Millionaires Express Elegant Commuting – Who Was On That Exclusive Subscriber List

History says the subscriber list is lost, so Mr. Local History is trying to rebuild it.

We wanted to begin this addition to our Somerset Hills train history series with the story behind what became widely known as the Millionaires Express. Officially, it was the Gladstone Car Subscription service, a special arrangement on the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad that carried some of the wealthiest commuters in America between the Somerset Hills estates and their offices in New York City. If you have not yet read our background story on the service, you can find it linked at the bottom of this post.

Our goal in this installment is to begin reconstructing the lost subscriber list of that famous club car service.

The Delaware Lackawanna and Western quickly embraced the “Club Car concept” because it guaranteed steady revenue from a loyal group of passengers. The railroad supplied and maintained the car while the subscribers paid the additional membership fee and often managed the waiting list. On the DL&W Gladstone Branch serving the Somerset Hills estates, these subscription cars were typically placed at the rear of the train. They carried a regular group of prominent commuters traveling between Bernardsville, Far Hills, Peapack, and Gladstone, and their offices in New York. Over time, the concentration of wealthy riders led the service to be widely known as the Millionaires Express.

For the wealthy residents of the Somerset Hills, the daily trip to New York was not simply a commute. It was a social ritual. On the trains of the Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad that ran between Hoboken and the Somerset Hills, the exclusive Gladstone Club Car Subscription became the centerpiece of an experience that was later coined “The Millionaires Express.” Early 1900s subscription estimates were found to cost about $20 per month ($100 to $150 per year) for a club car membership (about $3,500 to $5,000 today).

Who’s On the List

The starting point for our research was a dramatic event: the June 5, 1908, derailment of the Millionaires Express near Millington. Newspaper accounts of the accident listed many of the passengers riding in the two private subscription cars that were attached to the rear of the train. Each of these cars typically carried up to 30 regular subscribers, and reports from the era frequently described the service as fully subscribed with waiting lists for available seats.

Using the passenger names identified in the 1908 accident reports as a foundation, we began assembling what we believe may be a list resembling the early 1900s subscription list. From there, additional names emerged through estate records, club memberships, railroad references, and contemporary newspaper accounts.

DISCLAIMER:
Our dataset, which follows, is very much a work in progress and may contain individual errors or omissions that future research will refine. Still, it offers a valuable starting point for understanding who these commuters were, what professions built their fortunes, and the grand estates in the Somerset Hills they created. Together, these men helped shape the character of the region, all tied to their daily journey to New York aboard the train that locals came to call the Millionaires Express, known today as the Peapack Gladstone Line.

A few items to consider about our data:

• Names are alphabetical
• Numbers are to count the prospective list and are not related to any subscriber number.
• Probability Index ranking goes from 10 highest to 1 Lowest
• High Probability ties to those identified in the 1908 Millionaires Express accident. Also, if you work in NYC and you have a home in the Somerset Hills, there’s a high probability you’d be on the Club Car subscriber list.
• The subscriber list would cap at 60, as there would be 30 seats in each of the two club cars.
• Rumors were that there was a waiting list.
• To get on the list, you needed to have two references from current members and pay a $ 20-per-month fee in addition to your travel pass ticket.
• Services such as the Gladstone Line Subscriber List were rolled out alongside several other rail companies. Still, in New Jersey, the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad was a large supplier of the club car experience.
• If our data needs fixing, please let us know. We’d appreciate any sources you may provide as well (use the comments section at the end of the post).
• Finally, this is a work in progress, but it’s fun to rebuild the potential list.

