Share of the Lehigh & Hudson River RW Company, issued 22. September 1904
The Lehigh & Hudson River Railway traced its origins to the Warwick Valley Railroad, chartered on March 8, 1860, to connect Warwick, New York with the Erie Railroad at Greycourt, New York. Opened in 1862, it initially operated as a broad-gauge Erie branch and converted to standard gauge in 1880.
During the early 1880s several small New Jersey companies, including the Pequest & Wallkill Railroad and the Wawayanda Railroad, were consolidated with the Warwick Valley. In April 1882 the unified system adopted the Lehigh & Hudson River Railway (L&HR) name. Local industrialist Grinnell Burt guided the consolidation and served as president until 1901. The completed route extended from Greycourt to Belvidere, New Jersey, and in 1890 it reached Maybrook, New York, providing direct access to the newly opened Poughkeepsie Bridge.
Traffic evolved from early agricultural and ice shipments to higher-value minerals and fuel. A branch from Franklin, New Jersey to the New Jersey Zinc Company mines at Sterling Hill, New Jersey became a principal source of revenue. At Maybrook the L&HR emerged as an important neutral connector for the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad and other trunk lines; in 1905 several major carriers acquired minority interests in the L&HR to preserve this role.
Bridge over the Delaware River between Easton and Phillipsburg
Passenger traffic remained incidental. From 1912 to 1916 the L&HR hosted the PRR Federal Express between Phillipsburg and Maybrook. Regular passenger service elsewhere declined and ended in 1939.[1][2]
Operations
At maximum extent the L&HR measured approximately 72 miles between Belvidere and Maybrook, with additional movements via trackage rights in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The alignment followed the Great Appalachian Valley and featured modest grades and long level reaches. These characteristics facilitated efficient through movements, particularly coal and manufactured goods interchanged between the Allentown region and New England.
Local business contracted over time, although limestone and gravel operations persisted. The Franklin zinc complex remained the most significant on-line industry until its closure in 1954. The motive-power fleet relied on Baldwin Locomotive Works steam locomotives until 1950, when the railroad dieselized with ALCO RS-3 units, later augmented and then replaced by ALCO C-420 locomotives.[3]
Decline and bankruptcy
The L&HR running under the abandoned Lackawanna Cut-Off near Tranquility, New Jersey, circa 1989. By this point, the L&HR line had been abandoned, and trackage removal occurred when land ownership transferred from Conrail to land developer Jerry Turco
Regional mergers in the 1960s disrupted long-standing interchange patterns. The formation of the \[\[Erie Lackawanna Railway]] and the later creation of Penn Central shifted New England traffic to alternate corridors, reducing dependence on the Poughkeepsie Bridge route. The L&HR entered bankruptcy protection on April 18, 1972. The loss became irreversible after the Poughkeepsie Bridge fire on May 8, 1974. The L&HR was conveyed to Conrail on April 1, 1976.[4]
Aftermath
The L&HR line crossed the Pequest River under the Pequest Viaduct which carried the Lackawanna Old Road across the river as well. This section of the line is now preserved as the Pequest Wildlife Management Area Trail.The final section of the L&HR Line running from Oxford, New Jersey, to Belvidere, New Jersey, has been preserved as a hiking trail.A concrete mile marker along the now abandoned final stretch of the L&HR line marking 6 miles to Belvidere, New Jersey, and 66 miles to Maybrook, New York. This can be found along the Pequest Wildlife Management Area trail between Old Furnace Road and Route 31.
Overhauled and renumbered 40–42 in late 1950; scrapped February 1951
References
↑ Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York, Volume 5. State of New York Eighth Annual Report of the Public Service Commission Second District For the Year Ended December 31, 1914; Albany, 1915; Page 12.
↑ 1917 Legislative Documents of State of New Jersey. Documents of the One Hundred and Forty-Second Legislature of the State of New Jersey and the Seventy-Fourth Under the New Constitution, Volume 2, Documents 12 to 16 Inclusive. Star Gazette Publishing Co.; Trenton, NJ, 1918; Page 564.
Railroads in italics meet the revenue specifications for Class I status, but are not technically Class I railroads due to being passenger-only railroads with no freight component.
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