Derailment at Aldene

Derailments were commonplace on the Rahway Valley. The train crew was very adept at rerailing cars back onto the short, seventy pound rail. The crew kept rerail frogs and blocking on board the locomotive. However, occasionally, something happened that required a little assistance. 

George Davis, who started out on the RV as a Brakeman in 1927, had become the railroad's Superintendent by 1950, and had much experience. He could look at a derailment and figure out how to sort out the mess with just jacks and blocking. On April 8, 1950, a derailment occurred on the curve between Westfield Ave. and the CNJ switch at Aldene. The details of the incident have yet to be uncovered in any documentation but the photographs provide some clues. 

It appears that two hoppers, one from the Lehigh Valley and the other from the CNJ (marked CRP), failed to make the curve and ended up on the ground. The RV dispatched George Davis to the scene as well as one of its speeders and 1948 Oldsmobile wagon. The CNJ assisted too, sending 0-6-0 Camelback No. 15 over from the Cranford roundhouse.