West Arlington was a former

commuter railroad Commuter rail services in the United States, Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Panama, and Costa Rica provide common carrier passenger transportation along railway tracks, with scheduled service on fixed routes on a non-reservation basis, primarily for sho ...

train station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing suc ...

in the Arlington section of Kearny,

Hudson County Hudson County is the most densely populated county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It lies west of the lower Hudson River, which was named for Henry Hudson, the sea captain who explored the area in 1609. Part of New Jersey's Gateway Region in ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. Located overlooking Passaic Avenue ( Hudson County Route 699), West Arlington station was one of two in Kearny on 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 ...

's New York and Greenwood Lake Railroad, the other one being Arlington at Garafola Place. The station contained two low-level

side platforms A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms ...

, with a pair of

depots Depot ( or ) may refer to: Places * Depot, Poland, a village * Depot Island, Kemp Land, Antarctica * Depot Island, Victoria Land, Antarctica * Depot Island Formation, Greenland Brands and enterprises * Maxwell Street Depot, a restaurant in ...

, one of which was on each platform. Trains went from

Pavonia Terminal Pavonia Terminal was the Erie Railroad terminal on the Hudson River situated on the landfilled Harsimus Cove in Jersey City, New Jersey. The station opened in 1861 and closed in 1958 when the Erie Railroad moved its passenger services to nearby ...

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Wanaque–Midvale station Wanaque–Midvale was a former commuter railroad station of the Erie Railroad's New York and Greenwood Lake Railway branch in Wanaque, New Jersey, United States. When built in 1873, the station served trains running from Pavonia Terminal in Jers ...

in Wanaque. The next station to the west was North Newark, across nearby

WR Draw WR Draw is an out-of-service railroad bridge crossing the Passaic River between Newark and the Arlington section of Kearny, New Jersey. The plate girder rim-bearing swing bridge, originally built in 1897 and modified in 1911 and 1950, is the 1 ...

, a

swing bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravity, about which the swing span (turning span) can then pi ...

over the Route 21, the

Passaic River Passaic River ( ) is a river, approximately long, in Northern New Jersey. The river in its upper course flows in a highly circuitous route, meandering through the swamp lowlands between the ridge hills of rural and suburban northern New Jersey, ...

and Passaic Avenue. West Arlington station opened on January 1, 1873 with the opening of the Montclair Railway between Jersey City and Monks in West Milford in Passaic County. At the time of opening, the station retained the name of Kearny. The station was located at the end of a cut, west of Arlington station. West Arlington station, which doubled as the control tower for nearby WR Draw, served passenger trains until September 30, 1966, when the

Erie-Lackawanna Railroad 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" ...

discontinued passenger service to the station after a final

Caldwell Branch Caldwell may refer to: People * Caldwell (surname) * Caldwell (given name) * Caldwell First Nation, a federally recognized Indian band in southern Ontario, Canada Places Great Britain * Caldwell, Derbyshire, a hamlet * Caldwell, Eas ...

train crossed. The station depot on the eastbound platform remained, standing abandoned until it burned down in 1976.

Station layout and services

West Arlington station consisted of two low-level

. the eastbound platform contained a station depot and interlocking tower, accessible from North Midland Avenue and Passaic Avenue. The westbound platform had no shelter at the end of service in 1966, accessible from Passaic Avenue and Laurel Avenue. The western end of the asphalt platforms contained the walkway for

. The interlocking tower built into the eastbound depot contained the mechanics to open the

over the

and Route 21. The 1914-installed interlocking system contained 16 levers to operate the bridge and related switches. WR Tower also operated remote control switches at the Forest Hill station in

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 ...

, including the crossover to the

Orange Branch Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower * Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum ...

, the connection to the eastern main line track from the Orange Branch and a crossover from the Orange Branch to a nearby siding. These services took over the purposes of OJ Tower in Forest Hill, a former interlocking tower with 34 levers. The tower also operated the actions of the office in Great Notch for the Caldwell Branch. When the station opened with the Montclair Railway on January 1, 1873, then-Kearny station operated with 15 trains daily. At the end of service in 1966, West Arlington station serviced only three trains on weekdays. The single eastbound train, which ran to

Hoboken Terminal Hoboken Terminal is a commuter-oriented intermodal passenger station in Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey. One of the New York metropolitan area's major transportation hubs, it is served by nine NJ Transit (NJT) commuter rail lines, one Metr ...

, arrived at 7:53 a.m. on a train from Essex Fells on the Caldwell Branch. West Arlington had two westbound trains from Hoboken, train 1415, which went to Essex Fells, stopping at 5:57 p.m. The other was a train to Wanaque–Midvale, train 1419, which arrived at 6:30 p.m.

Bibliography

* *

References

{{Erie Railroad New York Division stations Former railway stations in New Jersey Former Erie Railroad stations Railway stations in the United States opened in 1873 Railway stations closed in 1966 1873 establishments in New Jersey 1966 disestablishments in New Jersey Kearny, New Jersey

Station layout and services

See also

Bibliography

References