A History of the Sussex Railroad

by Kevin Wright

Newton straddled the shortest overland communication between Manhattan and the Great Lakes. A continuous line of stages commenced running over this route from Geneva to Jersey City in July 1825, covering 250 miles and some very hilly country in only three days. As early as 1836, Major Ephraim Beach surveyed a portion of this route for a railroad from Stanhope to Newton, fourteen miles in length, with grades of one hundred feet per mile. It was intended that this line be extended through Culver’s Gap to the Delaware River, connecting with other projected railroads tapping into the Pennsylvania coal fields. The plan never advanced beyond the original survey due to a lack of capital and competition from other rail projects, particularly the Erie Railroad. still, the Beach survey is fundamental to the railroad history of Sussex County. The Sussex Railroad pretty much followed the route surveyed in 1836, though it never reached beyond Branchville in its attempt to cross Culver's Gap into the upper Delaware Valley.

The Beach Survey
At the request of the Directors of the Morris & Essex Railroad Company and a committee of the inhabitants of Sussex County, Ephraim Beach spent May 11, 12, and 13, 1836, exploring alternate routes for an extension of the Morris & Essex Railroad to Carpenter’s Point in the upper Delaware valley. He summarized his findings in a letter to Samuel Price of Branchville, New Jersey, addressed from his residence in Catskill, New York, on May 20th, 1836. Therein he stated that he had examined the countryside preparatory to commencing an actual survey about the first of June 1836.

The proposed railway was to pass up the North Branch of the Paulinskill through the Gap of the Blue Mountain, called Culver’s Gap, approaching the Delaware River, a short distance above Milford, and along the same to Carpenter’s Point. He probably followed the turnpike, traveling northward from Culver’s Gap, but on his return southward, he explored “a more northerly route ... leaving the Delaware at Carpenter’s Point, ascending the slopes bounding the valleys of the Little and Big Flat Brooks, to Culver’s Gap...” Beach concluded that: “From Carpenter’s Point, ascending to the summit of the Blue Ridge in Culver’s Gap, there are no difficulties to be encountered, and I am confident that on that section no grade need be adopted exceeding forty feet per mile ascent, and if desirable may be reduced below that.” A “somewhat steeper grade must be adopted” between the summit of the Blue Ridge at Culver’s Gap down to Branchville. From Branchville, the railroad would descend through Lafayette to Newton.

Beach explored two routes between Newton and Morristown: via Sparta, the route would pass the summit of the Morris Canal on either side of Lake Hopatcong and thence to Dover; or via Andover, the route would cross Schooley’s Mountain at Stanhope to Dover. From Dover, the railroad would reach Morristown via Rockaway. He summarized the advantages of the proposed route in the following paragraph: Both the Blue Ridge and that of Schooley’s Mountain and their vicinity abound with timber of an excellent quality for the superstructure of the road, which can be procured at a reasonable or low rate. — The Country to be accommodated is rich in agricultural and mineral productions; it also abounds with water power and has already numerous establishments for the manufacture of Iron in all its various forms; there are also on the route several flouring mills and other manufacturing establishments of various descriptions: all of which, this road completed, will find upon it a cheap and expeditious transportation of their products to New York Market.”

On June 9, 1836, Enos Goble, a Deckertown storekeeper, reported the approach of the railroad survey from Newburg and called a meeting for June 15 at Deckertown to raise money for expenses. The meeting at Deckertown on the 18th chose William J. Wilson, chairman and Daniel Haines, secretary. It resolved to raise $600 in aid of the survey through Sussex. On June 20, 1836, railroad fever caused one correspondent to the Register to predict that Sparta would awaken from its lethargy and become a booming manufacturing village. In its issue of June 20, 1836, the Sussex Register noted “An Engineer has been selected by Mr. Beach to assist in taking the survey of the Sussex and Morris Rail-Road route, who is now on the route, with the necessary axe-men, &c. They commenced at the summit, in Culver’s Gap of the blue mountain ridge, a few days since and proceeded northerly — our last account left them within six miles of Carpenter’s Point; as far as they have progressed they find the route not only practicable but very easy for a Railroad. No ascent or descent being over 40 feet to the mile, and very little grading required — plenty of stones and timber convenient to the route and saw mills to prepare the timber for use. The survey of the northern section will probably occupy the whole of the present week — After which the company will again commence at the summit and proceed southerly.” On the 27th of June, the same newspaper reported that a locomotive in England had lately been propelled fifteen miles in fifteen minutes, or at the rate of sixty miles per hour! “Only think of that! And wait until we get our railroad through Sussex. Go to New York in an hour? Come, now that will be pretty rapid business.”

Mine owners Peter Cooper and Abram S. Hewitt built the Sussex Mine Railroad as a mule tramway in 1851 for small ore cars, called “Jimmies,” each with a capacity of six to eight tons. Three or four mules dragged each ore car to the White Hall Summit, whence two mules were sufficient to convey it downgrade to the canal bank at Waterloo. Two or three hundred tons were transported daily, a round trip taking about five hours. In 1851, Thomas Nestor, of Andover, drove an ore car to Waterloo containing a five-ton specimen from the Andover mine for shipment to the London Exposition, where it won the first premium in a world-wide competition.

