The term lake is really a misnomer. It was more like a large pond. It would have been located based on the information that I have between Erie Avenue in Rutherford and Herrick Street in East Rutherford, both of which are to the east of Jackson Avenue. As mentioned previously there was a "pond" in that location before the Carlton Hill Condominiums were built when I was growing up. Also the postcard images in the video appear to be facing west to me, as the "smokestack" was on the eastern side of Jackson Avenue.
I should also mention that after sending the same video to a cousin of mine, who grew up in Wallington and was born during the 1940s, she fondly recalled going with her parents for picnics to the "lake" and going there with her friends.
The area now occupied by Memorial Field was always land, it was originally part of Waling Van Winkle's Farm. His farm house was in the general vicinity.
One other thing that I has come to mind while thinking about this discussion; I believe Delselco (spelling?) Foods (a maker of prepackaged and deli salads) also used this line for freight shipping. I should have remembered this as if the wind blew in a certain way you could smell cooking potatoes throughout northwestern Rutherford during the 1970s and 1980s. It is this company that would have used this line into the 90s I'm guessing. I found an article online about two weeks ago stating that Delselco merged with another company and I therefore assume it longer exists, or moved its operations to the other companies location in the Midwest, if I recall correctly. I can't find that article now, I should have posted it when I first found it. I don't know where exactly in the area Delslco was located, perhaps what is today Kelways Industrial Park, which is really just offices with warehouse space.
A big update-I believe the demolition of the Frommer Building has begun. When driving to work this morning I first noticed some felled trees along the rail line. I then saw a chain-linked fence around the building with at least two dump trucks within the fence. I also heard some banging.
A continuation from after I got home from work; today is the day that the weekly local newspaper is delivered and the main story is the demotion of the Frommer building. Here is the article which also contains a link to a photo gallery of the interior:
http://www.northjersey.com/news/1695800 ... space.html