New Jersey Midland Railway

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New Jersey Midland Railway
1872 New Jersey Midland Railway Map.png
The NJ Midland in 1872
Overview
Key peopleCornelius Wortendyke,
DeWitt Clinton Littlejohn
Reporting mark NJM
Locale New Jersey
New York, U.S.
Dates of operation1870–1881
Successor New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway
Technical
Track gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length71 mi (114.26 km) [1]
A map of the NJM along with later NYSW-added extensions to the west NYSW Historical NJ and PA.svg
A map of the NJM along with later NYSW-added extensions to the west

The New Jersey Midland Railway, also known simply as "the Midland", was a 19th-century predecessor to the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (NYS&W) that operated in Northern New Jersey and Orange County, New York. [2]

Contents

Formation and construction

The ROW in Midland Park, which was named after the NJ Midland which built its right-of-way through the borough Midland Park Station May 2014.jpg
The ROW in Midland Park, which was named after the NJ Midland which built its right-of-way through the borough
Share of the New Jersey Midland Railway Company, issued 1 January 1872 New Jersey Midland RW 1872.jpg
Share of the New Jersey Midland Railway Company, issued 1 January 1872

The New Jersey Midland Railway can trace its earliest roots back to 1828, when John Langdon Sullivan surveyed the first route across northern New Jersey with the intent of transporting Pennsylvania coal by rail to industrial Paterson, New Jersey. While New Jersey industry had supply of iron ore, it needed local sources of coal to smelt it following shortages of British coal after the War of 1812. [4] [5]

The Morris Canal had begun operation for this purpose by 1831, but was seasonal and slow; industry demanded better. The New Jersey, Hudson & Delaware Railroad (NJH&D) was chartered in March of 1832 as the fifth railroad in New Jersey; it was based on Sullivan's surveyed route. It would connect Paterson east to the ports along the Hudson Waterfront opposite New York City at Hoboken, and west to Pennsylvania at the Delaware Water Gap. [6] [7] Due to financial difficulties incurred during the Panic of 1837, the company did not construct anything until 1867, but its charter remained active. Further set back by the Panic of 1857, the railroad sold its charter to the Pennsylvania Coal Company. [8] [9]

By the mid-1860s, several companies were formed to create railroads across northern New Jersey. The earliest of these, the Hoboken, Ridgefield and Paterson Railroad (HR&P), was chartered in March of 1866 to connect Paterson with the ports along the Hudson River waterfront; various logistical issues ensured this company would not actually build anything. [10] More successful was the New Jersey Western Railroad (NJW), chartered in 1867, which had built about ten miles of trackage from the vicinity of Hawthorne west to Bloomingdale. This attracted the attention of DeWitt Clinton Littlejohn, founder of the New York and Oswego Midland Railroad (NYOM) of Oswego, New York. He envisioned the New Jersey Western as a possible final eastern link from Lake Ontario to New York City for his railroad, as the NYOM had no charter itself to build in New Jersey. [8] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]

To that end, the New Jersey Midland Railway (NJM) was formed in 1870 as a consolidation of the NJW, the NJH&D, the HR&P, [a] the Sussex Valley Railroad, and the Hudson Connecting Railway. [8] [16] [17] [18] With the final barrier to the waterfront being the Hudson Palisades, the original plan included a cut through them near Englewood to run south along the river to Weehawken, but the company lacked the money to do so. It instead made arrangements to run through the Pennsylvania Railroad's cut from Marion Junction through Bergen Hill in Jersey City to their Exchange Place Terminal. [19] By December 20, the first locomotive would run on the NJM; the 'Passaic' built by Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works in Paterson. [20]

In 1871 the Midland built as far west as Butler, with the first train running on April 27. [21] [8] Later the railroad would reach Two Bridges/Beaver Lake through Sussex County, including construction of the Backwards Tunnel in December of 1871. [22] The NJM would reach the New York state line at Hanford, New Jersey, just south of Unionville, New York, to meet with the Middletown, Unionville and Water Gap Railroad (MUWGRR). [23] This new railroad made the Ogden Mine Railroad obsolete. The section of the railroad from Ogdensburg north was later known as the Hanford Branch once the "new" connection south toward the Delaware Water Gap was built beginning in the 1880s. The successor NYS&W would later abandon its Hanford Branch in 1958. The railroad would return to the area in 1986 with a shifted route to run along a parallel section of the former Lehigh and Hudson River Railway right-of-way between Sparta Junction and Campbell Hall, New York. [24] [25] [26]

By 1872, the Midland line opened between Middletown, New York and Jersey City including trackage rights over the MUWGRR. [8] [11] [27] It was marketed as a unified "Midland Railway" but also described as "The New Jersey Division of The New York Midland Railway." [28] The first train ran May 1. [29] The Midland also built a line through the Ridgefields by 1872, but with no station. [30] [31] It joined the Erie Railroad Northern Branch at Granton Junction near Babbitt, and reached the community of New Durham (near the point where the Susquehanna Transfer would later be located, now under New Jersey Route 495).

