North Hawthorne station

Last updated
North Hawthorne
NYSW NorthHawthorneRoundhouse.jpg
Former roundhouse building seen from behind a fence in 2012.
General information
LocationRea Avenue, Hawthorne, New Jersey, 07506
Coordinates 40°57′30″N74°09′16″W / 40.95844°N 74.15436°W / 40.95844; -74.15436
Owned byNYS&W (18921898)
Erie Railroad (18981937)
NYS&W (19371966)
Line(s) New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad Main Line
Platforms1 low-level side platform
Tracks2 New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad
Connections BSicon TRAM1.svg Public Service Railway trolley
Hawthorne/State/Lakeview Line (1911–1926) [1]

Aiga bus trans.svg Public Service Coordinated Transport bus route P22
(1926–1966) [1] [2]
Construction
Structure typeat-grade
Other information
Station code1127 (Erie Railroad) [3]
History
Opened1872 [4]
ClosedJune 30, 1966 [5]
Rebuilt1892 [5]
ElectrifiedNot electrified
Previous namesNorth Paterson
Key dates
February 13, 1977Station depot burned [6]
Services
Preceding station New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad Following station
Midland Park
toward Stroudsburg
Main Line Hawthorne

North Hawthorne, known as North Paterson when originally constructed, was a rail station and yard located in Hawthorne, Passaic County, New Jersey. The facility, which was equipped with car and engine shops, served passengers and freight for both the Erie Railroad and the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad from 1892 to 1966. [5] Passenger service from North Hawthorne primarily transported commuters to and from the Susquehanna Transfer station in North Bergen or the Erie Railroad's Pavonia Terminal in Jersey City. [5] [7] Connecting service included the now defunct Public Service Railway, which at one time used North Hawthorne as the terminus of a trolley line connecting Hawthorne to Paterson. [1] Once a sizable complex with multiple spurs and sidings for surrounding industries, [8] North Hawthorne has been reduced to a single runaround siding. [9] Every structure associated with the yard has been demolished, except for the roundhouse, [8] which today is owned by private interests. [5] [8]

Contents

Station layout and services

Passenger service and site description

North Hawthorne was located on the NYS&W's Main Line, which during the years of Erie Railroad control (1898–1937) stretched from Croxton in Jersey City, New Jersey, to Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. At Croxton, the NYS&W's tracks met the Erie Railroad's Main Line. Through this junction, passenger trains on the NYS&W's Main Line originating as far away as Pennsylvania were able to connect to Erie's Pavonia Terminal. [5]

The area where the yard was located is within an industrial area of Hawthorne, between Utter Ave and Central Ave. The NYS&W listed its milepost (MP) along the Main Line at 23.30. It was between NYS&W's Hawthorne and Wortendyke stations, although it was much closer to Hawthorne (MP 22.5) than to Wortendyke (MP 26.10). [9] Midland Park station once existed between North Hawthorne and Wortendyke, but no trace of it survives.

In 1941, the NYS&W's Main Line had shrunk as the railroad abandoned the line between Hainesburg Junction (Blairstown, New Jersey) and Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Though the railroad extended to Blairstown until 1962, passenger service by 1939 continued only between Butler and Jersey City, with trains originating in Butler and North Hawthorne. [5]

Trains originating at North Hawthorne offered one of two options, a rapid transit ‘streamliner’ servicing locales west of Maywood, primarily Paterson with direct service to Susquehanna Transfer in North Bergen, or a local service (ten trains per week) which made frequent stops between North Hawthorne and the Susquehanna Transfer before continuing on to Jersey City's Pavonia Terminal. [5]

In 1958, the NYS&W cut its rapid transit service, leaving only its slower local trains to operate from North Hawthorne. By 1959, Pavonia Terminal ceased to operate, ending passenger service south of the Susquehanna Transfer. Local trains to the Susquehanna Transfer from North Hawthorne eventually ended in 1966. [5]

As of mid2012, all that remains of North Hawthorne is one siding running parallel to where the car shop used to be. The NYS&W refers to this siding as one its runarounds. [9] The yard's roundhouse, which was sold in 1946, [5] still stands, although it has undergone extensive modifications. Some of the surrounding industrial buildings also retain old rail freight platforms, although these are either sealed up or in a state of disrepair.

