United Railroad Historical Society of New Jersey

Last updated

The United Railroad Historical Society of New Jersey, Inc. (or URHS of NJ) is a non profit educational organization directed at supporting the preservation of New Jersey's historical railroad equipment and artifacts for the proposed New Jersey Transportation Heritage Center or in its absence, another railroad museum in New Jersey.

Contents

In order to coordinate resources, representatives from most of New Jersey's major railroad-interest organizations formed the URHS of NJ in 1987. URHS of NJ has been working toward rescuing potential items from scrapping and has been assisting in searching for the location of The New Jersey Transportation Heritage Center. The URHS of NJ expects to play a major role in its design, content and operation.

The United Railroad Historical Society of NJ Inc. is located at 104 Morris Avenue in Boonton, NJ. The zip code is 07005–1314.

Organizations involved

The URHS board of directors is, as of 2021 composed of representatives of 10 of the original 17 member groups. The purpose of this is to assure all participate equally in the decision making and activities and will be representative of all of the local railroad history community. Individuals may join any member organization or The Friends of the New Jersey Transportation Heritage Center to participate in URHS efforts.

Preservation activities

A large part of the URHS collection was moved from the Lebanon and Ridgefield Park NJ storage locations to Boonton railyard in 2010. With that accomplished the ability to do cosmetic restoration was greatly enhanced.

The organization leased a large vacant building in 2021 to allow for further preservation work to be conducted indoors. [10]

Related Research Articles

Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Former U.S. Class 1 railroad

The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad was a U.S. Class 1 railroad that connected Buffalo, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey, a distance of about 400 miles (640 km). Incorporated in Pennsylvania in 1853 primarily for the purpose of providing a connection between the anthracite coal fields of Pennsylvania's Coal Region and the large markets for coal in New York City, the railroad gradually expanded both East and West, eventually linking Buffalo with New York City. Like most coal-focused railroads in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the DL&W was profitable during the first half of the twentieth century, but its margins were gradually hurt by declining Pennsylvania coal traffic, especially following the 1959 Knox Mine Disaster and competition from trucks following the expansion of the Interstate Highway System in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1960, the DL&W merged with rival Erie Railroad to form the Erie Lackawanna Railroad that would be taken over by Conrail in 1976.

Main Line (NJ Transit) 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.

Hoboken Terminal Commuter station in Hoboken, New Jersey

Hoboken Terminal is a commuter-oriented intermodal passenger station in Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. One of the New York metropolitan area's major transportation hubs, it is served by nine NJ Transit (NJT) commuter rail lines, one Metro-North Railroad line, various NJT buses and private bus lines, the Hudson–Bergen Light Rail, the Port Authority Trans Hudson (PATH) rapid transit system, and NY Waterway-operated ferries. More than 50,000 people use the terminal daily, making it the ninth-busiest railroad station in North America and the sixth-busiest in the New York area. It is also the second-busiest railroad station in New Jersey, behind only Newark Penn Station, and its third-busiest transportation facility, after Newark Liberty International Airport and Newark Penn. Hoboken Terminal is wheelchair accessible, with high-level platforms for light rail and PATH services and portable lifts for commuter rail services.

Montclair Connection

The Montclair Connection is a short section of double-track railroad on the NJ Transit Rail Operations system in New Jersey, United States, connecting the former end of the Montclair Branch at Bay Street station to the old Boonton Line southeast of Walnut Street station.

GE U34CH

The U34CH was a 3,600 hp (2,700 kW) passenger diesel locomotive built by General Electric between 1970 and 1973. In total, 33 U34CH units were built; 32 were built for the New Jersey Department of Transportation and operated by the Erie Lackawanna Railway and, later, Conrail, with the last unit coming as a later rebuild of a GE U30C for the New York MTA.

