New York and Greenwood Lake Railway (1878–1943)

Last updated
New York & Greenwood Lake Railway
GreenwoodLakeRwy 19370425.png
Former Greenwood Lake timetable from 1937, produced by the Erie Railroad.
Overview
Locale Sterling Forest, Passaic County Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey
Dates of operationJanuary 1, 1873 (as Montclair Railway)July 1943 (absorbed officially into Erie Railroad) [1]
Technical
Track gauge 4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Route map
Erie Railroad
New York & Greenwood Lake service
Sterling Forest
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Greenwood Lake Glens
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Awosting
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Hewitt
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Monks
BSicon exHST.svg
BSicon exKHSTa.svg
Ringwood
Boardville
BSicon exHST.svg
BSicon exHST.svg
Erskine
Ringwood Junction
BSicon exKRWg+l.svg
BSicon POINTERg@f.svg
BSicon exKRWr.svg
Ringwood Branch
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Wanaque–Midvale
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BSicon STRc3.svg
BSicon exHST.svg
Haskell
BSicon STRc1.svg
BSicon STR2+4.svg
BSicon exABZg+4.svg
BSicon STRc3.svg
Pompton Junction
BSicon STRc1.svg
BSicon exHST.svg
BSicon CONT4.svg
Pompton
BSicon exHST.svg
Riverdale
BSicon exHST.svg
BSicon exHST.svg
Pompton Plains
BSicon exHST.svg
Pequannock
BSicon CONT2.svg
BSicon STRc3.svg
BSicon exHST.svg
Wayne
BSicon STRc1.svg
BSicon ABZ4+fx2.svg
BSicon exABZg2.svg
BSicon exSTRc3.svg
BSicon exCONT4+f.svg
BSicon eSTR+c1.svg
BSicon exCONT4.svg
Essex Fells
BSicon exHST.svg
BSicon HST.svg
Mountain View
Caldwell
BSicon exHST.svg
BSicon STR.svg
Verona
BSicon exHST.svg
BSicon eHST.svg
Singac
Overbrook
BSicon exHST.svg
BSicon STR.svg
Cedar Grove
BSicon exHST.svg
BSicon HST.svg
Little Falls
Caldwell Branch
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BSicon exKRWl.svg
BSicon eKRWg+r.svg
BSicon eHST.svg
Great Notch
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Montclair Heights
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Mountain Avenue
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Upper Montclair
BSicon HST.svg
Watchung Avenue
BSicon HST.svg
Montclair
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BSicon ABZgr.svg
BSicon eHST.svg
Glen Ridge (closed 2002)
West Orange
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BSicon STR.svg
Llewellyn
BSicon exHST.svg
BSicon eHST.svg
Walnut Street (closed 1953)
Orange
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BSicon STR.svg
Brighton Avenue
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BSicon eHST.svg
Orchard Street (closed 1955)
East Orange
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BSicon STR.svg
Bloomfield Avenue
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BSicon exSTR.svg
BSicon eHST.svg
Rowe Street (closed 2002)
Silver Lake
BSicon uHST.svg
BSicon STR.svg
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BSicon STRc3.svg
BSicon eHST.svg
Belwood Park
BSicon STRc1.svg
BSicon uCONT3+g.svg
BSicon ABZg+4.svg
BSicon POINTER+2.svg
Orange Branch
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Forest Hill
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Soho
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Soho Park
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North Newark
BSicon LSTR+l.svg
BSicon KRZo.svg
BSicon CONTfq.svg
BSicon hbKRZWae.svg
BSicon eHST.svg
West Arlington (closed 1966, burned 1976)
BSicon exHST.svg
Arlington (closed 2002)
BSicon exCONTgq.svg
BSicon exKRZo.svg
BSicon exCONTfq.svg
BSicon exLKRWl.svg
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DB Draw over Hackensack River (closed 2002)
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BSicon CONTgq.svg
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BSicon ABZgl+l.svg
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Main Line & Northern Branch
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BSicon kSTRc3.svg
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(closed 1958)
Pavonia Terminal
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Hoboken Terminal
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BSicon exBOOT.svg
BSicon WASSERq.svg
BSicon BOOT.svg
BSicon WASSERq.svg
BSicon eHST.svg
Forest Hill
BSicon eHST.svg
Soho
BSicon eHST.svg
Soho Park
BSicon eHST.svg
North Newark
BSicon STR+l.svg
BSicon STRq.svg
BSicon KRZo.svg
BSicon CONTfq.svg
BSicon hbKRZWae.svg
BSicon hbKRZWae.svg
BSicon STR.svg
BSicon eHST.svg
West Arlington (closed 1966, burned 1976)
BSicon STR.svg
BSicon exHST.svg
Arlington (closed 2002)
BSicon STR2.svg
BSicon STRc3.svg
BSicon STR.svg
BSicon STRc1.svg
BSicon ABZ4+2f.svg
BSicon STR+c3.svg
BSicon STR+c12.svg
BSicon ABZg3.svg
BSicon ABZg+4.svg
BSicon ABZg+1.svg
BSicon STR+c4.svg
BSicon hbKRZWae.svg
(closed 1958)
Pavonia Terminal
BSicon exKBHFe.svg
BSicon KBHFe.svg
Hoboken Terminal
BSicon WASSERq.svg
BSicon exBOOT.svg
BSicon WASSERq.svg
BSicon BOOT.svg
BSicon WASSERq.svg

