Old Boonton Branch

I was exploring the Morris Canal Feeder in Mountain View today and came across what I think might have been the old Boonton Branch connection. Here's the terraserver url:

http://www.terraserver.microsoft.com/im ... ew%7cnj%7c

Am I correct? Is this where the old Boonton Branch connected with the Erie before they pulled it up? It looks like the ROW is now used as part of the Wanaque aqueduct system based on the no trespassing signs all over the place. But down in the woods next to the ROW I saw concrete fence posts like the DLW used to used behind a strip mall in Mountain View right near the station.

What an interesting area!!!

two track main went east west...a straight line from the the underpasss west to the track today. The Greenwood Lake crossed at 90 degrees just west of the old Mt. View Station on a straight north south line from the south end of the current station to the roadbed north to Pompton Jct with the NYSW. There should be some not too old maps around some nearby library or historical society that should show this rather plainly.

Henry6, that's what I saw behind the strip mall. The ROW passed under Rt 23 (I think) - heading west arcoss the NYGL line connecting with the line that now serves the Mountain View Station.

It looks like you found the PVWC's underground pipe to Newark, which sits in the bed of the Feeder Canal south to the Basin, then runs underneath the Canal eastward along the original Boonton Line, and veers south at Parish Drive. It runs just south of the Totowa Industrial.

The Erie / DL&W intersection is (still) pretty obvious today. About 100 yards north of route 202 crossing. There used to be a one track north, two tracks east crossing at a right angle. There was a crosing shack (earlier, a tower) in the northwest quadrant. Part of the foundation is still there. The rights of way are apparent, although the track has been shifted on both lines.

The Feeder Canal was about 200 feet east of this point. There are a pair of granite blocks, about 20 feet apart, on the south side of the Totowa Industrial, which marked the gates controlling the access of the Feeder into the middle basin. There was another basin west of this (behind the car wash) and the Meads Basin (at the turn of Mountain View Blvd). The Basin is pretty obvious, right behind the stores.

Lackawanna484 - you da man! Airplanes, canals, railroads, and EPA regualtions... I'm impressed. I look forward to bumping into you out on some ROW in the future.

Chuck Gullage

CGRLCDR wrote:Lackawanna484 - you da man! Airplanes, canals, railroads, and EPA regualtions... I'm impressed. I look forward to bumping into you out on some ROW in the future.

Chuck Gullage

Likewise, and thank you.

I edited the earlier note to reflect that there were three canal basins in about a mile, working east from the Pompton River. The feeder fed into the middle basin of the canal.

I think someone here said that the single track under Rt 80 just east of Exit 54 was the old Boonton Branch also. Where does that track go and who uses it? It's rusty, but looks like it is still in service. What line does it connect to since the west end track has been pulled up where it used to tie in with the Erie?

CGRLCDR wrote:I think someone here said that the single track under Rt 80 just east of Exit 54 was the old Boonton Branch also. Where does that track go and who uses it? It's rusty, but looks like it is still in service. What line does it connect to since the west end track has been pulled up where it used to tie in with the Erie?

The DL&W Boonton Line continued east from Mountain View, and curved slightly south. The Wayne station was just east of Parish Drive overpass. You can see where the steps led down to the station from the overpass. There was a small yard in the PAL Field area.

The line continued east, crossing what's now Taft Road, and under both Riverview and Minisink Roads, as well as under I-80. The line was mostly two tracks, and there are several old sidings, etc in that space.

Just west of Union Boulevard, there's a small siding for 15-20 cars, which was part of the former eastbound main. Just east of Union Blvd is the former wye, which was the site of the Little Falls station, and the branch down to the PVWC plant. The branch crosses US 46 at grade.

The Boonton Line continues east, past Bomont Plastics, behind the Bethwood caterer. The current end of track is at Bomont's siding, but the alignment continues another few hundred feet into the eastbound lanes of I-80 at the cemetery.