Blairstown | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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General information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Location | 48 Hope Road (CR 521), Blairstown Township, New Jersey | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 40°58′06″N74°57′14″W / 40.968200°N 74.953783°W | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Owned by | Private ownership [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Line(s) | Lackawanna Cut-Off | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Construction | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Parking | 243 spaces (proposed) [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Station code | 65 (D&LW) [2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
History | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Opened | December 24, 1911 [3] [4] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Closed | January 4, 1970 [5] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former and proposed services | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Blairstown was one of the three original Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad stations on the Lackawanna Cut-Off rail line in northwestern New Jersey. Built by contractor Hyde, McFarlan & Burke, the station opened in 1911. Most passenger trains, such as the Lackawanna Limited and, later, the Phoebe Snow, plus the Twilight/Pocono Express and the Westerner/New Yorker stopped at Blairstown, which also sold commuter tickets. [6]
Blairstown station was the only station on the Cut-Off to be open during the Erie Lackawanna Railway years, and remained so until passenger service ended on January 6, 1970 with the discontinuing of the Lake Cities. After 1970, the building housed a radio station, WHCY-FM, until the 1990s. The station building is currently privately owned. [1]
Blairstown is slated to become a station stop once again if a proposal by New Jersey Transit to restore rail service to Scranton, Pennsylvania, comes to fruition, with the station proposed to be situated between the track and Hope Road. [1] In spring 2021, Amtrak announced plans for potential New York–Scranton route. Blairstown was cited as the intermediate station between Dover and East Stroudsburg on the route. [7]
The Lackawanna Cut-Off Restoration Project reconnection to Blairstown appeared a step closer on April 13, 2022, when the NJ Transit board announced the approval of an approximated $32.5 million contract for completion of repairs to the Roseville Tunnel and construction of the new Andover station (14 miles east of Blairstown). It is anticipated that work will be completed in the latter part of 2026. [8] Additional work remains for reinstalling track from Andover to Blairstown.
New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit or NJTransit and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey and portions of the state of New York and Pennsylvania. It operates bus, light rail, and commuter rail services throughout the state, connecting to major commercial and employment centers both within the state and in its two adjacent major cities, New York City and Philadelphia. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 209,259,800.
The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, also known as the DL&W or Lackawanna Railroad, was a U.S. Class 1 railroad that connected Buffalo, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey, and by ferry with New York City, a distance of 395 miles (636 km). The railroad was incorporated in Pennsylvania in 1853, and created primarily to provide a means of transport of anthracite coal from the Coal Region in Northeast Pennsylvania to large coal markets in New York City. The railroad gradually expanded both east and west, and eventually linked Buffalo with New York City.
The Morristown Line is an NJ Transit commuter rail line connecting Morris and Essex counties to New York City, via either New York Penn Station or Hoboken Terminal. Out of 60 inbound and 58 outbound daily weekday trains, 28 inbound and 26 outbound Midtown Direct trains use the Kearny Connection to Penn Station; the rest go to Hoboken. Passengers can transfer at Newark Broad Street or Summit to reach the other destination. On rail system maps the line is colored dark green, and its symbol is a drum, a reference to Morristown's history during the American Revolution.
The Lackawanna Cut-Off was a rail line built by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W). Constructed from 1908 to 1911, the line was part of a 396-mile (637 km) main line between Hoboken, New Jersey, and Buffalo, New York. It ran west for 28.45 miles (45.79 km) from Port Morris Junction in Port Morris, New Jersey, near the south end of Lake Hopatcong about 45 miles (72 km) west-northwest of New York City, to Slateford Junction in Slateford, Pennsylvania near the Delaware Water Gap.
Morristown station is a NJ Transit rail station on the Morristown Line, located in Morristown, in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. It serves an average of 1,800 passengers on a typical weekday. Construction of the historic station began in 1912 and the facility opened November 3, 1913. A station agent and waiting room are available weekdays. The station's interior was featured in Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" video in 1984. Just west of the station, at Baker Interlocking, the Morristown and Erie Railway branches off the NJT line. The M&E's offices and shop are here.
Lake Hopatcong is a commuter railroad station for New Jersey Transit. The station, located in the community of Landing in Roxbury Township, Morris County, New Jersey, United States, serves trains for the Montclair-Boonton Line and Morristown Line at peak hours and on holiday weekends. Service from Lake Hopatcong provides to/from Hackettstown to New York Penn Station and Hoboken Terminal. The stop is located on the tracks below Landing Road next to the eponymous Lake Hopatcong. The station consists of one active and one abandoned side platform, along with a shelter on the active platform. There is no accessibility for handicapped persons under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Roseville Avenue was a transfer station on New Jersey Transit's Morris & Essex Lines in Newark, New Jersey, United States. The station was built by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in 1903 as part of a project to lower the tracks below the road surface to eliminate grade crossings. It serviced Newark's Roseville neighborhood. It once had two tracks on the Lackawanna mainline and two low-wall platforms, with an additional platform along the Montclair Branch. The station remained in service during most of the 20th century, until New Jersey Transit closed the station on September 16, 1984.
