United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Co. - 1920's dated Unissued Railway Bond

$5,000 Unissued Gold Bond. Great train vignette engraved by American Bank Note Co. 

The United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company (UNJ&CC) was a railroad company that started as the significant Camden & Amboy Railroad (C&A). Its lineage can be traced back to 1830, making it one of the eight or ten earliest permanent North American railroads. Among the first common carrier transportation companies, the C&A’s prospectus highlighted its primary objective of carrying passengers swiftly and competing with stagecoaches between New York Harbor and Philadelphia-Trenton. Notably, only the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad and Baltimore and Ohio Railroad were chartered with passenger services in mind among the other earliest chartered or incorporated railroads.

Later, through mergers, the UNJ&CC became a subsidiary part of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) system in New Jersey. This occurred in 1872 through the merger and acquisition of several predecessor companies. These purchases included the PRR’s main line to New York City, which is now known as Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. Prior to 1872, the C&A’s main lines were the Camden and Amboy Rail Road and Transportation Company (C&A).

The Camden and Amboy was the pioneering railroad conceived primarily as a passenger railroad. It was also the first to introduce steam locomotives to replace animal-powered vehicles on rails. Notably, the C&A acquired and operated the John Bull, the oldest surviving operable steam locomotive in the world today, imported from Great Britain in 1831. Its operations also contributed to the significant development of the iron T-rail type rail tracks, which became standard worldwide. The United Company also included the Delaware and Raritan Canal, an early adversary and later ally of the C&A. Additionally, it encompassed the New Jersey Rail Road and Transportation Company, the first railroad to cross the New Jersey Palisades.