Suffern is an active

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 ...

station 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 Suffern,

Rockland County Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. It is about from the Bronx at their closest points. The county's population, as of t ...

, New York. The station, located on Ramapo Avenue in Suffern, services trains of

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 ...

's Main Line and Metro-North Railroad's

Port Jervis Line The Port Jervis Line is a predominantly single-track commuter rail line running between Suffern and Port Jervis, in the U.S. state of New York. At Suffern, the line continues south into New Jersey as NJ Transit's Main Line. The line is operate ...

. Suffern station serves as the terminal for Main Line trains, as trains continue north into Hillburn Yard. The next Main Line station, located 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 ...

, is Mahwah. The next Port Jervis Line station to the north is Sloatsburg. The station consists of 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 ...

for trains in both directions, neither of which are handicap accessible for 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, ...

. Railroad service in Suffern began with the construction of the

New York and 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 ...

in 1841 on land owned by the family of local settler John Suffern of Antrim,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. As part of the generosity, the station at New Antrim was named Suffern in their honor. Regular passenger service in the area began on September 23, 1841 between Goshen and Piermont. Railroad service through Suffern changed on October 19, 1848 when 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 ...

opened for passenger service, resulting in the standing Suffern station becoming part of a branch of the railroad instead of the main line. A new station was built in 1862 to help serve the two lines better. This was replaced on March 9, 1887 between the junction of 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 ...

main line and the Piermont Branch. The railroad replaced this station on New Year's Day of 1941 with the current structure.

History

Construction and opening (1835–1841)

The construction of a railroad through the

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

of Ramapo and

of Suffern date to the incorporation of the

New York and Lake Erie Railroad The New York & Lake Erie is a class III railroad operating in Western New York. The NYLE was formed in 1978 to operate a portion of former Erie trackage that Conrail no longer wanted. Today, the railroad operates between Gowanda to Conewango ...

, a proposed line from Piermont in

to Dunkirk in Chautauqua County in November 1831. After several years of delays in funding, including gaining the interest and financial influence of Eleazar Lord in 1832, survey work for the new line began in 1834, with a report in January 1835 finalizing the line. Despite

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

being the better terminal for a railroad, Lord demanded that the railroad end in Piermont, to the northwest. The New York and Harlem Railroad also offered to build a branch to meet a rail ferry from Piermont to connect the two railroads for a direct New York City connection at the cost of $90,000 (1834

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

) and Lord declined. Construction of the railroad began with a groundbreaking ceremony on November 7, 1835 at Deposit in Delaware County. Lord was not present at the ceremony due to disagreements with John Gore King, the President, about a route through

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

via Newburgh instead of Piermont. However, a

panic Panic is a sudden sensation of fear, which is so strong as to dominate or prevent reason and logical thinking, replacing it with overwhelming feelings of anxiety and frantic agitation consistent with an animalistic fight-or-flight reactio ...

came on December 16, 1835 when the

Great Fire of New York The 1835 Great Fire of New York was one of three fires that rendered extensive damage to New York City in the 18th and 19th centuries. The fire occurred in the middle of an economic boom, covering 17 city blocks, killing two people, and destroyin ...

broke out, resulting in the elimination of funding for the railroad. Many people who paid subscriptions for the new railroad lost their wealth and numerous banks collapsed. As a result, the people in charge offered two engineers, Andrew Talcott and Edwin Johnson, to re-survey the railroad because of their confidence the

New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an officia ...

