The MNJ consists of 43 miles (69 km) of track in southeastern New York serving Orange County and the Hudson Valley.
It was known as the Middletown and New Jersey Railway until 2009, when East Penn Railroad parent Regional Rail, LLC bought the line through a new subsidiary.
[2] In 2012, the Middletown and New Jersey Railroad, LLC, received a $1.6 million New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) grant to perform rail upgrades on the four lines it operates in Orange County.
In the early 1840s, the NY&E fostered the growth of the Orange County dairy industry by developing the capacity to ship fluid milk to New York City without spoilage.
In 1866, public meetings were held in Middletown, Westtown and Unionville, New York, to discuss the viability of a railroad via these hamlets to Deckertown, Sussex County, New Jersey.
[8] The NY&OM reached Middletown in 1871 and hoped to connect with three New Jersey companies to form a through route to New York Harbor.
The MU&WG wound up in a very favorable situation, with connections to three major carriers, the NYLE&W (Erie) and O&W in Middletown and the NYS&W at Hanford.
Creameries and condenseries were built along the route at Pounds Station (just south of Middletown), Slate Hill, Johnson, Westtown and Unionville.
The bondholders organized an independent shortline, the Middletown and Unionville Railroad, which began operations on December 1, 1913 under Vice President and General Manager J.
The road enjoyed the revenues from its heavy milk traffic, fluid and condensed, as well as related commodities such as livestock, feed, bottles and coal for the powerhouses.
In the early 1960s, the Empire State Railway Museum ran diesel and steam excursions over the line until relocating to Essex, Connecticut, in the mid-1960s.
Upon President and General Manager Pierre "Pete" Rasmussen's death in 2004, his wife, Lucy, as administratrix of his estate, ran the railroad.
The failing Chartwell sold the line to Regional Rail, LLC, headquartered in Kennett Square, Pa and began operations in April 2009.
Commodities include beer, paper, lumber, fertilizer, wheat, barley, salt brine, potatoes and onions and of course its original mainstay plastics and chemicals and the occasional carnival train.
Some MTA and NS trains were diverted over MNJ trackage and all local and through freight traffic was handled by them and the NYSW via the Campbell Hall cluster and yard.
In late August 2011, the MNJ was granted an additional $1.6 million by the state Department of Transportation for storm damage repairs and upgrades.
In 2010, the railroad filed a petition with the Surface Transportation Board to lease three branch lines and yards formerly operated by Norfolk Southern Railway.
This locomotive has since returned to the collection of the Railroad Museum of New England in Thomaston, Connecticut, where it is stored awaiting a possible restoration.
The #2 was leased to an East Penn Railroad customer in Pennsylvania, while the original 44-tonner #1 was stored inoperative in the Middletown engine house.
The #1 was slated for restoration; however, the October 2021 issue of Railfan & Railroad magazine reported that it was scrapped in late July 2021 in Middletown along with two other GE locomotives.
However, in the late 1970s, the M&NJ rostered 500 blue boxcars 50 feet (15 m) in length leased from NRUC, the National Railway Utilization Company.