The Erie and Central New York Railroad was first graded in 1870 and was abandoned and the bridges rotted. Reconstruction was started in 1895, [1] opened May 1, 1898, and sold to the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in 1903. [2] The railroad ran from Cortland Junction to Cincinnatus, and an extension to Hancock or Deposit was planned.
A reprinted version of the Official Guide of the Railways for February 1901 contains a rare separate entry for this company when it was independent. John R. Bland of Baltimore was listed as the trustee, indicating that the railroad was bankrupt at that time. Its president and general agent, Charles O. Scull, was also from Baltimore. All the other officers were from Cortland: Lawrence N. Frederick, Jr. vice president and general manager; H.M. Kellogg, secretary; W.D. Tisdale, treasurer and auditor; and I. H. Palmer, Counsel.
Further examination of the entry on page 111 of the Official Guide for February 1901 reveals that on a typical day (except Sunday) the pattern of passenger train service was that train no. 2 left Cincinnatus daily and covered the 18.8 miles to Cortland in an hour and ten minutes. Then, as train no. 1, it left from the Lehigh Valley Railroad's station at 9:50 a.m. and took 55 minutes to cover the return trip, stopping at eight intermediate stations: Cortland Junction, McGrawville, Maybury's, Solon, East Freetown, Reuben, White's Mills and Willett Station. Arriving at 10:45, it paused and then became no. 6, departing Cincinnatus at 12:15 p.m, getting back to Cortland at 1:30 p.m. At 2:45, running as no. 5, it made an eastbound trip, getting back to Cincinnatus at 4:01 p.m. After a layover of an hour, as no. 4, the train left for Cortland at 5:00 p.m. and arrived at 5:50 p.m. The final run of a typical day was as no. 3, leaving Cortland for Cincinnatus at 6:32 and arriving at 7:29 p.m. Sunday passenger service on the railroad was provided by no. 2 as indicated above, and by no. 7, returning from Cortland at 5:00 p.m. and reaching Cincinnatus an hour later. It is not known whether the stagecoaches from Cincinnatus to Pitcher and South Otselic, that connected with E. & C.N.Y. trains, ran on Sundays as well.
The railroad ran through a "fruitful agricultural region," according to the 1895 New York Times article cited below, but evidently not fruitful enough to allow the company to avoid bankruptcy.
Circa 1907 the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad renamed Willett's Station as Gee Brook. By 1911 it had reduced passenger service to double daily service, single daily on Sundays. The double-daily pattern was virtually unchanged when the D.L.& W. issued its December 1929 timetables, but by the end of 1946, passenger service had been abandoned. The freight schedule near the end was reduced to two round trips per week, with stops at McGraw, East Freetown, and Cincinnatus.
In June 1960, the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad petitioned the Interstate Commerce Commission for permission to abandon the line. The "Gee Whiz" made its final run on December 29, 1961, from Cincinnatus to Cortland with seven empty cars.
The 18 miles of track, along with 18 bridges, were removed and sold for scrap by Erie Lackawanna in 1962.
A section from Cortland Junction to Polkville was partially rebuilt for an industrial spur about 1999.
The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Northeastern United States, originally connecting Pavonia Terminal in Jersey City, New Jersey, with Lake Erie at Dunkirk, New York. The railroad expanded west to Chicago following its 1865 merger with the former Atlantic and Great Western Railroad, also known as the New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad. Its mainline route proved influential in the development and economic growth of the Southern Tier of New York state, including the cities of Binghamton, Elmira, and Hornell. The Erie Railroad repair shops were located in Hornell and was Hornell's largest employer. Hornell was also where Erie's mainline split into two routes with one proceeding northwest to Buffalo and the other west to Chicago.
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). Incorporated in Pennsylvania in 1853 primarily for the purpose of providing a connection between the anthracite coal fields of Pennsylvania's Coal Region and the large markets for coal in New York City. The railroad gradually expanded both East and West, eventually linking Buffalo with New York City.
The Main Line is a commuter rail line owned and operated by New Jersey Transit running from Suffern, New York to Hoboken, New Jersey, in the United States. It runs daily commuter service and was once the north–south main line of the Erie Railroad. It is colored yellow on NJ Transit system maps, and its symbol is a water wheel.
The Northern Branch is a railroad line that runs from Jersey City to Northvale in northeastern New Jersey, and formerly extended further into New York State. The line was constructed in 1859 by the Northern Railroad of New Jersey to connect the New York and Erie Railroad's Piermont Branch terminus in Piermont, New York, directly to Erie's primary terminal in Jersey City, initially Exchange Place, later Pavonia Terminal. In 1870 the line was extended to Nyack, New York, and continued to provide passenger service until 1966. After the Erie's unsuccessful merger with the Lackawanna Railroad to form the Erie-Lackawanna, ownership of the line passed into the hands of Conrail upon its formation in 1976 from a number of bankrupt railroads.
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.
The Metro Rail Maintenance Yard or "South Park Terminal" houses Buffalo Metro Rail's cars in a train shed at the former Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad terminal in the Cobblestone District of Buffalo, New York. The property is located at the southernmost fringe of the Central Business District. The station was built in 1917, and was designed to handle both steam trains and steamships. The storage and maintenance facility was converted to its present condition in 1982, following the demolition of the former main terminal concourse building "headhouse" of the DL&W Terminal in 1979.
Newark Broad Street station is a New Jersey Transit commuter rail and light rail station at 25 University Avenue in Newark, New Jersey, United States. Built in 1903, the station's historic architecture includes an elegant clock tower and a brick and stone façade on the station's main building.
