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Old Erie Main Line Carlton Hill Station Pictures

Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New Jersey

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Re: Old Erie Main Line Carlton Hill Station Pictures

 #1012628  by JHZR2
 
I found some images of the bridge on the E-L mailing list. Great stuff!



http://lists.railfan.net/erielackphoto. ... 021963.jpg


http://lists.railfan.net/erielackphoto. ... 021963.jpg


http://lists.railfan.net/erielackphoto. ... 021963.jpg


http://lists.railfan.net/erielackphoto. ... 021963.jpg


Here is the Erie mainline going through the center of Passaic. My Great Grandmother told of railroad tracks going through the center of Passaic, but all I ever knew was a parking area down the middle (decorated with boxes on their pointy end as I recall when young, they may have been removed).


http://lists.railfan.net/erielackphoto. ... 021963.jpg

All these photos above in this post are posted by Christopher Vitz, and I believe they were done by Henry Vitz.


http://lists.railfan.net/erielackphoto. ... bridge.jpg
From Paul Tupaczewski


Another Passaic image, as most of the buildings are still there:


http://lists.railfan.net/erielackphoto. ... n1920s.jpg

The bridge coming down:

http://lists.railfan.net/erielackphoto. ... l_1963.jpg

Apparently there were some pretty sharp turns after the bridge to get into Passaic, this looks like one of them:


http://lists.railfan.net/erielackphoto. ... 1950s1.jpg

Here is an image showing a sharp curve coming off:

http://lists.railfan.net/erielackphoto. ... ge1963.jpg

All of those were from "Dom".

Good stuff over on the railfan E-L list.

Re: Old Erie Main Line Carlton Hill Station Pictures

 #1012629  by JHZR2
 
Hawaiitiki wrote:
JHZR2 wrote:
northjerseybuff wrote:when was the last train to use these rails?

There are inaccuracies about this. Of course the last mainline trains were when the bridge came down. Freight service lasted much longer than passenger of course too.

But most places say that freight ended in the early 1990s. I know firsthand from watching trains on it, that freight was on it as late as 1996-1997.

I believe that first mile of this spur(where its parallel to the Bergen County Line) was used as a Conrail siding into the late 90's. Also, I believe the last train to travel a decent length down this track was a indeed a late 90's Conrail work train associated with the rebuilding of the Montross Ave/Maple St bridge. My grandfather worked as contractor on that project and there was apparently a lot of heat between Conrail, the DOT, and the construction company due to escalating costs directly associated with the spur still being technically an "active" railway even though a revenue train hadn't hit the cross-bucks at Jackson Ave in 5 years. Also within the past 5-6 years, there was a proposal mentioned here on RR.net and elsewhere about a newly formed shortline(Bergen Northern maybe?) servicing a "to-be-built" garbage transfer station at the end of the spur.
I know, firsthand, with my own eyes, that trains came along far enough to be close to the river, as they werew seen going back and forth next to the RHS football practice field at Memorial Field. I dont recall the kind of cars (though I seem to recall tank cars)... But they were indeed on the far end of the line, meaning they crossed Jackson Ave in the 96-97 timeframe.

Re: Old Erie Main Line Carlton Hill Station Pictures

 #1012631  by JHZR2
 
Another interesting thing, if you look here:

http://lists.railfan.net/erielackphoto. ... 021963.jpg

You can see that the bridge had two sets of rails.

However, walking the rails, at the end, I saw this:

Image

Which was that there was a switch that made the two tracks come into one at the end.

Not sure why they did this and when. Have to go back and look closer, but Im pretty sure this is absolutely the case. Only one track going into the dirt pile at the end, with this connection made there. As you can see, the remaining telegraph lines are right next to that left-side rail there in the picture.

Wonder why this is?

Re: Old Erie Main Line Carlton Hill Station Pictures

 #1012640  by airman00
 
I was in passaic about 2 years ago and happened to notice some old rails still in place near some old abandoned buildings, some of the area in question was being demolished to make way for new construction? Anyway, one area or building in question had 4 tracks going into it. (I could be wrong, but I swear I saw 4 sets of tracks) So it appears Passaic was like a hotbed of rail activity, kinda like a railcity usa. :)

Re: Old Erie Main Line Carlton Hill Station Pictures

 #1012644  by JHZR2
 
airman00 wrote:I was in passaic about 2 years ago and happened to notice some old rails still in place near some old abandoned buildings, some of the area in question was being demolished to make way for new construction? Anyway, one area or building in question had 4 tracks going into it. (I could be wrong, but I swear I saw 4 sets of tracks) So it appears Passaic was like a hotbed of rail activity, kinda like a railcity usa. :)

North NJ was hot with rail activity since all the mainlines came through to access NYC. Pretty neat.