Abram Hewitt’s brother, Thomas Hewitt, was superintendent of the mine and mule railroad, moving from New York City to Hewitt’s Pond in Andover. He was long remembered for his sense of humor, enjoying a good joke even at his own expense. On one occasion, a train of a dozen or more ore cars was coming by gravity from the White Hall Summit to the mine with Superintendent Hewitt and several brakemen aboard. A cow on the track was caught under the wheels, causing a tangled derailment and pinning Tommy Hewitt in the wreckage. Though seriously injured, the ground was fortunately soft and yielding, which preserved his life. The brakemen rushed to his rescue, finding him badly frightened and pale as a sheet. On their approach, Superintendent Hewitt cried out: “Never mind me, get the cow out, get the cow out!”

The Morris & Essex Railroad reached Dover in July 1848, making this village the focus of important lines of travel and commerce. Freight agents in Newton brought the country trade in butter, pork, poultry, and farm produce to the depot. By July 1851, the Morris & Essex was running one freight and four passenger trains daily between Dover and Newark. The Board of Directors decided to extend their line to Stanhope and Hackettstown, a distance of 18 miles, at an estimated cost of $400,000 (or a little over $22,200 per mile). On February 10, 1852, Jedediah B. Bassinger, Chief Engineer of the Morris & Essex, advertised for contractors to build their Hackettstown extension, stock to the amount of $300,000 having been subscribed for that purpose. Contracts were awarded in May 1852.

At this time, the proprietors of the Sussex Mine Railroad undertook a survey for an extension of their line from Andover to Newton and its conversion to steam locomotion. Hoping to accrue a large accession of business from the speedy construction of the Sussex Railroad, the Morris & Essex Directors offered very generous terms: the Sussex Railroad would receive a drawback of 33-1/3% on all traffic delivered at Waterloo for transport over its line, if it were ready for use on the day the Morris & Essex reached the point of intersection.

Abram S. Hewitt announced this highly favorable arrangement and outlined surveys of the various routes for the extension of rail service to Newton in August 1852. According to his statement, Adolphes Savery, the Chief Engineer of the Sussex Railroad Company, determined that the shortest and most practicable route would connect with the Morris & Essex Railroad near Morris Canal Plane No. 4 West at Waterloo, 10-3/4 miles from the terminus at Newton. It was found impossible to reduce the grade below seventy-five feet per mile in passing the summit of Sparta Mountain at Whitehall without incurring great expense. The excavation and embankment at that point would exceed 200,000 cubic yards. From Andover to Newton the grades would not exceed seventy-five feet per mile. About one half of the projected route ran in a straight line and a large proportion of the remainder involved curves exceeding 3,000 feet in radius. In only one place was it necessary to adopt a curve of less than 1,500 feet in radius. The rails were to be made of the best Trenton iron, weighing 50 lbs. per yard. The estimated cost to build and equip the road was $300,000. To raise this sum, the Company proposed to issue $150,000 of stock and $150,000 of mortgage bonds. To secure their railroad, the citizens of Sussex County were required to subscribe for $100,000 in First Mortgage Bonds, bearing 6% interest. These were convertable into stock at any time within five years and payable in stock at any time after five years. The Company also expected to secure the right of way from Andover to Newton free of charge.

On January 26, 1853, the Legislature allowed the Sussex Mine Railroad to change its name to the Sussex Railroad Company and authorized its extension to the Delaware River. The New Jersey Herald promoted the sale of railroad stock on February 5, 1853, by asking farmers to consider the well being of their horses: “Another matter should move every humane and Christian man to the proper consideration of a subject so merciful to horse-flesh, and particularly in a county like Sussex, famed the world over for the beauty and symmetry of its well bred animals. Farmers, look at your cumbersome old lumber arks and knee-sprung, galled and jaded old crabs, compared with the light and lithe market-wagon, and a handsome pair of roadsters, to come and go with, and which, standing in the stable, would often readily command $300, $500, or even $800 per pair, cash in hand, if only relieved from the drudgery, and then ask yourselves if you can’t afford to take a little stock? Blink this question if you can!”

Public meetings were held and 92 citizens subscribed $100,000. In April 1853, Messrs. Phelps & Company, of Massachusetts, took the contract for grading the route and building the superstructure of the Sussex Railroad. Completion of the whole work was expected by the following December. The editor of the New Jersey Herald argued for a six-foot guage to accommodate passage of rail cars from Western lines. Ground was broken on May 5, 1853, and the contractors, Messrs. Phelps & Co., immediately employed 700 men to excavate and grade the route between Newton and Waterloo. Two or three shanties were built for the accommodation of their employees. The heaviest work was undertaken in the vicinity of the Iron Hotel at the White Hall Summit, where a cut of 45 feet was required. A sink hole just beyond it required considerable fill. The slate cut two miles south of Newton also slowed the work. The old mule road being indispensible to the transport of ore for the Trenton Iron Company, an entirely new railroad bed had to be built for most of the way. In June 1853, the grading progressed rapidly, despite difficulty in employing help. Arrangements were made to increase the work force and, more particularly, the number of horses and carts needed to remove gravel and sand where the cuts were made. Workmen cut blue limestone from Halsted Townsend’s quarries below Newton for building bridges and culverts.

