| One of the more obscure parts of NJ Transits operations was a pair of Newark-Philadelphia trains to Reading Terminal. There were two pairs, the Crusader and the Wall Street, which ran Philly-Newark in the morning, and returned to Philly in the afternoon. These were vestiges of once hourly service behind streamlined Pacifics that ran to and from Jersey City via CNJ and Reading. By 1981 this service was running with RDCs from Newark as part of the Aldene Plan, which got all CNJ trains out of their Jersey City terminal and consolidated passenger runs out of Newark on the PRR. This was a fun little train, having a cadre of regulars who enjoyed a lively time on the afternoon runs. They moved, too. I rode in the rear cab for part of the trip over the CNJ to Bound Brook; we were making 65 MPH. This was the Crusader boarding at Newark. |