The train took about 4 1⁄2 hours to traverse the 179.5-mile (288.9 km) route, the longest in the CNJ system, exceeding the Atlantic City-bound Blue Comet.

From Communipaw Terminal in Jersey City, the Queen of the Valley traveled south to Bayonne, but did not have any stops until the train's later years,[1] traversed the harbor at Elizabethport, headed west along the CNJ's Main Line.

It continued past Elizabeth's CNJ station, Plainfield Station, to High Point station and Hampton, the end point for the regular NJ Transit Raritan Valley Line commuter service.

[1] In 1963, the route was shortened from Harrisburg and Reading to Allentown, owing to the loss of mail contracts.

However, some commuter service on the Allentown to Newark via the new Aldene Connection continued.