LIBERTY: The Jersey Central Lines Today

  With the completion of the Lehigh Valley Railroad's line from Mauch Chunk to Phillipsburg in 1855, Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company (LC&N), owner of the Lehigh Canal, was forced with a difficult decision of having to build a railroad that would compete with its own canal, to avoid losing more business to its main competitor, the afore mentioned Lehigh Valley Railroad. The LC&N then formed the Lehigh & Susquehanna Railroad (L&S), and construction began in 1863 running along the north and east banks of the Lehigh River paralleling the canal from Mauch Chunk to Easton. The line reached Easton in 1867 and the next year built a bridge over the Delaware River and connected with the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ), the Belvidere-Delaware, and the Morris and Essex railroads. The main line from Wilkes-Barre to Phillipsburg was 105 miles long. Financial troubles caused the LC&N to lease the L&S to the CNJ in 1871. The CNJ identified this trackage as the Lehigh & Susquehanna Division.

 In an attempt to avoid payment of certain New Jersey state taxes that taxed the revenues of the CNJ's operations in Pennsylvania, the CNJ transferred its Pennsylvania operations to an operating subsidiary, the Easton & Western Railroad which was organized on February 20, 1914. This small organization then became The Central Railroad Company of Pennsylvania (CRP) effective February 29, 1944. Later that year on August 31, 1944, the railroad became known as Jersey Central Lines and introduced the famous Liberty logo. The CRP came into existence as an operating railroad on August 5, 1946. Small CRP initials were applied to all assigned locomotives and rolling stock. However, this operating arrangement was struck down by the courts on December 1, 1952 and on Dec. 31, 1952, the CRP operating subsidiary ceased operations at midnight and at 12:01 AM, Jan. 1, 1953, the former CRP operations in Pennsylvania became the CNJ Pennsylvania Division. 

  As the coal business virtually disappeared by the mid-1950s, the lease of the L&S became a major source of dispute as the CNJ wanted the rent of the L&S reduced. By this time, the rent collected from the L&S had become LC&N's main source of income. On August 29, 1962, the Reading Company consummated a deal with LC&N to aquire ownership of the L&S to protect its access to Allentown Yard. The Reading Company then leased the property back to LC&N, who in turn continued to lease the property to the CNJ.  By the late 1960s, CNJ found its aging motive power fleet seeing more time in the shop than in revenue service. From 1967 to 1972, 10 former Wabash F7's were leased from the Norfolk & Western. During the same time, 10 more F7's were leased from the Baltimore & Ohio, along with several switchers.

  As a cost cutting move, the CNJ cancelled the lease and abandoned all of its Pennsylvania Division operations (with the exception of its Lehigh & New England Railway subsidiary) on March 31, 1972. Subsequently, on April 1, 1972, Lehigh Valley Railroad assumed the former CNJ operations in Pennsylvania with the exeption of the main line from Odenwelder to Freemansburg and certain trackage in the Wilkes-Barre area which went to the D&H. Conrail took over all area operations on April 1, 1976. In 1978, LC&N sold the remaining L&S track and railroad stock to Conrail, and in 1986 the LC&N dissolved completely. The E&W Branch was removed in 1976 and became one of the first rail-trails. The portion of the main line from Palmer Twp. to Bethlehem Twp. was sold off in 1987, and the Minsi Trail Branch was pulled up in 1989-1990.