 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(August 2013) |
A railroad (or railway) cutoff (or cut-off) is a new railroad line built to replace or supplement an existing route, typically one where the old line is deficient for some reason.
The term "cutoff" refers to the fact that the new line cuts off distance (and/or time) and is, therefore, shorter distance-wise (or time-wise) than the old line. This is often the case, although the primary reason for building the cutoff may be to create a line with a better gradient profile, or other desirable features usually related to efficiency of operation that are lacking in the old line rather than merely shortening the distance between two endpoints. Bypassing a congested area, such as a city or railroad station, or a section of track with an already-existing high volume, is an additional reason to construct a new line. The building of a high-speed line to replace a lower-speed line is another possibility; one example of this is the New Lower Inn Valley railway in Austria. A "railroad bypass" is generally synonymous with a railroad cutoff, although there are examples, such as with the Berlin Outer Ring Railway in Germany, where the bypass route was built more for political reasons than operational ones.
Although some cutoffs, such as the Lucin Cutoff, [1] may run 100 miles (160 km) or more in length, there are cutoffs that are quite short, 1 mile (1.6 km) or less in length. The replacement of the old line is usually only considered by the railroad or funding-entity if both of the following conditions are met: (1) the future economic benefit of building a new line—usually for operational capacity or efficiency reasons—far exceeds that of continuing to solely use the old line; and (2) the upgrading of the old line is deemed impractical and will not provide sufficient operational capacity or benefits. If the operational problems are great enough, even a modest savings in distance between two endpoints may justify building a new line if other efficiencies can be gained. For instance, significant improvement in grades and/or curvature may justify the construction of a new route. Such was the case with the building of the Nicholson Cutoff, which saved less than 10% in distance over the old route, but which eliminated numerous curves, a steep grade over a mountain, and a number of grade crossings. Tunnels on an existing route may be problematic and can greatly increase the attractiveness of building a bypass route. An example of this would be the Lackawanna Cut-Off, where the old route had two tunnels that as the railroad's business grew were becoming a detriment to the efficient operation of the railroad. [2]
Geographic location of the new route may also justify a new route if it improves overall traffic flow or flexibility of operations on the railway line. An example of this would be the Trenton Cutoff, which saved significant travel time by bypassing the city of Philadelphia. [3] Cutoffs are not necessarily built with the intent of tapping new markets, but that does not preclude the railroad from seeking new business on the new route. Although the old route being replaced may face abandonment due to the existence of a new line, this isn't always the case, as a new route may not be able to carry all the present or future traffic that would be diverted to it if the old route were closed. Even if the new route can accommodate all the traffic from the old route, there may be freight or passenger business on (or carried via) the old route that justifies its continued operation. In this scenario, the new route becomes a supplement to the old route rather than a replacement. An example of this would be the Edgewood Cutoff, which has served as a complement, rather than a replacement, to the old route. [4]
The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midwest, along with the intermediate cities of Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, Rochester and Syracuse. New York Central was headquartered in New York City's New York Central Building, adjacent to its largest station, Grand Central Terminal.
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 Erie Lackawanna Railway, known as the Erie Lackawanna Railroad until 1968, was formed from the 1960 merger of the Erie Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. The official motto of the line was "The Friendly Service Route".
The Morristown Line is an NJ Transit commuter rail line connecting Morris and Essex counties to New York City, via either New York Penn Station or Hoboken Terminal. Out of 60 inbound and 58 outbound daily weekday trains, 28 inbound and 26 outbound Midtown Direct trains use the Kearny Connection to Penn Station; the rest go to Hoboken. Passengers can transfer at Newark Broad Street or Summit to reach the other destination. On rail system maps the line is colored dark green, and its symbol is a drum, a reference to Morristown's history during the American Revolution.
The Lucin Cutoff is a 102-mile (164 km) railroad line in Utah, United States that runs from Ogden to its namesake in Lucin. The most prominent feature of the cutoff was a twelve-mile-long (19 km) railroad trestle crossing the Great Salt Lake, which was in use from 1904 until the late 1950s, when it was replaced by an earthen causeway.
The Terminal Railway of Buffalo was a part of the New York Central Railroad system southeast of Buffalo, New York. It built the Gardenville Branch or Gardenville Cutoff, allowing through trains to bypass Buffalo. The cutoff has since been abandoned in favor of other parallel lines.