With their deadline in mind, Cooper & Hewitt pushed construction forward as rapidly as possible while agents of the Morris & Essex threw every obstacle in their path to prevent the agreement from taking effect. It was soon learned that contractors working in the deep cut near White Hall were being liberally compensated for delaying progress. Work at the Andover mine was temporarily suspended and nearly 400 miners were put to work on that section of the railroad. To make up for lost time, the cut was materially raised, making this portion of the road the steepest along the line, rising no less than 165 feet to the mile. With considerable effort, the road was completed in time and the agreement held in full force. The first locomotive entered Newton on November 27, 1854. The extension of the Morris & Essex Railroad to Hackettstown opened in January 1855.

A large assemblage of county dignitaries, including Judge Daniel Haines, Marshal Nelden, and the editors of the Sussex Register and New Jersey Herald, congregated at the Depot on December 11, 1854. The old cannon was dragged down from Prospect Hill and fired to commence the celebration. General Lyman Edwards proposed three cheers, but the crowd was too excited to respond very heartily and he “very good naturedly took the will for the deed.” Benjamin B. Edsall, of the Sussex Register, ascended a hand-car and delivered an impromptu address. With all the gusto of a genuine Know-Nothing, he pointed out “the very pleasing fact that the rails of the Sussex Railroad were natives of America...” He closed by offering congratulations to the officers, engineers and stockholders of the Sussex Railroad Company, particularly to its president and secretary, Thomas and Abram S. Hewitt, and to the citizens of Sussex County. With the whistle screaming, bells ringing and crowd shouting its applause, the iron steed departed the depot at half past twelve, moving eastward towards Drake’s Pond and the Slate Cut. The inhabitants of Andover were on hand to honor the occasion, crowding windows and stoops. The train stopped briefly to take on a few passengers and steamed on to Waterloo, arriving five minutes before the train arrived from Hackettstown on the Morris & Essex Railroad. Mr. Bartow, proprietor of the Waterloo Hotel, served dinner for the excited travelers. A large frame Depot was built at the foot of Spring Street in May 1855. Trains pulled into this immense barnlike structure far enough that the engine with its smokestack projected beyond the wide opening at the far end facing Spring Street, thus allowing smoke and cinders to escape into the open air without choking passengers and crew inside the station (The 1855 Depot is shown in the 1883 Panorama above. Note that the corner of the building was clipped in 1873 to allow the passage of Sparta Avenue. The round table is directly behind the Depot and the Engine House stands to the right. The Depot and round table are shown in the 1856 Hughes' Map of Newton to the right).

The Sussex Railroad commenced operations running two trains daily from Newton. The first two locomotives were named the Governor Haines and David Ryerson to honor two prominent sons of Old Sussex. Later came the engine known as the Abram S. Hewitt. Samuel Springsteen was the first engineer to run a regular train on the line and he, like the first engines, came from the Erie Railroad. George Everitt, of Andover, was another early engineer. James Demarest, a friend of the Hewitts from New York City, became the first conductor, settling at Newton. Peter Cannon, another Hewitt protege, also came from New York City to Andover, and later to Newton, where he acted as station agent and general superintendent for many years. Joseph Quackenbush, better known as “Uncle Joe,” settled at Andover in 1853 and first served as switchman, then fireman. On December 1, 1855, Capt. Joseph Quackenbush was appointed Engineer on the Sussex Railroad in place of Capt. Charles Henderson. His foot was horribly mangled in an accident at Waterloo in 1860, but he survived to retire in 1890, living out his days in Newton.

An Economic Stimulus

Before the advent of steam communication, the frozen mud roads were lined with covered wagons carrying country produce to city markets --- the Big Trip in November took three to five days. Four inns once lined the road between Newton and Stanhope, but many wayside taverns disappeared along with such old-time caravans of market wagons. Newton, the terminus of the Sussex Railroad, grew steadily under its influence. Farmers now conveyed large quantities of pork, grain, butter, beef and flour to the depots at Newton and Andover. The old county town consequently experienced rapid commercial and residential expansion. Commanding the trade of the surrounding valley, the town square filled with brick row storehouses. Overcoming the lack of a natural water power, rail-transported coal fueled Newton’s industrial development. In June 1854, John W. Lane and Samuel H. Bodine installed the County’s first steam engine in the Sussex Foundry at 189 Spring Street. In December 1854, Edward C. Moore became the town’s first coal dealer. Moses W. & Henry C. Northrup opened the Newton Steam Gristmill in November 1855, producing premium grades of flour. George H. Nelden & Samuel Bodine opened the New Jersey Foundry at the corner of (123) Spring and Moran Streets in August 1859.

