Map of all NJ railroads through history

[SPUI]

The full state map isn't meant to be completely accurate with locations; it just offers a general scheatic view of the railroads.

[PM]

Here's some info from the ICC Valuation Reports:

New York & Fort Lee Railroad: All traces had disappeared beneath the yard and terminals of the West Shore's Weehauken Terminal (1910s).

Docks Connecting: In Jersey City. From Jct Long Dock Ry (East of Bergen Tunnel) to NJ Junction RR near 17th & Monmouth St. 0.961 miles.

Erie Terminals: Two segments to this line -- The bridge over the Hackensack, plus a line from Edgewater to Undercliff leased to and operated by NYS&W.

Middlesex RY: 0.34 mile line at Perth Amboy

Lehigh Valley Co. of NJ: A 1903 consolidation of most of LV's New Jersey properties.

Lehigh Valley Terminal (I couldn't find any Lehigh Valley Harbor Terminal): The LV Main line between South Plainfield and Newark, plus some branches. Merged to form LV of NJ in 1903.

Kill von Kill RY - 0.46 miles in Jersey City. Merged into National Docks RY.

Bay Creek RY: Did not build any railroad line.

Great map - hope this helps.

PM

[SPUI]

Here's some info from the ICC Valuation Reports:

New York & Fort Lee Railroad: All traces had disappeared beneath the yard and terminals of the West Shore's Weehauken Terminal (1910s).

Is there a length given for either of these?

Docks Connecting: In Jersey City. From Jct Long Dock Ry (East of Bergen Tunnel) to NJ Junction RR near 17th & Monmouth St. 0.961 miles.

Hmmm, so I guess I was correct at first - the NYC (NJ Junction) and Erie had separate parallel lines from Jersey City to Weehawken. Or was this the original Erie route, gone by 1900, through Hoboken about halfway between the NJ Junction and the river?

Erie Terminals: Two segments to this line -- The bridge over the Hackensack, plus a line from Edgewater to Undercliff leased to and operated by NYS&W.

How long was the line from Edgewater to Undercliff?

Middlesex RY: 0.34 mile line at Perth Amboy

Any details on the location? Was this part of the Greensand Branch, or the branch further east, close to the NY&LB? Or maybe the High St Branch?

Kill von Kill RY - 0.46 miles in Jersey City. Merged into National Docks RY.

Any details on the location?

Also, is there anything showing the exact location of the Raritan Terminal & Transportation Co or the East Jersey RR & Terminal Co?

Thanks a lot for the information.

[SPUI]

Does anyone know if the grade elimination on the DL&W at Bergen Jct was done before the Newark & Hudson (Erie Hudson Branch) bridge over the Hackensack was removed and traffic was rerouted onto the NY&GL? In other words, was there ever a bridge on the DL&W Boonton Branch over the Erie Newark Branch?

[PM]

The New York & Fort Lee was 2.5 miles. 0.24 of this was leased to the New Jersey Junction, while the rest was aparently obliviated. I can't find much other info on this line -- it was built about 1870, though, so perhaps an old map of Jersey City from the 1870s would show it.

The Erie Terminals line from Edgewater to Undercliff was 1.576 miles. It was acquired from the Edgewater & Fort Lee RR, which was controlled by the NYS&W.

East Jersey RR & Terminal in the 20s was a single track line in Bayonne, with 0.722 miles of main track and 1.442 miles of yard track. Most of it was on land owned by the Tidewater Oil Company, except for 0.258 mile constructed for it be the CRNJ. One part of it ended on the SW side of E 22nd St in Bayonne. In 1925, the LVRR built a connection with it, opening it up to more competition.

[SPUI]

OK, I think I've figured out what the 'main line' of the shore route in Hudson County was originally built as:
Constable's Hook to Constable Jct - Bergen Neck Ry
Constable Jct to Black Tom - Jersey City Belt Line RR
---I don't know which railroad built the short section from the wye to Black Tom, north to the northern connection to Black Tom
Black Tom to PRR - National Docks Ry
under the PRR - National Docks & New Jersey Junction Connecting Ry
PRR to Weehawken Tunnel - New Jersey Junction RR
Weehawken Tunnel to ~65th St - New York & Fort Lee RR
~65th St to county line - New Jersey Shore Line RR
county line to north end - Edgewater & Fort Lee RR

A few things I'm not sure about:
Did the Erie have trackage rights on the NYC-owned section all the way north from the Bergen Tunnel connector, or did it have a separate track south of the oil docks at Weehawken?
Did the Erie Terminal Co (not the Erie Terminals RR, which came from a merged of the Erie Terminal Co and the Edgewater & Fort Lee RR) build any of the north-south line at Edgewater/Undercliff? Or did it only handle the terminal?

This leaves the branches. Here are the ones I've found:

East Jersey RR (still don't know exactly where this was)

Kill von Kull Ry (same)

branch to Greenville (the part leading towards Newark was built by the Jersey City, Newark & Western Ry, AKA Lehigh Valley main line, but there's a rather long connection to the National Docks/Jersey City Belt Line)

the track leading off the LVRR main line, paralleling the National Docks to the east, and ending towards Black Tom, as well as a much shorter parallel version of this coming off the National Docks/Jersey City Belt Line

Edgewater Ry (along the Morris Canal ROW from the National Docks east)

Harsimus Branch (leads to the PRR Harsimus Branch)

the old and possibly new Erie Weehawken Branch AKA Docks Connecting Ry

Hoboken Manufacturers RR

NYLE&W Docks & Improvement Co - Erie oil docks at Weehawken

[Jtgshu]

Im not sure if you are interested in any narrow gauge operations, but there was a narrow gauge operation in Union Beach, off the CNJ Seashore Branch.