would help back the railroad. This optimism was short-lived as the finances were continuing to struggle and politicians in Albany were growing opposed to the railroad. The counties along the proposed railroad, save for Rockland and Orange, sent letters to their politicians to support the railroad. Governor of New York William Marcy also attempted to help the cause by saying that any decision should be done with the matter of public good and encouraged his colleagues to reconsider their views. As a result, both houses of the Legislature and the Governor signed a bill helping fund the railroad. However, the funding of $600,000 (1836 USD) would only come if the railroad spent $1.3 million in return. Already reeling financially, King tried to help raise new funds for the railroad and could not get outside financing from banks in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. As a result, Lord returned to the project in 1836. Lord proposed that the state match the railroad with a loan of $100,000. As a result, the requirement would be that the railroad be built in each direction from Dunkirk and Piermont. The officials, who preferred Lord's investment over King, who did not and attempted to censure a liaison for Lord, removed King from his post and made Lord President. Back in control, Lord immediately let contracts for the construction of the two railroad segments. He also asked that the railroad start letting out contracts to extend the railroad to Goshen in Orange County and soon after, Middletown, from Piermont. Construction of the railroad resumed in 1838, reinvigorating interest in a forlorn project. By Fall 1838, the construction of a railroad dock in Piermont began and track had been built to Sparkill had been installed. By the Summer of 1839, the contracts for construction to Goshen and Middletown were approved. As Lord and subscribers continued to help fund the railroad, more positivity resulted in further construction. By the end of 1840, the entire line had been funded save for the section between Deposit and

Binghamton Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...

, where serious challenges awaited. However, New York City was upset that the railroad being built for its benefit, continued to have no influence in the direct benefits. Locals made things tough for Lord, accusing him and his colleagues of defrauding investors and having corrupt agreements with Rockland and Orange County investors. Lord, knowing the issues with such accusations, sent an official protest to Albany in December 1840, resulting in an investigation, where the New York State Assembly's Committee on Railroads noted that no corruption or illegal acts had occurred. Lord, feeling he had succeeded in his mission, resigned as President on May 28, 1841. Before his resignation became official, Lord asked the Board of Trustees to reimburse the original stockholders for their massive financial losses in the 1835 fire. With construction mostly complete to Goshen, a celebratory first ride was held on June 30, 1841. James Bowen, who replaced Lord as President, Henry Pierson, the Vice President, other executives and Board of Trustees members, came from the Reade Street pier on the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

on a ferryboat to Piermont, where the train ride would begin. The original locomotive for the railroad, ''Rockland'', took them and some reporters through the area at . Despite the grand ceremony and gala, the railroad announced that regular passenger and freight service would begin on September 23, 1841. The village of New Antrim, from New York City, received a station on the new railroad, and as part of it, the municipality and station gained the name of Suffern, named after the first settler in the area, John Suffern of Antrim,

. The new name was made as a gift to the family as Elizabeth Suffern had been a financier of the railroad and Judge Edward Suffern, her son, helped provide the right-of-way for the railroad on family property. The railroad built the station in Suffern on Orange Avenue near Wayne Avenue. This station was a single

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 ...

station at the base of the nearby Nordkop Mountain, with a wooden depot.

Paterson and Ramapo Railroad and new stations

The New York and Erie Railroad slowly opened extensions as time passed. Service came to Middletown on July 1, 1843; to Otisville on November 1, 1846; to

Port Jervis Port Jervis is a city located at the confluence of the Neversink and Delaware rivers in western Orange County, New York, United States, north of the Delaware Water Gap. Its population was 8,775 at the 2020 census. The communities of Deerpark, ...

on December 1, 1847; Binghamton at the end of 1848; and Dunkirk on May 14, 1851.

Station layout

The station has two tracks, each with a low-level

. Suffern is the only station used by New Jersey Transit in New York (aside from New York Penn Station) that does not have Metro North-styled signage trackside, instead employing NJT's black and white signs.

Bibliography

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References

External links

Suffern Railroad Station (Existing Railroad Stations in New York State)

Chestnut Street entrance from Google Maps Street View

Station from Google Maps Street View
Suffern REA Station

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suffern (Njt Station) NJ Transit Rail Operations stations Metro-North Railroad stations in New York (state) Railway stations in the United States opened in 1841 Railway stations in Rockland County, New York Former Erie Railroad stations 1841 establishments in New York (state)