From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Lehigh and Hudson River Railway
Lehigh and Hudson River Railway
Lehigh and Hudson River Railway and on April 1, 1882, the Warwick Valley Railroad joined,
Railway.
forming the Lehigh and Hudson River Railway
Reporting mark LHR
Locale Easton, PA to Maybrook, NY
Dates of 1882-04-01–1976
operation
Successor Conrail, NYS&W, Norfolk Southern
Track gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (standard
gauge) Train wreck near the Newburgh Branch, at the Greycourt, New
York water tower, involving Engines #24 & 89, c. 1880.
Headquarters Warwick, NY
In the meantime, the Sussex Railroad had built a
L&HR)
The Lehigh and Hudson River Railway (L&HR was the
branch from Hamburg to South Vernon (McAfee); the
smallest of the six railroads that were merged into Con-
L&HR bought this around 1881. The Warwick Valley Rail-
rail in 1976. It was a bridge line running northeast-south-
road had built an extension southwest to McAfee in
west across northwestern New Jersey, connecting the
March 1880, and the full line opened 1882-08-14, con-
line to the Poughkeepsie Bridge at Maybrook, New York
necting Belvidere, New Jersey to Greycourt, New York.
with Easton, Pennsylvania, where it interchanged with
The Orange County Railroad was chartered on
various other companies. It status was diminished as the
November 28, 1888 and opened the following year, ex-
Interstate Highway system was developed, and as its con-
tending the line northeast from Greycourt to Maybrook.
necting railroads entered bankruptcy. The final straw
At Maybrook, the line junctioned with the Central New
came with the burning of the Poughkeepsie Bridge on
England Railway, continuing east via the Poughkeepsie
May 8, 1974. The line was conveyed to Conrail and sub-
Bridge over the Hudson River to New England. Trackage
sequently acquired by the Norfolk Southern and the New
rights were obtained over a short piece of the New York,
York, Susquehanna and Western Railway who lease their
Ontario and Western Railway from the junction at Burn-
portions of the line to the Middletown and New Jersey
side west to the major junction at Campbell Hall.
Railroad.[1]
The South Easton and Phillipsburg Railroad of New
Jersey,
Jersey and the South Easton and Phillipsburg Railroad
History of Pennsylvania was organized on July 25, 1889 to build
a bridge over the Delaware River between Easton, Penn-
The Warwick Valley Railroad was organized March 8,
sylvania and Phillipsburg, New Jersey. The former built
1860 as a branch of the New York and Erie Rail Road,
460’ on the New Jersey side, while the latter built 850’
branching from it at Greycourt southwest to Warwick,
on the Pennsylvania side. Bridge construction began on
New York. It opened in 1862 and was operated by the
November 19, 1889, and concluded the following year
Erie.
on October 2.[2] Subsequently, the L&HR obtained track-
The Pequest and Wallkill Railroad was chartered by
age rights over 13 miles of the Pennsylvania Railroad’s
1870 to build an extension in New Jersey, running from
(PRR) Belvidere Delaware Railroad between Phillipsburg
Belvidere on the Delaware River and Belvidere Delaware
and Belvidere;once the bridge was completed, the L&HR
Railroad northeast to the New York state line. The Lehigh
had a continuous line from Maybrook to Easton. At Eas-
and Hudson River Railroad was chartered later as a com-
ton, an interchange could be made with the Central Rail-
petitor, planning to build from Belvidere to McAfee, with
road of New Jersey and Lehigh Valley Railroad, while in-
the Wawayanda Railroad running the rest of the way to
terchange with the PRR was at Phillipsburg.
the state line. In April/May 1881, the three companies
The L&HR eventually obtained trackage rights over
merged to form a new Lehigh and Hudson River Railroad,
the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad’s Sussex
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Lehigh and Hudson River Railway
Railroad from the junction at Andover south to Port Mor-
ris, where it interchanged with the main line of the
DL&W.
The Mine Hill Railroad was the only branch built.
It ran south from a junction at Franklin, New Jersey to
the mines of the New Jersey Zinc Company at Sterling
Hill, New Jersey. On 1907-05-23 the L&HR absorbed the
Orange County Railroad, and on 1912-04-02 the South
Easton and Phillipsburg and Mine Hill Railroads were
merged into it.