The opening of railroad facilities at Newton fed the demand for residential properties and several new streets opened. Robert Hamilton, John Townsend and John McCarter, Jr. offered building lots on Broad Street for sale in September 1854. In honor of these three landowners and promoters, Broad Street soon became known as Trinity Street. Moran Street was extended across their lands toward the meadows and Hamilton Street was also surveyed. The first houses on Union Place were built in 1855 upon lands belonging to Theodore F. Anderson. Uptown, John Linn opened Linwood Avenue and surveyed his property into building lots.

Martin Ryerson laid out Halsted Street as a new thoroughfare leading from Main Street to the Railroad Depot in the fall of 1857. By the time the new street was ready for public use, plans for six houses had been drawn. By January 1858, the Sussex Register reported that twenty new buildings were under construction in Newton and that the number of buildings in town had doubled since the opening of rail communication five years earlier. On January 21, 1859, with ten large buildings under contract in Newton, the Register's editor remarked that “many years would elapse before our town will be finished and ready to be fenced in.” Halsted Street was “pretty well built up” by May 1859 and Martin Ryerson awarded Robert Space the contract in November 1859 to grade Madison Street from George L. Smith’s residence (now 36 Madison Street) to the Springdale Road. The population of the village rose from 855 in 1850 to 1,824 in 1860, at which time Newton boasted 308 dwellings occupied by 359 families.

First Mortgage Bondholders of the Sussex Railroad met at the Cochran House in Newton on December 17, 1857, and proposed a change in the management and ownership of the railroad, whereby it would come under local control and be operated and improved as a valuable adjunct to the town and county. Hough & Holloway completed the Newton branch of the Morris & Essex telegraph on December 21, 1857, receiving an inaugural message of greetings from Hackettstown at Coming’s Hotel, opposite the Newton Depot. By Christmas, negotiations to transfer control of the Sussex Railroad to Newton capitalists had deadlocked --- though Mr. Hewitt found their latest offer perfectly acceptable, local citizens found it difficult to raise the funds needed to close the bargain. Peter Cooper and Abram Hewitt, owners of the Andover Iron Mine and controlling stockholders of the Sussex Railroad, finally sold their interest to Thomas N. McCarter, John McCarter, John Townsend, Edward C. Moore, Dr. John R. Stuart and other local persons of prominence for $82,000, of which $32,000 was raised in new stock to pay arrears of interest on the First Mortgage bonds and part of a floating debt of $50,000. Their objectives included acquisition of new rolling stock and development of more harmonious relations with the Morris & Essex. By the time they surrendered control of the railroad, Cooper and Hewitt had reportedly cleared “not less than one million dollars out of the Andover mine.”

On January 12, 1858, stockholders of the Sussex Railroad met at the Newton Depot to elect nine directors in place of the incumbent Board of Directors whose resignations became effective on that date. David Ryerson, John Rutherfurd, John A. Horton, Martin Ryerson, Edward C. Moore, Thomas Hewitt, Aaron Peck, Thomas N. McCarter and John Linn were chosen. The new board met at the Cochran House on January 16, 1858. New stock was exchanged and bonds transferred. Advertisements list David Thompson as treasurer and George H. Nelden as secretary. One of first actions of the re-organized company was to announce that two daily milk trains would run on the Sussex Railroad, beginning about April 1, 1858, in connection with the schedule of the Morris & Essex Railroad. At the annual election for directors, held at Newton on May 5, 1858, John A. Horton, Aaron Peck, John Rutherfurd, John Linn, Thomas N. McCarter, Edward C. Moore, Thomas Hewitt, Samuel T. Smith and David Ryerson were chosen. The Board of Directors then elected John A. Horton, President, and George H. Nelden, Secretary.

John A. Horton, president of the Sussex Railroad, died November 15, 1858, aged 51 years (See the history of the Horton Mansion). The Directors of the Sussex Railroad met on December 2, 1858, to elect Martin Ryerson to the board and Aaron Peck to succeed John Horton, deceased, as president.

In March 1859, the President and Directors of the Sussex Railroad announced their intention to run a morning and afternoon train on the Morris & Essex, as soon as arrangements could be made. Company president Aaron Peck personally supervised repairs to the road. Danforth & Cooke’s representative visited Newton on June 21, 1859, and contracted with the Sussex Railroad for a new engine of equal value and power as the Abram S. Hewitt. The engine, named the Aaron Peck, was delivered on November 23, 1859.

Considerable economic progress was evident on the home front during the long years of Civil War. The hotel business thrived as Newton became the county recruitment center, filled with volunteers, draftees, their wives, mothers and sweethearts. Trains carried the troops to their training grounds and the front. The Sussex Railroad completed improvements to its track, provided new livestock sheds and built a new Engine House in July 1862. Sussex pork commanded premium prices and there was a great rush of freight over the line, with 290,00 lbs. of dressed hogs, and a correspondingly large supply of poultry, being shipped during the first weeks of November. On November 21, 1862, Peter Cannon succeeded John Schuyler as freight agent and Captain Peck was again appointed Superintendent in place of John Schuyler, resigned.

