Black River & Western #60: New Jersey's Oldest Steam Locomotive

The Black River and Western Railroad was founded around 1950 by a man named William Whitehead, out of portions of a defunct railroad, the Rockaway Valley Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad. Construction to Connect to ex-CNJ rails began, but with the construction of Interstate I-80, The Railroad became Rail Locked. It was officially incorporated in 1961 as the Black River and Western Railroad. The Railroad acquired equipment from many railroads, including the Central Railroad of New Jersey, The Pennsylvania railroad, and New York Central Railroad (which is better than PRR tehe) just to name a few. The Shoreline freight operates all the way from the ex-CNJ stations of Three Bridges to Lambert, but the tourist trains operate from Flemington to Ringoes. Their Steam Locomotive, Great Western #60, was built in 1937 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCo) in Schenectady NY. On the GW, she hauled sugar beet and molasses trains, and during WWII, her smokebox was elongated in order to burn coal of worse quality. In 1965, she was purchased by the BR&W and she ran her first excursion for the BR&W on May 17, 1965. In 2012, a 12 year overhaul was completed to celebrate her 75th birthday snd has been run-in ever since. In 2018, her smokebox was painted graphite alluding to her appearance in WWII. In this video, we follow Locomotive #60 From Flemington to Ringoes, as she pulls Autumn Pumpkin Trains. Equipped with a Crosby 3 chime, #60 puts on a great show at each crossing through the day on September 30 2018.