Ridgewood is a railroad station operated by

New Jersey Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit, and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey, along with portions of New York State and Pennsylvania. It operates bu ...

in the

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

of Ridgewood, Bergen County,

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 ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. A major transfer station, Ridgewood has two high-level platforms (one

side platform 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 platform ...

and one

island platform An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...

) for the Main Line and

Bergen County Line The Bergen County Line is a commuter rail line and service owned and operated by New Jersey Transit in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The line loops off the Main Line between the Meadowlands and Glen Rock, with trains continuing in either dir ...

History

NJ Transit Comet I cab car 5103 at Ridgewood

Service to the area known as Godwinville began on October 19, 1848, with the opening of the

Paterson and Ramapo Railroad The Paterson and Ramapo Railroad was a railroad that operated mostly in New Jersey, connecting the city of and Paterson, New Jersey with Suffern, New York, just across the state line. The railroad was chartered in 1841 and construction began in 18 ...

, a railroad connecting the

Paterson and Hudson River Railroad The Paterson and Hudson River Railroad was a railroad that operated in New Jersey and connected the cities of Jersey City and southeast Paterson. The railroad was started in 1833. The company was the first in the United States to build moveable ...

at Paterson to the

New York, Lake Erie and Western 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 Eri ...

at Suffern. A new station was built in 1856, then in 1859. However, in August 1915, the Erie Railroad, now in control, started construction on a new pair of ornate station depots at Ridgewood, both of which opened on November 28, 1916. 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 Er ...

built Ridgewood station in 1916 as a grade-separated elevated station. It has been listed in the

New Jersey Register of Historic Places The New Jersey Register of Historic Places is the official list of historic resources of local, state, and national interest in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The program is administered by the New Jersey's state historic preservation office with ...

and

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

since 1984 and is part of the Operating Passenger Railroad Stations Thematic Resource. Until the 1960s, the station served passengers heading to Binghamton and other cities, en route to Chicago or Buffalo. The '' Erie Limited'' and the '' Lake Cities'' served passengers heading toward Chicago. The station received eastbound passengers from the '' Atlantic Express.'' In final years of long-distance service, after the Erie's merger with the

Lackawanna Railroad The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (also known as the DL&W or Lackawanna Railroad) was a U.S. Class 1 railroad that connected Buffalo, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey (and by ferry with New York City), a distance of . Incorporated in ...

, unnamed trains ran to Binghamton, where passengers could switch to the ''

Phoebe Snow Phoebe Snow (born Phoebe Ann Laub; July 17, 1950 – April 26, 2011) was an American roots music singer-songwriter and guitarist, known for her hit 1974 and 1975 songs " San Francisco Bay Blues", " Poetry Man", "Harpo's Blues", and her credited ...

'' after a layover. The discontinuing of the ''Phoebe Snow'' (1966) and the ''Atlantic Express'' (1965) marked the end of long-distance passenger service through Ridgewood.'Official Guide of the Railways,' December 1966, Erie Lackawanna section, pp. 201-5. Ridgewood station underwent a major renovation project between 2009 and 2011 to make the station compliant with the

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ...

. As part of the project, high-level platforms were installed and the side platform on Track 1 was demolished to allow for the installation of an island platform that would serve Tracks 1 and 3, and replace Track 3's side platform, which was fenced off. Ramps were installed on both platforms and elevators were installed to carry passengers from the platforms to the floor of the underpass on Franklin Avenue.

Station layout

The station currently features two platforms, one side platform for service to Hoboken, and an island platform for service to points north. The two platforms are mostly high-level, while one low-level platform is no longer in use. Underpasses beneath the tracks and beneath a bridge on Franklin Avenue connect the two platforms.

Bibliography

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References

External links

Franklin Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View

Station House from Google Maps Street View
{{National Register of Historic Places Ridgewood, New Jersey Railway stations in Bergen County, New Jersey NJ Transit Rail Operations stations Railway stations in the United States opened in 1848 Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey National Register of Historic Places in Bergen County, New Jersey New Jersey Register of Historic Places Former Erie Railroad stations 1848 establishments in New Jersey

History

Station layout

See also

Bibliography

References

External links