Connections

Starting in 1911, North Hawthorne served as the northern terminus of Public Service Railway's Lakeview trolley line, with service between Hawthorne and Paterson. The trolley tracks closely paralleled to the NYS&W's Main Line in Hawthorne, following the alignment of (from south to north) Lincoln Street, Grand Avenue, and 4th Avenue. In 1912, the name Lakeview was dropped and changed to State Line. This was changed again in 1913 to simply Hawthorne. North Hawthorne continued to act as the northern terminus of line until 1914, when trolley service was extended along a mostly private right-of-way to Ridgewood. [1]

North Hawthorne remained a transfer point to the Hawthorne trolley line until 1926, when the line was abandoned. [1] After 1926, the trolley service was bustituted, with Public Service Coordinated Transport retaining the name Hawthorne on the bus line, which it numbered route P22. [1] [2] Bus service ran along Lafayette Avenue instead of 4th Avenue, one block west of the original alignment of the trolley route. Later in the 20th century, after the closing of North Hawthorne, the P22 route would evolve into New Jersey Transit's bus route 722. [2]

History

Early years and Erie control

The North Hawthorne station during its time as North Paterson station North Hawthorne station - Bailey.jpg
The North Hawthorne station during its time as North Paterson station

The creation of the North Hawthorne yard stemmed from a fire which destroyed repair shops, as well as some locomotives, at NYS&W's Wortendyke facility in 1891. In 1892, a new, replacement yard with car and engine shops was opened a few miles to the south of Wortendyke. The new yard at North Paterson (the Borough of Hawthorne was not established for another eight years, and the yard would not be renamed North Hawthorne until 1923) [7] featured a roundhouse, turntable, and a passenger station with a single platform. These improvements phased out the need for passenger trains servicing the city of Paterson to reverse. [5]

While most of North Hawthorne was essentially built from the ground up, the station house was actually relocated to the site from a nearby property. Prior to 1891, the station house sat approximately a quarter mile to the north of the North Hawthorne yard, near present-day Van Winkle Avenue. The station had been established as a depot called Van Winkle, which was named for the local family that had granted land to the NYS&W's predecessor (the New Jersey Western Railroad) for the construction of the line. Against the Van Winkle family's wishes, on May 24, 1891, the NYS&W removed the station house from its foundation and placed it on the track. A locomotive then dragged the building down the rails (which had been greased) to the North Hawthorne site, on the corner of Rea Avenue and 4th Avenue. [7]

From 1898 to 1937, while the NYS&W was under the control of the Erie Railroad, the Main Line, on which North Hawthorne was situated, served to connect commuters and travelers as far away as Stroudsburg to Erie's Pavonia Terminal in Jersey City. At the terminal, passengers could then take ferries or Hudson & Manhattan Railroad trains (PATH train predecessor) into lower Manhattan. The volume of traffic on the Main Line was considerable, with thirty-eight passenger trains noted as make daily trips through North Hawthorne in 1915. [10] The car shops during this time employed two hundred workers. [10] Freight operations at North Hawthorne included a regular milk stop, with dairy product being transferred from farms north and west. [11]

Reorganization and streamliner era

In 1937, after declaring bankruptcy, the NYS&W reorganized as an independent company under the leadership of a court-appointed trustee, Walter Kidde. Under Kidde's guidance, the railroad developed a plan to capture the market on travel to Midtown Manhattan. At the time, buses had an almost exclusive connection to Midtown due to the then newly completed Lincoln Tunnel. The NYS&W sought to compete directly with buses by offering a new passenger service to just outside the tunnel, and then using a contracted bus service to ferry passengers into Midtown. [5]

New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway streamlined locomotive, Susquehanna Transfer, ca. 1940 FWPNW026BergenCounty1766A.jpg
New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway streamlined locomotive, Susquehanna Transfer, ca. 1940

