The Sussex Railroad (later known as the Sussex Branch of the
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad
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 . Incorporated in ...
) was a
short-line railroad
:''Short Line is also one of the four railroads in the American version of the popular board game Monopoly, named after the Shore Fast Line, an interurban streetcar line.''
A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that opera ...
in northwestern
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
. It replaced its predecessor, the Sussex Mine Railroad, in 1853 and operated under the Sussex Railroad Company until 1945 when it was fully merged into the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W) system. The Sussex Railroad was important in the economic development of
Sussex County as it supplied a route for early local industries, such as dairy farms and ore mines, to export their products. It was the last independently operated New Jersey railroad to be incorporated into the DL&W system. The last train travelled on the Sussex Railroad tracks on October 2, 1966. The tracks were removed soon after and the
right-of-way
Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another.
A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...
was transformed into a
rail trail
A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...
known as the
Sussex Branch Trail.
Sussex Mine Railroad
The Sussex Mine Railroad, chartered on March 9, 1848, was the predecessor of the Sussex Railroad that was to be used for the sole purpose of hauling
iron ore
Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...
from the recently re-opened Andover Mine. The
narrow gauge railway
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...
was drawn by
mule
The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two pos ...
s from the Andover Mine down to the
Morris Canal
The Morris Canal (1829–1924) was a common carrier anthracite coal canal across northern New Jersey that connected the two industrial canals at Easton, Pennsylvania across the Delaware River from its western terminus at Phillipsburg, New Jers ...
at
Waterloo Village
Waterloo Village is a restored 19th-century canal town in Byram Township, Sussex County (west of Stanhope) in northwestern New Jersey, United States. The community was approximately the half-way point in the roughly trip along the Morris Can ...
and was then taken on to the Thomas Iron Furnaces in
Allentown Allentown may refer to several places in the United States and topics related to them:
* Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California
* Allentown, Georgia, a town in Wilkinson County
* Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in T ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. The Act by the
New Jersey Legislature
The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the ...
that incorporated the railroad also allowed for the provision of extending the rail into
Newton
Newton most commonly refers to:
* Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist
* Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton
Newton may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film
* Newton ( ...
, the
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...
.
The initial of the Sussex Mine Railroad from the mine in
Andover
Andover may refer to:
Places Australia
* Andover, Tasmania
Canada
* Andover Parish, New Brunswick
* Perth-Andover, New Brunswick
United Kingdom
* Andover, Hampshire, England
** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station
United States
* Ando ...
, which was named after the mine, was started in May 1849 and completed in August 1851. During construction of the railroad, the legislature approved a supplement to the charter on March 18, 1851, that allowed the railroad to extend the line to the
Morris & Essex Railroad
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.
History
The M&E was incorporated January 29, 1835, to build a line from Newark in Essex Co ...
(M&E), which was extending its line to
Hackettstown. The Sussex Mine Railroad struck a deal with the M&E that would work in their favor if they were to have the connection ready for operation by the time the M&E's extension reached Waterloo. In preparation for this extension and what eventually became a
rebuilding
Remanufacturing is "the rebuilding of a product to specifications of the original manufactured product using a combination of reused, repaired and new parts". It requires the repair or replacement of worn out or obsolete components and modules. P ...
of the entire existing line, the New Jersey Legislature approved another supplement to the charter on January 26, 1853, that allowed the company to change its name to the Sussex Railroad, reflecting its new purpose beyond just serving the mines and authorized the company to extend the track to any point in Sussex County on the
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...
.
Expansion (1853–1881)
The renamed Sussex Railroad Company gained support by issuing stock and bonds, which raised the necessary funds to lay the new track. Ground was broken on the
track gauge
In rail transport, track gauge (in American English, alternatively track gage) is the distance between the two rails of a railway track. All vehicles on a rail network must have wheelsets that are compatible with the track gauge. Since many d ...
line from Newton to Waterloo on May 5, 1853. The company wanted to proceed quickly to meet the deadline for the agreement that, if met, would mean a substantial source of revenue. Because of this fast pace, steeper
grades
Grade most commonly refers to:
* Grade (education), a measurement of a student's performance
* Grade, the number of the year a student has reached in a given educational stage
* Grade (slope), the steepness of a slope
Grade or grading may also r ...
and tighter curves were adopted than might have been preferred otherwise. Work progressed quickly, even though the M&E was trying to slow down progress any way they could, including compensating employees of the Sussex Railroad to delay the necessary
cuts south of Newton. To speed work along, the Sussex Railroad Company used employees of the Andover Mine temporarily on the railroad right-of-way. All of this effort paid off as they were successful in meeting the deadline. The new railroad was completed and the first train entered Newton on November 27, 1854, with traffic between Newton and Waterloo being opened on December 11, 1854. The M&E connected to the Sussex Railroad in January 1855, thus the financial agreement made earlier was upheld.
