(BORDENTOWN, NJ) -- Bordentown City will become a fall destination for train enthusiasts of all ages, thanks to an afternoon event organized by Bordentown Old City Hall Restoration Committee and the Bordentown Historical Society.  The Sunday, October 13, 2024, "All Aboard Bordentown Railroad!" will feature a lecture and walking tour to commemorate New Jersey's first railroad, the Camden & Amboy Railroad (C&A RR). 

The lecture starts at 1:00pm at Bordentown’s Old City Hall and will be followed by a 2:00pm walking tour that will visit the many remaining features of the C&A RR.

This event also celebrates the State of New Jersey’s recent announcement to repair the historic 1831 Farnsworth Avenue Stone Arch Carriage Bridge and Tunnel, the oldest carriage bridge built over railroad tracks and in continuous use in the United States.

The Camden & Amboy Railroad and Transportation Company was chartered by the New Jersey Legislature in 1830. The railroad revolutionized transportation of freight and passengers between Philadelphia and New York City. The C&A RR operated trains on the tracks until the Pennsylvania Railroad began using the rails in 1871.

With the PRR using the tracks through 1976, Conrail between 1976 and 2004, and NJ Transit River Line and CSX from then to today, the Bordentown section of the C&A RR is one of the two oldest continuously used railroad right-of-ways in America.

The presentation will include the history of digging the cut through Bordentown, building the bridges, laying stone sleepers (the precursor of wood ties), and flat bottom T-rails. The presentation will cover the people who designed and built the railroad, the engineering they used, and the problems they surmounted.

Points of interest of the walking tour includes the historic Farnsworth Avenue Bridge; the Stone monument commemorating the John Bull steam locomotive, an 1830 British-made steam engine that first pulled passengers on the C&A RR.  The John Bull steam engine is the world’s oldest operable transportation engine and is prominently displayed at the Smithsonian Institute. The tour will include the sites of the three previous passenger stations, the site of the former Camden & Amboy railroad work yard, and the site of a new outdoor exhibition highlighting the company’s history and innovations.

The presentation and tour will be led by Pierre Lacombe, from Florence, New Jersey, a Camden & Amboy Railroad expert, member of the Bordentown Historical Society, and retired U.S. Geological Survey geologist.  Additional train historians and officials will also participate in the event.

Pierre Lacombe

The free event is being presented by Bordentown’s Old City Hall Restoration Committee and the Bordentown Historical Society.

Old City Hall is located at 11 Crosswicks Street in Bordentown, New Jersey.

For more information, click here.