The Paulinskill Viaduct, also known as the Hainesburg Viaduct, is a reinforced concrete railroad bridge that crosses the Paulins Kill in Knowlton Township, New Jersey. When completed in 1910, it was the largest reinforced concrete structure in the world.
The Delaware River Viaduct is a reinforced concrete railroad bridge across the Delaware River about two miles (3.2 km) south of the Delaware Water Gap that was built from 1908 to 1910 as part of the Lackawanna Cut-Off rail line. It is the sister to the line's larger Paulinskill Viaduct. The Delaware River Viaduct also crosses Interstate 80 on the east side of the river and Slateford Road and the Lackawanna Railroad's "Old Road" on the west (Pennsylvania) side. Abandoned in 1983, it is part of an Amtrak proposal to introduce passenger service between Scranton, Pennsylvania and New York City, a distance of 135 mi (217 km).
The Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel, which was built as the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Station, is a French Renaissance-style building in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
East Stroudsburg is an historic train station built by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in 1856. The station served as the local stop for both East Stroudsburg and Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. The depot, recently known locally as the Dansbury Depot for the restaurant that used the building, is located on Crystal Street in East Stroudsburg. Service to East Stroudsburg ended on January 6, 1970, when the Erie Lackawanna Railway discontinued the Lake Cities. A proposal is currently in place to extend NJ Transit service to a rebuilt East Stroudsburg station. In spring 2021, Amtrak announced plans for potential New York–Scranton route. It is currently used by some of Steamtown National Historic Site's excursion trains.
Lackawanna Transit Center is the main bus station and a proposed train station in Scranton, Pennsylvania, operated by the County of Lackawanna Transit System (COLTS).
Tobyhanna station is a proposed NJ Transit commuter rail station that is located in Coolbaugh Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The station forms part of a site owned by a number of public and private entities including the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority.
Pocono Mountain is a proposed New Jersey Transit Rail Operations (NJT) station located in Coolbaugh Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania and is part of a site that was formerly utilized as a summer camp. The proposed station site, which will include a 1,000-space surface parking lot, is located northwest of a multi-phased planned development for this area. Access will be from Pennsylvania Route 611 via Pocono Municipal Road/Mount Pocono Road and a local access road and the platform would be situated east of the track.
Port Morris Junction is the railroad connection between NJ Transit's Montclair-Boonton Line and the Lackawanna Cut-Off. Opened in 1911 by the Lackawanna Railroad, it is in the Port Morris, New Jersey section of Roxbury Township, New Jersey, south of Lake Hopatcong.
Roseville Tunnel is a 1,024-foot (312 m) two-track railroad tunnel on the Lackawanna Cut-Off in Byram Township, Sussex County, New Jersey. The tunnel is on a straight section of railroad between mileposts 51.6 and 51.8 (83 km), about 6 miles (9.7 km) north by northwest of Port Morris Junction. Operated for freight and passenger service from 1911 to 1979, it is undergoing work intended to return it to passenger service by 2026.
The Lackawanna Cut-Off Restoration Project is a New Jersey Transit and Amtrak effort to restore passenger service to the Lackawanna Cut-Off in northwest New Jersey.
Colby Cut is one of a number of cuts on the Lackawanna Cut-Off railroad line in northwest New Jersey. Located between approximately mileposts 51.8 and 52.3 in Byram Township, the cut was constructed between 1908 and 1911 by contractor David W. Flickwir. The cut, which was created by removing fill material obtained by blasting with dynamite or other methods, is 0.53 miles (0.85 km) long, has an average depth of 45 feet (14 m), and a maximum depth of 110 feet (34 m). The cut was the result of the removal of 462,342 cubic yards of fill material within this section.
Greendell is one of three original railway stations built by the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad (DL&W) along its Lackawanna Cut-Off line in northwestern New Jersey. The station, which still stands in Green Township at milepost 57.61 on the Cut-Off, began operations on December 23, 1911, one day before the line itself opened and the first revenue train arrived.
Andover is a planned New Jersey Transit passenger railroad station in Andover Township, in Sussex County, New Jersey, United States, providing service on its Lackawanna Cut-Off line. The line remains under construction. The station will be built at a site on Andover's Roseville Road, about 1.1 miles (1.8 km) from U.S. Route 206 and about 0.9 miles (1.4 km) from County Route 517. On the rail line, it will be located about 7.3 miles (11.7 km) west of Port Morris Junction.