		Newton Passenger Depot, DL&W, Circa 1902

The Morris & Essex Railroad, with all its franchises and property, was perpetually leased to the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company in late November 1868. The D. L. & W. agreed to complete the Boonton Branch at an early date, to make other improvements, and to pay the M. & E. stockholders 7% in semi-annual dividends for five years and 8% thereafter, so long as the net earnings amounted to a certain specified sum. The transfer was to take place on January 1, 1869.

The Legislature ratified the lease in February 1869. The new managers determined to finish the double-tracking without delay, and to construct such other tracks and additional facilities as were necessary to accommodate the increasing coal and freight business. For these ends, the Morris & Essex had executed $3,000,000 in bonds convertible into their stock, and drawing interest at 7%, payable semi-annually, in January and July. These bonds were were offered at 85% of their value to the stockholders of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company pro rata, according to their respective shares of stock. Once these bonds were taken, the work was to commence without delay. The Morris & Essex also entered into negotiations with authorities of the Midland Railroad with a view to consolidating their interests in the construction of a rail line from Paterson to New York.

In a grand scheme of consolidation, the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company secured a controlling interest in the Syracuse & Binghampton Railroad in New York, with the intention of building fourteen miles of new track from Great Bend to Binghampton, thereby creating a continuous line from Oswego to Hoboken on the Hudson River. This route incorporated 84 miles of the Morris & Essex Railroad, 127 miles of their own railroad, 81 miles of the Syracuse & Binghampton Railroad, and 36 miles of the Oswego & Syracuse Railroad, for a total of 328 miles.

In May 1870, representatives of large majorities of shareholders of the NJ Hudson & Delaware, the NJ Western, and Sussex Valley Railroad Companies ratified a consolidation into the New Jersey Midland Railway Company at a meeting held in Taylor's Hotel, Jersey City.

With the advent of rail communications, the New Jersey Zinc and Mining Company, of Newark, shifted their operations from Sterling Hill to Franklin Furnace in September 1869. By November 1869, a hundred tons of magnetic ore from the Franklin mines passed daily on the Sussex Railroad en route to Scranton, Pennsylvania. In November 1869, contractors Smith, Towell and Irwin pushed the Franklin extension to completion. Nothing further remained to be done, except to build a bridge of one span across the Wallkill, to fill a portion of the heavy embankment and to lay the track. The Sussex Railroad Company erected a temporary engine house, near Franklin, to accommodate their engines during the winter.

The new main line of the Sussex Railroad was constructed across the bog meadow, northeast of Newton Depot. Contractor O. N. Saulsbury commenced work on November 16, 1871, with a force of thirty men. The ground here was so swampy that the track was laid upon layers of wooden planks: the first layer of planks was laid crosswise, a second layer was laid diagonally, whereupon the ties were then fixed and the intervening space filled with gravel. The new track across the meadows between Newton and Lafayette was completed by placement of a switch on June 7, 1872. For nearly a decade, a section of track beyond the Big Spring repeatedly disappeared into a sink hole, disrupting traffic and requiring considerable fill to stabilize the road bed.

When the Midland Railroad connected with the Sussex Railroad at Franklin in June 1872, Moses Taylor, William E. Dodge, John I. Blair, Seldon T. Scranton, John H. Brown, E. T. Hatfield, Jr., and Joseph C. Platt, Jr., organized the Franklin Iron Company, with mineral rights to 12,000 acres in Sussex County, including one mountain tract of 7,000 acres. Ore came from mines at Franklin, Canistear, and Pochuck Mountain. A new furnace was erected at Franklin during the following year at a cost of $500,000, producing pig iron which was transferred to Scranton, Pennsylvania, for conversion to Bessemer steel. The crucible was 67 feet high, 23 feet in the bosh, and 10 feet in the hearth. It was surrounded by three brick buildings: an engine house, a stock house, and casting house. Running at full capacity, Franklin Furnace produced between 250 and 300 tons of pig iron weekly.

The Sussex Railroad Company contracted with the Franklin Iron Company to transport 17,000 tons of ore from the Franklin and Pochuck mines during the summer months, and with the Passaic Zinc Company to transport 25,000 tons of zinc ore. The railroad also carted Spanish ore to Franklin, where it was mixed with local ores to produce a superior quality of Bessemer iron. The Franklin Iron Company purchased a mineral tract along the Hudson River in New York, and was to receive ore from these mines, as well as African ore, all of which was to be shipped from Hoboken over the D. L. & W. and Sussex Railroads. They received large shipments of coke from Connersville, Pennsylvania, using one-fourth coke with three-fourths anthracite for their fuel. About 75 men were employed at the works.