At this point, the only stations on the Sussex Railroad were at Newton, Andover, and Waterloo, but they served many industries and moved products such as produce, dairy, meat, and of course iron ore from the mines. Increased interest in the
franklinite
Franklinite is an oxide mineral belonging to the normal spinel subgroup's iron (Fe) series, with the formula ZnFe3+2O4.
As with another spinel member magnetite, both ferrous (2+) and ferric (3+) iron may be present in Franklinite samples. Di ...
and iron and zinc ores from
Franklin
Franklin may refer to:
People
* Franklin (given name)
* Franklin (surname)
* Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class
Places Australia
* Franklin, Tasmania, a township
* Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...
further northeast of Newton prompted the New Jersey Legislature to adopt another supplement on February 4, 1863, that authorized the railroad to continue its line up to the
Franklin Furnace
Franklin Furnace, also known as the Franklin Mine, is a famous mineral location for rare zinc, iron, manganese minerals in old mines in Franklin, New Jersey, United States. This locale produced more species of minerals (over 300) and more differ ...
and to other points north if "deemed most for the public good."
Expansion came swiftly with ground breaking on a extension line north of Newton through
Lafayette
Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to:
People
* Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette
* House of La Fayette, a French noble family
** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757 ...
and
Augusta to
Branchville in 1866, around the same time that the track gauge was
adjusted to . to align with the M&E tracks. This branch would allow for an outlet for Sussex County's northern agricultural products and staged the potential future expansion of the line through Culver's Gap to the Delaware River. The first train to run on the Branchville extension went as far as Lafayette on January 1, 1869, as work continued further up the line; the entire Branchville line was completed on July 3, 1869.
At the same time as work was being done on the Branchville line, pressure was increasing to bring rail to the ever-increasing mining industries of Franklin, including the
New Jersey Zinc Company
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
. Work finally began on this ) extension in 1868, after a very heated debate and political power plays that could have routed traffic around Newton entirely. But residents of Newton rejected any plan to leave their town off the main line of traffic and insisted that the extension to Franklin be built north of Newton. The Franklin line opened to regular service in mid-September 1869. Additionally, an unconnected spur known as the South
Vernon extension, which ran from
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
to
McAfee
McAfee Corp. ( ), formerly known as McAfee Associates, Inc. from 1987 to 1997 and 2004 to 2014, Network Associates Inc. from 1997 to 2004, and Intel Security Group from 2014 to 2017, is an American global computer security software company head ...
, was completed in 1871 and allowed access to an iron ore mine at the base of the
Pochuck mountain range via trackage rights on the
New Jersey Midland Railway
The New Jersey Midland Railway was a 19th-century predecessor to the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (NYS&W) that operated in Northern New Jersey and Orange County, New York.
Formation and construction
The New Jersey Midland Railway ...
. This represented the height of track building on the Sussex Railroad.
In the 1870s, depots at Franklin, McAfee, Lafayette were completed and a new depot at Newton was constructed. Some other platforms used for local agricultural industries were also completed at
Sparta
Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...
Junction and Monroe. The 1870s also saw another supplement to the charter allowing the railroad to extend rail to
Stanhope for an easier connection with the M&E tracks, though the track wasn't laid until 1901. Notably, in 1879, steel tracks replaced iron for the first time on the Sussex Railroad.
This was to be the height of the Sussex Railroad. A little over a decade after the extensions had all been completed, the South Vernon extension was sold off to the
Lehigh & Hudson River Railway (L&HR) on July 6, 1881, and the McAfee station was closed in May 1881. L&HR was also trying to buy a controlling interest in the Sussex Railroad Company, but the DL&W, which had already leased the M&E line that connected to the Sussex Railroad, bought the controlling interest on July 27, 1881. The Sussex Railroad was the last independently operated New Jersey railroad to be acquired by DL&W.