The New York and Greenwood Lake Railway owned a line between Croxton, Jersey City, New Jersey and Greenwood Lake, New York. Service on the line was provided by the Erie Railroad.

Contents

The Montclair Railway was established in 1867. [2] It was founded by Julius Pratt, who had renamed Montclair, New Jersey, for what was then West Bloomfield. [3] By the mid-1870s it ran between Croxton and Sterling Forest at the New York state line, but the financially unstable railroad went into receivership, and in 1875 became the Montclair and Greenwood Lake Railway [2] [4] In 1878 the company was re-organized as the New York and Greenwood Lake Railway (NYGL), under control of the Erie. [5]

In 1887, the Erie created a new subsidiary, the Arlington Railroad, to create a new, more direct ROW in the Kearny Meadows between the Hackensack River and Passaic River. [2] [6] In the mid-1890s, the Erie greatly expanded the infrastructure and service on the Greenwood Lake, taking over the Watchung Railway (in 1895), the Caldwell Railway (in 1897) and the Roseland Railway (also in 1897), [2] the former becoming the Orange Branch [7] and the latter two the Caldwell Branch (see Great Notch (NJT station)). In 1897, the Erie opened the DB Draw over the Hackensack and the WR Draw over the Passaic providing the company a modernized ROW from its Pavonia Terminal through the Long Dock Tunnel and across the Meadows.

The property was acquired directly in 1943 by the Erie Railroad, which merged with the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in 1960, to create the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad. Passenger service on the line north of Mountain View, to Greenwood Lake, was abandoned in stages.

Conrail operated commuter rail on the line from 1976 to 1982, when New Jersey Transit Rail Operations took over. The line south and east of Mountain View and north and west of Montclair is operated as part of the Montclair-Boonton Line and runs now to Hoboken, with Midtown Direct service into New York Penn Station. Three passenger stations (Arlington, Rowe Street and Benson Street) were abandoned when the Montclair Connection opened in 2002 and the Hackensack River bridge was placed out of service.

Conrail continued to operate freight service on the line until 1999, when the Norfolk Southern Railway took over. Norfolk Southern operated on the Orange Branch until 2010 when the last remaining shipper Hartz Mountain closed their Bloomfield plant.

A short segment of the Orange Branch was brought back into use for passengers as part of the Newark Light Rail, with stations at Silver Lake and Grove Street.

In 2020, Norfolk Southern (NS) officially abandoned the eastern 8.63-mile (13.89 km) section (milepost WD 2.9 to milepost WD 11.5) of the rail line. [8] The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, which manages state parks and forests, acquired the property on August 19, 2022. The state purchased the ROW from NS for $65 million with the intention to create the Essex–Hudson Greenway. [9] [10]

New York and Greenwood Lake Railway (1878-1943)
System map

Bibliography

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References

  1. Interstate Commerce Commission 1944, p. 486–490.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Erie Railroad" (PDF). Inventory June 1918. June 30, 1918. Retrieved 2012-06-06.
  3. "JULIUS HOWARD PRATT DEAD.; Named Montclair and Built New York & Greenwood Lake Railroad". New York Times. October 15, 1909.
  4. Olsen, Kevin. "A Short History of the New York and Greenwood Lake Railroad". msuweb.montclair.edu. Retrieved 2012-05-30.
  5. "The Montclair Railway.; Handed Over To The New-York And Greenwood Lake Company" (PDF). The New York Times. December 18, 1878.
  6. "New Branch of the Erie" (PDF), The New York Times, March 23, 1887, retrieved 2012-06-06
  7. "Railroad Facilities A new branch which will benefit New Jersey people" (PDF), The New York Times, November 16, 1880, retrieved 2012-06-06
  8. Norfolk Southern Railway Company-Abandonment Exemption-in Hudson and Essex Counties, NJ A Notice by the Surface Transportation Board on 07/09/2020
  9. "New Jersey buys Norfolk Southern right-of-way for linear park". trains.com. November 16, 2021. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  10. Finn, Jennifer (2022-01-21). "Why NJ's Essex-Hudson Greenway Will be a Game-Changer for Commuters, City Residents". New Jersey Monthly. Retrieved 2022-12-31.