The Newark and Passaic Railway was incorporated on Nov 22, 1889 by the
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, ...
(LVRR). It was chartered as a short line in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Passaic River to a connection with the LVRR's
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 ...
near Pennsylvania Avenue in Newark. The lower mile of its length closed a gap in the route of the LVRR from South Plainfield to Jersey City.
In 1891 the LVRR consolidated the railroads along the Jersey City route into the
Lehigh Valley Terminal Railway
The Lehigh Valley Terminal Railway was a Lehigh Valley Railroad company organized in 1891 through the consolidation of the companies that formed the Lehigh Valley's route from South Plainfield through Newark to Jersey City via its bridge acr ...
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 ...
, 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 ...
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 ...
, and the Edgewater Railway.
After consolidation, the upper portion of the line served as the Newark and Passaic Branch of the LVRR, running from the west end of Oak Island yard to Hamburg Place.