Princeton Branch

Princeton Branch
The "Dinky" at Princeton Junction.
Overview
Type	Commuter rail line
System	New Jersey Transit
Locale	New Jersey
Termini	Princeton Junction Princeton
Stations	2
Operation
Owner	New Jersey Transit
Operator(s)	New Jersey Transit
Rolling stock	Arrow III
Technical
Track length	4.5 km (3 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Route map Legend To New York merge to Northeast Corridor Princeton Junction To Trenton and Philadelphia Penns Neck Princeton This route map: view · talk · edit

The Princeton Branch is a commuter rail line and service owned and operated by New Jersey Transit in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The line is a short branch of the Northeast Corridor Line, running from Princeton Junction northwest to Princeton with no intermediate stops. Also known as the Dinky Line, or Princeton Junction and Back (PJ&B),^[1] the branch is served by special shuttle trains. (Dinky is a term for a small locomotive. The term is on face anachronistic, because the line is today served by a set of two Budd Arrow III self-propelled electric coach cars, although the Federal Railroad Administration considers any power car to be a locomotive. One-car sets are sometimes used.) NJ Transit has also considered using diesel multiple unit coaches on the line. The Princeton Branch provides rail service directly to the Princeton University campus from Princeton Junction, where New Jersey Transit and Amtrak trains that go to Newark, New York City, and Philadelphia can be boarded. Peak period trains leave Princeton on weekdays between 5:59 am and 8:14 am, approximately, and leave Princeton Junction on weekdays between 5:03 pm and 8:10 pm, approximately (some trains handle both peak and off-peak commuters to and from the Northeast Corridor).^[2] There are 41 departures in each direction daily.

History

When the Camden and Amboy Rail Road and Transportation Company opened its original Trenton-New Brunswick line in 1839, the line was located along the east bank of the Delaware and Raritan Canal, about one mile (2 km) from downtown Princeton.^[3] The new alignment (now the Northeast Corridor Line) opened in 1863,^[4] but some passenger trains continued to use the old line until the Princeton Branch opened on May 29, 1865, using a Grice & Long steam dummy for passenger service.^[5]

The Pennsylvania Railroad leased and began to operate the C&A, including the Princeton Branch, in 1871.^[6] Penn Central Transportation took over operations in 1968, and, when Conrail was formed in 1976, the line was transferred to the New Jersey Department of Transportation.^[7]

The Princeton Train, or "Dinky", is a unique symbol of Princeton University that has grown over time to emblemize the University. It is mentioned in F. Scott Fitzgerald's "This Side of Paradise", featured in the TV program "Family Ties", when young Alex P. Keaton goes for his on-campus interview, and it is also in the 1934 Bing Crosby Movie, "She Loves Me Not". The theme of Princeton and the train is repeated again in the University's own traditional homecoming song "Going Back to Nassau Hall" by Kenneth S. Clark (1905). In it, the line "We'll clear the track as we go back" refers to the train tracks that stop on campus.

Future Plans for the Branch

Princeton University plans a campus expansion at the site of the branch's terminal station,^[8] that will move the station almost 500 feet south of its current location.^[9] Rail advocates fear that access to the new station would be less convenient, resulting in decreased ridership that would "threaten the train's existence."^[10] In 2010 the Princeton Regional Planning Board and New Jersey Transit (NJT) presented plans to convert the train to a Rapid Transit Bus (BRT) that would be part of a larger regional BRT system. In April 2010 a group formed on the social network site, Facebook, called "Save the Princeton Dinky". It has attracted over 6,000 alumni, locals and others in support of keeping the Dinky train. The issue is still unresolved.

The Great Dinky Robbery

The Great Dinky Robbery was a prank perpetrated by four Princeton University students on Friday, May 3, 1963.^[11] The Dinky referred to is the Princeton Branch service operated at the time by the Pennsylvania Railroad, usually a one-car train. At the time, Princeton was an all-male school, so the Dinky was the primary means of transportation for women coming to the campus to meet their dates.

In the "Robbery", four students on horseback ambushed the train as it was arriving in the Princeton Junction station. A convertible was parked across the track forcing the Dinky to come to an abrupt halt. At that point, the ersatz cowboys rode up to the Dinky, and, led by George Bunn '63 who was armed with a pistol loaded with blanks, boarded and seized four girls selected on the spot. The riders and their newly-found dates rode off on the horses, the convertible was moved off the tracks, and the Dinky arrived safely, albeit a few minutes late. Although the University administrators were aware of the event and knew who was involved, they took no official action against them.

Bunn, widely regarded as the ringleader of the Robbery, was rather well-known around campus as a prankster. A member of Cap and Gown, one of Princeton's eating clubs, he had once driven a bulldozer into neighboring Cottage Club, and it has been said that he kept a pet ocelot in his room. Not much is known about the other students involved in the robbery, but Sam Perry '63 and John Williams '63, both also of Cap and Gown, were thought to have been involved, and Walt Goodridge '64 allegedly did much of the logistical work for the prank. At least one other student must have been involved, as moving the car on and off the tracks would have required a fifth helper in addition to the four riders. Many members of the Classes of '63 and '64 have claimed to have been one of the bandits, but the names listed above are thought to be the "real" riders.

On arriving back on campus, Bunn rode his horse onto the porch of Colonial Club, while the rest apparently rode down to Cap and Gown to listen to Bo Diddley whom Cap and Charter Club had booked for the two nights of Houseparties.

Although no actual robbery was committed (the only stolen "commodity" being the four women), the hold-up of the train was probably the last such event in America. Before 1960, the last train robbery in America took place three miles north of Rondout, Illinois on June 12, 1924.

Station listing

Mile Post	I	IS	BS	TO	BLS	City	Station	Oper	Connections
0.0	X	X	X	X			NASSAU	Amtrak/NJT	NJT NECL
0.1						West Windsor	Princeton Junction
1.4							Penns Neck (F)(Closed)	NJT
2.7					X		KS (R-NASSAU)	Amtrak/NJT
2.8						Princeton	Princeton	NJT

• The direction from Nassau to KS is northward.
• Distance from Nassau.
• (F) indicates flag stop
• I indicates interlocking
• IS indicates interlocking station (tower)
• BS indicates block station
• TO indicates train order office
• BLS indicates block limit station
• R- indicates remote controlled
• Source:Penn Central Transportation Company Employee Timetable #5 dated May 17, 1970

References

• David McIlroy, Daily Princetonian article, 2004. Accessed 3/20/2006.
• Editorial [1] Princeton Alumni Weekly (April 7, 2004)
• Capi Lynn, 1923 botched train holdup nears anniversary, Statesman Journal, 2003. Accessed 3/21/2006.
• Bleary, H. The Great Dinky Robbery Princeton Alumni Weekly (Dec. 20, 2000)
• Edwards, Selden. The Great Train Robbery^[12] Princeton Alumni Weekly (April 7, 2004)

Notes

External links

• Daily Princetonian article on DMU use on the Princeton Branch