Acquiring trackage rights over the Midland Railroad between Franklin Depot and Hamburg, the Sussex Railroad Company built a railroad spur, several miles in length, in 1870-71, running via Hamburg to the foot of the Pochuck range, where a valuable iron mine was located. The mine owners went to great expense to tunnel the hill and erect a stationary engine to bring the ore down. The McAfee extension opened September 1, 1871. This branch was sold to the Lehigh & Hudson Railway in 1881.

The Sussex Railroad further envisioned an extension beyond the Pochuck Mine in McAfee to complete a connection with the Warwick Valley Railroad — a linkage which the Lehigh & Hudson River Railway accomplished in 1882. It apparently sought a branch railroad to the Delaware River and a connection with the enormous coal trade eminating from Pennsylvania. It also intended to build spurs to mines in Sparta, Hardyston and Vernon.

Samuel Sloan, President of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, in company with John I. Blair, William E. Dodge, Moses Taylor, William Walter Phelps and Seldon Scranton, all prominent railroad men, accompanied a number of local stockholders of the Sussex Railroad on an excursion to Franklin on July 23, 1872. Onlookers could only guess at the object of their visit, but it was generally supposed that the transfer of the Sussex Railroad to the D. L. & W. would result from the conference.

Sale to the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western

In consequence of the Stanhope Cut off, the Lackawanna expended nearly $100,000 to upgrade its Newton facilities. On April 16, 1905, work began on a new turntable, the fifth such device installed in the Newton yards since 1854. demolition of the old roundhouse at Newton began in July 1905. painters also began decorating the interior of the Newton Station, which had been converted to one large room. Tickets were now sold through one large window instead of the two cubby-holes located respectively in the rooms formerly divided by doors and a stairway. a marble drinking fountain was also installed. On March 24, 1906, the new heating plant at the Newton Depot was tested and a new roundhouse occupied for the first time. In May 1906, workmen began tearing down the old wooden railroad Depot built in 1855. The old railroad water reservoir on Halstead Heights, above the Freight Depot, was filled with cinders in July 1906. Work also began on a railroad culvert to eliminate the Drakes Pond crossing.

A model Freight House — the first ever built of concrete rather than brick along the line of the D. L. & W. — was ready for occupancy on January 21, 1907. Designed by architect F. J. Neis, under the supervision of Chief Engineer Lincoln Bush, the building measured 133 by 32 feet with office and record rooms on the street end. The length of the Sussex Railroad was about 35 miles and the cost of construction about $2,000,000. (The Freight Depot still stands opposite the National Hotel on lower Spring Street) In May 1907, work resumed on the concrete retaining wall, which was to be topped with an ornamental iron fence. Sparta Avenue was widened three to eight feet in June 1909 and the concrete wall built along the railroad yard.

The newspapers sarcastically reported on improvements to the Monroe station in August 1906, noting that the supports had been sawed off, allowing the box to rest on the ground.

A connection to the Lehigh & Hudson was made at Andover Junction in 1905. Changing the transfer point for freight to the Lehigh & Hudson Railroad from Franklin Junction to Andover Junction in 1905 also curtailed the amount of business on this section. As late as 1915, several trains each day were needed to carry zinc ore and limestone from the Windsor Lime Company and the New Jersey Lime Company. But limestone quarries eventually closed and shipments of ore from the Zinc Company’s mines at Franklin were greatly reduced. The Bordens Company acquired the Stevens’ creameries at Monroe and Ackersons Crossing in June 1917. Soon afterwards, William Provost, owner of the Monroe creamery on the Lackawanna track, considered changing to the lower Monroe creamery, located alongside the Lehigh & Hudson Railway, because of better train service, better facilities, and its proximity to Kimbles Pond, where ice could be cut.

Charley Albert Chasseaud, of New York City, who successfully managed the Cranberry Lake Hotel and island the previous season, again leases the resort property in May 1906. On opening day, however, it was announced that Jacob J. Muller, formerly of the Half-way House, near Milford, and not Mr. Chasseaud, would manage the hotel property. There was considerable speculation in November 1906 that the Cranberry Lake's days as an excursion resort were numbered. Byram tax collector John D. Cowser sold sold the hotel property for non-payment of taxes to James French of Waterloo. with unobstructed possession of Bertrands Island and an entrance to Lake Hopatcong, the Lackawanna wasexpected to transfer its excursion business and not kowtow to Mr. French. George A. Williams consequently redeemed the tax lien and retained possession of the hotel; the lease had seventeen years to run. George A. Williams, William D. Ackerson, and William H. Earl filed articles of incorporation on June 8, 1906, forming the Cranberry Lake Amusement Corporation to erect hotels and cottages and to maintain picnic grounds.

P. H. Conklin & Company put up two large coal bins near the Lehigh & Hudson station at Andover in December 1906 and moved their scales to the east side of the turnpike [Route 206].

