Ridgefield Park Station
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Ridgefield Park station, also known as West Shore Station, was a railroad station in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, at the foot of Mount Vernon Street served by the
New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad The New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (or New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad and also known as the Susie-Q or the Susquehanna) is a Class II American freight railway operating over 400 miles (645 km) of track in th ...
(NYSW) and the West Shore Railroad, a division of
New York Central The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...
(NYCRR). The New York, Ontario and Western Railway (NYO&W) had running rights along the West Shore and sometimes stopped at Ridgefield Park. First opened in 1872 it was one of three passenger stations in the village, the others being the Little Ferry station to the south and Westview station to the north. (Secondary sources note a later opening date.) Service on the West Shore Railroad began in 1883. The station house, built at a cost $100,000 opened in 1927. Southbound service crossed Overpeck Creek and continued to terminals on the Hudson River waterfront where there was connecting ferry service across the Hudson River to Manhattan. Northbound near Bogota the parallel NYSW and West Shore lines diverge and continue into northern New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and upstate New York. Passenger service ended in 1966.


History

In 1866, the Ridgefield Park Railroad (a predecessor to West Shore), was established to create a
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 ...
(ROW) along foot the western slope of the Hudson Palisades parallel to the
Hackensack River The Hackensack River is a river, approximately 45 miles (72 km) long, in the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, emptying into Newark Bay, a back chamber of New York Harbor. The watershed of the river includes part of the subur ...
from Ridgefield Park to Marion Junction, where it could use the
Bergen Hill Cut Bergen Hill refers to the lower Hudson Palisades in New Jersey, where they emerge on Bergen Neck, which in turn is the peninsula between the Hackensack and Hudson Rivers, and their bays. In Hudson County, it reaches a height of 260 feet. Rail ...
to the Pennsylvania Railroad Depot on the Hudson Waterfront in
Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Weehawken Tunnel Weehawken is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located largely on the Hudson Palisades overlooking the Hudson River. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 17,197.
(at the southern end of what became North Bergen Yard) in conjunction with the opening of
Weehawken Terminal Weehawken Terminal was the waterfront intermodal terminal on the North River (Hudson River) in Weehawken, New Jersey for the New York Central Railroad's West Shore Railroad division, whose route traveled along the west shore of the Hudson River ...
. It opened its station in Ridgefield Park in 1883. NYC's service was discontinued in 1959. The New Jersey Midland Railway (a predecessor to the NYSW) built a line through the Ridgefields in 1872. It joined 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 ...
Northern Branch at Granton Junction near Babbitt, and reached the community of New Durham. With a similar intention to reach a terminal on the Hudson River, in 1873 it built the Hudson Connecting Railroad which ran south to West End Junction, just north of Marion Junction, with access to Erie's Long Dock Tunnel and Pavonia Terminal. Passenger service on the NYC's West Shore Railroad ended in 1959, having been truncated to
West Haverstraw West Haverstraw is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village incorporated in 1883 in the town of Haverstraw, New York, Haverstraw, Rockland County, New York, Rockland County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is located no ...
in 1958. Passenger service on the NYSW made use of the West Shore's Ridgefield Park station to Pavonia Terminal until it was retracted to
Susquehanna Transfer Susquehanna Transfer was a passenger station on the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway, located in North Bergen, New Jersey located at what today is the Route 495 overpass. It was an interchange station where transfer was possible fr ...
(near the point now under New Jersey Route 495) and eventually terminated in 1966.


Status and future use

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
's River Line and the NYS&W both operate freights along the rail lines that pass the station. NYS&W maintains a small yard in the village. The station house has become a commercial building. It has been recommended for historic designation by the county's historical agency. and is a very popular location for train watchers. The CSX bridge over Overpeck Creek was replaced by a two-track swing bridge in 2005. In 2015, the NYS&W Bridge 10.73 was slated for replacement due to its poor condition, but as of 2017 work had not begun. Before it could, the bridge collapsed in 2018, causing a minor derailment. Work commenced in 2019. Numerous studies to restore passenger service have been conducted, but not materialized. The location is a potential station of
New Jersey Transit Rail Operations NJ Transit Rail Operations is the rail division of NJ Transit. It operates commuter rail service in New Jersey, with most service centered on transportation to and from New York City, Hoboken, and Newark. NJ Transit also operates rail service i ...
's proposed
Passaic–Bergen–Hudson Transit Project The Passaic–Bergen–Hudson Transit Project is a project under study by NJ Transit to reintroduce passenger service on a portion of the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (NYSW) right-of-way (ROW) in Passaic, Bergen and Hudson counties c ...
which would be called Mount Vernon Street.


See also

*
Little Ferry Yard Little Ferry Yard is a railyard and Intermodal freight transport, intermodal terminal in the Port of New York and New Jersey served by the River Subdivision (CSX Transportation), CSX River Subdivision (CSXT), New York, Susquehanna and Western Railw ...
*
Northern Branch Corridor Project The Northern Branch Corridor Project is a proposed extension of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail (HBLR) from its northern terminus into eastern Bergen County, New Jersey, initially proposed in 2001. If built, the new service would use the right-of-w ...
* Passaic–Bergen Rail Line * River Line (Conrail)


References


External links


NJT map proposed restoration NYS&W/Westshore service

NJT West Shore region plan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ridgefield Park (NYCRR NYSandW station) Railway stations in the United States opened in 1873 Railway stations closed in 1966 Ridgefield Park, New Jersey Former New York Central Railroad stations Former New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway stations Former railway stations in New Jersey Railway stations in Bergen County, New Jersey Union stations in the United States 1873 establishments in New Jersey 1966 disestablishments in New Jersey