Sussex Railroad
Encyclopedia
The Sussex Railroad was a short-line railroad in northwestern New Jersey
. It replaced its predecessor, the Sussex Mine Railroad, in 1853 and operated under the Sussex Railroad Company until 1945 when it was fully merged into the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W) system. The Sussex Railroad was important in the economic development of Sussex County
as it supplied a route for early local industries, such as dairy farms and ore mines, to export their products. It was the last independently operated New Jersey railroad to be incorporated into the DL&W system. The last train travelled on the Sussex Railroad tracks on October 2, 1966. The tracks were removed soon after and the right-of-way was transformed into a rail trail
known as the Sussex Branch trail.
The Sussex Mine Railroad, chartered on March 9, 1848, was the predecessor of the Sussex Railroad that was to be used for the sole purpose of hauling iron ore from the recently re-opened Andover Mine. The narrow gauge railway was drawn by mule
s from the Andover Mine down to the Morris Canal
at Waterloo Village
and was then taken on to the Thomas Iron Furnaces in Allentown
, Pennsylvania
. The Act by the New Jersey Legislature
that incorporated the railroad also allowed for the provision of extending the rail into Newton
, the county seat
.
The initial eleven miles (18 km) of the Sussex Mine Railroad from the mine in Andover
, which was named after the mine, was started in May 1849 and completed in August 1851. During construction of the railroad, the legislature approved a supplement to the charter on March 18, 1851 that allowed the railroad to extend the line to the Morris and Essex Railroad
, which was extending its line to Hackettstown
. The Sussex Mine Railroad struck a deal with the M&E that would work in their favor if they were to have the connection ready for operation by the time the M&E's extension reached Waterloo. In preparation for this extension and what eventually became a rebuilding of the entire existing line, the New Jersey Legislature approved another supplement to the charter on January 26, 1853 that allowed the company to change its name to the Sussex Railroad, reflecting its new purpose beyond just serving the mines and authorized the company to extend the track to any point in Sussex County on the Delaware River
.
The newly named Sussex Railroad Company drummed up support from the local community by issuing stock and bonds, which raised the necessary funds to lay the new track. Ground was broken on the 4 in 10 in (1.47 m) rail gauge
line from Newton to Waterloo on May 5, 1853. The company wanted to proceed as quickly as possible to meet the deadline for the agreement that, if met, would mean a substantial source of revenue. Because of this fast pace, steeper grades and tighter curves were adopted than might have been preferred otherwise. Work progressed quickly, even though the M&E was trying to slow down progress any way they could, including compensating employees of the Sussex Railroad to delay the necessary cuts
south of Newton. To speed work along, the Sussex Railroad Company used employees of the Andover Mine temporarily on the railroad right-of-way. All of this effort paid off as they were successful in meeting the deadline. The new railroad was completed and the first train entered Newton on November 27, 1854 with traffic between Newton and Waterloo being opened on December 11, 1854. The M&E connected to the Sussex Railroad in January 1855, thus the financial agreement made earlier was upheld.
At this point, the only stations on the Sussex Railroad were at Newton, Andover, and Waterloo, but they served many industries and moved products such as produce, dairy, meat, and of course iron ore from the mines. Increased interest in the franklinite
and iron and zinc ores from Franklin
further northeast of Newton prompted the New Jersey Legislature to adopt another supplement on February 4, 1863 that authorized the railroad to continue its line up to the Franklin Furnace
and to other points north if "deemed most for the public good."
Expansion came swiftly with ground breaking on a ten mile (16 km) extension line north of Newton through Lafayette
and Augusta
to Branchville
in 1866, around the same time that the track gauge was adjusted to 4 ft. 8½ in. to align with the M&E tracks. This branch would allow for an outlet for Sussex County's northern agricultural products and staged the potential future expansion of the line through Culver's Gap to the Delaware River. The first train to run on the Branchville extension went as far as Lafayette on January 1, 1869 as work continued further up the line; the entire Branchville line was completed on July 3, 1869.
