Historical NJ RR maps

Here's a link to an interesting site:

http://mapmaker.rutgers.edu/HISTORICALM ... roads.html

Great site!!

Quite interesting to see what was planned/built in 1873, 1876, 1887 compared to what actually occurred.

For example the pre and post 'frog wars' of the Mercer & Somerset, the "extension of the NY&GL on up from Greenwood Lake (what was the plan there?), the "Jersey West" line from Basking Ridge to Easton & Amboy (LVRR)? instead of Gladstone/Peapack, the Lodi Branch RR off the NJ&NY (Pascack Valley) instead of the NYS&W route to Lodi (one of the earliest abandonments in the state)

Great link - thanks!


The 1899 Pennsy map has several branches that would be useful today:

1) Sea Girt to Jamesburg - Monmouth Jt - Rocky Hill. That's a very busy highway corridor in the rush hours

2) Bay Head Jct - Seaside - Whitings - Mt Holly - Camden Wharf. Right thru the Pine Barrens

3) The Manahawkin to Long Beach Island line. One of the very few Pennsy branches which were not connected with the Standard Railway of the World.

T H E S E A R E N E A T ! T H A N K S !

You can now see the largest RR map in NJ. located in the Tenafly RR Station, which is now a Cafe

The scale of this 13' X 4.5' map of the Northern Ralroad is about 5" to mile.

Map is from 1859.

I see from some of the maps that I apparently had rich ancestors who owned a mine on the Ogden RR ("Hurd Mines"). They must have taken it all with them.

The NY&GL was originally part of the New York & Ontario Midland scheme, and would have connected it to New York via Middletown and a tunnel under Sugarloaf Mtn. The tunnel was unaffordable; then the NY&OM went bankrupt and the two lines went their separate ways, the NY&OM becoming the NYO&W.

I think some of the Jersey West Line RR was actually graded, BTW.

More on the NJ West Line:
http://mapmaker.rutgers.edu/ESSEX_COUNTY/Wyoming.jpg
http://mapmaker.rutgers.edu/HUDSON_COUN ... _c1889.jpg ("NJ WEST LINE GRANT" where the LV terminal was later built)

That whole site ( http://mapmaker.rutgers.edu/MAPS.html ) has a lot of nice old maps.

SPUI wrote:More on the NJ West Line:
http://mapmaker.rutgers.edu/ESSEX_COUNTY/Wyoming.jpg

I grew up near here, but I'm not familiar with that junction bewteen the Newark & NY RR and the Morris and Essex line. Was that ever actually built or when was it removed?

More on the NJ West Line:

http://www.millburn.lib.nj.us/WebData/H ... /Vol15.pdf

Study a turn-of-the-century map of Millburn Township and you'll likely
notice a corridor through the heart of Old Short Hills identified as the
"old railway line". More dramatic than lines on maps, perhaps, are the
visible remnants of the railroad at various locations in die township. For
example, a short distance north of Glen Avenue, on Brookside Drive,
stands a substantial stone bridge abutment, all that remains of a bridge
built to carry trains over the road and adjacent branch of the Rah way
River. Elsewhere, such as alongside Old Short Hills Road and Hobart
Gap Road, one can observe deep cuts through which track was to have run.

In other places, portions of graded embankments may be seen.
life-long Short Hills resident and amateur rail historian Fred Heide notes
that the railroad was named the New Jersey West line. Intended to
compete with the Morris and Essex Railroad, predecessor of the
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad and original operator of the
present-day railway through Millburn Township, the New Jersey West
line was never completed. Mr. Heide notes that a segment running west
from Summit to Bernardsville was built, however, and subsequently
became the Gladstone branch of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western
(and New Jersey Transit today). Had track ever been laid on the planned
segment extending from Summit to Millburn and further east, Short Hills
might have become a quite different place. As it is, the phantom railroad
serves as a reminder of the vital role rail transportation played in the
commerce of a fast-growing region and nation and the fierce competition
to build new lines that existed in earlier times.

CRB wrote:

SPUI wrote:More on the NJ West Line:
http://mapmaker.rutgers.edu/ESSEX_COUNTY/Wyoming.jpg

I grew up near here, but I'm not familiar with that junction bewteen the Newark & NY RR and the Morris and Essex line. Was that ever actually built or when was it removed?

Nope, the N&NY always ended in Newark.

An excellent source of info on old railroads is Moodys Guide to Steam Railroads. It lists all the subsidiaries, gives detailed histories, very specific mileposts for interchanges, etc. Usually issued annually

Some of the old versions run 1500 pages. Most railroads get a family tree periodically, with all the hook-ups (pun intended). Their principal purpose was to list and rank the bond offerings issued by various lines. What assets backed up this bond, where the revenue was coming from, how much money they made hauling coal, lumber, hides, etc.

They show up on eBay occasionally for $100 - $200.

Poors Guide to the Railways is another similar guide, but somewhat less detailed. The Moodys and Poors Guides to (Electric & Gas) Utilities provides similar details on the various interurban electric lines.

The 1887 map is also interesting because it shows the state just before the mayhem of municipal fragmentation began. For example, there are 14 or so municipalities in Bergen County on that map, compared with today's 70. Many of today's boroughs were unincorporated villages noted on the map only by the name of their railroad stop.

Many of today's boroughs were unincorporated villages noted on the map only by the name of their railroad stop.

And I suspect more than one of them became independent municipalities just to grab a piece of railroad money. For example, Raritan Borough was part of Bridgewater Twp. When the CNJ mistakenly paid Rariton $40,000 for taxes, instead of Bridgewater, the town seceded rather than pay it over to Bridgewater. Of course, looking back, that might have been a slight error on Raritan's part.

http://mapmaker.rutgers.edu/MAPS.html

This is an interesting site. They seem to have added maps since the last time I checked.

http://mapmaker.rutgers.edu/HISTORICALM ... 1918_N.jpg

The map from 1913 and 1918 actually shows the infamous and mysterious interurban line that ran from New Brunswick to Trenton and paralleled the NEC mainline. It’s hard to find maps that include this line. (Highlighted in yellow)



Today that ROW is mostly noted by power lines.

-Tom