From October 1912 until temporary discontinuance
in January 1916, the L&HR hosted the PRR’s Federal Ex-
press passenger trains on the Poughkeepsie Bridge Route
The L&HR running under the mighty, abandoned Lackawanna
between Phillipsburg and Maybrook. With the comple-
Cut-Off near Tranquility, New Jersey, circa 1989. By this point,
tion of the Hell Gate Bridge in New York City on Septem- the L&HR line had been abandoned, and trackage removal oc-
ber 9, 1917, the Federal Express resumed service via Penn curred when land ownership transferred from Conrail to land
Station and the New Haven Line direct.[2] At its peak, the developer Gerard Turco.
L&HR had a system stretching 86 miles between Easton
and Maybrook, throughout much of its life acting as a points was acquired by a land developer, Gerard Turco,
bridge line and hauling anthracite coal from a number of from Conrail. Turco had also acquired most of the Lack-
mines located along its system.[citation needed] awanna Cut-Off as part of the same deal. Conrail removed
the tracks south of Sparta Junction; however, the section
Bankruptcy north of that point (between Sparta, NJ and Campbell
Hall) was already being considered by the New York,
The L&HR filed for Chapter 77 bankruptcy on April 19,
Susquehanna & Western as part of a combined regional
1972, partly due to Penn Central’s decision to operate
freight route with Norfolk Southern. The line from War-
over other routes in order to avoid the aging Poughkeep-
wick, NY to Campbell Hall is currently leased to the Mid-
sie Bridge.[3]
dletown and New Jersey Railroad.
Post-bankruptcy, the L&HR continued to operate a
In New Jersey, the New York, Susquehanna and
nocturnal daily freight. During the mid-1970s, the LH&R
Western Railway owns the L&HR line north of Sparta, NJ
became part of a proposal to run "Bunny Ski Trains"
to the state line. North of the state line, it is owned by
between Hoboken, New Jersey and the Playboy Resort
Norfolk Southern which had acquired the line during the
(Great Gorge) in Vernon, New Jersey. The proposed ser-
breakup of Conrail. Both portions of the line are leased
vice, which would have run on weekends during the win-
to and operated by the Middletown and New Jersey Rail-
ter, would have retrieved passengers westbound along
road.[4]
the Erie-Lackawanna’s Morristown Line to Netcong, New
Jersey, then run along a short section of the remaining
Sussex Branch to Andover Junction in Andover, New External links
Jersey, and then northbound along the L&HR to the Play- • A Lehigh and Hudson River Railway Scrapbook
boy Club. The service would have utilized the Erie-Lack- • Black Diamonds to Tidewater - Lehigh & Hudson
awanna’s new commuter consists, but was met with stiff River Railway
opposition from E-L management, which was anticipat-
ing a merger with other northeastern US railroads and
did not want to enter into a venture that it viewed as a References
potential money-loser. The Bunny Ski Train remained a [1] http://www.mnjrhs.org/ Middletown and New
viable proposal until the remaining vestige of the Sussex Jersey Railroad
Branch was removed in July 1977, after it became clear [2] ^ Lehigh Valley Chapter, National Railway
(under Conrail) that it was no longer needed as a connec- Historical Society; Railroads In the Lehigh River
tor to the LH&R. Valley; 1956;1962; 1979; Pps. 37-40.
Valley;
As such, in 1976 the L&HR was merged into Conrail. [3] prrths.com
Subsequently, the section between Belvidere, New Jersey [4] http://www.mnjrhs.org/ Middletown and New
and Sparta, New Jersey (Sparta Junction) was abandoned. Jersey Railroad
The tracks, however, remained in place until approxi- • Railroad History Database
mately 1988, when the right-of-way between these two
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lehigh_and_Hudson_River_Railway&oldid=411209100"
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Lehigh and Hudson River Railway
Categories:
• Lehigh and Hudson River Railway
• Defunct New Jersey railroads
• Defunct New York railroads
• Defunct Pennsylvania railroads
• Former Class I railroads in the United States
• Railroads transferred to Conrail
• Predecessors of Conrail
• Railway companies established in 1882
• Railway companies disestablished in 1976
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