Netcong is an NJ Transit station in Netcong, in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. Located on Route 46 at Main Street in downtown Netcong, the small, 1-low level side platform station service passengers for the Morristown Line and the Montclair-Boonton Line. These lines provide service to Hoboken or to New York City via Midtown Direct on the Morristown Line at Dover station and Montclair-Boonton at Montclair State University station. Midtown Direct service can also be transferred at Newark Broad Street station in Newark. There is one track and one platform on the north side, adjacent to the station. NJ Transit maintains a substantial train servicing yard east of the Netcong station at Port Morris in Roxbury Township. Port Morris Yard is proposed to return as the junction of the Montclair-Boonton and Morristown lines for the Lackawanna Cut-Off line to Scranton. Transfers would be provided at Lake Hopatcong station in Landing.
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.
Kingsland is a railroad station on New Jersey Transit's Main Line. It is located under Ridge Road (Route 17) between New York and Valley Brook Avenues in Lyndhurst, New Jersey, and is one of two stations in Lyndhurst. The station is not staffed, and passengers use ticket vending machines (TVMs) located at street level to purchase tickets. The station is not handicapped-accessible. Originally part of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad's Boonton Branch, the current Kingsland station was built in 1918.
The Montclair-Boonton Line is a commuter rail line of New Jersey Transit Rail Operations in the United States. It is part of the Hoboken Division. The line is a consolidation of three individual lines: the former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad's Montclair Branch, which ran from Hoboken Terminal to Bay Street, Montclair; the Erie Railroad's Greenwood Lake Division, which originally ran from the Erie's Jersey City Terminal to Greenwood Lake, NY; and the former Lackawanna Boonton Line, which ran from Hoboken to Hackettstown, New Jersey. The Montclair-Boonton line was formed when the Montclair Connection opened on September 30, 2002. The line serves 28 active rail stations in New Jersey along with New York Pennsylvania Station. It crosses through six counties, serving six stations in the township of Montclair, two in the town of Bloomfield, and one in the city of Newark. Trains along the Montclair-Boonton Line heading eastward usually originate at Hackettstown, Mount Olive, Lake Hopatcong, Dover, or Montclair State University, bound for either Hoboken Terminal or New York Penn Station. On system maps the line is colored maroon and its symbol is a bird, after the state bird, the eastern goldfinch.
Washington is a former commuter railroad train station in the borough of Washington, Warren County, New Jersey. The station serviced trains operated by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad on three different lines. Washington station handled the Lackawanna Old Road, which came from Port Morris Junction and continued to Portland, Pennsylvania; the Hampton Branch, which went to Hampton's Central Railroad of New Jersey station in Hunterdon County; and the Phillipsburg Branch, which operated to Phillipsburg Union Station. Washington station contained a single large brick depot and multiple platforms.
Tobyhanna station is a proposed NJ Transit commuter rail station located in Coolbaugh Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania. The station forms part of a site owned by a number of public and private entities including the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority. The site is adjacent to the former Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad station; the building remains in place and is in use as the local historical society rail museum. In spring 2021, Amtrak announced plans for potential New York-Scranton route.
West Arlington was a former commuter railroad train station in the Arlington section of Kearny, Hudson County, New Jersey. Located overlooking Passaic Avenue, West Arlington station was one of two in Kearny on the Erie Railroad's New York and Greenwood Lake Railroad, the other one being Arlington at Garafola Place. The station contained two low-level side platforms, with a pair of depots, one of which was on each platform. Trains went from Pavonia Terminal in Jersey City to Wanaque–Midvale station in Wanaque. The next station to the west was North Newark, across nearby WR Draw, a swing bridge over the Route 21, the Passaic River and Passaic Avenue.
Phoebe Snow was a named passenger train which was once operated by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W) and, after a brief hiatus, the Erie Lackawanna Railway (EL).
Harriman Station, formerly known as Turner Station until 1910, was the first station on the Erie Railroad Main Line west of Newburgh Junction in Harriman, New York. Built adjacent to Grove Street in Harriman, one of the earlier structures built here in 1838 was a three-story hotel-train station combination. This station caught fire in 1873 and was replaced by a one-story wooden structure. That structure remained in use for decades before it began decaying and was replaced in 1911 with a new station on land donated by the widow of Edward Henry Harriman. A new one-story structure was built on the land. The station was maintained as a one-story depot with an adjacent monument dedicated to the work of Charles Minot. Minot was a director of the Erie Railroad who, in 1851, while his train was stopped at Turner, made the first railroad call by telegraph.
Warren was a former station for the Erie Railroad on its main line and on the Mahoning Division's first subdivision between Cleveland and Pymatuning station. Along the main line, the next station west towards Dearborn Station was Leavittsburg, while east towards Pavonia Terminal was Niles. The station was located 585.7 miles (942.6 km) from Pavonia Terminal and 412.8 miles (664.3 km) from Dearborn Station.
The Interstate Express was a long-distance passenger train operating between Syracuse, New York, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, jointly operated by the Reading Railroad, the Central Railroad of New Jersey and the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. These lines offered a long distance overnight line in Train 1301 (north-bound)/ 1306 (south-bound). Connecting service by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad offered continuing service south from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C.
The Erie Limited was a streamlined passenger train operated by the Erie Railroad between Jersey City, New Jersey and Chicago, Illinois via the Southern Tier. It operated from 1929 to 1963. After the merger of the Erie and the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W) in 1960 it was known as the Erie-Lackawanna Limited. Once the premier passenger train on the Erie, repeated service reductions in the 1950s and 1960s left it a shell of its former self. The Phoebe Snow replaced it in 1963.