Colby Cut (also known as Roseville 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. (During construction, Lackawanna Railroad Chief Engineer, Lincoln Bush, would leave the railroad and join Flickwir's construction company to form the Flickwir & Bush construction company.) 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.
Colby Cut is named for F.G. Colby, from whom some of the land comprising the cut was acquired, west of what would be Roseville Tunnel. [1] In March 1906, Colby, proposed to Lackawanna President William Truesdale for the railroad to locate a train station for the Cut-Off on his property near what was referred to as Roseville Lake (probably Wright's Pond, which is just east and north of the tunnel). Truesdale had Colby contact the chief engineer, Lincoln Bush, to investigate the idea, but the proposal appears to have gone no further.
The cut-off's route was finalized on September 1, 1906. In the months prior, an alternate route was considered (Line "M") that would have proceeded north of where the tunnel would be located, avoiding the need for both the massive cut and the similarly massive Pequest Fill. Line M was rejected because its several-mile, curvaceous sweep to the south near Tranquility, NJ, would be operationally slower. [2]
Colby Cut is located on a tangent (straight) section of right-of-way, permitting 70 mph (110 km/h), and is just east of the Pequest Fill and just west of Roseville Tunnel. [3] This section is scheduled to receive a single track as part of the reactivation of the line, which was abandoned in 1982 and the tracks removed in 1984. Colby Cut will be cleared as part of the Roseville Tunnel project by NJ Transit, whose rail service is projected to begin in 2026. The cut will have rockfall mitigation installed as well as improved drainage. [4]
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 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.
Madison station is a NJ Transit station in Madison, New Jersey. It is located on the Morristown Line.
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 Lackawanna Old Road was part of the original mainline of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad (DL&W). Opened in 1856, it was, for a half-century, a part of the line connecting the states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
William Haynes Truesdale (1851–1935) was an American railroad executive. He served as the president of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W) from 1899 to 1925.
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 Pequest Fill is a large railroad embankment on the Lackawanna Cut-Off in northwestern New Jersey, touted at its 1911 completion as the largest railroad fill in the world.
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.
McMickle Cut is the longest cut on the Lackawanna Cut-Off railroad line in northwest New Jersey. It was built between 1908 and 1911 by contractor Timothy Burke between mileposts 47.1 and 48.1 where Stanhope and Byram Township meet. Some 600,000 cubic yards of material was removed by dynamite and other methods to make the cut, which is 1.04 miles long, has an average depth of 29 feet, and a maximum depth of 54 feet.
Waltz & Reece Cut is the deepest cut on the Lackawanna Cut-Off railroad line in northwest New Jersey. The cut is 0.68 miles (1.09 km) long, has an average depth of 37 feet (11 m), and a maximum depth of 114 feet (35 m).
Bradbury Fill is one of the embankments on the Lackawanna Cut-Off railroad line in northwest New Jersey. It was built from 1908 to 1911 by Waltz & Reece Construction Company. It sits between mileposts 49.1 and 49.8 in Byram Township, just west of Waltz & Reece Cut and east of Lubber Run Fill.
Lubber Run Fill is a fill on the Lackawanna Cut-Off railroad line in northwest New Jersey. Located between mileposts 50.1 and 50.5 in Byram Township, it was built between 1908 and 1911 by contractor Waltz & Reece Construction Company. It is 0.40 miles (0.64 km) long, has an average height of 64 feet, and a maximum height of 98 feet. Most of its 720,000 cubic yards (550500 m3) of fill material was excavated from the surrounding low-lying area.
Wharton Fill is one of a number of fills (embankments) on the Lackawanna Cut-Off railroad line in northwest New Jersey. Located between mileposts 51.1 and 51.6 in Byram Township, the fill was constructed between 1908 and 1911 by contractor David W. Flickwir. The fill, which was created by placing fill material obtained by blasting with dynamite or other methods, is about 0.5 miles (0.64 km) long. Most of the material that was used to create Wharton Fill was excavated from the surrounding low-lying area through which Pumpkin Run runs; several of the borrow pits have since flooded and become ponds.
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.
Armstrong Cut is one of the largest cuts on the Lackawanna Cut-Off railroad line in northwest New Jersey. Located between approximately mileposts 61.4 and 62.3 in Frelinghuysen Township, the cut was constructed between 1908 and 1911 by contractor Hyde, McFarlan & Burke. The cut, which was created by removing fill material obtained by blasting with dynamite or other methods, is 0.89 miles (1.43 km) long, has an average depth of 52 feet (16 m), and a maximum depth of 104 feet (32 m). The fill was created as a result of the removal of 852,000 cubic yards of fill material from this section of the right-of-way. Armstrong Cut is located on a tangent (straight) section of track, permitting 80 mph (130 km/h).
Harrison was a station on New Jersey Transit's Morris & Essex Lines in Harrison, New Jersey, United States. The station was built by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in 1906. It was situated between Newark Broad Street Station and Hoboken Terminal.
David Williamson Flickwir (1852-1935) was a civil engineer and railroad engineering contractor. His company built one of the world's largest concrete bridges, the Tunkhannock Viaduct.