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.
Lake Hopatcong is a commuter railroad station for New Jersey Transit. The station, located in the community of Landing in Roxbury Township, Morris County, New Jersey, United States, serves trains for the Montclair-Boonton Line and Morristown Line at peak hours and on holiday weekends. Service from Lake Hopatcong is provided to/from Hackettstown to New York Penn Station and Hoboken Terminal. The stop is located on the tracks below Landing Road next to the eponymous Lake Hopatcong. The station consists of one active platform with shelter, and an abandoned side platform. There is no accessibility for handicapped people.
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.
The Overland Route was a train route operated jointly by the Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroad/Southern Pacific Railroad, between the eastern termini of Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Omaha, Nebraska, and the San Francisco Bay Area, over the grade of the first transcontinental railroad which opened on May 10, 1869. Passenger trains that operated over the line included the Overland Flyer, later renamed the Overland Limited, with its eastern terminal in Chicago.
The Southern Transcon is a main line of the BNSF Railway comprising 11 subdivisions between Southern California and Chicago, Illinois. Completed in its current alignment in 1908 by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, when it opened the Belen Cutoff in New Mexico and bypassed the steep grades of Raton Pass, it now serves as a mostly double-tracked intermodal corridor.
The Boonton Branch refers to the railroad line in New Jersey that was completed in 1870 and ran 34 miles (54.8 km) from Hoboken to East Dover Junction as part of the Morris & Essex Railroad (M&E). Although the branch hosted commuter trains, the line was primarily built as a freight bypass line. The term "branch", therefore, is somewhat of a misnomer since the Boonton Branch was built to higher mainline standards than the Morristown Line, the line that it bypassed. As a result, the Boonton Branch better meets the definition of a "cut-off" rather than a branch. Some of the towns that the Boonton Branch passed through included Lyndhurst, Passaic, Clifton, Paterson, Wayne, Lincoln Park, Mountain Lakes, and its namesake, Boonton.
The Montclair-Boonton Line is a commuter rail line of New Jersey Transit Rail Operations in the United States. It is part of the Hoboken Division. The line is a consolidation of three individual lines: the former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad's Montclair Branch, which ran from Hoboken Terminal to Bay Street, Montclair. The Erie Railroad's Greenwood Lake Division, a segment from Montclair to Mountain View-Wayne, originally ran from the Jersey City Terminal to Greenwood Lake, NY, and the former Lackawanna Boonton Line ran from Hoboken to Hackettstown, New Jersey.
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.
Greendell is one of three original railway stations built by the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad (DL&W) along its Lackawanna Cut-Off line in northwestern New Jersey. The station, which still stands in Green Township at milepost 57.61 on the Cut-Off, began operations on December 23, 1911, one day before the line itself opened and the first revenue train arrived.
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.
Blairstown was one of the three original Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad stations on the Lackawanna Cut-Off rail line in northwestern New Jersey. Built by contractor Hyde, McFarlan & Burke, the station opened in 1911. Most passenger trains, such as the Lackawanna Limited and, later, the Phoebe Snow, plus the Twilight/Pocono Express and the Westerner/New Yorker stopped at Blairstown, which also sold commuter tickets.
The Nicholson Cutoff is a rail line segment of the Sunbury Line rail line and formerly a rail line segment of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad main line and the Delaware and Hudson Railway South Line. The Nicholson Cutoff and the rest of the Sunbury Line is owned by Norfolk Southern Railway.
The Mexia-Nelleva Cutoff was a railroad cutoff constructed between Nelleva and Mexia, in eastern Texas. It has not been used since 1933, when it was abandoned by its owner, the Houston and Texas Central Railway (H&TC).
The Bayshore Cutoff is the rail line between San Francisco and San Bruno along the eastern shore of the San Francisco Peninsula. It was completed by Southern Pacific (SP) in 1907 at a cost of $7 million, and included five tunnels, four of which are still used by Caltrain, the successor to Southern Pacific's Peninsula Commute service. Fill from the five tunnels was used to build the Visitacion or Bayshore Yard, the main SP classification yard near the city of Brisbane. The Del Monte was similarly rerouted over the line at some point in its operational history.