In September of 1873, the NYOM would lease the NJM, [32] [33] but this was shortly undone by the Panic of 1873. This resulted in the NYOM falling into financial trouble and the NJM taking ownership of the line from Jersey City to Middletown in November. [34]

Bankruptcy and formation of the NYS&W

A map of the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway, the most recent successor of the Midland Railway NYSW-Sys Map.png
A map of the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway, the most recent successor of the Midland Railway

In March of 1875, the Midland fell into receivership with James McCulloh and Garret Hobart appointed as receivers. [35] [8] [36] By December 1878, a dispute broke out between various bondholders, some of whom disputed that the Hudson Connecting Railway should be included in the proceedings. [37]

By 1879 the receivers had declared their intent to put the railroad up for sale, and the Midland was listed as such on September 14. [38] On February 21, 1880, the NJ Midland, along with the Hudson Connecting Railway, was sold to Charles Parsons, who represented the bondholders of the first and second mortgages, at a price of $2.5 Million; the two railroads were combined into one. On May 15, 1880, the "property of the defunct New Jersey Midland Railway Company was delivered to the Midland Railroad Company of New Jersey." [39]

In April of 1881 construction began on the Paterson Extension Railroad, later the Paterson City branch. Survey work also began on the line from Ogdensburg south to the Water Gap. [40] Later in 1881, the Midland started the New York and Scranton Construction Company to begin building towards the coal fields of the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania. [41] with the Pennsylvania Midland Railroad chartered in that state in May of 1881. The Midland also started up several more corporations to further its goals and plans were made to form another new railroad consolidating all of these. [42]

On June 10, 1881 the NJ Midland was consolidated with the MUWGRR, the Paterson Extension Railroad, the Midland Connecting Railroad, the North Jersey Railroad, the Water Gap Railroad and the Pennsylvania Midland to form the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (NYS&W) with Frederic A. Potts as railroad president. [43] [44] [45]

The new company then expanded west into Pennsylvania as the Wilkes-Barre and Eastern Railroad, chartered March 18, 1892 in an attempt to keep the parent company secret. [46]

Stations and possible future use

Commuter service ended in 1966, but has been considered for restoration as the part of the Passaic–Bergen–Hudson Transit Project is a project by NJ Transit to possibly reintroduce passenger service on a portion of the NYSW right-of-way (ROW) in Passaic, Bergen and Hudson counties using newly built, FRA-compliant diesel multiple unit rail cars (with stations at Vreeland Avenue and Vince Lombardi Park and Ride, among others. [47] [48] [49]

Existing original station buildings from the NJ Midland era can be found at Bogota, Maywood, Rochelle Park, Wortendyke, Butler, and Newfoundland among other places.

Constituent Railroads

Hudson Connecting Railway

The right-of-way of the Hudson Connecting in Jersey City, now part of NYS&W (at right), runs parallel to the Northern Branch Northern Running Track Jersey City 1.jpg
The right-of-way of the Hudson Connecting in Jersey City, now part of NYS&W (at right), runs parallel to the Northern Branch

A charter for the Hudson Connecting Railway Company had been in existence since April 1, 1869. [50] By November of 1872 The Hudson Connecting Railway was built with a trestle over the Erie yards to connect the NJM with the New Jersey Rail Road and Transportation Company (PRR) at what would be called West End Junction in the Marion section of Jersey City. [51] The Erie Railroad opposed the NJM's crossing of its right-of-way and fought it in the courts. [52]

Middletown, Unionville and Water Gap Railroad

In 1866, public meetings were held in Middletown, Westtown and Unionville, New York to discuss the viability of a railroad via these hamlets to Deckertown, Sussex County, New Jersey. A route was surveyed from there to Middletown, but, as built, the Middletown, Unionville and Water Gap Railroad only extended from a connection with the NY&E in Middletown to Unionville, which was reached on December 6, 1867, after fourteen months of construction. [53] Freight cars received from the Erie made the 14-mile (23 km) trip to Unionville starting January 13, 1868. The MUWGRR was built to the 6-foot (1.8 m) broad gauge of the Erie. [54] A third rail allowed for use of the NJM's standard-gauge cars on the line. [55] The road was leased to the Erie and commenced regular operations as the Erie's "Unionville Branch" on May 15, 1868.

The New York and Oswego Midland Railroad (NYOM) — incorporated January 11, 1866 with the goal of linking Oswego, New York, on Lake Ontario, with the Hudson River at a point across from New York City — reached Middletown in 1871. It was hoped it would connect with three New Jersey companies to form a through route to the Port of New York and New Jersey. The link between the NYOM and the NJM became the MUWGRR, which was leased by the NYOM effective April 1, 1872.

