Sussex Branch Traffic?

Hey guys,
Wondering if any of you can provide me with some details on operations for the Sussex Branch, around say 1962? I'm looking for details such as what trains would have operated over that branch between Andover and Port Morris, in that year.

I'd be looking for times for both passenger and (approx) freight movements. If someone could provide me with arrival / departure times for Port Morris and Andover, that would be WONDERFUL...but any information you could provide would be helpful.

Thanks in advance guys!

Mike DiMunno

You can check public timetables of the time which would probably show about two round trips per day Branchville to Netcong; or maybe only one because one RT only went as far as Newton. Real movements would probably add two or three deadhead moves to and from Port Morris. It was not too long after that passeger servcie was cut out. L&HR did have a round trip to and from Port Morris and the DL/EL had a roustabout to Branchville several times a week or as needed which became daily to retrieve milk for a while after passenger service ended and the line was abandoned all together. Employee tables of the time will tell you better and I know there are those here at hand who will have the particulars for you. Tri State Chapter's (NRHS) BLOCKLINE, I think it was, had a whole issue devoted to it. And Greenburg and Lowenthal did a job on it with their LACKAWANNA IN NORTHERN NEW JERSEY.

Thanks for the response - wondering if anyone has an employee timetable available from that timeframe, which they could scan? Even a public timetable for the branch would help at this point.

Mike DiMunno

I don't have a scanner but I can maybe check out a few tables tonite. The books will be most telling: check with your local library for availability of Lowenthal's book; or check with local rail museum, hobby shop, club, or other railfans. Fans and clubs might have access to the timetables, too.

Hey guys,
I managed to locate a public timetable from the time frame I'm looking for and located the passenger service for the line in 62...it looks like one train in each direction daily to me.

I'm still a little off on the freight service though. I imagine at this point, the only freight traffic over the line would have been a local freight and the through freights between Andover and Port Morris (L&HR)?

Anyone have further freight details? A time frame on the local freight operation would be great...

Mike DiMunno

I am sure that if you researched back issues of RAILPACE and The Blockline you'd find the accurate answers. Also Lowenthal's DL&W in North Jersey (or whatever the actual name) and Taber's 20th Century books will have the information you are looking for along with employee timetables of the time. Off the top of my head, the L&HR traffic sorta dried up after Penn Central and the fire on the Poughkipsiee Bridge and Maybrook dried up. The EL also syphoned off L&HR traffic running directly Binghamton to PJ rather than Scranton to Port Morris to Port Jervis. The branch itself, in the end, received "as needed" service out of Port Morris otherwise the Sussex Roustabout ran every other day. After the end of passenger service, it even was responsible for bringing what ever milk was left.

Mike,

You can find all your answers and more on the DLW Sussex Branch website;

http://dlw-sussexbranch.com/Papers/Time ... dules.html

You can also contact Dave Rutan through that site. He would probably be able to answer you.

Chris

I have an ETT from April 1958 (#113). It shows three passenger trains and one milk train on the branch (Mon-Fri) with only the milk train and and single passenger running out to Branchville and back. On Saturday and Sunday, the schedule shows four passenger round trips all the way out to Branchville and back

livesteamer wrote:I have an ETT from April 1958 (#113). It shows three passenger trains and one milk train on the branch (Mon-Fri) with only the milk train and and single passenger running out to Branchville and back. On Saturday and Sunday, the schedule shows four passenger round trips all the way out to Branchville and back

Thanks for that...does your ETT provide you with a scheduled time for the milk train?

Mike DiMunno

The milk train was listed as X107 (west) and X112 (east) on Monday through Friday. No milk trains scheduled for Saturday or Sunday.

