Central Railroad of New Jersey No. 113, (also known as CNJ No. 113) is a preserved 0-6-0 "Switcher" steam locomotive that originally worked for the Central Railroad of New Jersey.
History[]
CNJ No. 113 was constructed in June 1923 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) as one of the five members of the Class B-7 type switchers built for the Central Railroad of New Jersey numbered 111–115. No. 113 along with its siblings operated in the CNJ's freight yards for almost three decades. By 1951, locomotives 111-115 were taken out of service to be replaced by newer diesel locomotives.
In 1953, the Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Company, now known as the Reading Anthracite Co., bought No. 113 and used the engine at a colliery in Locust Summit outside Ashland, Pennsylvania, where it operated until 1960.
No. 113 also ran a few fan trips with CNJ No. 774 in 1954, but 774 was soon scrapped. No. 113 was then stored outside at Locust Summit for many years and as a result, suffered a massive amount of deterioration and there were even some trees growing around the locomotive.
The Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Company eventually decided to donate No. 113 to the Historic Red Clay Valley Inc. in Wilmington, Delaware in 1980.
In 1986, No. 113 was purchased by a railfan by the name of Robert E. Kimmel Sr. and it was later moved to Minersville, Pennsylvania.
It was rebuilt and restored back to operational condition between 1999 and 2012, which had cost a total of $600,000. After several test-runs for the engine in late 2012 and two/thirds of 2013, the locomotive began operating on some passenger excursions in late 2013 along with Reading, Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad No. 425.
CNJ No. 113 continued to run more excursions by itself and with RBM&N No. 425 during the 2014 season. Every year since then, the No. 113 has been hauling excursions across the RBM&NR's lines in cooperation with the railroad. For the excursions, the Reading Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad provided passenger cars and occasionally some helper locomotives to Railway Restoration Project 113 in order for the excursions to occur.
As of today, CNJ No. 113 operates out of Minersville, PA at the Minersville Train Depot hauling multiple passenger excursion trips each year.
Trivia[]
- No. 113 is the only surviving member of the CNJ Class B-7.
- No. 113 is the only surviving CNJ steam locomotive that is still operational. There is only one other known CNJ steam locomotive still in existence and that is CNJ No. 592; however it is not operational and it currently resides on static display at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.