James Daly died in Newark on April 11, 1908. He had been born in County Tyrone, Ireland, on November 3, 1823. He was employed in the construction of the Sussex railroad and came to Newton in 1854. He was the first man employed in the Freight depot, where he remained until being transferred to Newark in 1874. william Hunt, station agent at Warbasse Junction, where the railroad branched to Franklin and to Branchville, retired in December 1908, after 42 years of service. although nearly deaf, he reportedly had the peculiar faculty of distinguishing messages sent over the wires. C. H. Hall, agent for several years at Andover, was relieved of heavy work in January 1909 and Virgil Crisman installed.

A newspaper correspondent described the condition of the railroad station at Andover on Tuesday morning, October 19, 1909, noting that it "would have been a disgrace to the original Mule railroad running here sixty years ago, and would not have been tolerated at that time. The waiting room I think is 14 x 16 feet, and contained at this time the following: first, on the floor, was nearly a quarter inch of dirt and gravel carried in from the gravel platform outside; near the center a large sack of leather; in one corner a scissor grinder with his machine, plying his trade; in another corner, a pile of what looked like Italian baggage, consisting of bedding, etc., hemmed up and held together by a huge bag of poultry food or fertilizer, which, by the by, have been there for weeks; a stretcher setting up under the ticket desk, giving a gruesome feeling to the waiting passengers; in another corner, a water tank. Sandwiched in were two ladies of prominent families and two or three men, waiting for the train. The absence of any Italians at the time made it possible for the other passengers to breathe. At 10 o’clock, same conditions prevailing minus the scissor grinder, but adding eight ladies and three or four men, waiting for the train. If there is a worse conditioned station, either passenger or freight, in the State of New Jersey, I certainly pity the patrons. If there is one place before another which calls for the scrutiny of the Railroad Commission, it is ours; and we should call them at once. Don’t think this report is overdrawn, for I tell you the conditions are worse than described."

Constant public complaints spelled out a need to improve railroad accommodations at Warbasses Junction. The station at that place consisted of an old abandoned freight car dropped at the side of the track. By all accounts, it could not accommodate half a dozen persons and it was barely possible for a person to stand upright within its doors. For years the people in the neighborhood, and the traveling public, who transferred at this point for the D. L. & W. Raiload frequently complained.

It was not only the station accommodations that caused the complaints heard from patrons of both the Susquehanna and Lackawanna railroads. The two stations were he stations were 1,400 feet apart, and there were no facilities for a passenger traveling with a trunk, to have it transferred from one station to another. In March 1909, a lady visiting near Fredon, desiring to go to Sparta, had to be taken to the Stillwater station, instead of coming to Newton, as her trunk could not be transferred at Warbasses to the Susquehanna. Another complaint was the connection of trains at Warbasses between the two roads. It was suggested that the Susquehanna station should have been moved to the point where the two railroads crossed, with an L platform along the tracks. The trains on both roads stopped at this point, and the erection of a station at that point would have resulted in no loss of time to trains.

The New Jersey Railroad Commission arranged for a hearing in reference to station accommodations at Warbasses on August 16 in the Sussex County Court House. The matter of better train connections with the Lackawanna at this point was also considered. Samuel Warbasse was the first witness and he testified that the only station was an old box car that had seen service as a depot for 15 years. One half was used for the passengers and the other half for the storage of freight.

The Lehigh & Hudson Railway Company built new stations at Andover Junction, Tranquillity and Great Meadows in August 1909. In May 1911, George O. Young, of Andover, had contractors, including a dozen teams, scrapers and helpers, excavating a new cellar for his large feed house, which he planned to move several hundred yards and across the tracks on rollers from its original location just below the Andover railroad station. By early June, the feed house was in transit, as Young met with the D. L. & W. superintendent, his assistant, and the superintendent of milk traffic. In July, Young moved his house out to and facing another street. The feed house was moved across the tracks at night and set on its new foundation in early August 1911. The next month, George Young built an addition, 10 by 60 feet, to his relocated feed house.

With the closing out of the Cranberry Lake Amusement Company in July 1911, wagons loaded with old boats, tables, chairs, and other debris were seen passing down the old turnpike.

The railroad faced a new competitor as the automobile made its appearance in the first decade of the Twentieth Century and grew steadily in popularity. As early as 1906, the automobile craze was hurting the railroad's business. By 1911, there were 80 automobiles in Newton and the number was growing all the time. On August 28, 1910, 132 automobiles were counted within twelve hours passing the Hotel Newton. Service garages and auto dealerships sprouted to accommodate the new-fangled, self-propelled conveyance. a mile of experimental concrete road was laid at New Village, warren County, in November 1912. With the spread of paved roads, the automobile achieved dominance over the railroad between 1920 and 1940.

Agent Frank Gibbs, who was long employed on the Sussex Railroad at Branchville Junction, accepted employment on the Lehigh & Hudson at Andover Junction. In the fall of 1912, he disposed of his place above the Junction, which included White's Lake along the highway, and purchased a lot on Andover Junction, adjoining the wye connection, where he built a brick cottage in the summer of 1913.

