The Dinky Train

The Dinky, the train that connects the Princeton Branch with the rest of the Northeast Corridor rail route, is roughly three miles long. Construction was completed in 1865 and first run by the Camden & Amboy Rail Road & Transportation Company. Dubbed “The Dinky” or “PJ&B” (Princeton Junction and back), the present Princeton Station is not at the station’s original location. The first station was a small, wooden structure and was built on what is now Blair Courtyard. In 1873, it was rebuilt out of stone. When Blair Hall was completed in 1897, it acted as the passengers’ first welcome to Princeton with a large stairway and immense arch leading from the tracks. The third reconstruction had a courtyard for carriages and the fourth, the most famous and longest standing, was built in 1918 and sat on University Place. Today, Princeton Station is located off of Alexander Street and was opened in 2014. 

Described by Jane Silverman, then executive director of the Association of Junior Leagues International, in The New York Times as a “necessary transition between precious Princeton and the real world,” The Dinky has become a source of socialization and enjoyment. Throughout the 20th century, The Dinky was used by visitors attending Princeton University football games and for visiting dates by the University’s all-male collegiate class. In 1946, The Daily Princetonian wrote “With every journey of the P.J. and B., trainloads of beautiful women are arriving.” Similar scenes were also depicted in the famous novels This Side of Paradise and Franny and Zooey. 

Many notable persons have been known to have used the Dinky as transportation to and from Princeton including Albert Einstein, Toni Morrison, Paul Robeson, Brooke Shields, John O’Hara, T.S. Eliot, John McPhee and many more. Ahead of his presidential inauguration on March 4, 1913, Woodrow Wilson left his home in Princeton and walked to the station to board a train to Washington. On the way there, he was accompanied by a band and many Princetonians.

Resources for Further Research:

1. “The Princeton Station: From Camden & Amboy to NJ Transit” by John R. Wilmot, June 1987, Trains, p.44-51
2. Princeton Junction & Back: Our Dinky Archives by April C. Armstrong (Mudd Manuscript Library Blog)
3. Princeton Dinky (NJ Transit)
4. The Little Engine that Can by J.D. Reed (The New York Times)
5. Princeton’s Dinky train has long history as town’s key connection to mass transit by Krystal Knapp (The Times of Trenton)
6. The Short Line – Princeton Packet 1996
7. Articles from the Papers of Princeton database:
   • Travelin’ (Nassau Literary Magazine, 1906)
   • Ghost Train (Town Topics, 1957)
   • This is Princeton Runaway Train (Town Topics, 1957)
   • PRR Adds Train (Town Topics, 1958)
   • It’s A Train! (Town Topics, 1958)
   • Keep Chugging (Daily Princetonian, 1975)
   • The Dinky: A Princeton Tradition (Town Topics, 1995)
   • Dinky Arrival (Daily Princetonian, 2015)