The

Erie Railroad The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake Erie ...

Piermont Branch was a rail branch line that was formed from the easternmost portion of the original main line of the Erie. It ran from

Suffern, New York Suffern is a village that was incorporated in 1796 in the town of Ramapo in Rockland County, New York. Suffern is located 31 miles northwest of Manhattan. As of the 2010 census, Suffern's population was 10,723.Sparkill, New York Sparkill, formerly known as Tappan Sloat, is a suburban hamlet and census-designated place in the Town of Orangetown, Rockland County, New York, United States located north of Palisades; east of Tappan; south of Piermont and west of the Hudso ...

. (The original Erie Main Line terminated at

Piermont Pier Piermont is the name of two places in the United States of America: * Piermont, New Hampshire * Piermont, New York See also * Piedmont * Piedmont (United States) The Piedmont is a plateau region located in the Eastern United States. It i ...

for transferring to a ferry to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

instead of continuing to Sparkill.)

Remnants

The rail line is an active

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Railroad classes, Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway (U.S.), Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the ...

line between Suffern and Tallman. Train H55, based out of Hillburn Yard, runs down the line. Overgrown tracks remain between Tallman and Spring Valley station. The

Pascack Valley Line The Pascack Valley Line is a commuter rail line operated by the Hoboken Division of New Jersey Transit, in the United States. The line runs north from Hoboken Terminal, through Hudson County and Bergen County in New Jersey, and into Rockland Co ...

follows the route of the Piermont Branch from Spring Valley to

Nanuet Nanuet is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Clarkstown, New York, Clarkstown, Rockland County, New York, Rockland County, New York (state), New York, United States. The third largest hamlet in Clarkstown, it is ...

. Between Nanuet and

Blauvelt Blauvelt is a hamlet and census-designated place, formerly known as Greenbush and then Blauveltville, in the town of Orangetown, Rockland County, New York, United States. It is located north of Tappan, east of Nauraushaun and Pearl River, south ...

, there are very few remnants. The only remnants in this section are a surviving Milepost 8 marker, and a bridge over a creek that carries nothing. Past Blauvelt, the line has been converted to rail trails: the Joseph B. Clarke Rail Trail from Blauvelt to Sparkill; the Old Erie Path from Sparkill to South Nyack and the Raymond G. Esposito Trail from South Nyack to Nyack. The line terminated at Franklin Street in Nyack.

References

{{reflist Erie Railroad lines Rail lines in Rockland County, New York