The Millstone and New Brunswick Railroad (M&NB) was chartered in the mid-19th century as a seven-mile long branch line from New Brunswick, New Jersey to East Millstone, New Jersey. Construction was completed and the line began operation on December 19, 1854. In 1871, under the order of the company's president Martin Howell, the M&NB signed a 999-year lease with the United Jersey Railroad Company, which would later become part of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) known as the "Millstone Branch." In 1915, the company was dissolved and became part of the United Jersey Railroad Company. History Intended connection westward The M&NB was originally intended to cross the Millstone River and connect to western points in 1874 via the ill-fated Mercer & Somerset Railway (M&S), a short-lived line of PRR in western New Jersey. M&S ran from Somerset Junction on the Belvidere Delaware Rail Road via Pennington and Hopewell to Millstone, with an intended connection to the Millstone & New Brunswick Railroad, via a bridge across the Millstone River, for a through route to New Brunswick. M&S was abandoned in 1880 after filing for bankruptcy, and the connection over the Millstone River to M&NB was never built, except for a stone pillar in the middle of the Millstone River that remains today. Passenger service The Millstone Branch boasted 12 daily passenger trains East Millstone to New York City. Passenger stations, which consisted of small wooden shacks, were located at East Millstone, South Middlebush Road, Clyde Road, Voorhees (now Route 27), and Jersey Avenue. Passenger service permitted Millstone residents easy access to New Brunswick for shopping on weekends and allowed New York City businessmen the opportunity to commute. With the advent of the automobile, all passenger service ended in 1930. After that year the track past Route 27 (Voorhees) was used sporadically by a local freight train to access the rubber factory in East Millstone; track became weed-covered and maintenance deferred. The stations at Clyde and Voorhees were abandoned on June 8, 1932. The last passenger station to survive was Middlebush, which was razed in 1948. 1960s to the 1980s The Jersey Avenue Park & Ride station operated by NJ Transit (NJT) opened October 24, 1963 by the Pennsylvania Railroad and uses part of the old branch. In an effort to cut costs, PRR merged with the New York Central Railroad to form the Penn Central Transportation Corporation (PC) in 1968. The Millstone