Hibernia Mine Railroad
Overview
Morris County, New Jersey
Morris County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey, about west of New York City. According to the United States 2010 Census, the population was 492,276. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Morristown....
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
that operated between Hibernia
Hibernia, New Jersey
Hibernia is an unincorporated area within Rockaway Township in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. The area is served as United States Postal Service ZIP code 07842....
and Rockaway
Rockaway, New Jersey
Rockaway is a borough in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 6,438.Rockaway was formed as a borough on June 19, 1894, from portions of Rockaway Township, based on the results of a referendum held the previous...
from 1863 to 1946.
The railroad was incorporated in 1863 by various owners of the Hibernia iron mines
Hibernia mines
The Hibernia mines are a series of iron mines in northern New Jersey, worked from pre-Revolutionary times until 1916. An exploratory shaft was drilled in the 1950s but was not worked, and the shafts and adit were partly or totally sealed in 1972 and 1989....
. It was authorized to transport ore from the mines to the Morris Canal
Morris Canal
The Morris Canal was an anthracite-carrying canal that incorporated a series of water-driven inclined planes in its course across northern New Jersey in the United States. It was in use for about a century — from the late 1820s to the 1920s....
, with the possibility of extension south to the Morris and Essex Railroad
Morris and Essex Railroad
The Morris and Essex Railroad was a railroad across northern New Jersey, later part of the main line of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad.-History:...
. That extension was built in 1868, and the charter was modified to allow the use of steam power along the length of the line, which previously had been limited to animal power between the mines and the canal.
In 1881 the completion of the Dover and Rockaway Railroad
Dover and Rockaway Railroad
The Dover and Rockaway Railroad was a section of railroad track completed in 1881 connecting Dover, New Jersey and Rockaway. It formed an important link in the developing American railroad system, connecting major trunks to the New York harbor for freight and provided passenger service to central...
established a connection between the Hibernia Mine RR and the Central Railroad of New Jersey
Central Railroad of New Jersey
The Central Railroad of New Jersey , commonly known as the Jersey Central Lines or CNJ, was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s, lasting until 1976 when it was absorbed into Conrail with the other bankrupt railroads of the Northeastern United States...
(CNJ) at Port Oram (modern day Wharton
Wharton, New Jersey
Wharton is a Borough in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2000 United States Census, the borough population was 6,298.What is now Wharton was originally incorporated as the borough of Port Oram by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on June 26, 1895, from portions of Randolph...
).