And as mentioned, my Great grandmother talked of the rails going down the center of Passaic, which is now parking.

With the EL mainline and the D,L&W not far away trying to hit Patterson from Hoboken, Passaic was a crossroads.

Plus there was a ton of industry around too back then.

Re: Old Erie Main Line Carlton Hill Station Pictures

 #1012649  by Jtgshu
 
I posted a response in the other thread about why the tracks MIGHT have come together to one track and then ended.

Re: Old Erie Main Line Carlton Hill Station Pictures

 #1013321  by ExCon90
 
JHZR2, those photos are a great find. The next-to-the-last, showing the Passaic station (and S. S. Kresge, another fallen flag), is looking timetable west, towards Paterson; the curve to the right in the background leads to Harrison St., Clifton, Lake View, and Paterson. The last photo, showing the bridge, is the site of Passaic Park station; after that came Prospect St., then Passaic. (Imagine what the Erie Limited did to downtown Passaic during its station stop.)

Re: Old Erie Main Line Carlton Hill Station Pictures

 #1023131  by Bethlehem Jct.
 
NY&B is likely correct about the origin of the rail. You photographed an even older rail that says "L S Co BUFFALO 1904." That would be Lackawanna Steel Company's Buffalo mill. The company was bought by Bethlehem Steel in 1922. Bethlehem marked where the rails were rolled. I've seen rails marked "BETHLEHEM" and "STEELTON" before. Just before "LACKAWANNA" on the 1940 rail are marking that identify Beth Steel, though I can't make them out clearly in your photograph.

Re: Old Erie Main Line Carlton Hill Station Pictures

 #1077339  by Rutherforidan
 
Great photos of the bridge! My mother who has lived her whole life in Rutherford often has mentioned this bridge but I couldn't picture it in my mind. In the aerial photo the "inlet" to the left of the bridge is still there, though not as long. The open space is parkland known Memorial Field.
To the right in East Rutherford would be Kelways Industrial Park.

Re: Old Erie Main Line Carlton Hill Station Pictures

 #1142843  by rex1942
 
In the 1950s, I attended Xavier High School in Manhattan but lived in Ho-Ho-Kus so I took the Erie twice a day starting in 1955. I used to love the ride and had most of the track memorized (I can still trace where the old Main Line went from Rutherford to Paterson even though it now just a memory.) I used to take the 3:27 from Jersey City that would slowly make its way over the Main Line behind an old Alco RS unit. A short way west of Rutherford, it would stop at a station that appeared to support a rather small, sleepy town called Carlton Hill. Hardly anyone got off there as I recall. Then slowly across the Passaic river bridge carefully curving into the Passaic Park station just on the other side of the river. Then of course it would wind its way up to merge onto Main St in Passaic itself. [In the mornings, I would take an express down the Bergen County Line and miss the Passaic experience.]

I really enjoyed your photos. Brought back a lot of pleasant afternoon memories!

On the same subject, did you ever read Joyce Kilmer's poem called "The Twelve-Forty-Five"? In verse, it documents Kilmer's ride from Jersey City, up the Main Line to his home station in Suffern. All the stations are listed. You can find it here: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-twelve-forty-five/

John F King
Arlington Heights, IL

Re: Old Erie Main Line Carlton Hill Station Pictures

 #1201456  by JimBoylan
 
NY&LB wrote:Regarding the rail, that was Lackawanna steel company, not DL&W. I don'y know of any RR that rolled it's own rail or had their name on the rail.
Many railroads, including the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western, had their own designs of rail, which would be marked with the kind, like DL&W and the maker, like Lackawanna. Merry confusion.

Re: Old Erie Main Line Carlton Hill Station Pictures

 #1209274  by Port Jervis
 
JHZR2 wrote:
northjerseybuff wrote:when was the last train to use these rails?
When did the bridge come down? IIRC some limited passenger service survived after the Erie Main line was re-configured to run via the Newark branch/Boonton line several years earlier (1966 to be specific).


There are inaccuracies about this. Of course the last mainline trains were when the bridge came down. Freight service lasted much longer than passenger of course too.

But most places say that freight ended in the early 1990s. I know firsthand from watching trains on it, that freight was on it as late as 1996-1997.
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