Owing to the scarcity of men, brought about by war conditions, Miss Ethel Wilson, of Newton, was employed in the freight office of the Sussex Railroad in January 1918, becoming the first woman to fill such a position.

With a reduction in limestone and zinc shipments from Franklin, the growing use of trucks to ship freight, and the loss of passenger ridership to buses, business on the nine-mile section between Branchville Junction and Franklin dwindled away to nothing. The 5:36 P. M. train from Franklin to Newton was dropped from the timetable on April 24, 1921, adversely affecting quite a number of hourly men employed by the Zinc Company. Loss of this train also inconvenienced riders from the borough of Sussex who wished to travel to Newton as it became necessary to leave Sussex at noon and go by way of the Lehigh & New England through Augusta.

The Lackawanna removed trains Nos. 607 and 608 into Franklin on January 16, 1922, despite protests from the Franklin Council and an interested citizens’ committee to the Public Utilities Commission. Harold N. Coriell testified to the value of both 607 and 608 as connections with the Susquehanna Railroad and as affording at 12:40 P. M. the best connection at Netcong for points west on the Lackawanna. According to Coriell, poor lighting and heating equipment on trains between Franklin and Newton and their slow schedule were responsible for the decline in passenger traffic. W. C. Nestor told the Public Utilities Commission that coal and limestone shipments into and out of Franklin on trains 607 and 608 well warranted their continuance, though he did admit to a “temporary slump in the freight business.” Floyd C. Devore stated that both trains carried heavy mails and their cancellation would seriously affect the promptness with which Newton and down-country correspondence to and from Franklin was delivered. He also reported that service had declined, despite a tripling of the population since these trains were first placed on the timetable. Patrick J. Dolan, of Ogdensburg, described “old and dirty cars, miserable lights, ancient stations, [and] freight train speed” as “outrages [that] had turned the traveling public away from the Lackawanna and Susquehanna Railroads.”

The Fairfield Dairy Company, of Montclair, purchased the Provost Creamery at Monroe in May 1926. The Sisco Dairy Company, which operated a creamery at Woodruffs Gap, purchased a large piece of land from Lewis Price at Ackersons Crossing, intending to build a large new creamery and ice pond. In the early hours of July 5, 1929, fire destroyed the former William Provost creamery at Monroe, owned by C. M. Anderson but closed for two years. The Lackawanna waiting room and freight station were also lost to the flames. Lewis R. Wickham lost the lumber for a ready-to-build house, stored in the creamery, which he planned to erect at North Church Village.

The Last Iron Horse
After forty years’ operation, Darling Old Nell, the morning (6:55 A. M.) Lackawanna train between Franklin and Newton ended service on February 2, 1931. As this train carried mail from and to Newton, Postmaster Walters arranged for bids for carrying the mail to Newton twice daily, the recompense to be $800 annually. It also carried freight and passengers. The end of the morning train service on this line was taken as an indication of “the vast change that has come over the American life during the past ten years,” due to the widespread use of the automobile.

Old Nell, the famous Franklin-Newton flyer, slowly died of starvation, as her patrons kept fading away, dwindling fast in recent years, until the last sad blow was struck on April 1, 1931, when the two faithful passengers, Jake Rodimer and Bob Adams, decided to desert the ship and henceforth ride the bus. Her career ended after forty years when she was taken out of service on May 1, 1931.

The railroad applied for permission to take off the one remaining train on the it branch to Franklin, noting that the forty or fifty passengers who rode the afternoon train each week day had dwindled to about three a week in only eight years, due to automotive traffic. The milk business had evaporated; the limestone tonnage disappeared. In response, an agent of the Public Utilities Commission came to Franklin in August 1931 to check up on traffic, presaging a complete cessation of train service on the Franklin branch of the Lackawanna.

When the Hamburg paper mill closed in 1933, freight transfers from the New York, Susquehanna & Western diminished. Automotive transportation of farm products stole business and passenger service was discontinued due to the fact that a majority of the passengers preferred to use buses, reducing the number of railroad passengers to one or two per day. Stockholders of the Sussex Railroad Company, a subsidiary of the D. L. & W. Railroad Company voted in February 1934 to abandon its nine miles of track between Branchville Junction and Franklin branch as a matter of economy.

In 1944, the Lackawanna first proposed a reduction in service to Newton. Construction of the 75-mile Interstate 80 corridor from Manhattan to the Poconos between 1959 and 1973, combined with the dualization of Route 15 in 1967-69, brought commuters within range of city workplaces. The first garden apartments were built in Newton to accommodate the influx of residents. Train service on the Sussex Branch of the Lackawanna from Branchville to Andover Junction ended on July 13, 1966. The Newton Passenger Depot was torn down in November 1970. The remaining 7.5 miles of track between Netcong and Andover Junction were abandoned in July 1973. Creameries dependent on the railroad also closed. As Sussex dairy herds dwindled and quiet pastures vanished, Sussex County was steadily transformed into a “bedroom community.”

Copyright 2000 Kevin W. Wright. All rights reserved.