The Oxford Tunnel, also known as the Van Nest Gap Tunnel, was one of seven tunnels built to complete the Warren Railroad, which formed part of Lackawanna Railroad's 400-mile mainline. The tunnel was completed in 1862, and was retrofitted with a gauntlet track by 1900.
The completion of the tunnel was delayed due to inconsistent funding, American Civil War-era technology, and issues with digging through gneiss. The construction of the Warren Railroad required the completion of three bridges, two tunnels (the other tunnel being at Manuka Chuck), and cuts and fills.
The tunnel was completed in September 1862. Later on, as train cars became larger, it became impossible to allow two tracks to fit through the tunnel. To address the issue, by 1900, a gauntlet track, which permits two tracks that closely overlap to pass through the tunnel together, was installed. The gauntlet track maximized the overhead and side clearances in the tunnel, but restricted the tunnel to a single-track section, creating a bottleneck on the line. In the end, the building of the Lackawanna Cut-Off would be the only solution that worked. In August 2018 there was a second major collapse in the tunnel. While still passable it is not without significant risk.
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). The railroad was incorporated in Pennsylvania in 1853, and created primarily to provide a means of transport of anthracite coal from the Coal Region in Northeast Pennsylvania to large coal markets in New York City. The railroad gradually expanded both east and west, and eventually linked 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 New York Connecting Railroad or NYCR is a rail line in the borough of Queens in New York City. It links New York City and Long Island by rail directly to the North American mainland. Amtrak, CSX, Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Providence and Worcester Railroad and New York and Atlantic Railway (NYAR) currently use the line. It runs from the Hell Gate Bridge over the East River to Fresh Pond Junction yard in Glendale in Queens. It was completed in 1917. Amtrak uses the northernmost section of the line from Sunnyside Junction in the Woodside section of Queens to the Hell Gate Bridge into the Bronx from which it follows the line north to Boston.
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.
The Morris and Essex Railroad was a railroad across northern New Jersey, later part of the main line of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad.
The Warren Railroad was a railroad in Warren County, New Jersey, that served as part of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad's mainline from 1856 to 1911.
The Lehigh and New England Railroad was a Class I railroad located in Northeastern United States that acted as a bridge line. It was the second notable U.S. railroad to file for abandonment in its entirety after the New York, Ontario and Western Railway. It was headquartered in Philadelphia.
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 Long Dock Tunnel is a freight rail tunnel in Jersey City, New Jersey that is part of the North Jersey Shared Assets Area and used by CSX Transportation on the National Docks Secondary. The single track tunnel runs through Bergen Hill, a section of the lower New Jersey Palisades in Hudson County.
The Skylands Region is a region of New Jersey located in the northern and central parts of the state. It is one of six tourism regions established by the New Jersey State Department of Tourism; the others are Gateway Region, Greater Atlantic City Region, the Southern Shore Region, the Delaware River Region, and the Shore Region.
The Lackawanna Old Road was part of the original mainline of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad (DL&W). Opened in 1856, it was, for a half-century, a part of the line connecting the states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Port Morris Junction is the railroad connection between NJ Transit's Montclair-Boonton Line and the Lackawanna Cut-Off. Opened in 1911 by the Lackawanna Railroad, it is in the Port Morris, New Jersey section of Roxbury Township, New Jersey, south of Lake Hopatcong.
Roseville Tunnel is a 1,024-foot (312 m) two-track railroad tunnel on the Lackawanna Cut-Off in Byram Township, Sussex County, New Jersey. The tunnel is on a straight section of railroad between mileposts 51.6 and 51.8 (83 km), about 6 miles (9.7 km) north by northwest of Port Morris Junction. Operated for freight and passenger service from 1911 to 1979, it is undergoing work intended to return it to passenger service by 2026.
The Pequest Fill is a large railroad embankment on the Lackawanna Cut-Off in northwestern New Jersey, touted at its 1911 completion as the largest railroad fill in the world.
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 Lackawanna Cut-Off Restoration Project is a New Jersey Transit and Amtrak effort to restore passenger service to the Lackawanna Cut-Off in northwest New Jersey.
Wharton Fill is one of a number of fills (embankments) on the Lackawanna Cut-Off railroad line in northwest New Jersey. Located between mileposts 51.1 and 51.6 in Byram Township, the fill was constructed between 1908 and 1911 by contractor David W. Flickwir. The fill, which was created by placing fill material obtained by blasting with dynamite or other methods, is about 0.5 miles (0.64 km) long. Most of the material that was used to create Wharton Fill was excavated from the surrounding low-lying area through which Pumpkin Run runs; several of the borrow pits have since flooded and become ponds.
Colby Cut is one of a number of cuts on the Lackawanna Cut-Off railroad line in northwest New Jersey. Located between approximately mileposts 51.8 and 52.3 in Byram Township, the cut was constructed between 1908 and 1911 by contractor David W. Flickwir. The cut, which was created by removing fill material obtained by blasting with dynamite or other methods, is 0.53 miles (0.85 km) long, has an average depth of 45 feet (14 m), and a maximum depth of 110 feet (34 m). The cut was the result of the removal of 462,342 cubic yards of fill material within this section.
Andover is a planned New Jersey Transit passenger railroad station in Andover Township, in Sussex County, New Jersey, United States, providing service on its Lackawanna Cut-Off line. The line remains under construction. The station will be built at a site on Andover's Roseville Road, about 1.1 miles (1.8 km) from U.S. Route 206 and about 0.9 miles (1.4 km) from County Route 517. On the rail line, it will be located about 7.3 miles (11.7 km) west of Port Morris Junction.
The Bergen Tunnels are a pair of railroad tunnels with open cuts running parallel to each other under Bergen Hill in Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S. Originally built by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W), they are used by New Jersey Transit Rail Operations (NJT) trains originating or terminating at Hoboken Terminal.