The Lehigh Valley Terminal Railway was a

Lehigh Valley Railroad The Lehigh Valley Railroad was a railroad built in the Northeastern United States to haul anthracite coal from the Coal Region in Pennsylvania. The railroad was authorized on April 21, 1846 for freight and transportation of passengers, goods, w ...

company organized in 1891 through the consolidation of the companies that formed the Lehigh Valley's route from South Plainfield through

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

across

Newark Bay Newark Bay is a tidal bay at the confluence of the Passaic and Hackensack Rivers in northeastern New Jersey. It is home to the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal, the largest container shipping facility in Port of New York and New Jersey, t ...

. Until 1895, when the Greenville and Hudson Railway was constructed, the Lehigh Valley depended on the

National Docks Railway National Docks Secondary is a freight rail transport, freight rail line within Conrail's North Jersey Shared Assets Area in Hudson County, New Jersey, used by CSX Transportation. It provides access for the national rail network to maritime, indu ...

to reach 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 ...

terminal. In 1903, all the Lehigh Valley's lines in New Jersey were consolidated under the name of Lehigh Valley Railroad Company of New Jersey.

Timeline of the Lehigh Valley Terminal Railway

* 1871 - The Lehigh Valley leases 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 ...

, which includes the canal basin at South Cove in Jersey City. * 1872 - The Lehigh Valley acquires land on the south side of the Morris Canal basin, intending it for a proposed railroad, the New Jersey West Line, which was never built. * 1875 - The

Easton and Amboy Railroad Easton and Amboy Railroad was a railroad built across central New Jersey by the Lehigh Valley Railroad (LVRR) in the 1870s. The line was built to connect the Lehigh Valley Railroad coal hauling operations in Pennsylvania with the Port of New York ...

opens for traffic. Passenger traffic is routed onto 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 ...

Metuchen Metuchen ( ) is a suburban Borough (New Jersey), borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. The borough is a commuter town of New York City, located in the heart of the Raritan River, Raritan Valley reg ...

. * 1887 - The Roselle and South Plainfield Railway opens on Dec 17. Freight traffic connects to the

Central Railroad of New Jersey The Central Railroad of New Jersey, also known as the Jersey Central or Jersey Central Lines , was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s. It was absorbed into Conrail in April 1976 along with several other prominent bankrupt railroads of ...

at Roselle. * 1887 - The Lehigh Valley settles a long legal battle with the

, opening the way to build a Jersey City terminal on the land originally purchased in 1872 for the New Jersey West Line. * 1889 - The Jersey City terminal opens as the Jersey City Terminal Railway. * 1890 - The

Edgewater Railway Edgewater may refer to: Australia *Edgewater, Western Australia United States * Edgewater, Alabama * Edgewater, Colorado * Florida: ** Edgewater, Broward County, Florida **Edgewater, Volusia County, Florida **Edgewater High School, in Orlando, F ...

is formed to construct lines on the north side of the Morris Canal basin. * 1890 - The

Newark and Passaic Railway The Newark and Passaic Railway was incorporated on Nov 22, 1889 by the Lehigh Valley Railroad (LVRR). It was chartered as a short line in Newark, New Jersey from the Passaic River to a connection with the LVRR's Newark and Roselle Railway near ...

builds a freight yard and coal depot at Hamburg Place,

. * 1890 - The LVRR purchases a half interest in the

. * 1891 - The

Newark and Roselle Railway The Newark and Roselle Railway was incorporated on Aug 28, 1889 by the Lehigh Valley Railroad (LVRR) to advance tracks from the terminus of the Roselle and South Plainfield Railway at Roselle, New Jersey to Pennsylvania Avenue in Newark. It for ...

and the

Newark Railway The Newark Railway was incorporated on December 10, 1890, and was a short, 1-mile connection between the Lehigh Valley Railroad's Newark and Roselle Railway and the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR). Upon completion on Feb 16, 1891, all passenger tr ...

open to connect with the PRR in Newark. On February 16, passenger traffic through Metuchen is discontinued in favor of the LVRR's own line at South Plainfield. * 1891 - The companies are consolidated as the Lehigh Valley Terminal Railway Company. The route to Jersey City is still incomplete due to legal and engineering difficulties with the

Jersey City, Newark and Western Railway The Jersey City, Newark and Western Railway was incorporated on July 6, 1889, and acquired by the Lehigh Valley Railroad (LVRR). Construction was completed in 1893. It started in Jersey City, New Jersey at a connection with the National Docks R ...

bridge across

. The consolidated companies are: :: Roselle and South Plainfield Railway ::

Jersey City Terminal Railway Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the l ...

* 1892 - The route opens for traffic across Newark Bay to a connection with the

in Jersey City. (see:

Lehigh Valley Railroad Bridge The Upper Bay Bridge, or the Lehigh Valley Railroad Bridge, is a vertical lift bridge spanning the Newark Bay in northeastern New Jersey. It is used by CSX Transportation travelling through the North Jersey Shared Assets Area of the United Stat ...

* 1895 - The Lehigh Valley creates the Greenville and Hudson Railway to construct a line roughly parallel to the National Docks Railway from the Newark Bay bridge to the Jersey City terminal. Upon completion in 1900, the LVRR has a wholly owned route from the coalfields of Pennsylvania to the Hudson River. * 1900 - The Lehigh Valley acquires complete control of the National Docks Railway. * 1901 - The Lehigh Valley acquires the facilities of the National Docks Storage Company on Black Tom Island. * 1903 - The

Oak Island Yard Oak Island Yard is a freight rail yard located north of Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal and Newark International Airport in an industrial area of Ironbound, Newark, New Jersey at 91 Bay Ave., United States. The sprawling complex includes e ...

is opened in Newark. * 1903 - The Lehigh Valley Terminal Railway is consolidated into the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company of New Jersey.

References

* Annual Report of the Board of Directors of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company to the Stockholders. Reports for fiscal years ending 1875, 1887, 1889, 1890, 1891, 1892. * Joint Report with Comprehensive Plan and Recommendations: New York, New Jersey Port and Harbor Development Commission. 1920. p. 111, 116 * ''Lehigh Valley's Terminal'', The New York Times, Jan 16, 1900 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lehigh Valley Terminal Railway Predecessors of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Defunct New Jersey railroads Railway companies established in 1891 Railway companies disestablished in 1903