Netcong station

Netcong is an NJ Transit station in Netcong, in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. Located on Route 46 at Main Street in downtown Netcong, the small, 1-low level side platform station service passengers for the Morristown Line and the Montclair-Boonton Line. These lines provide service to Hoboken or to New York City via Midtown Direct on the Morristown Line at Dover station and Montclair-Boonton at Montclair State University station. Midtown Direct service can also be transferred at Newark Broad Street station in Newark. There is one track and one platform on the north side, adjacent to the station. NJ Transit maintains a substantial train servicing yard east of the Netcong station at Port Morris in Roxbury Township. Port Morris Yard is proposed to return as the junction of the Montclair-Boonton and Morristown lines for the Lackawanna Cut-Off line to Scranton. Transfers would be provided at Lake Hopatcong station in Landing.

Mount Olive station

Mount Olive is a NJ Transit station in Mount Olive, New Jersey, located in the International Trade Center. The station, located on the side of Waterloo Village Road, services trains for both the Montclair-Boonton Line and the Morristown Line along trackage owned by Norfolk Southern. The line is not electrified from Hackettstown to Dover, where passengers can transfer to an electric Morristown Line train via Summit or a diesel Montclair-Boonton train via Wayne and Montclair. Trains along both lines head to Hoboken Terminal in Hoboken, New Jersey or New York Penn Station at 34th Street in New York City, although Montclair-Boonton trains require a transfer at Montclair State University or Newark Broad Street for electrified service to New York.

Hackettstown station

Hackettstown is a New Jersey Transit station in Hackettstown, New Jersey. The station is located at the intersection of Valentine Street and Beatty Street and is the western terminus of the Morristown Line and the Montclair-Boonton Line, which both provide service to Hoboken Terminal or to Pennsylvania Station in Midtown Manhattan via Midtown Direct. Hackettstown station is the only active New Jersey Transit station in Warren County. The line from Hackettstown – Dover is diesel powered, requiring a transfer at Dover, Montclair State University or Newark Broad Street to an electrified train to New York Penn Station. Proposals exist of an extension of the Montclair-Boonton Line, including an extension to Washington and possibly Phillipsburg further along the Washington Secondary.

Watsessing Avenue station Rail station in New Jersey, US

Watsessing Avenue is a New Jersey Transit rail station in Bloomfield, New Jersey, along the Montclair-Boonton Line. It is located beneath the Bloomfield Police Benevolent Association meeting hall near the corner of Watsessing Avenue and Orange Street in Bloomfield. It is one of two stations on the line where the boarding platform is below ground level. The Watsessing station and the Kingsland station in Lyndhurst on the Main Line shared similar designs and were built about the same time.

Little Falls station

Little Falls is the second of two stations maintained by NJ Transit in Little Falls, New Jersey. The station, on the Montclair-Boonton Line is the first to receive limited revenue service due to the end of electrification at the site of the former Great Notch station. Little Falls station, located at Union Avenue in downtown has one side platform with the 1915 station depot, built of brick on the side. The station contains one track for revenue service, and a passing siding for trains. The station is the eighth fare zone, costing $8 for a one-way ticket to Hoboken Terminal and $1.25 more to transfer at Newark Broad Street to New York Pennsylvania Station. The station has 194 parking spaces, 134 on Railroad Avenue at Montclair Avenue and 60 more along Montclair Avenue. A ticket machine is available. The station is not accessible for handicapped persons. Anyone wishing to receive train service for handicapped must go to Montclair State University station or Wayne Route 23 Transit Center across the Passaic River in Wayne.

Mountain View station

Mountain View, signed on the platform as Mountain View–Wayne, is a station on the Montclair-Boonton Line of NJ Transit in Wayne, New Jersey. Prior to the Montclair Connection in 2002, the station was served by the Boonton Line. The station is located on Erie Avenue, just off of US 202 and Route 23 in Downtown Wayne. Since January 2008, Mountain View station is the second of two stations in Wayne, the other being the Wayne Route 23 Transit Center, a station off the Westbelt interchange.

Roseville Avenue station Transfer station on New Jersey Morris & Essex Lines

Roseville Avenue was a transfer station on New Jersey Transit's Morris & Essex Lines in Newark, New Jersey, United States. The station was built by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in 1903 as part of a project to lower the tracks below the road surface to eliminate grade crossings. It sieved Newark's Roseville neighborhood. It once had two tracks on the Lackawanna mainline and two low-wall platforms, with an additional platform along the Montclair Branch. The station remained in service during most of the 20th century, until New Jersey Transit closed the station on September 16, 1984.

