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    The Lehigh Valley Railroad across New Jersey
    The Lehigh Valley Railroad across New Jersey
    The Lehigh Valley Railroad across New Jersey
    Ebook144 pages2 hours

    The Lehigh Valley Railroad across New Jersey

    By Ralph A. Heiss

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    Constructed as the Easton and Amboy Railroad, opened by 1875, the Lehigh Valley Railroad was instrumental in developing commerce and communities of central New Jersey.


    Thout it no longer runs, it was originally built to haul unending trains of "black diamonds" from Pennsylvania to Perth Amboy, the Lehigh Valley Railroad became so much more than a conduit for shipping coal. In building across the state, it became instrumental in not only hauling produce to New York City markets but also for providing service to companies like Johns-Manville and Lionel Trains. From Phillipsburg to Jersey City and all points in between, the Lehigh Valley Railroad hauled freight and passengers, while at the same time contributing to the social fabric of the area. The Lehigh Valley Railroad across New Jersey paints a picture of a railroad that provided over 100 years of quality service to the Garden State.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateAug 24, 2009
    ISBN9781439622285
    The Lehigh Valley Railroad across New Jersey
    Author

    Ralph A. Heiss

    A resident of South Plainfield, Ralph A. Heiss has had an interest in railroads since childhood. He has lectured and authored numerous articles on various railroad topics.

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      Book preview

      The Lehigh Valley Railroad across New Jersey - Ralph A. Heiss

      .

      INTRODUCTION

      Formed in 1853 under the control of one Asa Packer, the Lehigh Valley Railroad was the culmination of one man’s desire to control the movement of what was destined to become the hottest commodity of eastern Pennsylvania, anthracite coal. The story of Packer’s railroad has been told many times, but what may not be as well known is the story of its construction across New Jersey to reach New York Harbor.

      In 1866, the town of Phillipsburg was a transportation hub—the Lehigh Valley Railroad (LVRR), Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ), Belvidere Delaware Railroad (BDRR), Morris and Essex Railroad (M&E), and Morris Canal all met here to exchange freight, and almost all of it coal. For the LVRR, it was content to hand over its coal traffic to one of these other companies that reached Philadelphia or New York. This transfer of traffic worked well for everyone involved until the M&E was leased to the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W) in 1868. Almost immediately the status quo between the railroads that relied upon this traffic was in disarray. Having lost the traffic from the DL&W, the CNJ in 1871 leased the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad between Easton and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, which brought the LVRR and CNJ into direct competition with each other, setting the stage for the LVRR to build a railroad across New Jersey.

      On April 1, 1871, the LVRR took its first steps to cross New Jersey by taking out a 99-year lease on the Morris Canal. The goal was to gain possession of valuable waterfront property in Jersey City, owned by the canal for use as a terminal. Around the same time, the LVRR also became involved in developing the New Jersey West Line Railroad (NJWL), which had been built between Summit and Bernardsville, and just as quickly began to expand east from Summit toward a connection with the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) at Newark. Unfortunately for Asa Packer, the NJWL never fully fell under his direct control, forcing him to lose control of the project. The CNJ and DL&W found out about the LVRR’s involvement in the railroad and also took measures to block control of the railroad by the LVRR. Although stymied in its goal to reach Jersey City, the LVRR continued to look for a route to tidewater. The LVRR did not stand still. By obtaining the dormant charter of the Bound Brook and Perth Amboy Railroad in 1872, and incorporating it into the Easton and Amboy Railroad, the LVRR was able to construct a route of its own in 1875, reaching Perth Amboy. All throughout the 1870s, the LVRR looked for ways to secure its land possessions in Jersey City in order to construct a permanent New York Harbor terminal. Then, beginning in 1887 from South Plainfield, it began construction on its railroad in five distinct parts, finally completing a railroad line to New York Harbor in 1895.

      The end of the 1800s brought a close to the formative years of the LVRR in New Jersey, and as it entered the 20th century, it began to expand upon what it had constructed. When first built, the railroad bypassed many major cities on its way across New Jersey, so the railroad constructed a number of branches to reach areas of population and industry. As the 20th century moved forward, large industries like the Johns-Manville Corporation, Bristol Meyers, General Motors, and probably its most famous customer, Lionel Trains, located their factories along the railroad, while most of western New Jersey typically remained a rural area with little on-line industry.

      Passenger service on the LVRR was never as heavy as it was on other railroads in the state, although it did provide extremely high-class accommodations in the form of the Black Diamond, John Wilkes, and Asa Packer name trains. Excursion trains were also very popular, and in the late 1880s and early 1900s, the LVRR built its first day park at Packers Island, located just east of Landsdown. This was replaced within a few years with the completion of the much larger Bellewood Park in Pattenburg in 1909. Bellewood Park was located just outside the Musconetcong Tunnel and had its own passenger shelter constructed to receive its patrons. It was an amusement park of its era, complete with carousels, dancing pavilions, and early roller coasters. While the park proved popular initially, by 1916 it was closed by the railroad due to lack of patronage. Commuter traffic was also never very strong on the railroad, which tended to use self-propelled gas-electric cars for local trains. Not having its own dedicated train-to-ferryboat terminal in Jersey City, the LVRR was forced to rely on using the CNJ and PRR terminals to convey its passengers into New York, and throughout the years, the PRR and CNJ would go back and forth hosting the LVRR’s passenger trains. The LVRR maintained a dwindling passenger service after World War II and in 1961 ended all passenger service.

      Back in the 1920s, the PRR had gained a majority of the LVRR’s stock, and from that point forward, it influenced the railroad’s operations in subtle, but noticeable ways. With revenue from coal traffic beginning to decline in earnest after the Depression, the LVRR found itself more as a fast freight bridge line between the Midwest, Canada, and New England, moving freight from the Buffalo, New York, area, to the New Haven Railroad (NH) via car float at Jersey City. While the LVRR undertook many upgrades in its physical plant in the 1920s and 1930s to the most modern standards, World War II took its toll upon the equipment and physical plant. The year 1956 proved to be the last year the LVRR was able to show a profit, and by 1962, the PRR took steps to finally exercise its stock

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