Does anyone know if the PSNJ carried any LCL freight anywhere on its system? I'm thinking especially of its lines south of Camden NJ, where the steam railroads did not go.
I've never seen references to freight service on the PSNJ system, nor have I seen any roster that shows freight motors -- not even on the Trenton Fast Line, which was as close as Public Service came to a true interurban line, and which served a territory that was several miles from the nearest steam lines. The only exception that I'm aware of was a very short-lived operation on the Camden-Trenton "Riverside" line, which began in September 1921 using a rebuilt snow plow. Possibly there were other attempts like this, but if so, they also expired quickly.
Essentially, though, the PS system was a collection of ordinary streetcar lines in urbanized territories, and possibly any potential freight services would have been too short to compensate for the manual freight handling costs. Since LCL is a labor-intensive service, you need a decent line-haul revenue to make any money, and there may not have been that many opportunities. The gauge difference between the lines north and south of Trenton also would have precluded any truly long-distance package service between, say, the Essex and Hudson Division's urban complex and Camden. Freight service also would have needed railroad cooperation for any traffic beyond PS's immediate territory, and most railroads (especially the PRR) were hostile to traffic agreements with electric lines.