As initially conceived, the newly planned route to Midtown would have had bus service beginning in Butler and continuing to North Hawthorne, where passengers would then switch to rail. (Bus service was considered between Butler and North Hawthorne due to low train ridership.) Rail service would continue to the Susquehanna Transfer Station at Route 3/495, where passengers would then switch to buses to complete the commute into Midtown. However, in November 1938, the Borough of Pompton Lakes (between Butler and North Hawthorne) would not grant the railroad permission to operate a bus service within its borders. Other towns considered similar action, but the plan to use buses instead of trains between North Hawthorne and Butler was dropped by 1939 due an increase in railroad ridership. [5]

On August 1, 1939, trains starting from Butler and North Hawthorne began making runs to the Susquehanna Transfer Station, marking the beginning of a service that would persist for the next two decades. North Hawthorne became the origin for trains making local stops between Paterson and Jersey City, as well as rapid transit ‘streamliner’ trains making stops only between Paterson and Maywood, and then proceeding directly to the Susquehanna Transfer and Jersey City. [5]

Though it still retained some older trains, the NYS&W began purchasing a small fleet of ACF Motorailers, a type of self-propelled rail car, to run the rapid transit route between North Hawthorne and Susquehanna Transfer. These were supplemented by leased Electro Motive Company motor cars from the Erie Railroad, which the NYS&W utilized until 1944. The railroad also purchased two used Brill motor cars and rebuilt them to look more like its ACF cars. All of these cars, including the leased Erie cars, were repaired at the North Hawthorne car shop until 1946. After 1946, repairs were shifted to NYS&W's Little Ferry facility. However, as North Hawthorne remained a starting point of local and rapid transit service, cars were continually stored there. North Hawthorne's roundhouse was subsequently sold the same year, and the old car shop became not much more than a garage. Though both Brill and ACF cars were stored at North Hawthorne overnight, the NYS&W favored using the ACF cars over the Brills whenever possible, so it was not uncommon for the Brills to be held on standby in North Hawthorne. [5]

In October, 1950, the NYS&W put new Budd RDC cars into service on the North Hawthorne-Susquehana Transfer route. Like their predecessors the Brills and the ACFs, the new RDCs were stored overnight in North Hawthorne at the car shop-turned-garage. This continued until 1958, when an economic downturn and rising operating costs forced the NYS&W to begin mothballing and selling off its fleet of RDCs. The rapid transit service was cancelled, but North Hawthorne continued to operate as a passenger terminal, as well as a storage facility for non-motorized rail cars. Finally, on June 30, 1966, the last passenger trains left North Hawthorne, and the yard began to fall into disrepair. [5]

Post-passenger service and industrial decline

Near noon on Friday, February 17, 1967, [12] the Morningstar-Paisley plant just north of the station house exploded, spreading debris and scorching heat through the disused yard. Just before the incident, an NYS&W crew had placed a fully loaded boxcar along the plant's siding. As the crew moved its locomotive in front of the station house, the plant was leveled by a blast delivering enough power to throw the loaded boxcar across two sets of tracks. [7] The resulting fire engulfed a structure attached to the plant and an outlying building on the property, but firefighters managed to keep it from spreading further. [12]

By the arrival of the 1970s, financial difficulties forced the NYS&W to dismantle the yard. [7] The station house initially escaped demolition, but a suspected arson on February 13, 1977 destroyed the building. [6] What remained of North Hawthorne by the late 1970s were a few sidings along where the station house and car shop were situated, as well as the spurs and sidings for surrounding industrial properties. By 2003, the largest spur, for an industrial complex (including a large, former A&P warehouse) located just east of where the car shop used to be, was no longer in service, and what remained of the tracks was scheduled to be removed. [8] By 2008, the last industry using a siding linked to the former North Hawthorne yard (Delawanna Plastics) was gone, and the siding, which crossed Utter Avenue, was scheduled to be removed. [13] [14] In 2009, the remnants of the corridor used by the largest spur were provided as an easement to local industry to expand a driveway. [15]

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway</span> American freight railway

The New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway is a Class II American freight railway operating over 400 miles (645 km) of track in the northeastern U.S. states of New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Main Line (NJ Transit)</span> Commuter rail line in New Jersey