	Name	Title	Company	Somerset Hills Home	Estate Built (est).	Train Station	Involved in 1908 Accident?	MLH Confidence
1	Frederick Ballantine	Vice President	P Ballantine and Sons Brewery			Bernardsville	Yes	10
2	George Ballantine	Executive	P Ballantine and Sons Brewery		0	Bernardsville	Yes	6
3	Edward J Berwind	Coal Magnate	Berwind White Coal Mining	Highwood	1895		No	9
4	Clinton Ledyard Blair	Banker and Financier	Blair and Company	Blairsden	1903	Peapack	No	10
5	James Cox Brady	Financier and Sportsman	Utility and Banking Interests	Hamilton Farm	1911	Peapack	No	9
6	Charles W Chapin	Director	New York New Haven and Hartford Railroad		0		Yes	7
7	James B Colgate	Industrialist	Colgate and Company	Mingary	1887		No	9
8	Frederick Cromwell	Banker and Partner	Mutual Life Insurance Company	Cromwell Estate	1895		No	7
9	Seymour Cromwell	Banker and Partner	Cromwell Banking Interests	Cromwell Estate	1895		No	7
10	George D. Cross	Treasurer – Gladstone Club Car Committee	First Mayor of Bernardsville 1924	Cross Estate		Bernardsville	No	10
11	John F. Dryden	Former Senator	President Prudential Insurance Company			Bernardsville	No	10
12	Forrest F. Dryden		Son of John Dryden			Bernardsville	No	10
13	J M Deen	Judge	New Jersey Judiciary		0		Yes	4
14	A F Dillon	Chief Counsel	Western Union Telegraph Company		0		Yes	6
15	Leon Emmons	Brakeman	Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad		0		Yes	1
16	Percy E Fiske	Banker and Financier	Wall Street Banking Interests	Fiske Estate	1895		Yes	7
17	Malcolm Forbes	Publisher	Forbes Magazine	Timberbrook	0	Far Hills	No	10
18	Henry J Hardenbergh	Architect and Principal	Hardenbergh Architectural Practice	Hardenbergh Estate	1892	Gladstone	Yes	8
19	John H Hanna	Financier	Wall Street Financial Interests		0		Yes	6
20	W L Heywood	Treasurer	New Jersey Zinc Company	Heywood Estate	1895		Yes	6
21	A W Howell	Local Businessman	Bernardsville Business Interests		0		Yes	2
22	William Jamison	Drug Manufacturer and Owner	Jamison Drug Manufacturing Company		0		Yes	6
23	Adrian H. Joline	Lwayer	New York law and receiver for the Metropolitan Street Railway Company
24	Walter Graeme Ladd	Philanthropist	Ladd Family Estate	Natirar	1912	Peapack	No	8
25	William L Libbey	Scientist and Professor	Princeton University	Libbey Estate	1890		No	6
26	Richard V Lindabury	Attorney	Lindabury Depue and Faulks	Meadowbrook Farm	1890	Bernardsville	No	9
27	Clarence Blair Mitchell	Banker and Financier	Investment Banking Interests	Pennbrook	1890	Peapack	Yes	10
28	George Rudolf Mosle	Industrialist	Sugar Industry Interests	Hillandale	1906	Gladstone	No	7
29	Frederick P Olcott	President	Central Trust Company of New York	Oak Knoll	1890	Bernardsville	Yes	10
30	William H. Page	Lawyer
31	George B Post	Architect and Founder	George B Post and Sons Architects	Kenilwood	1893	Bernardsville	Yes	9
32	John S Phipps	Industrialist	Carnegie Steel Interests		1898		No	9
33	Charles Pfizer	Industrialist	Pfizer and Company	Pfizer Estate	1895	Bernardsville	No	6
34	Percy R Pyne	Banker and Financier	Pyne Banking Interests		1895	Bernardsville	Yes	10
35	William Prout	Attorney	Newark Legal Practice		0		Yes	4
36	George L Rives	Diplomat	US Diplomatic Service	Rives Estate	1898		No	7
37	Grant B Schley	Banker	Schley Banking Interests	Froh Heim	1910	Far Hills	No	9
38	Fred Schweickhardt	Proprietor	Schweickhardt Butcher Shop Bernardsville		0	Bernardsville	Yes	2
39	Charles Scribner	Publisher	Charles Scribner’s Sons	Scribner Estate	1895		No	8
40	Charles Steele	Financier	J P Morgan and Company	Steele Estate	1895		No	8
41	J M Stewart	Financier	Wall Street Financial Interests		0		Yes	6
42	T P Stokes	President	Central Trust Company of New York		0		Yes	7
43	Robert Livingston Stevens	Industrialist and Railroad Pioneer	Stevens Institute / Engineering Interests	Stevens Estate	1892	Bernardsville	No	8
44	Hamilton McKown Twombly	Financier	Vanderbilt Interests	Stronghold	1886	Bernardsville	No	9
45	Frederick Webb	Railroad Financier and Director	Vanderbilt Railroad Interests		0		Yes	7
46	Seymour Webb	Railroad Financier and Director	Vanderbilt Railroad Interests		0		Yes	7
47	Schuyler Skaats Wheeler	President	Crocker Wheeler Company.	Wheeler Estate	1898		Yes	6
48	Frederick S Wight	Banker	New York Banking Interests	Wight Estate	1895		No	6
49	Harry Payne Whitney	Sportsman and Financier	Whitney Family Interests	Whitney Estate	1910		No	8
50	Howard P Whitney	Industrialist	Whitney Family Interests	Whitney Farm	1908		No	8
51	Henry Whitney	Industrialist	Whitney Family Interests	Whitney Farm	1908		No	7
52	Henry Young	Assemblyman	New Jersey State Legislature		0		Yes	5

See What it Was Like on the Millionaire’s Express

Taking a Ride on the Millionaires Express Train 100 Years Later

The Millionaires Express Train – Luxury Between Hoboken & the Somerset Hills

You Know the People – Now Their Estates

Grand Mansions and Historic Estates Mapped in New Jersey’s Somerset Hills

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