[1][2] The Black River & Western Railroad (BR&W) was started by William Whitehead in Oldwick, New Jersey, in the late 1950s.

Following a brief stint of test operations on CNJ's Chester Branch, equipment was moved to Flemington, New Jersey in 1963 and the search for a place to start their tourist train was continued.

BR&W paid $5,000 a year and rehabilitated the railroad (PRR operated freight service on the line during this period).

[3] With the acquisition of the rail line and its freight operations, on top of the existing tourist passenger service, a true shortline railroad was born.

[3] BR&W then purchased three miles of trackage in the Lambertville area that was part of the Belvidere Division mainline on March 31, 1976 before Conrail took over.

There was talk in 1999 of Trap Rock Industries quarry using the stub-ended section north of Lambertville for unit stone trains, resulting in a frenzy of track repairs taking place on the Ringoes-Lambertville segment to accommodate the anticipated traffic.

The quarry ultimately backed out with the final work train operating in June 2002 to retrieve all remaining rolling stock.

In 2001, a separate non-profit entity known as the Black River Railroad Historic Trust (BRRHT),[5][6] was formed to take over the tourist trains on the line.