Newark Branch

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The Newark Branch was a branch of the Erie Railroad in New Jersey, United States, running between Jersey City and Paterson and passing through the Broadway Section in North Newark, the origin of its name. Inaugurated in the 1870s, the line was last used for passenger service on September 30, 1966, but continues to be used for freight service on a portion of its length.

History

File:NJMeadowsHackRiverErieRR&NJTpike.tiff
The Newark Branch (center) crossed the Jersey Meadows and converged with the NY&GL (left) nearby the DB Draw
File:Paterson, Newark & New York RR 1892.jpg
Share of the Paterson, Newark & New York Rail Road Company, issued 1 February 1892

The Paterson and Newark Railroad, a subsidiary of the Erie Railroad, was founded in 1864[1][2] and by 1869 had developed a 10.8 miles (17.4 km) right-of way (ROW) along the western banks of the Passaic between the two cities for which it was named.[1] The line was conceived as a connection between Newark and Paterson, where a transfer was possible to Erie's Main Line southbound service to the Hudson Waterfront and ferries across the Hudson River to New York or northbound to New York State and the Midwest.[3] Service began by 1870 but was hindered by unresolved issues with landowners opposed to the seizure of their riverfront property.[4][5]

Originally a crossing of the Lower Passaic River was planned so trains from Newark could travel east using the New Jersey Railroad bridge, ROW, and terminal at Exchange Place in Jersey City.[6] In 1871, construction began on a new alignment from Newark to Jersey City.[7] The company was re-organized in 1872 and renamed the Paterson, Newark, and New York Railroad[1] when a crossing was developed at the site of NX Bridge.[8] Eventually trackage from the river crossing converged with the New York and Greenwoood Lake Railway,[1] which crossed the Passaic to the north over the WR Draw. From that junction in the Kearny Meadows, the two lines continued east over the Hackensack River on the DB Draw to the Long Dock Tunnel through Bergen Hill, terminating at Erie's Pavonia Terminal.

Service

File:NX Bridge over Passaic River.jpg
Looking west towards the NX Bridge from the right of way of the Newark Branch at the border of Kearny and East Newark

Passenger service on the line became known as the Newark Branch. From Pavonia Terminal, and later Hoboken Terminal, service ran west to Harrison and Kearny. After crossing the Passaic into Newark, it ran west of and parallel to the river to Belleville, Nutley, Clifton and Paterson with some continuing service to Glen Rock, Ridgewood, Ho-Ho-Kus, and Waldwick[9][10][11] Like the Bergen County Line, the Newark Branch was a branch of the Main Line, both with service extending north to Waldwick[12] laying over at nearby Waldwick Yard. Commuter operations on the Newark Branch were discontinued in October 1966.[13]

Status and re-use study

File:NutleyTracks.JPG
Newark Industrial in Nutley

By the 1960s, only one of the two tracks was in a suitable condition, The line became part of Conrail and later Norfolk Southern Railway.[14] (NS). In 1977 the line was severed when the NX Bridge over the Passaic River was taken out of service and left in the open position. By 2002 the line east of the bridge was out of service.[15] That was due to the loss of the last shipper on that portion of the branch, SparTech Poly-Com.[citation needed]

A portion of the line along the west bank of the Passaic River, known as the Newark Industrial Track, is still used to serve one customer in Clifton, Van Ness Plastics.[16][17]

In 2020, the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority, in conjunction with the Passaic County Planning Board, produced the Paterson–Newark Transit Market Study report, which examined the potential of restoring passenger service on the line.[18]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Erie Railroad" (PDF). Inventory June 1918. June 30, 1918. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
  2. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Urquhart, Frank J. (1913), A History of the City of Newark New Jersey Embracing Practically Two and a Half Centuries, Lewis Historical Publishing
  3. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."The Paterson and Newark Railroad" (PDF), The New York Times, July 28, 1869, retrieved June 21, 2012
  4. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Another Railroad War- The Newark and Paterson Railroad--Seizure of Dock Property in Newark", The New York Times, April 28, 1869, retrieved June 21, 2012
  5. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Erie's Trials - Trains discontinued on Paterson and Newark Railroad" (PDF), The New York Times, February 1, 1870, retrieved June 21, 2012
  6. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Paterson & Newark Rail Road Company". Stocklobster. Retrieved June 21, 2012.
  7. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."New Jersey Railroads Some of the Projected and Completed Improvements - Emigrant Travel and Its Peculiarities" (PDF), The New York Times, September 5, 1871, retrieved June 22, 2012
  8. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Bridge 8.04". Erie Railroad Magazine. December 1948. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
  9. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Erie Railroad Newark Branch". www.97wwdj.com. November 25, 2012. Retrieved April 26, 2013.
  10. ^ Newark Branch http://shorock.com/don/trains/donel4.htm Script error: No such module "webarchive".
  11. ^ Newark Branch timetable, 1962
  12. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Erie Newark Branch timetables". Newark Branch photos. Kearny High School. Archived from the original on June 18, 2012. Retrieved June 21, 2012.
  13. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."The Decline and Fall of EL Passenger Service". Retrieved March 20, 2012.
  14. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Hudson County (PDF) (Map). New Jersey Department of Transportation. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
  15. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Railfan Guide to Newark NJ, RSUS". Retrieved December 24, 2015.
  16. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Tobia, Darren (November 1, 2021). "Montclair Author Walks Abandoned Newark Train Tracks in Latest Work".
  17. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Officials To Norfolk Southern: Clean Up Abandoned Newark Line". Newark, NJ Patch. June 7, 2018.
  18. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Paterson-Newark Transit Market Study" (PDF). North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority. June 2020. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
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