Changes to Conrail’s footprint in North Jersey mirrored the region’s disruptive economic transformation from manufacturing to consumption as New York and New Jersey evolved from making things to simply importing them.Ĭonrail tightened its hold on lucrative freight traffic through the government-directed takeover of the six bankrupt railroads (Penn Central, Lehigh Valley, Erie Lackawanna, Lehigh & Hudson River, Reading, and Jersey Central) and that consolidated nearly all of the major eastern carriers into one company on April 1, 1976. All these facilities, as well as the lines that fed them from every point of the compass, were woven from the threads of fallen flags such as Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, Jersey Central, Reading, and New York Central. Among all the bagel shops, White Castles, and auto repair shops in North Bergen, Jersey City, Kearny, Elizabeth, and Newark, were Conrail’s freight yards, intermodal terminals, and auto facilities. Passing the same North Jersey landmarks that the fictional Tony Soprano made famous in the opening credits of the cable series “The Sopranos,” Conrail’s never-ending procession of trains would work their way through the crown jewel of their near-monopoly of rail service in the New York metropolitan region. Wiseguys and Wayfreights: Conrail in North Jersey
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