At the same time as work was being done on the Branchville line, pressure was increasing to bring rail to the ever-increasing mining industries of Franklin, including the New Jersey Zinc Company
. Work finally began on this nine mile (14 km) extension in 1868, after a very heated debate and political power plays that could have routed traffic around Newton entirely. But residents of Newton rejected any plan to leave their town off the main line of traffic and insisted that the extension to Franklin be built north of Newton. The Franklin line opened to regular service in mid-September 1869. Additionally, an unconnected four mile (6 km) spur known as the South Vernon
extension, which ran from Hamburg
to McAfee
, was completed in 1871 and allowed access to an iron ore mine at the base of the Pochuck mountain range
via trackage rights on the New Jersey Midland Railway. This represented the height of track building on the Sussex Railroad.
In the 1870s, depots at Franklin, McAfee, Lafayette were completed and a new depot at Newton was constructed. Some other platforms used for local agricultural industries were also completed at Sparta Junction and Monroe. The 1870s also saw another supplement to the charter allowing the railroad to extend rail to Stanhope
for an easier connection with the M&E tracks, though the track wasn't laid until 1901. Notably, in 1879, steel tracks replaced iron for the first time on the Sussex Railroad.
This was to be the height of the Sussex Railroad. Only little more than a decade after all the extensions had been completed, the South Vernon extension was sold off to the Lehigh and Hudson River Railway
on July 6, 1881 and the McAfee station was closed in May 1881. The Lehigh & Hudson was also trying to buy a controlling interest in the Sussex Railroad Company itself, but the DL&W
, which had already leased the M&E line that connected to the Sussex Railroad, stepped in and bought the controlling interest on July 27, 1881. The Sussex Railroad was the last independently operated New Jersey railroad to be acquired by DL&W.
The Sussex Railroad, operating under the DL&W as the Sussex Branch, began its slow, early decline in the late 19th century, owing to the discovery of better ore elsewhere in the country. Many industries and mines began to close in Sussex County, including the blast furnace in Franklin that shut down in 1900. Still, there was some expansion: A new station was added at Cranberry Lake, which proved to be a nice country get away and weekend vacation spot for residents, and the Stanhope connection was completed in 1901, thus prompting the abandonment of the line to Waterloo.
As industry began to decrease in the area, the rise of the automobile and trucking took away valuable passenger and freight business from the Sussex Branch. As the area suffered during the Great Depression
, so did the railroad. Permission was granted by the Public Utilities Commission
to discontinue service to Franklin on February 23, 1932, with total abandonment of the Franklin branch being approved by the Interstate Commerce Commission
on May 26, 1934. The remaining line was that of the 21 mile (34 km) Branchville to Stanhope line. By 1945, the Sussex Railroad ceased to exist as the company was finally fully merged into the DL&W.
The 1960s brought the end of the Sussex Branch with the last milk train seen on the tracks in November 1964; the last passenger train from Branchville on July 10, 1966; the last passenger train from Newton on July 13, 1966; and the last passenger train on the entire branch pulling away from Andover on October 2, 1966. By 1969, all track formerly owned by the Sussex Railroad was completely out of service, with the exception of the former South Vernon extension, which is still used today by the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway
on its way up to Syracuse
and Utica, New York
.
The right-of-way for the Sussex Branch has mostly been preserved, however. The earliest purchase of a former right-of-way occurred in 1938 when Sussex County bought the former Franklin branch after service was discontinued. After all service ceased on the line, the state preserved the remainder of the line in the form of the Sussex Branch Trail, a division of the Kittatinny Valley State Park
system. The trail stretches all the way from Stanhope up to Branchville with only minor interruptions from privately-owned sections.
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...
. It replaced its predecessor, the Sussex Mine Railroad, in 1853 and operated under the Sussex Railroad Company until 1945 when it was fully merged into the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W) system. The Sussex Railroad was important in the economic development of Sussex County
Sussex County, New Jersey
The County of Sussex is the northernmost county in the State of New Jersey. It is part of the New York City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 Federal decennial census, 149,265 persons resided in Sussex County...
as it supplied a route for early local industries, such as dairy farms and ore mines, to export their products. It was the last independently operated New Jersey railroad to be incorporated into the DL&W system. The last train travelled on the Sussex Railroad tracks on October 2, 1966. The tracks were removed soon after and the right-of-way was transformed into a rail trail
Rail trail
A rail trail is the conversion of a disused railway easement into a multi-use path, typically for walking, cycling and sometimes horse riding. The characteristics of former tracks—flat, long, frequently running through historical areas—are appealing for various development. The term sometimes also...
known as the Sussex Branch trail.