Natco Brick Company ran a narrow gauge operation in the very early 1900's between their clay pits and the manufacturing buildings and I believe also out to the Lorriard Shipping Pier, located pretty much at the NATCO plant. I don't know if there was a connection with the CNJ (internal dual gauge track) or if it was isolated. There is a few pics in Gallo's "Henry Hudson Trail, the CNJ Seashore Branch"

Again, terrific map - you should trademark it and at least present it to various historical societies in the state, and maybe they can give you even more info about locations and lines.

Great Job!!!

[SPUI]

Hopefully I'll figure out all the short industrial lines, including narrow guage ones; those will probably be numbered in the M system. However, these seem to be even harder to get information about, and old maps show a bunch, especially around rivers, like the Raritan River east of New Brunswick.
As for the trademarking (I think it would be copyrighting in this case), I believe that my works should be free for use/copying by anyone. I believe I say so in the legend.

[SPUI]

I've been looking through Poor's (MIT has all but the first few) and here's what I found so far about the Erie Weehawken Branch and surrounding area (more to come once I borrow other volumes):
The New York & Fort Lee RR was projected in 1870 and about 2 miles were operational in 1871. In 1881, it was the Weehawken, New York & Fort Lee, and it was 5.105 miles. Maybe this was Poor's way of showing the Weehawken Branch with the NY&FL. The NY&FL was 0.227 miles long in 1885 and 1886, and disappears in 1894.
Between 1881 and 1885 the Weehawken Branch was built. Apparently it was leased in 1868 (maybe it was chartered as the Docks Connecting RR). It was 3.312 miles long in 1885 and 1886, and 3.45 miles in 1894.
The NJ Junction RR is in 1894, but not 1886. From 1894 part of it was used by the Erie under contract. It was 4.35 miles in 1894 and 4.51 miles in 1897.
In 1897 (but not 1894) the entry under Erie for trackage rights on the NJJ appears as 3.02 miles. At the same time, the Weehawken Branch goes down to 0.43 miles.
The mileages of the Weehawken Branch, NJJ, and Erie trackage rights on NJJ (0.43/4.51/3.02) stayed constant in 1897, 1898, 1901, and 1902.
In 1912 the Weehawken Branch was 0.367 miles. The Erie trackage rights on the NJJ was 3.020, and the NJJ was 4.44. Also in 1912 the New Jersey Shore Line RR (0.85 miles, NYC owned, Erie operated, Weehawken to Shadyside) appears, as does the Erie Terminals RR (1.27 miles, Erie controlled, at Edgewater, successor to Edgewater & Fort Lee RR (Weehawken to Fort Lee)). This stays the same in 1914, except that the Weehawken Branch is instead the Docks Connecting RR. In 1917 the Weehawken Branch is simply an unnamed branch. The New Jersey Shore Line has been absorbed into the NJJ, with the added text being 0.84 miles from West New York to Shady Side.

So, to summarize:
The New York & Fort Lee came first, but it's unclear exactly where it was open. Next was the Weehawken Branch (the original alignment through Hoboken). This completed a line from the tunnel to the Delaware & Hudson Canal docks at Weehawken (later New York, Lake Erie & Western Docks & Improvement Co).
Soon came the New Jersey Junction, NYC operated. The Erie abandoned its alignment through Hoboken and got trackage rights on the NJJ. After the Erie took over the NYS&W, they wanted to connect the Erie Terminals to Weehawken, and the NYC built the line for them. There's a long thread about this in the NYC forum at railfan.net.

Does anyone know the location of the former Hoboken passenger station on the NJJ?

By the way, what part of New Jersey law contains the railroad charters? Is there a way to get this online?

[RS115]

Prior to it being the home to Monsanto that branch served the American Can Company and was known on the railroad into the early 1980's when I was around there as the 'Can branch' if it was called anything at all. Generally the crew was just 'going to Monsanto'.

[SPUI]

It appears that branch was the original New York & New Orange RR, so I'm just going to label it (and the mainline south of it) as that, and the mainline north of it as the RVRR. The RVRR in fact originally only went north of the spur, and later absorbed when was by then the New Orange Four Junction RR.

[SPUI]

These four railroads made up the New Jersey Midland (Unionville (state line) to New Durham - it was the Hudson Connecting RR south of New Durham):
New Jersey, Hudson & Delaware RR (chartered 1832)
Hoboken, Ridgefield & Paterson RR (1866)
Sussex Valley RR (1867)
New Jersey Western Ry (1867)
Where was each?

[SPUI]

I've updated the map again (http://web.mit.edu/spui/www/temp/nj.pdf). It now has interurban trolley lines; please let me know if I'm missing any.

[choess]

Hmm, there should probably be a spur line from the WJ&S about halfway between Paulsboro and Bridgeport (at Gibbstown) running NNW to the river at Thompson's Point. Don't know the name, but it was built to serve the DuPont dynamite plant at Repaupo.