Re: (erielack) Railroad Improvements 1886

[Charles_Walsh_@_Berlex.com]

I'll add that the Rockaway Valley was graded to within a short distance of
the DL&W (a mile or so beyond Watnong, which was the northern terminus of
the RVRR), but the ruling grade on that portion of the line would have
reached 8% (!)  The DL&W was very hostile towards the RVRR, and the feeling
was mutual.  The RVRR was the interloper in the area although it did make
some inroads in and around Morristown as far as delivery service out of
Watnong was concerned.  But the railroad was so poorly constructed--you can
see where it went through a swamp on Patriot's Path (as Gary points out)
- --that it earned the moniker Rock-A-Bye-Baby.  The RVRR was one of the
earliest roads to be abandoned in NJ, being torn up ca. 1917.
Interestingly, the same man (Melick?) was the construction engineer for the
Morristown & Erie RR and if one walks or rides that line one can get a
sense of the rollercoaster-like ride through swampy terrain of the Rockaway
Valley RR.  The big difference between the two lines was that the M&E at
one time had dozens of customers on its "main line" and branches; whereas
the RVRR, except for the peach crop (a seasonal thing that dimished quickly
after 1900), and a few isolated customers, had virtually nothing.



                                                                                                                                  
                      "Gary R. Kazin"                                                                                             
                      <gkazin_@_yahoo.com>                                                                                          
                      Sent by:            To:     EL List <erielack_@_lists.railfan.net>                                            
                      erielack-owner_@_list cc:                                                                                     
                      s.elhts.org         Subject:                                                                                
                                                  Re: (erielack) Railroad Improvements 1886                                       
                                                                                                                                  
                      01/04/2006 10:18 PM                                                                                         
                      Please respond to                                                                                           
                      "Gary R. Kazin"                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                  



Interestingly, NONE of these were built by the DLW, and they were built 15
to 20 years later!

The line from Morristown to Essex Fells (somewhat west of Caldwell) was
built about 1900 for the McEwan paper interests (later Whippany
Paperboard) as the Whippany River Railroad, ancestor of the Morristown &
Erie, while the line from Essex Fells to Montclair was built for a group
of citizens of Caldwell as the Caldwell Railroad and operated by the
Montclair Railway, later part of the ERIE.  The original route was to
tunnel through the Verona area, but that was not completed and the line
was built to Great Notch.  The M&E pulled back from Essex Fells when the
Erie abandoned the Caldwell Branch about 1966 and the tracks now end at
its last customer in Roseland.

The line from Morristown to Mendham was built about 1904 as part of the
Rockaway Valley Railroad.  It did not connect with the DLW; it ended a
mile or two west of Speedwell Avenue near Lake Road.  The west end
connected with the Central Railroad of New Jersey at White House, about 25
miles away.  This is now part of Patriot's Path.

A line to Lake Hopatcong was built by Morris County Traction, but the DLW
never went up along the lake.

- --- Lynne <LKRanieri_@_comcast.net> wrote:
> http://lists.railfan.net/listthumb.cgi?erielack-01-04-06
>
> RailroadImprovementsMay191886Budget.jpg (image/jpeg, 291x827
> 106488 bytes, BF: 2.26 ppb)

Gary R. Kazin
DL&W Milepost R35.7
Rockaway, New Jersey



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