Kingsland station Commuter rail station in New Jersey

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.

The National Railway Historical Society (NRHS) is a non-profit organization established in 1935 in the United States to promote interest in, and appreciation for the historical development of railroads. It is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and organized into 16 regions and 170 local chapters located in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The NRHS sponsors the popular RailCamp summer orientation program in partnership with Amtrak and the National Park Service, offering high school youth hands-on experience in the railroad industry.

Whippany Railway Museum Railway museum in Whippany, New Jersey

The Whippany Railway Museum is a railway museum and excursion train ride located in the Whippany section of Hanover Township in Morris County, New Jersey, United States.

Montclair-Boonton Line Commuter rail line in New Jersey

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, which originally ran from the Erie's Jersey City Terminal to Greenwood Lake, NY; and the former Lackawanna Boonton Line, which ran from Hoboken to Hackettstown, New Jersey. The Montclair-Boonton line was formed when the Montclair Connection opened on September 30, 2002. The line serves 28 active rail stations in New Jersey along with New York Pennsylvania Station. It crosses through six counties, serving six stations in the township of Montclair, two in the town of Bloomfield, and one in the city of Newark. Trains along the Montclair-Boonton Line heading eastward usually originate at Hackettstown, Mount Olive, Lake Hopatcong, Dover, or Montclair State University, bound for either Hoboken Terminal or New York Penn Station. On system maps the line is colored maroon and its symbol is a bird, after the state bird, the eastern goldfinch.

Tobyhanna station

Tobyhanna is a proposed NJ Transit commuter rail station located in Coolbaugh Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania. The station forms part of a site owned by a number of public and private entities including the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority. The site is adjacent to the former Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad station; the building remains in place and is in use as the local historical society rail museum. In spring 2021, Amtrak announced plans for potential New York-Scranton route.

Erie Lackawanna MU Cars

The Erie Lackawanna MU Cars were a fleet of electric multiple unit commuter railcars used by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (D&LW) and successor railroads in the state of New Jersey. The D&LW undertook electrification of its Morristown Line and related branches in 1929–1930, and purchased 141 motor cars from Pullman to operate it. These were supplemented by 141 unpowered trailers of various types which were converted from existing rolling stock. The multiple units were successful and remained in service until 1984.

Port Morris Junction

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.

Morristown and Erie Railway

Morristown & Erie Railway is a short-line railroad based in Morristown, New Jersey, chartered in 1895 as the Whippany River Railroad. It operates freight rail service in Morris County, New Jersey and surrounding areas on the original Whippany Line between Morristown and Roseland, as well as the Morris County-owned Dover & Rockaway Branch, Chester Branch, and High Bridge Branch. The M&E also operated the Maine Eastern Railroad from November 2003 to December 31, 2015.

References

  1. "Erie Lackawanna Railroad Historical Society". Erie Lackawanna Railroad Historical Society. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  2. "Jersey Central Railroad Historical Society". jcrhs.org. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  3. "Erie Lackawanna Railroad Historical Society". Erie Lackawanna Railroad Historical Society. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  4. "Liberty Historic Railway". Liberty Historic Railway. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  5. "Delaware River Railroad Excursions". 877trainride.com. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  6. "North Jersey Electric Railway Historical Society". North Jersey Electric Railway Historical Society. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  7. "Tri-State Railway Historical Society". Tri-State Railway Historical Society. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  8. "West Jersey Chapter NRHS". West Jersey Chapter NRHS. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  9. "Whippany Railway Museum | Easter Bunny, & Excursion Train Rides". www.whippanyrailwaymuseum.net. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  10. Higgs, Larry (9 January 2022). "Rail historians raising $25K for space to restore trains, eventually become N.J. museum". Boonton, NJ: Advance Local Media LLC. Retrieved 10 January 2022.