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marion Junction (New Jersey)</span>

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susquehanna Transfer</span>

Susquehanna Transfer was a passenger station on the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway, located in North Bergen, New Jersey located at what today is the Route 495 overpass. It was an interchange station where transfer was possible from the railroad to a bus through the Lincoln Tunnel to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of Jersey City, New Jersey-area railroads</span>

For the purposes of this article, the Jersey City area extends North to Edgewater, South to Bayonne and includes Kearny Junction and Harrison but not Newark. Many routes east of Newark are listed here.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Branch</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Jersey Midland Railway</span> 19th-century American railroad

The New Jersey Midland Railway 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pavonia Terminal</span> Former intermodal terminal in Jersey City, New Jersey

Pavonia Terminal was the Erie Railroad terminal on the Hudson River situated on the landfilled Harsimus Cove in Jersey City, New Jersey. The station opened in 1861 and closed in 1958 when the Erie Railroad moved its passenger services to nearby Hoboken Terminal. The New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway also ran commuter trains from the terminal and various street cars, ferries and the underground Hudson and Manhattan Railroad serviced the station. The station was abandoned in 1958 and demolished in 1961. The site was eventually redeveloped into the Newport district in the late 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingsland station</span> NJ Transit rail station

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Passaic–Bergen–Hudson Transit Project</span>

The Passaic–Bergen–Hudson Transit Project is a project under study by NJ Transit to reintroduce passenger service on a portion of the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (NYSW) right-of-way (ROW) in Passaic, Bergen and Hudson counties using newly built, FRA-compliant diesel multiple unit rail cars. Plans call for service to run from Hawthorne south through Paterson, east to Hackensack and then southeast to North Bergen, where it would join the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail (HBLR).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hawthorne station (New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad)</span>

Hawthorne is a former rail station located in Hawthorne in Passaic County, New Jersey. Volunteer Railroaders Association, a non-profit railroad preservation group leases the station from the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway. The station house is an at-grade single story wooden structure featuring a Dutch gable roof, shiplap siding, and gingerbread trim. It served as the ticket office until June 30, 1966, and was also used as a freight depot building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wortendyke station</span>

Wortendyke is a former commuter railroad train station in the borough of Midland Park, Bergen County, New Jersey. The station serviced passenger and freight trains of the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway between Pavonia Terminal in Jersey City and Butler station until December 12, 1958, when the former changed its destination to Susquehanna Transfer in North Bergen. The next station eastbound was the namesake Midland Park station and westbound was Wyckoff. Wortendyke station consisted of a single low-level side platform with the 50 by 16 feet wooden frame station depot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ridgefield Park station</span> Railroad station in New Jersey, U.S.

Ridgefield Park station, also known as West Shore Station, was a railroad station in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, at the foot of Mount Vernon Street served by the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad (NYSW) and the West Shore Railroad, a division of New York Central (NYCRR). The New York, Ontario and Western Railway (NYO&W) had running rights along the West Shore and sometimes stopped at Ridgefield Park. First opened in 1872 it was one of three passenger stations in the village, the others being the Little Ferry station to the south and Westview station to the north. Service on the West Shore Railroad began in 1883. The station house, built at a cost $100,000 opened in 1927. Southbound service crossed Overpeck Creek and continued to terminals on the Hudson River waterfront where there was connecting ferry service across the Hudson River to Manhattan. Northbound near Bogota the parallel NYSW and West Shore lines diverge and continue into northern New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and upstate New York. Passenger service ended in 1966.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vreeland Avenue station</span>

Vreeland Avenue was railroad station in Paterson, New Jersey served by the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad (NYS&W). until 1966. Service by the New Jersey Midland, a predecessor to the NYS&W, had begun in 1873. The station house dates to 1949. Other extant station buildings from the New Jersey Midland/NYSW can be found at Wortendyke, Butler, and Newfoundland, among other places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wyckoff station</span>