Sussex Mine Railroad
Mule
A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Horses and donkeys are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes. Of the two F1 hybrids between these two species, a mule is easier to obtain than a hinny...
s from the Andover Mine down 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....
at Waterloo Village
Waterloo Village
Waterloo Village is a restored 19th Century canal town in Byram Township, Sussex County in northwestern New Jersey and was approximately the half-way point in the roughly 102-mile trip along the Morris Canal, which ran from Jersey City to Phillipsburg, New Jersey Waterloo Village is a restored...
and was then taken on to the Thomas Iron Furnaces in Allentown
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown is a city located in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is Pennsylvania's third most populous city, after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the 215th largest city in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 118,032 and is currently...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. The Act by the New Jersey Legislature
New Jersey Legislature
The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the Senate...
that incorporated the railroad also allowed for the provision of extending the rail into Newton
Newton, New Jersey
Newton is a town in Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the town population was 8,244. It is the county seat of Sussex County....
, the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
.
The initial eleven miles (18 km) of the Sussex Mine Railroad from the mine in Andover
Andover Township, New Jersey
Andover Township is a Township in Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 6,319....
, which was named after the mine, was started in May 1849 and completed in August 1851. During construction of the railroad, the legislature approved a supplement to the charter on March 18, 1851 that allowed the railroad to extend the line 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:...
, which was extending its line to Hackettstown
Hackettstown, New Jersey
Hackettstown is a town in Warren County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town population was 9,724. The town is located in the eastern most region of the Lehigh Valley....
. The Sussex Mine Railroad struck a deal with the M&E that would work in their favor if they were to have the connection ready for operation by the time the M&E's extension reached Waterloo. In preparation for this extension and what eventually became a rebuilding of the entire existing line, the New Jersey Legislature approved another supplement to the charter on January 26, 1853 that allowed the company to change its name to the Sussex Railroad, reflecting its new purpose beyond just serving the mines and authorized the company to extend the track to any point in Sussex County on the Delaware River
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...
.
Expansion (1853-1881)
Rail gauge
Track gauge or rail gauge is the distance between the inner sides of the heads of the two load bearing rails that make up a single railway line. Sixty percent of the world's railways use a standard gauge of . Wider gauges are called broad gauge; smaller gauges, narrow gauge. Break-of-gauge refers...
line from Newton to Waterloo on May 5, 1853. The company wanted to proceed as quickly as possible to meet the deadline for the agreement that, if met, would mean a substantial source of revenue. Because of this fast pace, steeper grades and tighter curves were adopted than might have been preferred otherwise. Work progressed quickly, even though the M&E was trying to slow down progress any way they could, including compensating employees of the Sussex Railroad to delay the necessary cuts
Cut and fill
In earthmoving, cut and fill is the process of constructing a railway, road or canal whereby the amount of material from cuts roughly matches the amount of fill needed to make nearby embankments, so minimizing the amount of construction labor...
south of Newton. To speed work along, the Sussex Railroad Company used employees of the Andover Mine temporarily on the railroad right-of-way. All of this effort paid off as they were successful in meeting the deadline. The new railroad was completed and the first train entered Newton on November 27, 1854 with traffic between Newton and Waterloo being opened on December 11, 1854. The M&E connected to the Sussex Railroad in January 1855, thus the financial agreement made earlier was upheld.
At this point, the only stations on the Sussex Railroad were at Newton, Andover, and Waterloo, but they served many industries and moved products such as produce, dairy, meat, and of course iron ore from the mines. Increased interest in the franklinite
Franklinite
Franklinite is a mineral with formula ZnFe2O4. It is associated with the Franklin Mine and Sterling Hill Mines in New Jersey.-See also:* Spinel* Classification of minerals* List of minerals-References:*...
and iron and zinc ores from Franklin
Franklin, New Jersey
Franklin is a Borough in Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 5,045.Franklin, known as the "Fluorescent Mineral Capital of the World," is located over a rich ore body containing more than 150 minerals, many of them fluorescent and...
further northeast of Newton prompted the New Jersey Legislature to adopt another supplement on February 4, 1863 that authorized the railroad to continue its line up to the Franklin Furnace
Franklin Furnace
Franklin Furnace, also known as the Franklin Mine, is a famous mineral location for rare zinc, iron, manganese minerals in old mines in Franklin, New Jersey, USA. This locale produced more species of minerals and more different fluorescent minerals than any other location...
and to other points north if "deemed most for the public good."