DL&W (1881–1945)
The Sussex Railroad, operating under the DL&W as the Sussex Branch, began its slow, early decline in the late 19th century, owing to the discovery of better ore elsewhere in the country. Many industries and mines began to close in Sussex County, including the blast furnace in Franklin that shut down in 1900. Still, there was some expansion: A new station was added at
Cranberry Lake
Cranberry Lake is a lake on the East branch of the Oswegatchie River in the Adirondack Park in New York in the United States. It is the third largest lake in the Adirondack Park (after Lake George and the Great Sacandaga Lake). About 75 percent ...
, which became a country getaway and weekend vacation spot for residents, and the
Netcong-Stanhope Cutoff was completed in 1900, prompting the abandonment of the line to Waterloo.
As industry began to decrease in the area, the rise of the automobile and trucking took away valuable passenger and freight business from the Sussex Branch. As the area suffered during the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, so did the railroad. Permission was granted by the
Public Utilities Commission
In the United States, it is a governing body of a utility. In Canada, it is a utility, not a regulatory body.
Canada
In Canada, a public utilities commission (PUC) is a public utility owned and operated by a municipal or local government under t ...
to discontinue service to Franklin on February 23, 1932, with total abandonment of the Franklin branch being approved by the
Interstate Commerce Commission
The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to eliminat ...
on May 26, 1934. The remaining line was that of the 21-mile (34 km) Branchville to Stanhope line. By 1945, the Sussex Railroad ceased to exist and the company was finally fully merged into the DL&W.
End of service (1945–present)
![Newton Station - May 2015](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Newton_Station_-_May_2015.jpg)
The downward trend continued, with the 1950s seeing more industries served by the railroad go out of business. By 1959, mail service via the Sussex Branch ceased, and the final
milk train
Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...
ran in November 1964. The last passenger train departed from Branchville on July 10, 1966; the last passenger train from Newton on July 13, 1966; and the last passenger train on the entire branch departed Andover on October 2, 1966. By 1969, all track formerly owned by the Sussex Railroad was out of service, with the exception of the former South Vernon extension currently used by the
New York, Susquehanna & Western Railway on its way to
Syracuse
Syracuse may refer to:
Places Italy
*Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa''
*Province of Syracuse
United States
*Syracuse, New York
**East Syracuse, New York
**North Syracuse, New York
*Syracuse, Indiana
* Syracuse, Kansas
*Syracuse, Miss ...
and
Utica, New York
Utica () is a Administrative divisions of New York, city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The List of cities in New York, tenth-most-populous city in New York State, its population was 65,283 ...
.
After abandonment, buildings deteriorated and track was dismantled. The Newton passenger depot was demolished in November 1970. The final stretch of track between Andover and Stanhope/Netcong was removed in July 1977.
The roadbed for the Sussex Branch has mostly been preserved, however. The earliest purchase of a former right-of-way occurred in 1938 when Sussex County bought the former Franklin branch after service was discontinued. After all service ceased on the line, the state preserved the remainder of the line in the form of the Sussex Branch Trail, a division of the
Kittatinny Valley State Park
Kittatinny Valley State Park is located in Andover Township and extends into Andover Borough, New Jersey. Features include Glacial lakes, limestone outcroppings, former railroads, and a small airport. Lake Aeroflex and Gardner's Pond form ...
system. The trail stretches from Stanhope up to Branchville with only minor interruptions from privately owned sections.
[New Jersey Skylands. (2007)]
Kittatinny Valley State Park: Paulinskill Valley and Sussex Branch Trails
Accessed online: 3 December 2007.
Station list
''All mileposts are from
Hoboken Terminal
Hoboken Terminal is a commuter-oriented intermodal passenger station in Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey. One of the New York metropolitan area's major transportation hubs, it is served by nine NJ Transit (NJT) commuter rail lines, one Metr ...
.''
See also
*
Mine railway
A mine railway (or mine railroad, U.S.), sometimes pit railway, is a railway constructed to carry materials and workers in and out of a mine. Materials transported typically include ore, coal and overburden (also called variously spoils, waste, ...
Footnotes
References
*
*
*
*
External links
Historyof the Sussex Railroad by Kevin W. Wright.
site with information on the Sussex Branch.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sussex Railroad
Defunct New Jersey railroads
Predecessors of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad
Railway companies established in 1853
">Railway companies disestablished in 1945
Sussex Railroad
American companies established in 1853