CENTRAL RAILROAD OF NEW JER SEY, The, a system operated in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania by the Central Railroad Company of New Jersey and con trolled by the Reading Company which owns over 52.9 per cent of the capital stock. The company was formed 22 Feb. 1849 for the con solidation of the Elizabeth and Somerville Railroad Company and the Somerville and. Eastern Railroad Company, and has since ab sorbed the Newark and New York Railroad Company, the Perth Amboy and Elizabeth Railroad Coxnpany, the Constable Hook Rail road Company, the Manufacturers Railroad Company, the South Branch Railroad Company, the High Bridge Railroad Company, the Long wood Valley Railroad Company and the Lake Hopatcong Railroad Company. In 1915 the company owned, leased and controlled 680.65 miles of railroad. The lines owned amounted to 156.63 miles; proprietary lines, which had been practically absorbed, to 227.23 miles; leased lines to 211.24 miles; a jointly leased line to 42.41 miles, and trackage rights 43.14 miles. The lines owned had 156.63 miles of first track 96.16 miles of second track, 30.36 miles of third track, the same amount of fourth track, 418.93 miles of side track, total 732.47 miles of track, of which 730.98 miles were steel rails of 70 to 135 lbs. per yard, and 2.49 miles iron rails of 50 to 70 lbs., the gauge being 4 feet 8% inches. The proprietary roads had 227.23 miles of first track, 12.14 miles of second track, 94.97 miles of side track, total 334.34 miles of track, of whch 327.30 miles were steel rails and 7.04 miles iron. The leased roads since the merger of 4 March 1905 have 211.24 miles of first track, 102.88 miles of second track, 10.65 miles of third track, 228.19 of side track, total 552.96 miles of track, of which 550.42 miles are steel and 2.54 miles iron rails. The jointly leased road had 42.41 miles of first track, 40.73 miles of second track, 43.21 miles of side track, total 126.35 miles of track, of which 126.35 miles were steel rails. The roads with trackage rights had 43.14 miles of first track, 9.66 miles of second track, 30 miles side track, total 53.10 miles of track, all of steel rails. Grand .total, 1,799.22 miles of track operated, of which 11.07 miles were of iron rails and the rest steel. The rolling stock consisted of 523 locomotives; 517 passenger coaches, 108 combination cars, 9f baggage, mail, dining and express cars, 23,917 freight cars of all kinds and 649 service cars. The marine equipment consisted of 3 steam boats, 10 ferryboats, 11 tugboats, 31 car floats and 93 lighters and barges. .
The lines owned were: Jersey City to Phil lipsburg, N. J., 72.30 miles; Communipaw to Newark, N. J., 6.22 miles; Brills to Passaic River, N. J., 1.68 miles ; East 22d street, Bayonne, to Constable's Hook, N. J.,1.95 miles; Elizabeth port to Perth Amboy, N. J., 12.13 miles; Eliza bethport to Brills, N. J., 5.51 miles; Elizabeth to Elizabeth Docks, N. J., 2.72 miles; Somer ville to Flemington, N. J., 15.7& miles; fligh Bridge to Wharton, N. J., 25.17 miles; German Valley to Chester, N. j., 4.51 miles; Hopatcong Junction to Nolan's Point, N. J., 5.56 miles,• besides two spurs to factories; total 156.63
miles. The principal proprietary roads were: Cumberland and Maurice River Railroad, with an extension, 22.43 miles; Freehold and Atlan tic Highlands Railroad, 22.75 miles; Navesink Railroad, 4.66 miles; New Jersey Southern Railroad, 73.62 miles; Sound Shore Railroad, 6.17 miles; Toms River Railroad, 7.57 miles; Toms River and Barnegat Railroad, 14.71 miles; Vineland Railroad, 46.82 miles; total with various smaller branches, 227.23 miles. The leased lines include: the Lehigh and Sus quehanna Railroad, 105.32 miles; the Nesque honing Valley Railroad, 16.69 miles; Ogden Mine Railroad, 9.86 miles; Tresckow Railroad, 7.59 miles; Dover and Rockaway Railroad, 5.12 miles; Wilkes-Barre and Scranton Rail road, 427 miles; Hibernia Mine Railroad, 4.20 miles. It leases jointly with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company the New York and Long Branch Railroad, 38.04 miles, and with the Phila delphia and Reading Railroad the Allentown Terminal Railroad, 327 miles, and has track age rights on the Union Coal Railroad-Uniona Junction to Minooka Junction, Pa., 9.66 miles; and on the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad -Tamanend to Silver Brook, Pa., 5.40 miles; Greenwood Junction to Tamaqua, 1.04 miles; Greenwood Junction to Koska William, 9.47 miles. The rentals of the leased lines in 1915 were: Allentown Terminal Railroad, $13,500; Dover and Rockaway Railroad, $11,600; Hiber nia Mine Railroad, $6,500; Lehigh and Susque hanna Railroad, $2,210,229.99; Ogden Mine Railroad, $23,000; Wilkes Barre and Scranton Railroad, $66,606.48; miscellaneous, $284,253.93; total of rentals $2,615,690.40. The gross earn ings for the fiscal year ended 30 June 1915 amounted to $28,742,255.78; the operating ex penses to $18,951,306.70, leaving a balance of net earnings, $9,790,949.08, with $2,170,614.97 non-operating income; this made a total of $11,961,564.05. In 1915 the operating revenue decreased $508,836.50 or 1.74 per cent. The average revenue tonnage per train per mile was 565.7, an increase of 11.0 tons, while the average distance each ton was carried was 71.51 miles, a decrease of 1.29. The total pay ments, interest on funded debt and guarantees, miscellaneous interest, rentals of leased lines and taxes amounted to $6,649,386.47, leaving a surplus of $5,312,177.58, of which $3,292,416 was paid in dividends to stockholders and $2,019, 761.58 transferred to credit of profit and loss.
The revenue from transportation sources in 1915 was as follows: Merchandise traffic, $12,649,148.92, an increase of $429,046.16 over 1914; anthracite traffic, $8,712,472.26, a decrease of $661,448.05; passenger traffic, $5,487,220.85, a decrease of $369,168.84; express and traffic, $480,306.02, a decrease of $47,846.24; and mis cellaneous traffic,. $1,413,107.93, an increase of $140,580.47.
Of the $30,000,000 authorized capital stock of the company there was outstanding in 1910 $27,436,800. The total funded indebtedness of the company at the close of the fiscal year ended 30 June 1915 amounted to $45,661,000 as against $46,271,000 at the end of the preceding year, a decrease of $610,000.