This railway was built in 1863 by the Salem Railroad (incorporated in March of 1856), and extended from Elmer (and a connection with the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore's Glassboro-Bridgeton line) westward to Salem. On January 1, 1868, the Salem Railroad was absorbed into the P-RSL (itself a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad), who continued operation over it.
A full history of the abandoned portion of the line between Elmer and Riddleton (at Riddleton Junction) is not known. The line is shown intact in atlases from the 1930s. Richard C. Carpenter's 1946 atlas shows the western portion of the line abandoned, between Riddleton and Daretown. Hammond's atlas from 1959 shows the entire line gone.
Today, even with detailed topographical maps, the right-of-way is difficult to locate west of Elmer.