Aldene (alternatively pronounced “ALL-dean” or “AL-dean”) is a neighborhood situated near the borders of the Boroughs of Roselle Park and Roselle and the Township of Cranford in northern New Jersey. Today, Aldene is best known as the site of the “Aldene Connection,” where NJ TRANSIT’s Raritan Valley Line meets Conrail’s Lehigh Line, allowing commuters to connect with the Northeast Corridor at Newark Penn Station. In its heyday, however, Aldene was far more than a simple junction.

Here, the two-track main line of the Lehigh Valley Railroad (LV) crossed over the busy main line of the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ), which also hosted trains of the Reading (RDG) and Baltimore & Ohio (B&O). The Rahway Valley Railroad (RV) and the Staten Island Rapid Transit (SIRT; a B&O subsidiary) connected with each of these trunk lines, creating an extraordinarily dense web of rail activity. Through freights, local drill freights, intercity passenger trains, and commuter service all converged here, supported by an engine terminal, multiple rail yards, trackside industries, and several passenger stations. The area was further served by trolley lines operated by the Public Service Corporation (PSC).

This site seeks to chronicle the “Railroads of Aldene,” focusing on the lines that passed through this small neighborhood and the surrounding communities of Roselle Park, Roselle, and Cranford, and on the remarkable concentration of railroading that once defined the area.