroads of New Jersey. He is a member of the Bergen-Rockland and the West Jersey chapters of the National Railway Historical Society. For Caldes, exploring the state's many abandoned rights-of-way is a lifelong task of enjoyment.

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INTRODUCTION

As soon as World War II ended, the rush to modernize became the priority for our nation’s industries. Steel mills and war plants had been running around the clock; ore and blunt parts were shipped in, and the finished products were transported out. Most of the tonnage was handled by overworked steam locomotives, many due for the scrap heap long before the war’s end. When the war was over, the nation’s industrial base was no longer under wartime constraints. The railroads quickly began placing the first significant industrial orders for the war-proven diesel-powered locomotives.

In service since 1924, the first successful diesel-electric was introduced as Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) No. 1000, a box-shaped 300-horsepower switcher built by the American Locomotive Company (Alco). It took more than 20 years for the diesel locomotive to be accepted on an industry-wide basis. Nowhere was the inception of the diesel locomotive more apparent than in New Jersey, with its abundance of railroad companies.

Before the war, New Jersey’s railroads had been slowly purchasing diesels for switching and passenger use. At the war’s end, the picture changed dramatically. The large internal-combustion engine had by this time shown its worth on the rails, as it had on the seas for decades. New Jersey’s railroad power managers swiftly started placing orders for the locomotives that the engine builders were now offering—machines that were simpler to maintain and easier to run. The most dominant of the builders was the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors, followed by Alco, Baldwin, and Fairbanks-Morse. The locomotive companies strived to develop the best they could in the shortest period of time. New Jersey’s railroads placed orders with all of the locomotive builders and had to wait for deliveries as the manufacturers geared up for peacetime commerce.

The Electro-Motive Division of General Motors had the advantage over the competition, a lead that did not change for 50 years. With a stable of three winners, the competition would always be a step behind. With the SW-series switcher, the E-series twin passenger locomotive, and the F-series freight hauler having already demonstrated their power, speed, and reliability, the orders for new models soon mounted for the division. The other diesel locomotive manufacturers, however, were producing some excellent models. Alco’s RS series of road engines is still in use today. The Baldwin switchers and the Fairbanks-Morse Train Masters were good engines but did not sell well enough to stay in business.

The steam-to-diesel transition took more than a decade to complete. The railroads had tens of thousands of steam locomotives to replace—not an overnight project. Across New Jersey, steam locomotives were a common sight well into the 1950s, but you had to search farther each year to experience the tremendous surges of smoke, the blaring tunes of the whistle, and the exterior gear movements that blurred the powered wheels of all steamers in motion. Each month, all that was cherished from steam locomotives faded bit by bit from the transportation scene.

In Steam to Diesel in New Jersey, the photographs present steam in its golden years and diesel in its formative youth. The backdrops of stations, buildings, cars, trucks, passengers, and railroad employees should give the reader an idea of what life was like 50 to 65 years ago in a much less populated New Jersey. At that time, people went to the nearest train station to start an overnight journey to Grandma’s house in Indiana or to drop off a Christmas package that was too big for the post office to handle but was accepted by the Railway Express agent for departure on the next train. During the era when the airlines flew safer, more profitable