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  • Old Erie Main Line Carlton Hill Station Pictures

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

Moderator: David

 #1011991  by JHZR2
 
Went and checked out Carlton Hill today. Never had gone there when I lived nearby, didnt realize anything was there.

The only inaccuracy that Ive seen in discussing the Carlton Hill rail line is that I know from firsthand experience that trains ran to within a very short distance from the end (ran next to the RHS football practice fields) until at least 1997.

Anyway, perhaps the most interesting thing that I noticed is that the rails along there are labeled Lackawanna 1940. Why would that be? Was it re-railed after the merger with reclaimed rail from someplace else? Did Erie regularly buy rails from D,L&W?

Anyway, enjoy.

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 #1012172  by NY&LB
 
First, GREAT pictures, I had been up there 5 or so years ago. 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...but someone is likely to prove me wrong!
 #1012217  by JHZR2
 
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.
 #1012295  by airman00
 
Great pictures as well, thank you. Where exactly is this? And to what railroad or rail line do these tracks connect to? It sure is nice to see so much rail still intact, hopefully this row will be preserved. Any chance of future restoration or use by these tracks? It looks to me by the photo's is aside from an inspection all it would take is some brush cleanup to get these rails operable again. :)
 #1012302  by Jtgshu
 
hahahah last time I was there, the half of the Police Department came......hahahah oh well
 #1012332  by ladder2
 
these pictures were of the old Erie mainline between Rutherford and end of track (Carlton Hill) at the Passaic River after the bridge spanning the Passaic River was removed in 1963.
 #1012375  by JHZR2
 
airman00 wrote:Great pictures as well, thank you. Where exactly is this? And to what railroad or rail line do these tracks connect to? It sure is nice to see so much rail still intact, hopefully this row will be preserved. Any chance of future restoration or use by these tracks? It looks to me by the photo's is aside from an inspection all it would take is some brush cleanup to get these rails operable again. :)
A lot of the wood ties are rotted such that there are holes in them. For recreational use and for looks, it is great if they remain.

There is no need for freight service there anymore as far as I can see. It was a deadheaded line since they changed the Erie mainline routing, and cant go anywhere due to infrastructure changes on the other side.
 #1012531  by ExCon90
 
ladder2 wrote:these pictures were of the old Erie mainline between Rutherford and end of track (Carlton Hill) at the Passaic River after the bridge spanning the Passaic River was removed in 1963.
I think I read somewhere that that Passaic River bridge was a steam-powered swing bridge. Is that correct, or am I thinking of somewhere else?
 #1012558  by JHZR2
 
Steve F45 wrote:are there any remnants of the bridge left along the banks?
About 50-100yd from the shore, the track gets buried under a pile of dirt and concrete that I assume were the first few concrete supports for the bridge. The land grades steeply to the river from there. No concrete supports left.
 #1012561  by JHZR2
 
ExCon90 wrote:
ladder2 wrote:these pictures were of the old Erie mainline between Rutherford and end of track (Carlton Hill) at the Passaic River after the bridge spanning the Passaic River was removed in 1963.
I think I read somewhere that that Passaic River bridge was a steam-powered swing bridge. Is that correct, or am I thinking of somewhere else?
It was a steam bridge. I saw a picture or two at railfan EL archives that I'll try to link to.

It was a rotating bridge, turns parallel to the river to let ships pass, then back across to allow ops.

Looking at the tracks as they exist, it looks like the bridge had only one track across. Will have to see if there is photo proof...
 #1012606  by Roadgeek Adam
 
BE Draw was an interesting structure. Most people need a minimum of a black seal from the state of New Jersey to be able to deal with boilers. However, men who worked on BE Draw had to have a Blue Seal, with knowledge of how to fix and operate them. Due to the lack of railroad workers with the seal, 12 hour shifts were common, with the same man replacing the other.

BE Draw was still standing in the open position in '64, however, the city of Passaic wanted to sell the bridge for free effectively. I have yet to determined when it was demolished. Yes, there are no concrete supports left of BE, considering the other would be under NJ 21. Passaic Park station is where Taras S. Park is, right-of-way pretty recognizeable.
 #1012615  by Hawaiitiki
 
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.