Expansion came swiftly with ground breaking on a ten mile (16 km) extension line north of Newton through Lafayette
Lafayette Township, New Jersey
Lafayette Township is a Township located in the Skylands Region of Sussex County, New Jersey. As of the 2000 United States Census, the township population was 2,300....
and Augusta
Augusta, New Jersey
Augusta is an unincorporated area located within Frankford Township, Sussex County, New Jersey.Augusta is the home of the New Jersey State Fair and the Sussex County Farm and Horse Show....
to Branchville
Branchville, New Jersey
Branchville is a borough in Sussex County, New Jersey, in the United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 841. The borough is located in the northernmost region of Sussex County....
in 1866, around the same time that the track gauge was adjusted to 4 ft. 8½ in. to align with the M&E tracks. This branch would allow for an outlet for Sussex County's northern agricultural products and staged the potential future expansion of the line through Culver's Gap to the Delaware River. The first train to run on the Branchville extension went as far as Lafayette on January 1, 1869 as work continued further up the line; the entire Branchville line was completed on July 3, 1869.
At the same time as work was being done on the Branchville line, pressure was increasing to bring rail to the ever-increasing mining industries of Franklin, including the New Jersey Zinc Company
New Jersey Zinc Company
The Horsehead Corporation , formerly the New Jersey Zinc Company, is an American producer of zinc and related materials.The New Jersey Zinc Company was for many years the largest producer of zinc and zinc products in the United States. The company thrived in the period from 1897 to 1966, at which...
. Work finally began on this nine mile (14 km) extension in 1868, after a very heated debate and political power plays that could have routed traffic around Newton entirely. But residents of Newton rejected any plan to leave their town off the main line of traffic and insisted that the extension to Franklin be built north of Newton. The Franklin line opened to regular service in mid-September 1869. Additionally, an unconnected four mile (6 km) spur known as the South Vernon
Vernon Township, New Jersey
-Communities and neighborhoods:Communities and neighborhoods in Vernon Township include the following sections:*Vernon Village "Town Center"*Vernon Valley a.k.a...
extension, which ran from Hamburg
Hamburg, New Jersey
Hamburg is a Borough in Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2010 Census, the borough population was 3,277.In 1753, when Sussex County was formed, Hamburg was part of New Town; on February 25, 1762, it became part of the newly established Hardyston Township...
to McAfee
McAfee, New Jersey
McAfee is an unincorporated area within Vernon Township in Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. The area is served as United States Postal Service ZIP Code 07428....
, was completed in 1871 and allowed access to an iron ore mine at the base of the Pochuck mountain range
Pochuck Mountain
Pochuck Mountain is a ridge in the New York-New Jersey Highlands region of the Appalachian Mountains. Pochuck Mountain's summit and most of its peaks lie within Vernon Township, Sussex County, New Jersey, although the south-western portion of the ridge lies within Hardyston Township, and the...
via trackage rights on the New Jersey Midland Railway. This represented the height of track building on the Sussex Railroad.
In the 1870s, depots at Franklin, McAfee, Lafayette were completed and a new depot at Newton was constructed. Some other platforms used for local agricultural industries were also completed at Sparta Junction and Monroe. The 1870s also saw another supplement to the charter allowing the railroad to extend rail to Stanhope
Stanhope, New Jersey
-Transportation:Route 183 is the main access road that serves the borough. U.S. Route 206 also passes through in the western section and is partially a limited access road which connects to I-80 in neighboring Mount Olive.-Demographics:...
for an easier connection with the M&E tracks, though the track wasn't laid until 1901. Notably, in 1879, steel tracks replaced iron for the first time on the Sussex Railroad.
