Montclair-Boonton Line - Electrification

Electrification

The original 1930 Lackawanna 3 kV DC electrification was converted in 1984 to 25 kV 60 Hz, as part of the re-electrification of the Morris & Essex Lines which the then-Montclair Branch was grouped with at the time. The 2002 extension of electrification to Great Notch together with the Montclair Connection is similar in construction, except that hot-dip galvanized steel poles are used; many of these poles are painted dark green for esthetic reasons, in contrast with the old Lackawanna poles which are painted dark red. Catenary construction is uniform throughout; compound (3-wire) with a zigzag horizontal profile, but without self-tensioning, just like on most sections of the M&E lines.

The line features a single autotransformer substation at Montclair, close to Bay Street station, dating from the 1984 re-electrification. Its power is normally supplied from NJT's Meadows Substation on the M&E (Morristown) mainline.