Here's the schedule--X107 started out at Newton at 6:12PM, called at Augusta at 6:27PM and made Branchville at 6:45Pm. X107 appears to be a continuation of train 1037 (west) as 1037 terminated with its Newton stop at 6:12PM. X112 departed Branchville at 7:05PM, Augusta at 7:09PM, Lafayette at 7:24PM, Andover Jct at 7:42PM, Andover at 7:44PM, Cranberry Lake at 7:49PM, Netcong at 7:59PM and finally Sussex Branch Jct at 6:04; made Dover at 8:18PM and ran down the Morristown Line stopping at Morristown at 8:32PM, Summit at 8:43, South Orange at 8:51 and tieing up in Hoboken at 10:40PM

IIRC, on weekends, the local passenger trans picked up milk cars. I rode the line with my Lackawanna train dispatcher grandfather, L.T. O"Neill and on at least one occasion, we stopped for milk car pick up.

Note that the timetable..April 1958..is using Eastern Standard Time during Daylight Savings Time so you must add 1 hour for "public standard time". And yes, X107 was an extension of 1037 from Newton with the same crew and equipment. It was the railroad's way of showing it ran more trains and that they were non revenue moves and therefore had to be eliminated!

Henry--good catch on the time -- forgot all about daylight savings time

h

OK. So you guys got me to delve into the files.

DL Emp tt100, 9/30/51: Sussex Branch:wbnddaily:#x101 to Newton lv.#1022 ebn 6:31a; w#1009 arr B'vl 8:30a (the Paper Train) lv 9:15 as #1028; #1047 arr. B'vl 7:30P Lv as #1050 8:10p, and 1061 ar Newton 7:17p lv as x108 to Port Morris7:37P. Weekends X111 ar newton 5:45a return as #1108 6:26 Sat only; 1103 (Paper Train) ar B'vle 8:15a Sat ret 9:15a as #1112 #1105 Sun only ar Bvl 7:35A ret as 1112 9:15a; 1113 to B'v at 3:35 Sat & Sun at 3:35 back as 1120 at 4:05; Sunonly 1119 6:50 at Bvl lv as 1128 at 7:20; Sat onlt 1125 to Newton ar 8:07 to PM as X118 at 8:30p

Oct 1959: the paper train is gonewit X111 out of Dover for B'vle ar 5:40A returning at 5:50a as X102 to Newton (apparently get Bordon's milk at B'vl and Beckers at Straders) then as #1022 from Newton at 6:40am to Netcong the lv Netcong as 1024 at 7:17a. 1015 went west ar Bvl at 7:45P returning as 1042 (former 1050) at 7:55p. Sat only X103 got to Bvl at 3:25a returning as X104 at 3:35A. Sat 1059 ar Bvl 2:10P and Sun only 1061 ar 3:40P, return was 1066 Sat and 1068 Sun lv Bvl 4:10P

EL table 1 10/25/64: shows X113 ar Stradaers 5:20a lve as x112 at 5:55 ar Newton at 6:10 Mondays only or day after holiday for #1024 from Newton;. X111 to Newton at 5:20A then as 1024 from Newton at 6:40a all other weekdays; Sun and HOl only 1059 ar Bvl 1:47p dep as 1068 at 6:10P; 1061 ar Bvl 3:55P Sat only ret as 1066 at 4:10; 1015 to Straders ar 7:50 retun 1042 at 8:05p weekdays only; 1031 ar Net 8:17 turned to x110 at 8:19P; 1073 with no passengers west of Netcong Sat only to Stradrs at 9:05P return as X120 lv 9:40.

As you can see, there was quite an erosion service over the years based on 1) newspaper deliveries by truck, 2) mail going zip and off the railroads, 3) milk going by truck or dryingup all together, and 4)passengers going to route 80.

The railroad seemed to accomodate the milk...read Becker's milk...more than anything in the final years. By operating one train set and one crew making up to three consecutive (four or five if you count round trips) trains gave them a chance to show they operated so many trains at such a great loss.

It was a great line to ride. Passenger train took siding for L&HR freight to pass. Crossing the L&HR, NYS&W, and L&NE. A "wye". Semaphores. Short tunnel. Mixed train (milk). Though it ran until the 60s it was like a ride fifty years earlier.

Railroad Model Craftsman, October 1990 had an excellent article on the Sussex Branch.

-otto-