DL&W Paterson & Little Falls Station Locations

Nearly 45 years after it's demise, can someone provide information as to the location of the former DL&W Paterson and Little Falls stations (street address or near the intersection of X & Y)? Thanks!!

Hope this helps, DL & W Paterson station was located on a short street called Lackawanna Plaza about 2 blocks west of Main Street in Paterson, it was similar to Morristown station in appearence. It was squeezed between Main St and the bluffs of Garrett Mountain. The Little Falls station was actually in Totowa,Nj on Lackawanna Ave about 1000 feet west of what is now the Bethwood Resturant. It sat back facing west towards Union Blvd. and the tracks. The foundation was still there in the early 80's until I 80 and Union Blvd were all reconfigured for the current set up. (It was located on what is now the Totowa Spur) . The spur has changed also, in 2007 the lead going across Rt 46 to the Water works was all removed. It now ends almost where the station was located. Why it was called Little Falls is lost to history I guess.

Thanks for the information. Mapquest shows Lackawanna Plaza on their Paterson map so on my next trip back to NJ, I'll have to check it out. Last year I tried to follow the old alignment east through Totowa but could only travel only a short way beyond Union Blvd. Does I-80 follow the old alignment especially where it crossed the Passaic River between Totowa & West Paterson. Any further information is appreciated!!!

I 80 follows the old ROW from Union Blvd east exactly across the Passaic River thru West Paterson around Garrett Mtn. to Rt. 19 exit off rt 80. The bridge across the Passaic River is built on the original pilings on the Mc Bride ave side in West Paterson. The curve around the mountain between West Paterson and Paterson was where the silent film epic "The Great Train Robbery" was shot in 1903.

ladder2 wrote: The curve around the mountain between West Paterson and Paterson was where the silent film epic "The Great Train Robbery" was shot in 1903.

In part. A lot was shot in Wharton, too, as related to me in my youth by a white haired, unshaven DL&W conductor named "Happy" O'hay. He claimed to be a witness to the filming. There were other who confirmed his story at the time. Remember, it was an Edison film and Edison had a very good relationship witht he DL&W with this project, his concrete and cement projects, zinc mines, manufacturing plant in Orange, and later, the electrifcation of the M&E grand opening with Tom himself at the controls for the first half mile or so of the first train out of Hoboken. These stories have all been discussed elsewhere in these forums.

transit man wrote:Thanks for the information. Mapquest shows Lackawanna Plaza on their Paterson map so on my next trip back to NJ, I'll have to check it out. Last year I tried to follow the old alignment east through Totowa but could only travel only a short way beyond Union Blvd. Does I-80 follow the old alignment especially where it crossed the Passaic River between Totowa & West Paterson. Any further information is appreciated!!!

Here are some links to early 1960's photos of both stations:

Paterson: http://www.railfan.net/lists/listthumb. ... k-03-26-02

Totowa-Little Falls: http://www.railfan.net/lists/listthumb. ... k-03-13-02

The Lackawana Paterson station was basically a grader, more ornate Boonton station.

Last year my question regarding the location of the former DL&W stations at Paterson and Totowa-Little Falls was answered by the readers of this post. Now I have an additional question that hopefully can be answered. Apparently the DL&W had a station in West Paterson and if so can anyone provide the location?

FWIW, the December 1944 Official Guide lists West Paterson in the station index as being on the DL&W, "On the line indicated, but not shown in time-tables." Apparently there was some passenger service, because the Guide also used a reference mark for freight service only, and it does not appear next to West Paterson. The next Guide I have is May 1955, and West Paterson was gone from the index. So they did have a station, and it was called West Paterson, but I don't have any detailed maps from that far back.

Here is an EXCELLENT site for looking up the locations of old places:

http://www.historicaerials.com

It's like Google maps but it has aerial images from many different years in the past, and some neat tools to compare them side-by-side. Out of curiosity I looked up the station in question and found it, and could see where it was in relation to the existing landscape.

If you meant the Paterson station, that was located where Route 19 is now, just south of 80.

Idiot Railfan:

I agree, your suggestion was very helpful in identifying former right-of-ways and transit elevated structures in New Jersey, New York City and Chicago. Unfortunately I'm having difficulty finding the site of the former West Paterson station. Can you provide some additional information such as which map (year) was used and either street information or long/lat data. Thanks!!

I don't think there was a West Paterson station, unless it existed a very long time ago. As I recall from old timetables, the trains went from Little Falls/Totowa to Paterson, the station under Garrett Mountain where the present junction of Routes I-80 and 19.

As I posted above, it was in the 1944 Official Guide but was gone by 1955, so that should bracket the date of closure. The fact that it wasn't shown in timetables was typical of DL&W Boonton Line schedules in the Guide; for years they only showed more important stops, evidently to save space. If anybody has public tts from prior to 1955 that should help to clear it up.

The 1939 and 1948 DL&W suburban TTs show nothing between Paterson and Little Falls. The 1919 shows Mill St 0.4 mile west of Paterson.

I have a Hagstrom Map from 1951 for Essex County it shows a station on the Boonton Line at where New Street crosses the right of way just west of Garrett Mountain. New Street connects with Rifle Camp Road.