The Lackawanna Old Road was part of the original
mainline of the
Delaware, Lackawanna & 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 ...
(DL&W). Opened in 1856, it was for a half-century a part of the line connecting the states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In 1911, the DL&W cut off the route by opening the
Lackawanna Cut-Off, which branched off from existing track at the new
Port Morris Junction and
Slateford Junction
Slateford Junction was a railway junction in the small town of Slateford, Pennsylvania. It was built to connect the existing mainline of the Lackawanna Railroad, the so-called Old Road with the new Lackawanna Cut-Off. It was in service from 1911 u ...
. The stretch of existing track between these junctions was relegated to secondary status and became known as the "Old Road".
History
The Old Road involves one railroad tycoon (
John I. Blair) and four railroads: the DL&W, the
Jersey Central (CNJ), 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), and the
Warren Railroad.
In 1853, construction began on the Warren Railroad, which would connect the CNJ at
Hampton, New Jersey
Hampton is a borough in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 1,401,[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 ...]
, in anticipation of an eventual merger between the two older railroads. Expensive to build, the Warren required three large bridges, two tunnels, and much excavation before it opened in 1856.
In 1862,
Oxford Tunnel (also known as Van Nest Gap Tunnel) opened, relieving trains of a slow and arduous climb over Van Nest Gap. The new tunnel, however, did not prevent the collapse of the planned DL&W-CNJ merger.
The M&E quickly emerged as the logical replacement for the CNJ, as it would give the DL&W direct access to the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
. But this time, there would be no bespoke connecting line between the merger partners. Instead, the DL&W forged a circuitous route out of existing lines, including of the Phillipsburg Branch (Port Morris to Washington, New Jersey); of the Warren Railroad (Washington to Delaware, New Jersey); and of the
Bangor & Portland Railroad (Delaware, to Slateford, Pennsylvania).
The speed limits on the sections varied: on the Phillipsburg Branch; and on the Warren Railroad and B&P.
Oxford Tunnel was double-tracked in 1869, and for a few decades, suffered no more serious problems than the intermittent water (and sometimes flooding) also seen in its sister tunnel at
Manunka Chunk. By the 1890s, the era's larger locomotives and rolling stock had trouble fitting through the tunnel. In 1901, the railroad installed
gauntlet track
Gauntlet track or interlaced track (also gantlet track) is an arrangement in which railway tracks run parallel on a single track bed and are interlaced (i.e., overlapped) in such a way that only one pair of rails can be used at any time. Since th ...
in the tunnel, effectively turning it into a single-track bottleneck — another reason to build the
Lackawanna Cut-Off.
With the opening of the Cut-Off in 1911, the line became known as the Old Road, relegated to a
branch line
A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line.
Industrial spur
An industri ...
for local freight shipments. It still saw the occasional through train when Cut-Off traffic was heavy and served as the main line in 1941 when a rockslide closed the Cut-Off. The effects of
Hurricane Diane
Hurricane Diane was the first Atlantic hurricane to cause more than an estimated $1 billion in damage (in 1955 dollars, which would be $ today), including direct costs and the loss of business and personal revenue. It formed on August ...
caused record flooding along 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 ...
and forced DL&W to reroute trains over part the Old Road. The storm also washed out the
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
(PRR)
Bel-Del Railroad north of
Belvidere, New Jersey
Belvidere is a town in Warren County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the town's population was 2,681,[Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.][East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
East Stroudsburg is a borough in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the Poconos region of the state. Originally known as "Dansbury", East Stroudsburg was renamed for geographic reasons when the Delaware, Lackawanna, and ...]
.
Rockport wreck
The Old Road was the site of the DL&W's most infamous train wreck. On June 16, 1925, a passenger train carrying German-American tourists from Chicago to Hoboken was slated to run over the Cut-Off, but in order to avoid freight trains on the line the special train was diverted onto the Old Road to
Port Morris.
Historians mark 85th anniversary of Warren County's deadliest accident, a train derailment that made international headlines
/ref> At Rockport, New Jersey, the train struck debris
Debris (, ) is rubble, wreckage, ruins, litter and discarded garbage/refuse/trash, scattered remains of something destroyed, or, as in geology, large rock fragments left by a melting glacier, etc. Depending on context, ''debris'' can refer to ...
washed onto a road crossing by a heavy thunderstorm. The train derailed, and killed 47 passengers and three trainmen. In 1995, on the 70th anniversary of the wreck, a stone and plaque was erected at the Rockport crossing to remember the lives lost.
Decline
In April 1970, the Erie Lackawanna Railway
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" ...
(EL) abandoned the Delaware-Washington, New Jersey section. Conrail
Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...
assumed EL operations in 1976. In 1982, NJ Transit
New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit, and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey, along with portions of New York State and Pennsylvania. It operates bu ...
assumed operation of the trackage between Port Morris Junction and Netcong for commuter service.
Port Morris Junction ceased to exist in 1984 when Conrail abandoned the Cut-Off. Warren County Warren County is the name of fourteen counties in the USA. Some are named after General Joseph Warren, who was killed in the Battle of Bunker Hill in the American Revolutionary War:
* Warren County, Georgia
* Warren County, Illinois
* Warren County ...
removed remaining bridges and abutments over the next several years. Now that the Lackawanna Cut-Off Restoration Project
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.
Begun in 2011 and underway as of 2022, the project's Phase 1 is meant to exten ...
is underway, Port Morris Junction is the connection point of the "Old Road" and the "Cut-Off" once again since 2011.
Some vestiges of the Warren Railroad remain: telegraph poles, tunnels, and a concrete viaduct spanning the Pequest River
The Pequest River is a tributary of the Delaware River in the Skylands Region in northwestern New Jersey in the United States.Gertler, Edward. ''Garden State Canoeing'', Seneca Press, 2002.
The Pequest, Native American for "open land," drains ...
and the abandoned Lehigh and Hudson River Railway
The Lehigh and Hudson River Railway (L&HR) was the smallest of the six railroads that were merged into Conrail in 1976. It was a bridge line running northeast–southwest across northwestern New Jersey, connecting the line to the Poughkeepsie Br ...
right-of-way near the intersection of State Route 31 and U.S. Route 46
U.S. Route 46 (US 46) is an east–west U.S. Highway completely within the state of New Jersey, running for , making it the shortest signed, non-spur U.S. Highway. The west end is at an interchange with Interstate 80 in New Jersey, Intersta ...
near Buttzville. The steel bridge across the Delaware River near Delaware, N.J., retains the eastbound track but is no longer in use.
In October 1994, commuter rail service was re-established to Hackettstown by NJ Transit
New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit, and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey, along with portions of New York State and Pennsylvania. It operates bu ...
, although the operation west of Netcong was under trackage rights granted by Conrail and then later Norfolk Southern Railway
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...
.
In 2011, Port Morris Junction was re-established to serve the Lackawanna Cut-Off Restoration Project
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.
Begun in 2011 and underway as of 2022, the project's Phase 1 is meant to exten ...
.
References
{{Reflist
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad
Erie Lackawanna Railway
Railway lines opened in 1856
Railway lines closed in 1968
Lackawanna Cut-Off
Closed railway lines in the United States
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad lines