Wyckoff is a former commuter railroad train station in the township of Wyckoff, Bergen County, New Jersey. The station served trains of the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway between Pavonia Terminal in Jersey City or Susquehanna Transfer in North Bergen to the station in Butler. The next station east was Wortendyke in Midland Park while the next one west was Campgaw station in Franklin Lakes. Wyckoff station consisted of one track and one low-level side platform for passenger service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hackensack station (New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad)</span>

Hackensack was a railroad station in Hackensack, New Jersey on the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway Main Line, which provided passenger service between the 1870s and 1960s. The station at Main and Mercer Streets opened in 1872; it was replaced with one at River Street in 1950. Public Service trolley lines served both stations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bogota station</span>

Bogota was a railroad station in Bogota, New Jersey, at Court Street/Fort Lee Road west of River Road and east of the Court Street Bridge over the Hackensack River. It was located on the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway Main Line, which provided passenger service between the 1870s and 1960s.

69th Street is a proposed interchange station in North Bergen in Hudson County, New Jersey. It would serve passengers on two lines under consideration by NJ Transit, the Passaic–Bergen–Hudson Transit Project and the Northern Branch Corridor Project, the latter of which is an extension of the Hudson–Bergen Light Rail. The station would located at-grade west the North Bergen Yard and Tonnelle Avenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broadway–Paterson station</span>

Broadway–Paterson was a New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad (NYS&W) station in Paterson, New Jersey near the level, or at-grade crossing south of Broadway at Ellison Place and Madison Avenue. Service by the New Jersey Midland, a predecessor to the NYS&W, had begun in 1873. It was originally known as Paterson, but was renamed after a junction of the railroad's mainline was created to build the Paterson City Branch. The station house, demolished in 1982, was situated between the two lines and served as the Susquehanna's headquarters for several years. Passenger service on the branch ended in 1960 and on the mainline in 1966.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Bergen station</span>

North Bergen was a railroad station in North Bergen, New Jersey, United States known Homestead for most of its existence. It as built in the mid 19th century and served by the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (#1059) and the Erie Railroad's Northern Branch (#1903).

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hamm, Jr., Edward (1991). The Public Service Trolley Lines in New Jersey. Transportation Trails. ISBN   0-933449-12-7.
  2. 1 2 3 "New Jersey Transit Routes". Chicago Transit and Railfan. Retrieved August 19, 2012.[ permanent dead link ]
  3. "List of Station Names and Numbers". Jersey City, New Jersey: Erie Railroad. May 1, 1916. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  4. Catlin 1872, p. 48.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Mohowski, Robert E. (2003). The New York, Susquehanna & Western Railroad. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN   0-8018-7222-7.,
  6. 1 2 "Fire Damages Station". The Paterson News. February 15, 1977. p. 10. Retrieved April 10, 2019 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Krause, John; Crist, Ed (1980). Susquehanna; New York Susquehanna & Western RR. Carstens Publications. ISBN   0-911868-38-0.,
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Hawthorne, NJ - Then and Now". Garden State Model Railway Club. March 1, 2005. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
  9. 1 2 3 System Time Table #52 (PDF). New York Susquehanna & Western Railway Corporation. 2008. pp. 68, 78. Retrieved August 7, 2012.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  10. 1 2 The Industrial Directory of New Jersey. Bureau of Statistics of New Jersey. S. Chew and Sons Co. 1915. p. 379. Retrieved July 28, 2012.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  11. Preliminary Report of the Joint Legislative Committee on Dairy Products, Live Stock and Poultry. State of New York. J.B. Lyon Company. 1917. p.  356 . Retrieved July 28, 2012.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  12. 1 2 "New Jersey Explosion Kills Eleven in Factory". The Times-News. UPI. February 18, 1967.
  13. "Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Municipal Council of the Borough of Hawthorne" (PDF). March 5, 2008.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)[ permanent dead link ]
  14. "Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Municipal Council of the Borough of Hawthorne" (PDF). April 2, 2008.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)[ permanent dead link ]
  15. Walter Garner, chairman (February 3, 2009). "Hawthorne Planning Board Minutes (Work Session)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 24, 2015. Retrieved August 21, 2012.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)