This was to be the height of the Sussex Railroad. Only little more than a decade after all the extensions had been completed, the South Vernon extension was sold off to the Lehigh and Hudson River Railway
Lehigh and Hudson River Railway
The Lehigh and Hudson River Railway was the smallest of the six railroads that were merged into Conrail in 1976. It was a bridge line running northeast-southwest across northwestern New Jersey, connecting the line to the Poughkeepsie Bridge at Maybrook, New York with Easton, Pennsylvania, where it...
on July 6, 1881 and the McAfee station was closed in May 1881. The Lehigh & Hudson was also trying to buy a controlling interest in the Sussex Railroad Company itself, but the DL&W
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad
The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company was a railroad connecting Pennsylvania's Lackawanna Valley, rich in anthracite coal, to Hoboken, New Jersey, , Buffalo and Oswego, New York...
, which had already leased the M&E line that connected to the Sussex Railroad, stepped in and bought the controlling interest on July 27, 1881. The Sussex Railroad was the last independently operated New Jersey railroad to be acquired by DL&W.
Under DL&W control (1881-1945)
As industry began to decrease in the area, the rise of the automobile and trucking took away valuable passenger and freight business from the Sussex Branch. As the area suffered during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, so did the railroad. Permission was granted by the Public Utilities Commission
Public Utilities Commission
A Utilities commission, Utility Regulatory Commission , Public Utilities Commission or Public Service Commission is a governing body that regulates the rates and services of a public utility...
to discontinue service to Franklin on February 23, 1932, with total abandonment of the Franklin branch being approved by the Interstate Commerce Commission
Interstate Commerce Commission
The Interstate Commerce Commission was a regulatory body in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads to ensure fair rates, to eliminate rate discrimination, and to regulate other aspects of common carriers, including...
on May 26, 1934. The remaining line was that of the 21 mile (34 km) Branchville to Stanhope line. By 1945, the Sussex Railroad ceased to exist as the company was finally fully merged into the DL&W.
End of service (1945-1969)
After the railroad was merged into the DL&W, the downward trend continued with the 1950s seeing more industries served by the railroad go out of business. By 1959, all mail service via the Sussex Branch was ceased as well.The 1960s brought the end of the Sussex Branch with the last milk train seen on the tracks in November 1964; the last passenger train from Branchville on July 10, 1966; the last passenger train from Newton on July 13, 1966; and the last passenger train on the entire branch pulling away from Andover on October 2, 1966. By 1969, all track formerly owned by the Sussex Railroad was completely out of service, with the exception of the former South Vernon extension, which is still used today by the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway
New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway
The New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway , also known as the Susie-Q, or simply the Susquehanna, is a Class II American freight railway operating over 500 miles of track in the northeastern states of New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It was formed in 1881 from the merger of several...
on its way up to Syracuse
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
and Utica, New York
Utica, New York
Utica is a city in and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 62,235 at the 2010 census, an increase of 2.6% from the 2000 census....
.
Destruction, removal of tracks, and rail trail (1970-present)
After abandonment, buildings of the former Sussex Railroad deteriorated and track was removed. The Newton passenger depot was demolished in November 1970. The final bit of track between Andover and Stanhope/Netcong was removed in July 1977.The right-of-way for the Sussex Branch has mostly been preserved, however. The earliest purchase of a former right-of-way occurred in 1938 when Sussex County bought the former Franklin branch after service was discontinued. After all service ceased on the line, the state preserved the remainder of the line in the form of the Sussex Branch Trail, a division of the Kittatinny Valley State Park
Kittatinny Valley State Park
Kittatinny Valley State Park is located near Andover, New Jersey. Glacial lakes, limestone outcroppings, former railroads, and a small airport are just some of the features of the park. Lake Aeroflex and Gardner's Pond form part of the headwaters of the Pequest River and are excellent for fishing...
system. The trail stretches all the way from Stanhope up to Branchville with only minor interruptions from privately-owned sections.
External links
- Memorial website to the Sussex Branch by Dave Rutan.
- History of the Sussex Railroad by Kevin W. Wright.
- Kittatinny Valley State Park site with information on the Sussex Branch.