Old Lines in Clifton (from a newbie)

There's this line that goes fairly near my house. It goes from somewhere in Paterson, and pretty much cuts Clifton in half, then goes through Nutley, and up over a trestle over the park there. Is it still in use? Every now and then I (think) I hear a horn in the middle of the night, or maybe I'm just crazy. My friend thinks it's the Newark Branch...but the Newark Branch of what? I took a few pictures of some crossings of it today.



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Newark Industrial. Runs now in sections, from Paterson to somewhere in northern Newark, and then picks up again at the Passaic River and connects somewhere in Harrison. There are night runs now and again of freights. Search this forum for more information. There was a commuter line too that ended service somewhere between the late 50's and early 60's -- I can't remember. I believe the E-L ran it. There was a proposal by Belleville, or that was at least popular in Belleville, that suggested the NCS be extended from the Branch Brook Park station along the Orange Branch, to meet up with the Newark Industrial, and then run along and make some of the existing stops.

Woulda been a great idea. Dunno about ridership, but woulda been a nice complement to the 13/74.

ryanov wrote:Newark Industrial. Runs now in sections, from Paterson to somewhere in northern Newark, and then picks up again at the Passaic River and connects somewhere in Harrison. There are night runs now and again of freights. Search this forum for more information. There was a commuter line too that ended service somewhere between the late 50's and early 60's -- I can't remember. I believe the E-L ran it. There was a proposal by Belleville, or that was at least popular in Belleville, that suggested the NCS be extended from the Branch Brook Park station along the Orange Branch, to meet up with the Newark Industrial, and then run along and make some of the existing stops.

Woulda been a great idea. Dunno about ridership, but woulda been a nice complement to the 13/74.

Yes. Yes. and Yes, again.

Back in the 1950s, that area of Belleville and Nutley was a hotbed of industrial activity, with many factories and other shippers. It was an Erie branch, later E-L

Dear someone named Mike,

Glad to know I'm not the only rail enthusiast livng in Clifton. You're right down the road from me. Actually, there a a number of fans in town. There's also a nice hobby dealer located right off Colfax Ave. near the branch.

That is indeed the old Erie Newark Branch. Only two customers remain on the active part, a plastics firm on Brighton Rd. and a chemical company just before NX bridge in Newark. If the Clifton Board of Ed decides to build the new school on Brighton Rd. that will force the plastic company to relocate. A local out of Suffern serves the line as needed about once a week or less depending on traffic. Due to the density of passenger sevcie now on NJT they usually go down late at night as you have observed. NS also tries to avoid passing by Clifton High School during the times school is either starting or letting out for the day.

Would a light rail line do well on those tracks, lets say without feeding into the current NCS at Branch Brook Park. In addition, on route 3 westbound, I noticed that one of the plants that the NWK branch serves was demolished. I live very close to the Kingsland Ave grade crossing, in Upper Montclair. If light rail were to ever use the line. Kingsland Ave is a good area for a station. There is a small parking lot lext to the tracks there. However, it would have to be larger then what it is now. My impression is that people would walk to the stations. I remember there is an old station building at Franklin Ave. Another good location for a station, as that is the start of Nutley's business district. There used to be a good hobby shop there and I think it's still there, not too far from the line.

If it was possible to extend this line to Newark Broad St.Station it might.
The problem with this line is it's not configured close to the Main Sts.
of Passaic and Clifton and both those towns already have commuter rail stations,but it might draw considerable patronage from Nutley and Belleville.

njt/mnrrbuff wrote:Would a light rail line do well on those tracks, lets say without feeding into the current NCS at Branch Brook Park. In addition, on route 3 westbound, I noticed that one of the plants that the NWK branch serves was demolished. I live very close to the Kingsland Ave grade crossing, in Upper Montclair. If light rail were to ever use the line. Kingsland Ave is a good area for a station. There is a small parking lot lext to the tracks there. However, it would have to be larger then what it is now. My impression is that people would walk to the stations. I remember there is an old station building at Franklin Ave. Another good location for a station, as that is the start of Nutley's business district. There used to be a good hobby shop there and I think it's still there, not too far from the line.

What is the problem with connecting at the NCS though?

I didn't say not connect to the NCS. I meant what would the line be like if they couldn't connect it to it. Connecting to the existing NCS is important becasue that services downtown NWK.

I was impressed with the light rail trams in Italy. Several were multi-segment, 200 passenger vehicles, alternating between private rights of way and city streets. Others were gorgeous, wood inside, leather straps, clanging bell vehicles.

For very densely packed routes, like the #13 Broad, or #25 Springfield, replacement trams tying into the NCS (either route) could offer huge capacity improvements.

These are validated proof of purchase, and on 25-30 rides, I prob saw three different fare-checker (2-3 checkers plus one machine gun toting carabinieri) stops. The subways in Rome and Milan use the same process

This was the Erie's Newark Branch (the Paterson, Newark and New York Railroad), forming a loop off the Erie main line (now partly torn up through Clifton) through Newark, splitting at Paterson and rejoining at Bergen Junction.

There's no direct connection anywhere to Boonton line from Newark Branch right?If there's one in N.Newark I never saw it.So that would preclude running to BBP.I think Broad St would be feasible,unfortunately
I don't see the state investing in that anytime soon.There would also
be S.Paterson to deal with,as you would need a third track to get to
station there.I do think there'd very good patronage between Paterson
and Newark.Although the bus has more access to areas for people
who'd be likely to travel between the towns along this route.

MickD wrote:There's no direct connection anywhere to Boonton line from Newark Branch right?If there's one in N.Newark I never saw it.So that would preclude running to BBP.

There's no connection, however, one crosses the other. Probably a pretty inexpensive fix, compared to the cost of the rest of the line. You realize those lines would not support light rail in their current config, so building a ramp on top of that is really no big deal. Think of the River Line terminus in Trenton's connection to the Bordentown secondary is it? Also, the NCS connection after BBP is already a similar connection.

ryanov wrote:

MickD wrote:There's no direct connection anywhere to Boonton line from Newark Branch right?If there's one in N.Newark I never saw it.So that would preclude running to BBP.

There's no connection, however, one crosses the other. Probably a pretty inexpensive fix, compared to the cost of the rest of the line. You realize those lines would not support light rail in their current config, so building a ramp on top of that is really no big deal. Think of the River Line terminus in Trenton's connection to the Bordentown secondary is it? Also, the NCS connection after BBP is already a similar connection.

The former Boonton Line/NYGL in the Verona Avenue, Newark area passes over the former Newark branch at an elevation of about 30 -35 feet. For light rail purposes, it's similar to the rise on the HBLRT going up onto the bridge entering Hoboken station, or the rise at the Baldwin Avenue bridge.

With enough money, it's not a problem for light rail. Would be a problem for heavy rail, though.

Lest anyone get a mistaken impression, NJ-ARP is still poking and prodding on this matter, seeking enough political traction to resurrect the idea of light rail service linking Nutley (and Paterson, anyone?) with Newark, connecting to/with the Newark City Subway.

Would ridership result? Absolutely -- of that, NJ-ARP has no doubt. None.

Douglas John Bowen wrote:Lest anyone get a mistaken impression, NJ-ARP is still poking and prodding on this matter, seeking enough political traction to resurrect the idea of light rail service linking Nutley (and Paterson, anyone?) with Newark, connecting to/with the Newark City Subway.

Would ridership result? Absolutely -- of that, NJ-ARP has no doubt. None.

Does NJ-ARP have any thoughts on suitable alignments from Newark to Nutley at this point?