In 1911, the MUWGRR defaulted on its second mortgage bonds. A former vice president of the Erie, which was leasing the MUWGRR, opened a foreclosure suit in New York Supreme Court. [56] In 1913, it reemerged as the Middletown & Unionville; this was sold at foreclosure on January 15, 1947 and reorganized as the Middletown & New Jersey . [57]

Today, the NYS&W and the Middletown and New Jersey Railroad use the line formerly known as the MUWGRR with shared trackage rights. [58]

Notes

aIn 1867 the NJH&D would perform some minimal grading in Butler and Bloomingdale to preserve its charter by at least doing some work [8] [59]

See also

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ Lucas (1980), p. 72.
  2. ↑ Mohowski (2003), pp. 11–17.
  3. ↑ "Town History and Pictures". Midland Park NJ - Borough Municipal Website. Midland Park, NJ. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  4. ↑ Lucas (1980), p. 9.
  5. ↑ Mohowski (2003), pp. 2, 4.
  6. ↑ Lucas (1980), pp. 6, 9.
  7. ↑ Mohowski (2003), p. 2.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Krause & Crist (1991), p. 5.
  9. ↑ Mohowski (2003), p. 5.
  10. ↑ Mohowski (2003), pp. 6–7.
  11. 1 2 Schmitt (2009), p. 4.
  12. ↑ Lucas (1980), pp. 16, 19.
  13. ↑ Mohowski (2003), pp. 7, 10, 11.
  14. ↑ Van Valen (1900), History of Bergen County, New Jersey, Forgotten Books, archived from the original on 2015-04-02
  15. ↑ "THE NEW-JERSEY MIDLAND.; THE STOCKHOLDERS DEMANDING A SHARE UNDER THE REORGANIZATION". New York Times. New York, NY. 11 March 1880. Retrieved 3 March 2025.
  16. ↑ Lucas (1980), pp. 23–24.
  17. ↑ Mohowski (2003), p. 11.
  18. ↑ Interstate Commerce Commission Reports: Decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission of the United States. Valuation reports, vol. 33, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1931
  19. ↑ Lucas (1980), pp. 20, 24, 47, 54.
  20. ↑ Lucas (1980), p. 28.
  21. ↑ Lucas (1980), p. 29.
  22. ↑ Schmitt (2009), p. 169.
  23. ↑ Hadowanetz, Wasco (November 17, 2005). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Backwards Tunnel". United States Department of the Interior National Park Service. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  24. ↑ Mohowski (2003), p. 176.
  25. ↑ Karlewicz & Hartley (1987), p. 68.
  26. ↑ Schmitt (2009), p. 11.
  27. ↑ Lucas (1980), pp. 20, 46.
  28. ↑ Catlin (1872), pp. 6–14.
  29. ↑ Mohowski (2003), p. 17.
  30. ↑ Ridgefield Park 1685-1985 (PDF), 1985, archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04, retrieved 2016-09-04
  31. ↑ K., Henry. "History of Bogota". Town of Bogota. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  32. ↑ Lucas (1980), pp. 45, 47, 49.
  33. ↑ Mohowski (2003), p. 18.
  34. ↑ Lucas (1980), p. 50.
  35. ↑ Lucas (1980), p. 58.
  36. ↑ Mohowski (2003), p. 21.
  37. ↑ "The Midland Railway Suit" (PDF). The New York Times. New York, NY. 18 December 1878. Retrieved 3 March 2025.
  38. ↑ Lucas (1980), p. 66.
  39. ↑ Lucas (1980), p. 67.
  40. ↑ Lucas (1980), pp. 68–69.
  41. ↑ Lucas (1980), p. 69.
  42. ↑ Lucas (1980), p. 70.
  43. ↑ Lucas (1980), pp. 70–73.
  44. ↑ Mohowski (2003), pp. 27–28.
  45. ↑ "Six Railroads Consolidated" (PDF). The New York Times. New York, NY. 12 June 1881. Retrieved 3 March 2025.
  46. ↑ Mohowski (2003), p. 41.
  47. ↑ "Passaic Bergen Hudson Transit Project". Projects & Reports. NJ Transit. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  48. ↑ "Passaic-Bergen-Hudson Rail Project". North Jersey Rail Coalition.
  49. ↑ Stewart, Holly (August 11, 2011). "Will commuter service ever be restored to train line?". NorthJersey.com. Archived from the original on September 21, 2016.
  50. ↑ Lucas (1980), p. 24.
  51. ↑ Lucas (1980), p. 46.
  52. ↑ Lucas (1980), p. 45.
  53. ↑ Barberio, Douglas (2010), Middletown and Unionville Railroad, Arcadia Publishing, ISBN   9780738573175
  54. ↑ Lucas (1980), p. 31.
  55. ↑ Lucas (1980), p. 36.
  56. ↑ "ROAD DEFAULTS ON BONDS; Foreclosure Suit Instituted Against Middletown, Unionville & Water Gap Line". New York Times. March 14, 1911. Retrieved August 18, 2025.
  57. ↑ D’Amato, Christopher (2016-12-19). "Middletown & New Jersey 44-tonner in HO Scale". Railroad Model Craftsman. Retrieved 2025-08-18.
  58. ↑ "Middletown & New Jersey Railroad" (PDF). mnjrr.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 30, 2012. Retrieved August 18, 2025.
  59. ↑ Lucas (1980), p. 13.
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